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Month: March 2005
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Yoofs
I had a pleasant walk through Taipei today. I am finally realising that there are in fact old buildings in Taipei and that they are not all concrete monstrocities. In fact, many of the 1-storey concrete buildings, upon closer inspection, are indeed original Japanese-era constructions clad with concrete and roofed with steel. You can see the original building poking through occasionally, or where the concrete has fallen away, revealing the old brick-work.
Another brick in the wallI ended up in Chang Kai Shek Memorial Hall area (see my previous visit here), where I joined most of the young people of Taipei for their weekly music and dance sessions. It’s funny, and very different from home. The square is dominated on two sides by large halls that house the national theatre. In front of these halls are large windows, and in front of them are areas covered by the awnings of the roof.
In the reflections of these windows you will find team upon team of dancers, using the area to practice. Next to where I was there was a large acrobatic squad chucking girls high into the air, break dancers and RnB kids busting their grooves. It was an amazing sight. The sounds, however, were what made it memorable. In the square at the same time was a large brass band competition and the tiny Getto Blasters could certainly not compete. As a result, the scene I remember is of hip hop kids spinning out to the beats of … brass.
In the red corner … brass band
Gravitational Effects
In the blue corner – hip hoppers
Kids enjoying the sceneOne of the most interesting things is the way that the kids are doing the youth culture thing. It seems to be subtley different. Here you get one ‘alpha’ kid doing the dance moves and teaching it to the others, right down to the small shoulder flicks and attitude. In Europe I think it would be more like freestyle and people competing. I have heard many time the ‘confucian’ attitude to doing things (master and student) is what explains some of the cultural differences. I have maybe even seen it in their attitude to copying electronics goods – you learn from the master, copy him, and when you master it you can express your own ideas. Perhaps.
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Lost in Translation
I was asked to appear in an advert by a friend last week. I could not turn it down as it sounded pertty hilarious and worth the extra money. In the end it turns out it was for Philips Home Theatre systems. Being ordered around in Chinese was massively confusing and I kept on trying not to say ‘Suntory Time’ – just like Bill Murray. For reference, I was supposd to be a jazzy dude listening to a band in his living room…. I think I was more ‘twat in a hat.’
Work it baby -
Saying Goodbye
It had been a fantastic, fantastic week with my parents here – I really appreciated their visit.
We had a very relaxing train ride back to Taipei and followed it up with a rather splendid curry at my local joint – surprisingly good. I walked them up to their hotel along the river and we said a rather wrenching goodbye. I had just got used to having them around and all of a sudden they were going again, which was simply not fair.
Goodbye from HsinSiang Station and Taiwan! -
Taroko Trails – Day 2
We had initially planned an easy Friday, taking in the more touristy trails while it was quiet, and then a harder Saturday when the trail we wanted to do was still likely to be quiet. It worked out to be the same, since the whole place was deserted and the weather reports were poor, falsely.
The trail we did went up to Bamboo Village via several trails hanging to cliffs and across more suspension bridges. The weather was okay, managing a light, cooling drizzle for much of the day. It gave the hills an atmospheric hue though, which added to the kung fu movie fantasy.
The early section of the trail gave us the jitters, somewhat. All the railings dividing the walkers from touching the void were bent into bizarre shapes by the intense rock fall from above. Bearing in mind they were made of steel, and the fact that we saw a live land slide the previous day, we kept our heads down and passed the section and reached relative safety (or at least the end of the railings – we just had a big cliff, but less reminders of the rock fall).
Rock FallDad and I played monster poo sticks on the way back, but were soundly beaten by Mum when she arrived with a 30 ft bamboo monster. I was asked to remind everyone that it was her poo stick, and not anyone else’s.
Mum’s Poo Stick -
Taroko Trails – Day 1
We got up and started the day with an easy but really good fun trail out to the Water Curtain on the Baiyang Trail. It weaves its way through an old route through the gorge – one of many attempts that are now abandoned. Starting with several long tunnels and proceeding to some great suspension bridges it makes its way to a tunnel that allows water to drain through its roof in a fantastic display. Officially closed, you can still enter and experience it for yourself.
Chasing Waterfalls (Mum, valiantly defeating another bridge!)
The whole place looked like a Chinese watercolour the whole time (spot us on the bridge)After stopping for a bite to eat we ventured for the short Huaran Pavilion Trail in the afternoon, warming up for a larger one the day after. What I did not really realise (lacking a decent map) was that the trail ascended at a constant 45 degrees from the valley floor until reaching the high road pass 1500 vertical feet later.
It was an amazing ride and the views were astonishing, but boy did we ache after so many steps up! Interestingly, it was built by the Japanese during the First World War to attack the local tribes. And even more interestingly, we saw a landslide occur on the other side of the valley as we made our way back down – the sound was horrific and seeing a whole hillside of trees on the move was quit surreal.
View at the top! The Huaran Pavilion after a punishing climb -
Taroko Gorge
Taroko Gorge is the crown jewel in Taiwan’s national park system. I took the folks there for a few days of relaxation and hiking and I have to say it comfortably exceeded expectations. The bus ride from the train station was truly breathtaking, winding our way down a marble canyon inches from the edge. Japanese and Taiwanese engineers have made many attempts to drive a road through with varying levels of success, and it it veers through tunnels over bridges and hangs to the rocks as it makes its way to TienShang – out stop.
We rocked up to a charming place – the Catholic Hostel. We got the best room for my parents (room 12 has the balcony view over the valley) and I kipped next door. The whole place was deserted, being mid week, and it stayed like that for our whole stay – very un-Taiwanese!
God bless us -
YangMing Mountain & Mother’s Day
On Sunday, we met up with Larsandanke, plus Alex and headed off for the mountains and hot springs. My parents had clearly brought fantastic weather with them from Blighty and we took the bus up to the highest point of the pass. At the top are several acres of grass, and this seems to be very rare in Taiwan, since bus loads of locals went up to look at it. I have to say, as an Englishman and someone who appreciates good grass that this particular turf was not bad, and all the better for being naturally cropped by a fleet of water buffalo.
The green, green grass of home
Three grinning Brits abroadOver the ridge is the large crater formed by the sulphurous outpourings of my local volcano. Clearly, it smells of eggs, but it was quite an impressive sight. The fumuroles were a deeply acidic green colour and the gas gushing into the atmosphere – an arresting sight in the sun.
A real stinkerAfter that, we descended the few remaining kilometres to the open hot springs. Most in Taiwan have been tapped by viscous, evil hotel chains but this one has been left natural. From the left is fresh spring water from the hills. From the right, hot volcanic water. You select your temperature by moving from pool to pool and apply mud to areas that need mudding. Every quarter of an hour or so stand under the waterfall to cool off. Repeat until sleepy. Apply Thai food liberally. Sleep.
Hot Springs -
The Top of the World
After pushing my parents through jet lag hell and tempting them with (bad) coffee and (good) bread at Wendel’s we headed off to see some sights.
I had not been to Taipei 101 yet, which holds several of the records for the tallest building in the world. It is not quite as simple as you might imagine, judging the tallest building in the world., but 101 gets the highest occupied floor, highest roof and – oh i don’t know – crappest coffee. But it also has the fastest lift in the world, and certainly the one with the most LEDs – the whole lift plunges into darkness with the roof picked out in constellations of stars. Still, the view was sensational and we stayed up there chatting until the sun set, which was an amazing sight.
View past one of the crazy ornamental cornices to the city beyond
The obligatory slow exposure night shotAfter that, we headed past the trade centre where Mum narrowly stopped us heading into the annual bike industry’s exhibition. It would have ended in tears / debt anyway, so it was probably for the best. For a joke, I took them to the local English pub, where they served our local beer and where Dad got fascinated in the hand dryers. Nothing changes!
Jet lag was catching up with them, so I sent them to bed.
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Mum & Dad!
Leaving work on Friday and rushing off to the airport was a pleasant change for an evening’s entertainment. It was amazing to see them walk through the door and have a massive family group hug. They were in pretty good spirits after the flight (and had not had the ordeal Ele went through) and we headed off for Taipei to install them in their hotel (‘The Feeling Hotel’ near my house). My Dad had spent some time in Singapore ten years ago, but it was my Mother’s first time. It was amusing to see them noticing the same things I did, but that I have now got used to – ‘the road signs are in Chinese!’
Mum! Dad!They were utterly full of juice due to the jet lag, so I thought it wise that we head immediately for Shilin Night market to deliver the full Taiwan blow. It was quite a quiet night due to the rain but that meant you could at least walk through it in less than half an hour. It was still a pretty intense audio/visual experience for the folks, though!