I never knew...

Even though it rained almost every single day during Chinese New Year, I made a point to get out and try to and explore the north of Taiwan. Prior to this vacation, my view of Taiwan was restricted to the cool, yet polluted city of Taipei, and the smaller, polluted city that I live in. With a scooter, and a fresh spark of energy from some new foreigners, we set out to see more than cement and parks.

First stop: Wulai. About a 1 hour bus ride south of Taipei, deep in the mountains, there is a beautiful aboriginal town, famous for hot springs and a waterfall. There is a cable car going to the top of the waterfall, where there is a huge resort. Although it was a bit far away, the scenery was refreshingly exotic.

Next stop: Keelung. There was an attempt to explore the NE coast of Taiwan, but pouring rain stopped that, so we settled for some of the best seafood in Taiwan in downtown Keelung near the harbor on the Northeast.

Next stop: Pingxi. Another small place deep within the mountains, yet a very short distance from Taipei City. Pingxi is where the Lantern Festival is, where people write their wishes for the New Year on a lantern and set it adrift. Again, the rain put a damper on a lot potential exploring.

Next stop: Wanli. More specifically, Yehliu Geopark. Wind, rain, and ocean waves can do some serious damage over time in terms of erosion, and we saw some of the crazy rock shapes that have been in the works for a long time (like "the Queen Head"). Another place I would have enjoyed more had it not been freezing and pouring, but a trip to the steaming Xinbeitou hot springs took care of potential frostbite.

Final stop: a mountain trip through Shijr on my trusty scooter. As crappy as I sometimes make where I live sound, a 15 minute scooter ride in any direction (except towards Taipei) brings you to a beautiful mountain road where you can give your lungs a bath and forget what apartment buildings look like. On the only decent day of the whole vacation, I had coffee on a peak with a 360 view of the mountain ranges of northern Taiwan.



Basically, rain sucks and Taiwan is a cool place, given the appropriate weather and transportation.

Chinese New Year

My week off, in pictures (click for a better view):

[more pictures from Yehliu Geopark]



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Is there a Dr. in the house?

It's been more than 8 months since I've had a Dr. Pepper, the delicious beverage which has been the single item that I miss the most from home.

Taiwan has a lot of great things, unique to the country, but also a lot of things that are imported or otherwise distributed globally. But even in Costco, the mecca for imported/western food, there isn't a Dr. Pepper to be found. Since I've been in Taiwan, I've searched and read comment threads on the internet regarding the subject. For too long I've been yearning for the 23 flavors of the drink I once dubbed as "the new water."

A few weeks ago, Forrest Gump was on TV, and after watching him drink 15 Dr. Peppers at the White House, I took my craving to my Facebook status ("Johnny Fleckenstein would do unspeakable things for a Dr. Pepper"). To my astonishment, I had two people reply that they actually had cans of DP in Taiwan. Not long after that, I heard that a teacher at my school returned from Guam with a few cans! With so much evidence of it actually being in the country, I had my heart set on the fact that I was finally going to get my hands on some!

I did some research and talked to a few people and found out where the end of the rainbow was: Jake's Country Kitchen in Tianmu, which is north of Taipei City, and a solid hour of travel time no matter what transportation you use. Of course, I just recently purchased a scooter so I decided to log a few more miles and make the trek.

On Thursday afternoon, I took to the streets of Taipei in the middle of rush hour, practically eating my way through the pollution. The entire way I had a nervous feeling, as if I was on my way to ask the hottest girl in school to prom. What do I say? Do I cut right to the chase? For the entire 1 hour and 10 minute trip, I replayed different scenarios in my head, sometimes drinking it very fast, sometimes taking small sips to savor it, and fantasizing about buying a case and stocking up.

When I finally arrived in Tianmu, I parked my scooter, took one last look in my small side-view mirrors and stepped into Jake's.

"Do you want eat here or take out?"
"Um... uh. Well... I heard you have Dr. Pepper."
"No Dr. Pepper."
"What? Why?"
"We sold out."

I still have a bruise on my chin from when my jaw hit the floor as I stared at the drink menu and saw where Dr. Pepper had been crossed out. Feelings of rejection, defeat, depression, and shock took over my body as I sat down. Not wanting to leave empty handed after such a long journey, I settled for a bacon cheeseburger and a lousy Coke.

When I left, I asked when they were going to get Dr. Pepper again.

"Never. No more."

Those words, spoken like daggers going into my soul, haunt my dreams every night. And so the quest continues...

The Fountain of Youth

Well, I finally discovered why Asians age so well. Fortunately, it's not the squid, the stinky tofu, or the chicken feet. There's a simple practice that we can all take part in to make ourselves look younger: Lying.

After a lengthy conversation with my co-teacher about age recognition in Chinese culture, I found out that although I am actually only 23 years old, in Chinese years I am going to be 24 this Chinese New Year.

Years, as we know them, are based on the solar calendar, giving us 365 days. Contrary to the system used by the rest of the world, the Chinese use a lunar system, so the "years" aren't ever the same length. (Even on official documents at banks they use the lunar years. It is currently the year 98, marking the 98th year since the founding of the Republic of China.) Chinese New Year usually falls between January 20 and February 20.

The Year of the Tiger

Back to the age thing... it's to my understanding (making this not very credible at all) that everybody gets a year older at the start of the new lunar year. For example, my 24th birthday falls during this upcoming lunar year, so for this entire lunar year (Feb.-Feb.), I will be 24. In my situation, for 10 months I would be saying I'm older than I am according to the solar calendar. Tricky, right?

Some of the very traditional Chinese are also convinced that you are 1 year old when you are born, which is just a false idea. Using that, err... logic, when I was born (December), I was 1 year old already, and the following Jan/Feb, I turned 2 on Chinese New Year.

So at the ripe age of 2 months, I could actually have claimed to have been 2 years old. If I knew then what I know now...

To add to the confusion, some of the really traditional folks skip the age of 4, because the number 4 is bad luck in Chinese culture (the word for "four" sounds almost exactly the same as the word for "death"). I guess this is on par with buildings that "don't have" a 13th floor?

So there are students at school that claim to be 6, but how can I believe that? Add 1 for the time spent in the womb, add 1 for Chinese New Year, and that one that you might have skipped because it was bad luck, this 6-year-old is only 3 if he's anywhere but Asia.

Don't feel bad if you are confused, I feel your pain. Just know that this February 14th is not only Valentine's Day, but it is also Chinese New Year and we are ringing in the 99th Year of the Republic by relaxing for a government mandated one week!

Traffic Weaving 101

What you're looking at is a 2002 Suzuki 125cc Star scooter, but more specifically, my 2002 Suzuki 125cc Star scooter.

I bought it with high hopes that this beast will open many a door for adventures around Taiwan. Taiwan's superb public transportation has gotten me around everywhere before this, but lately I've been finding myself either in cabs more, or on my couch more, just so that I don't have to guess when the next bus or train comes, or stand up hanging onto the hand strap as I'm being thrown in all directions.

Being the first gas powered vehicle I've ever owned with less than 4 wheels, it's taken quite a bit of getting used to. However, I got a pretty good feel for the acceleration, brakes, and general handling on my trip home from the purchase. Instead of coming directly home, I drove around for about 2 hours. If you must know, the reason it took 2 hours was because I was hopelessly lost, zipping around aimlessly through dense traffic in Taipei City hoping to see something I recognize.

FYI, traffic drives on the right side of the road, so I don't have to do everything backwards, and for scooters I have to do New Jersey-esque left turns at big intersections (except you just go into the little box on the adjacent side of the road). Like so...



more scooter adventures to come...

Korea-mania

What is it with Korean pop groups these days? Since I've been here, there have now been two different Korean groups (with a total of 18 singers) to have somehow taken Taiwan by storm. Even though Ja Rule is performing live and Lady Gaga is coming through the night club speakers every other song, Super Junior and Wonder Girls have conquered the hearts of mainstream music and ring tones in Taiwan.

It's for damn sure that you can't go a full day without hearing, if only by indirect reference, of either group's hit single.

So what do you get when you add the Backstreet Boys, N*Sync, and 98 Degrees together, then mix in some Asian?

If you answered "A 13-person Korean boy band called 'Super Junior'," then contact me for your prize. Actually, you'd be hard pressed to find anybody on this island who hasn't heard of Super Junior, or at least their mega-hit, "Sorry Sorry." I'm pretty sure the only English lyrics in the the song are "sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry......... shorty shorty shorty shorty," but it's so catchy that you can't hate it no matter how much its played out. At my school, every kid from age 3-13 knows the signature "Sorry Sorry" dance move of rubbing the hands together, and every apology is followed by another, and another. And yeah, it was a morning warm up song, so I know a dance routine for the whole thing. Jealous?

Check it:


The more recent pop song tidal wave to drown Taiwan is "Nobody," by the Wonder Girls. They are also Korean, but have 8 less in their entourage. The impact of "Nobody" became very evident when I saw a kindergarten student of about 2 and a half feet singing and doing the dance to this song. Adorable. Much like "Sorry Sorry," the Wonder Girls' hit is something that I'd love to hate, but mostly I can't help but get a kick out of how awesome everybody thinks it is.

Check it:



What do you think?