Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Not the best of times

My daughter tucks into a hot dog at Narita International Airport 成田国際空港 as we kill time waiting for our flight to Seattle

Back to the grind. Our once-a-year visit to see my family in the Pacific Northwest came to an end yesterday as we returned to Taiwan from the U.S. I wish I could say it was a great visit, but I can't this time. My mother is not in the best of health these days, and she has been staying in hospital rooms and nursing homes since the start of the new year. My father is coping well under the circumstances, but he understandably feels the strain at times. My sister has been doing her best to help out, but it isn't easy for her considering the distance between her home and my parents' house. I wish I could be there to do what I can, but I feel helpless being so far away. 

It didn't help matters that I arrived in Washington with a raging case of the flu, which combined with the jet lag to knock me out for the first 20 hours or so I was back at my parents' place (I went to bed shortly after noon on a Friday, and didn't wake up until 8am the following morning). Being sick prevented me from seeing my mother at the nursing home for the first few days I was back in Bremerton, and then, just as I was recovering, we got snowed in for a couple of days. It was a full week before I finally got a chance to see how Mom was doing.

The end of our visit wasn't much better than the beginning. My mother had a setback that necessitated her being moved out of the nursing care facility and back into the hospital, while Amber spent most of the long flight back to Taiwan throwing up in the airsickness bags...and on her father. Still, despite the circumstances, it was wonderful being back home and with family again. My dad appreciated having his granddaughter around the house, and Amber's presence also cheered my mother up a lot. Pamela was a great help with the household chores, which also did a lot to lift Dad's spirits. Hopefully, my mother can return home soon and bring a sense of normalcy back to everyday life. I only wish I could've been able to stay at least a few more days longer.

Some scenes from our two-week visit:

The Pacific Northwest was hit by a large snowstorm during the latter half of our first week back. Our area received six inches (15 centimeters), and we were housebound for a couple of days. The temperature outside when these photos were taken was 27°F (-2.8°C).

Mother and (especially) daughter enjoy the white stuff. They probably saw more snow on this trip than most Taiwanese will ever see in their entire lifetimes.

While some people had fun making snowmen and snow angels, and throwing snowballs, others had to work. This was the first time in my life that I ever had to shovel snow from the driveway (I grew up in Southern California and Sacramento).

The scene in the backyard...

...and down the road.

Amber explores the backyard in the evening.


We also went out into the snow at night, when the temperature had risen to a balmy 30°F (-1.1°C).

It wasn't all snow on this trip. On January 21, Amber turned six years old. We had a small party for her at home, which included cake and presents. Here Amber shows off her new Ken doll to her grandad:


The green-icing white cake in the shape of a pig was personally selected by my daughter at the local Safeway:


Amber did pretty well on this visit home. The day after her birthday was the eve of the Lunar New Year, and she received a red envelope filled with cash. Note the satisfied smile:


The weather improved significantly during the second week of our trip back, and we were finally able to get out and do some things. Here's Amber by the waterfront in Poulsbo:


Amber also asked to be taken to the Kids Discovery Museum on Bainbridge Island. Her favorite part was getting to be the cashier at the grocery store, but she also had fun being a dentist:


Mother and daughter pose on the streets of downtown Bainbridge:


I was hoping to get outside and do a lot of walking on this visit, but the weather and my mother's condition precluded much of that. Still, I did take Amber out for a short stroll along the Cedar Creek Trail in Silverdale:


Some family shots:

My sister Karen, Pamela, Amber, my nephew James and my father

Dad has been a pillar of strength during these trying times.

Being back in the States also means being able to (over)indulge in the comfort foods. For me, these include Cap'n Crunch cereal, maple bars, Hostess cupcakes and fruit pies, Reese's peanut butter cups, two tacos for 99¢ from Jack-in-the-Box...and craft beer. My daughter, however, was insistent that I only drink amber ales:


I could use a Fat Tire Amber Ale now, for as I write this, I'm in the throes of the post-visit blues. Only the depression has been made much worse by my mother's situation. Why the hell am I still here in Taiwan? I don't belong here, I've never felt comfortable in this society and I'm just wasting my time and talents going nowhere fast in an ugly part of the center of an ugly island (the urban areas, anyway), yet I can't seem to break free and get out. I'm most definitely not looking forward to returning to work tomorrow and falling back into the same stifling rut. 

My belated New Year's resolution is to avoid reading those "golly gee whiz, this sure is a beautiful, swell place with lots of friendly folks. I'm so happy to be here" blogs for fear of aggravating my already sensitive stomach.





Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Baltimore vs. Washington: A Taiwanese Rivalry?

A Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation 台灣菸酒公司 "research and development center" located close to my daughter's kindergarten. Although there's a large poster of a bottle of beer on the side of the building, cigarettes are produced here. You can often smell the aroma of rolled fags (that's British English for those who aren't in the know) as you pass by

From the sports desks of the Associated Press, courtesy of Japan Today:

Taiwanese left-hander Wei-yin Chen 陳偉殷 and the Baltimore Orioles have agreed to a three-year contract worth $11,338,000 (NT337.9 million), a move aimed at improving a starting rotation that struggled last year.

  
Chen went 36-30 with a 2.48 ERA in 117 games, including 88 starts, over the last four seasons with the Chūnichi Dragons 中日ドラゴンズ of Japan’s Central League セントラル・リーグ. The 26-year-old will become the first Orioles player born in Taiwan.
  
Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette says Chen has “exceptional command” with a 92-94 mph (148-150 kph) fastball and a hard breaking ball as his “out pitch.”
  
Chen gets a $250,000 (NT7.45 million) signing bonus and salaries of $3,072,000 (NT91.5 million) this year, $3,572,000 (NT106.4 million) in 2013 and $4,072,000 (NT121.3 million) in 2014. The Orioles have a $4.75 million (NT141.5 million) option for 2015 with a $372,000 (NT11.1 million) buyout. 

The China Post's article on Chen's deal adds some additional details:

If Chen makes the Orioles roster, he will become the first Taiwanese player to have played at Japanese professional baseball before singed by a U.S. Major League team.

He will also become the first local player to sign multi-year contract with an MLB team. 

Chien-ming Wang 王建民 of the Washington Nationals had previously sought a multi-year contract during his years with the New York Yankees failed in the attempt. 

Chen's reported deal with the Orioles pays him just under US$4 million a year and therefore does not rank as the highest single-year salary paid to a Taiwanese player in the U.S.

That record is still held by Wang, who made US$5 million (NT149 million) in 2009 in his last year with the Yankees...

 ...The southern city Kaohsiung 高雄-native will be the second starting pitcher signed by new Orioles GM Dan Duquette out of the Japanese leagues this offseason, joining Japanese lefty Tsuyoshi Wada 和田毅.

The Orioles previously signed the 30-year-old Japanese southpaw under a two-year, US$8.15 million (¥627.4 million) deal.

Chen is also the first Taiwanese player to be signed by the Baltimore team.

Though the Orioles hope Chen will fit into their starting rotation, the Taiwanese lefty will face stiff competition, with eight pitchers potentially vying for only five starting slots.

Though their teams are in different leagues, Baltimore and Washington are natural geographic rivals, and should meet every season (especially from 2013, when the Houston Astros move from the National League Central to the American League West). Should Wen make the Orioles' rotation, you can expect a great deal of local interest when his team and the Nationals play each other.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Further clarification

Today's Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ has the Kyōdō News 共同通信社 account on the apparent end to the case of the tragic murders of two Taiwanese students last week:

A 30-year-old Taiwanese man wanted on suspicion of fatally stabbing two female students from Taiwan at their apartment in Tōkyō's 東京 Taitō Ward 台東区 on Thursday has committed suicide in Nagoya 名古屋, police said Monday.

Chang Chih-yang 張志揚, who had been missing since Thursday, slashed his throat with a knife while being taken in for questioning by police, Tōkyō police said.

Questions are being asked as to why the police failed to search and handcuff Chang before taking him into custody, but for all intents and purposes, his death brings this terrible episode to its sad conclusion.

Today was a glorious one weather-wise, which only added to the disappointment I felt when I discovered I wouldn't be able to get in one final hike before our departure to the U.S. this Friday. I had intended on doing a loop along Trails 5, 2 and 3 by approaching from the Zhongxingling 中興嶺 area, a ridge located behind the Dakeng 大坑 mountain region. To my bitter surprise, however, the narrow lane leading to the No. 5 trailhead was pretty much impassable due to some road surfacing work. Instead of the chance of trying out a new hiking/walking route, I had to content myself with riding my scooter around the top of the ridge. At least the scenery made up for some of the frustration I was feeling.

The mountain in the background is the one traversed by Dakeng trails 1-5.

Looking down on the mushroom farms of Xinshe 新社

The Central Mountain Range  中央山脈 looks large in the background


A road sign pointed the way to a "Radio Station", so I duly followed. The signs outside indicated the complex belonged to Chunghwa Telecom 中華電信, but the camouflaged antenna suggested something else. I wasn't sure about the legality of taking pictures of the site. If it is illegal to have done so, I'll save the government the time and trouble of tracking me down - it was me. I did it.

The power of pork - a new, expensive-looking and unused pedestrian bridge spanning a dry riverbed, in an expansive area filled with vacant lots and roads with little vehicle traffic.



Monday, January 9, 2012

Clearly speaking




As you can see in the pictures above, we've had some really clear weather recently. The first two photos were taken around noon today, while the last one was shot in the late afternoon. The line of mountains in the distance are part of the Central Mountain Range 中央山脈, and it isn't often that they can be seen through the usual haze and smog. 

Also apparently becoming clearer is the search for the killer of the two young Taiwanese women murdered last Thursday in Tōkyō 東京. The Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ ran the Kyōdō News 共同通信社 story on the not-so-surprising suspect in the case:

A Taiwanese man is being sought in connection with the fatal stabbings of two female Taiwanese students in Taitō Ward 台東区, Tōkyō police said Sunday.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Chang Chih-yang 張志揚, 30, who has been missing since Thursday after telling his roommate at around 10 a.m. that he was going to Ōsaka 大阪. Chang was a student at the same Japanese language school the slain women attended.

Police suspect Chang of killing Lin Chih-ying 林芷瀅, 22, and Chu Li-chieh 朱立婕, 24, at around 9 a.m. Thursday at an apartment rented by the school as a dorm, police said. The two women each had about 10 stab wounds, mostly around their necks, and the cause of death was apparently blood loss, police said.

Chang is believed to have been fond of Lin as he recently complained that she had been giving him the cold shoulder since mid-December. He was spotted by security cameras near the crime scene at around the same time as the murders, police said.

On the day they were killed, Lin promised to go on a trip with male friends from the school. They were to meet at a subway station at 9:30 a.m., but when Lin failed to show, her friends contacted a school official who used a duplicate key to enter the apartment where the women were found.

Lin was found lying in the hallway in a jacket and boots, while Chu was found bleeding in the room's bottom bunk bed. 

Japan Today has a similar article on its website.

When this story first broke, I had a feeling that the killer might have been another Taiwanese. Not because I think a Japanese is incapable of murder (they are, just like anybody else), nor because Taiwanese people are more prone to killing (they certainly aren't). The reason I thought so is that it seemed that in most cases where foreign students are murdered, the killer or killers often turned out to be compatriots, or at least fellow classmates. I don't have any crime statistics to back up that last assertion, but it is a fact that in most murder cases, the victim(s) knew their killer(s). Add to that the tendency among students studying abroad to socialize with classmates from their home countries, and/or with others studying at the same school, and the odds increased in this particular case that the main suspect would turn out to be from Taiwan. 

According to the latest news, which I heard from a student this evening, Chang committed suicide, and it appears the case is being brought to a close. A sad end all around.









Saturday, January 7, 2012

The Americanization of Amber...an ongoing process

My daughter the ballerina

My daughter the cyclist


My daughter the quarterback. After a bit of bicycle riding on the Dongfong Bicycle Trail 東豐自行車綠廊 this afternoon, I introduced Amber to some of the finer points of football, American-style. Using a colorful Nerf ball that she received as a stocking stuffer a couple of Christmases ago, I showed my daughter some aspects of the gridiron game (aka That Which Is Not Soccer) - hiking, punting, passing and scoring touchdowns. This evening, I played for her some highlights on YouTube from recent college and NFL games. Next week, when we'll be back in the United States on a visit, she said she wants to watch some playoff games on TV with me.

Is this what happens when a father wishes for a son instead of a daughter? Hardly. When my wife was pregnant, it was Pamela who was hoping the baby would be a boy - my wish came true when it turned out our child was going to be a girl. No, exposing my daughter to the game of football is part of the continuing process to promote an American identity within Amber. Being a bi-cultural child (yes, it's PC, but the term is much preferable to the "mixed" moniker which still prevails here in Taiwan), my little girl is going to draw from two different worlds as she develops as a person. As long as we reside in Taiwan, the Asian half of her background will naturally dominate. Though her English is very good, Amber is still a better speaker when it comes to conversing in Mandarin Chinese. Going to a regular kindergarten, as opposed to a bilingual school such as the one I teach at on weekday mornings and afternoons, ensures that a lot of Taiwanese cultural values are being instilled into her. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's still important that she is equally exposed to American things, so that she doesn't feel like a stranger in a strange land when me make our annual visits back to Washington state. 

Football is but a small part of the process (as is baseball, at least as it's played in the Major Leagues). Every morning while eating breakfast, Amber will watch a DVD from the U.S. Some of her favorite shows include Elmo's World (from Sesame Street), Dora the Explorer, The Backyardigans and Curious George (and breakfast itself usually features foods such as English muffins and waffles, and the occasional bowl of cereal). When she wants to play computer games, web sites such as Nick Jr. and PBS Kids are the preferred sites. In this manner, Amber is constantly exposed to the same naturally-spoken English that American kids hear coming out of their TV sets and computer speakers (before I'm accused of cultural imperialism, my daughter is also a big fan of The Wiggles, and has no problem with their Australian accents and expressions - anything age-appropriate is fine, as long as the English is natural). One rule that has been strictly followed in our household is that if a program originates from an English-speaking country, our daughter can only watch it in the original language - no episodes of Dora or Thomas the Tank Engine dubbed into Chinese for our young one.

Music is another area where I've tried to get Amber comfortable in English. On YouTube I've created a playlist of famous American folk songs, ranging from This Land is Your Land to Yankee Doodle, as well more contemporary favorites like Puff the Magic Dragon and classic early Beach Boys numbers. When we're in the car, we keep the radio tuned to ICRT, Taiwan's only English-language radio station. The music is generally generic Top 40 stuff, but Amber enjoys singing along, and is developing a repertoire of favorite pop songs. We're also working on her reading skills, and she recently went through a book of Dick and Jane short stories, just as her old man did when he was around six years old.

Speaking of elementary school, Amber will begin first grade this September. Although we've considered private, bilingual (Chinese-English) schools, at this point it looks as though we'll enroll her in a local public school. If that happens, I intend to rearrange my work schedules so that I'll be free in the afternoons to go over with her what she will have learned that day at school, but doing so in English, of course. I'd also like to teach her other subjects, such as U.S. history - Founding Fathers, the American Revolution, Lincoln, slavery and the Civil War and so on - as well as work on her grammar, reading and writing skills.

That's the plan, anyway. September is still months' away, and the best-laid plans have a way of being altered by forces not under our control. For the immediate future, as in the second half of this month, Amber will be in the USA, spending time with her grandparents and her aunt, watching cartoons on TV, eating at Denny's and IHOP, and perhaps getting a chance to play in the snow or see a star-filled night sky.

Unfortunately, we'll be back in Taiwan when Super Bowl Sunday rolls around.

Fengyuan 豐原 in the late afternoon






Friday, January 6, 2012

Perspective

Downtown Fengyuan 豐原 on a chilly, drizzly Friday evening

My day got off to a bad start this morning when I realized that I couldn't find my bank book or ATM card. Despite an extensive search of the apartment, not the mention the scooter and car, neither item could be located. In the end, I had to give up a morning of work (along with a mornings' worth of pay) in order to go downtown to the bank, and apply for new ones. Not the best way to begin the day, but in the grand scheme of life, it was an extremely trivial and minor annoyance. From Japan Today came this story of two Taiwanese women who were stabbed to death in their apartment in Tōkyō 東京 to things into their proper perspectives:

Two Taiwanese women were found with stab wounds to their necks in their 2nd-floor apartment in Tōkyō’s Taitō Ward 台東区 on Thursday morning, police said. The two women, aged 21 and 23, were taken to hospital where they were confirmed dead.

According to Fuji TV フジテレビ, the two women were Japanese-language students at the nearby Intercultural Institute of Japan. The apartment building was rented by their Japanese language school as a dorm for the students. 

One of the women was supposed to leave for the school with two male Taiwanese friends at 9:30 a.m., but when she didn’t show up, the two alerted school authorities, Fuji reported. A teacher used a duplicate key to get into the apartment where he found the two women, and alerted police. 

A tragic story with a local angle such as this one has naturally attracted a lot of media interest here in Taiwan, though this morning's TV news programs were devoting a lot of coverage to Chen Shui-bian's  陳水扁 temporary release from prison in order to pay his respects to his recently-deceased mother-in-law. NHK News (Channel 107 in my area) also gave the story prominent coverage. To become a parent who has outlived his/her child is a terrible fate that I would never wish on anybody.

Returning to things that don't really matter...


Pictured above is a 330ml bottle of Strawberry Beer. According to the label, it's "The Best Fresh Strawberry Beer in Taiwan Which is Brewed with Local Non-toxic Natural Strawberry". AFAIK, it's the only strawberry beer brewed in Taiwan. When I first saw it at the Yumaowu Capita'n Supermarket 裕毛屋開福登連鎖超市 on Chongde Road 崇德路 in Taichung (Tái​zhōng) 台中, I had hoped it was a rare example of a Taiwanese craft beer. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a new product from the Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation 台灣菸酒公司, the state-owned behemoth responsible for the Budweiser-like Taiwan Beer 台灣啤酒. Still, I bought a bottle anyway, as one should keep an open mind about these sorts of things. Strawberry Beer turned out to taste more like strawberry cola, and despite the 9% alcohol content figure printed on the label, it had the same effect as a soft drink. At NT150 ($5/¥380), it was a waste of money, but I suppose credit should be given to TTL for at least trying something different.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Out with the old, in with the...old


A picture of my class of third-graders, taken yesterday afternoon at the cram school where I work. Many of the children are bundled up because even though the outside temperature was just around 15°C (less than 60°F), the lack of central heating (as you would find in the U.S.) or kerosene heaters (commonly used in Japan during the winter months) means that the concrete-and-tile classrooms can get extremely chilly. The girl in the lower right is Cherry, one of my brightest and most inquisitive students. She loves nothing better than to draw, and her caricatures are quite good. I wonder, though, if the Taiwanese educational system will eventually grind that love of art right out of her. The "examination hell" system that constitutes schooling in this country begins to kick in from the fourth grade.

It may be a new year, but 2012 begins with a same old tired story. As the BBC and other news outlets have reported (article and video), the Senkaku Islands 尖閣諸島 are back in the news again. China is upset that a small group of Japanese citizens, including a couple of local politicians from Ishigaki Island 石垣島, which has administrative jurisdiction over the Senkakus), made a brief landing on one of the islands on Tuesday. The Chinese government issued a formal protest, and a dozen rabid Chinese nationalists attempted to set sail for what they refer as the Diaoyu Islands, or Diaoyutai 釣魚台群島. It appears that cooler heads will prevail over this latest incident, however, as authorities in Hong Kong moved to stop the planned flotilla, while police in Japanese are investigating the matter as the Japanese who ventured to the Senkakus landed without permission. 

While the media are characterizing this as a Sino-Japanese dispute, AFP's report on the story does make brief mention of Taiwan's position:

"Taiwan also protested to Japan. 'We reiterate that the Diaoyu islands are part of our territory and we oppose any remarks or actions by Japan that violate our sovereignty,' said foreign ministry spokesman James Chang.

Taiwan’s de facto embassy in Tōkyō 東京 has been instructed to lodge a formal protest to Japan, he added."

(link to the full article in Japan Today) 

Territorial disputes between nations are complicated affairs (the BBC has a short Q&A on the Senkakus), but basically Japan annexed the islands in early 1895, declaring them to be Terra nullius ("territory which has never been subject to the sovereignty of any state, or over which any prior sovereign has expressly or implicitly relinquished sovereignty" - Wikipedia). The Senkaku group became part of what is now modern-day Okinawa Prefecture 沖縄県. For decades, the Chinese government seemingly accepted the Senkakus as Japanese territory, and made no claim to the island group when the United States took over administration of Okinawa at the end of the Second World War - the Chinese Communist rulers in the early 1950's even went so far as to include the Senkakus (using the Japanese name instead of Diaoyu) in demanding independence for American-controlled Okinawa. It wasn't until geologic surveys in the mid-to-late 1960's suggested the possibility of oil and gas reserves in the waters around the Senkakus that the rival governments in Taiwan and China began asserting sovereignty over them. Control over the islands returned to Japan in 1972 as part of the reversion of Okinawa from American to Japanese control, and the dispute has continued since then.

For the longest time, a key pillar in Taiwan's claim to the Senkakus was that supposedly in 1940 a Tōkyō court ruled that the islands should be under the jurisdiction of Taiwan (at the time a Japanese colony) and not Okinawa. However, there appears to be little evidence of such a ruling having ever been handed down, and mentions of it have disappeared in recent years. Beijing frequently trots out the "indisputable sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands which have been an inherent part of China since ancient times" line, with its underlying inference of "once Chinese, always Chinese". It may not happen over the Senkaku Islands, but somewhere down the line there is going to be a serious clash between 21st-century notions of international law and China's aspirations to re-establish the boundaries of the Manchu Empire of the 17th and 18th centuries.




Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Monkey see

2012 is going to be an "unnerving year for Northeast Asia", according to the editorial writers at the Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ. Elections are going to be held in Russia, South Korea, the United States and, of course, here, the results of which could bring about substantial changes in regional politics and relations:

"The first ballots will take place in Taiwan, where both presidential and parliamentary elections will be held together for the first time on Jan. 14. President Ma Ying-jeou 馬英九, who took office four years ago, is battling Democratic Progressive Party 民主進步黨 nominee Tsai Ing-wen 蔡英文, and at this point the race is too close to call.

The most notable feature of the Ma presidency has been the calming of cross-strait relations and there is a fear that a Tsai victory will roil the relationship as did the last DPP president, Mr. Chen Shui-bian 陳水扁, who was forthright in his support for Taiwan independence. Ms. Tsai has tried to dampen concern but the Beijing government worries that lightning will strike twice.

Nonetheless, a Tsai win could prove destabilizing. Not only because Beijing fears a DPP victory, but because China is undergoing a leadership transition of its own as President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao turn over their offices to the fifth generation. Authoritarian societies are inflexible at the best of times, and changes at the top, even if planned, exacerbate hardline tendencies as followers jockey for position.

There is little inclination on the mainland to tolerate Taiwan's democratic foibles, but China has learned to be low key with its complaints, recognizing that overt intervention is only likely to antagonize Taiwanese voters. No one wants cross-strait relations to deteriorate — and they do not have to, regardless of the election outcome — but the congruence of two leadership changes is likely to generate friction regardless of intent."

The best outcome for Taiwan would be a Tsai victory over the corrupt, blood-stained Chinese Nationalists, aka the Kuomintang  中國國民黨. However, what Taiwan needs is often not what the major players in Northeast Asia desire. "Stability" is the operative word here, and stability means having a Taiwanese leader who would do his best to keep the Chinese placated. Tsai may be the right choice, for both moral and historical reasons (she would be the island's first female president if elected), but there is no guarantee the Taiwanese electorate will make the right call. Just as large segments of the working poor in the United States continually cast their ballots for Republicans in congressional and presidential elections, so too do many Taiwanese voters vote against their own best interests. These people might strongly identify with Taiwan and not with China, yet they continue to elect (and reelect) KMT candidates. The lure of pork barrel politics often triumphs over concerns for the dangerous erosion of national identity. 

Fortunately for Taiwan, we'll be out of the country on election day. Due to complex Freudian family relationships, my wife is a strong supporter of the KMT, but thanks to the lack of absentee voting here, she won't be able to cast a ballot before we leave for the U.S. That's one less vote for the blue side. I'm not allowed to participate in the electoral process here (nor would I want to), but I've done what I can to help ;-)

Politics is a noisy business in Taiwan, but at least I was able to escape some of that this afternoon by fleeing to the mountains of Dakeng 大坑. I took an easy walk along Trail No. 5 - easy in the sense that I usually approach this trail by first climbing the No. 1 (or No. 2) Trail, then finish the hike by descending the No. 2 (or No. 1), which makes for over 2½ hours of steady progression. Today, however, I cut out the steep ascent/descent by approaching the start of the No. 5 Trail from the rear, by way of Zhongxing Mt. 中興嶺. This effectively lopped off around 90 minutes from my usual trek, but as I prefer the longer sojourns, I'll revert to the traditional approaches the next I do the No. 5. As it was, much as changed on the trail since my last visit. New wooden staircases have been constructed, and in some places the path has been widened. There were more people than usual on this trail today, perhaps because of the easier accessibility. Shorter walking times, easier trails and the lack of good views - though it was sunny and warm in Dakeng this afternoon, haze obscured both the city of Taichung 台中  to the west, and the Central Mountain Range 中央山脈 to the east - could have made for a disappointing day out.

Thank god for the monkeys. While walking along the ridge past the point where the No. 1 Trail joins the top, I had to answer the call of nature. Venturing off into the forest to take care of business, I heard the familiar grunts and sounds of heavy movements through the trees. In the distance, behind an orchard, were several monkeys cavorting in the foliage. They were too far way for me to get any decent photos, but I was close enough that they noticed my presence, and were shaking the branches at me in an effort to scare me off. After watching them from afar for a while, I returned to the trail, and in just a matter of moments, came across a small group of four macaques 台灣獼猴. These ones were much closer, and while leery, nevertheless made no attempt to run off. As I result, I was able to take these shots and videos:




No matter how many times I encounter macaques while hiking in Dakeng, I never get tired of stopping to watch them. I'm fortunate that I have time on a weekday afternoon to hit the hills, for on weekends, when the noisy hordes swamp the trails, I'm pretty certain the monkeys retreat into the depths of the forest. I'm not particularly happy about having to live where I am, but I do appreciate the chances to interact with nature that I have in my area. It helps to keep me sane, and I'll need all the sanity I can preserve if Ma gets another four years to try and bring this island closer to China.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

2012 Taichung Restaurant

Happy New Year, 新年快樂 and 明けましておめでとうございます to one and all. May this year be a great one!

My family welcomed in 2012 this afternoon by paying a visit to my friend Steve and his family in Taichung 台中. Before doing so, however, we treated ourselves to a nice lunch at a theme restaurant located along the Art Museum Parkway 美術綠園道 in the western part of Taichung. 1924 Shanghai Restaurant 新月梧桐 attempts to evoke the splendor of the glory days of pre-World War II Shanghai, with old photographs adorning the walls and antiques on display in glass cases throughout the establishment. Among the dishes we had for lunch were seafood rolls, tofu with crab meat, lamb and crunchy eel. Everything was very tasty, and well worth the expense. We can't afford to eat this well every outing, but we certainly got the new year off to a delicious start.


My wife and daughter pose inside 1924 Shanghai. At this point, you're probably wondering why there aren't any mouthwatering photographs of the food, or any more shots of the restaurant's interior. That's because I started off 2012 by forgetting the check the battery level on my digital camera. After this photo had been taken, it was "That's all, folks" for any more pics (you can follow the above link to see more of 1924 Shanghai). It wasn't until we were outside, and taking a stroll along the parkway, that the thought occurred to me that I could use my cell phone in place of the digital camera:


I do hope that "d'oh!" isn't going to be my buzzword for the new year.