tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497220891386919340.post4284907514505282970..comments2024-01-25T00:27:26.716+08:00Comments on A Curmudgeon Abroad : X-nayKaminogehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07925637671913689331noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497220891386919340.post-7909929598289354772011-11-09T23:07:42.995+08:002011-11-09T23:07:42.995+08:00When you're forced to drive a car like I am (t...When you're forced to drive a car like I am (there is no way I'm going to take my young daughter around on a scooter), it's surprising how quickly you can adapt when you have to. As I said earlier, if someone is confident enough in their driving abilities, I wouldn't discourage them from getting around in a car or on a scooter - even to the places you mentioned. Perceptions are relative - driving conditions here are far more dangerous compared to Japan, but a friend of mine who lives in the Philippines couldn't understand what all the fuss was about traffic-wise when he came to visit me here.<br /><br />Re the NPM, it all depends on what the individual is interested in. I would never drag anyone there if they had little interest in art, but conversely I wouldn't discourage anyone from visiting it, either. My best friend from high school is here in Taichung because his interest in Taiwan initially came from studying Chinese Art History in college. Another old friend (who sadly passed away a couple of years ago) came to visit me once, and we made a quick 48-hour visit to Taipei while he was here. Top of his list of places to see was the National Palace Museum, which was the highlight of the trip for him. Who am I to have told him that he was missing out on other things? I had a co-worker whose favorite place in this country was Yingge (she was a ceramics buff - pottery over people). Taiwan means different things to different people, and they get no more or less out of it than anyone else.<br /><br />I agree with what matters for travel and loving a place is a gut feeling. And such feelings are derived mainly from personal experiences. My reasons for ending up in Taiwan are uniquely my own, and form the basis for my opinion that Taiwan is vastly underrated as a tourist destination by those on the outside, but by the same token overrated as a place to live by those on the inside. <br /><br />BTW, I read your post on "defending" Taipei, and it's a good one. I lived for 10 years in Tokyo, and I often heard that I wasn't living in the "real" Japan. However, I also lived and worked in Yokkaichi, a nondescript industrial city in central Honshu, and from my experiences, there is a much greater degree of separation between Taipei and the rest of Taiwan than that which I found regarding Tokyo vs. the rest of Japan. Of course Taipei is Taiwan, and the people there are Taiwanese. But after marriage, I lived for a couple of years above my brother-in-law's label-making factory in Shengang, which was a small township that is now part of Greater Taichung. Our neighborhood (the whole area, in fact) was made up of small factories and farms. This may sound idyllic, but it wasn't, and the fact our neighbor was a thug, a gangster with a violent temper who was taken away by the police on one occasion, certainly didn't help things. An evening out meant going into Fengyuan to eat at one of the numerous, but indistinguishable, noodle or rice restaurants, with entertainment options limited to a single old movie theater, a small department store and the odd bar or two which never stayed in business for very long. Getting out of town meant visiting the in-laws in Xiluo, in Yunlin County, which was basically Shengang on a slightly larger scale. "My Taiwan" bore little resemblance to the Taiwan (read "Taipei" 90% of the time) that I was reading about online. Again, perceptions are colored by experiences, both within Taiwan and outside of it. <br /><br />Thanks for taking the time to comment. Keep up the good work on your blog - it puts mine to shame.Kaminogehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07925637671913689331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497220891386919340.post-5888510797853099082011-11-09T20:34:24.374+08:002011-11-09T20:34:24.374+08:00Also:
1.) I draw more on my own travel experience...Also:<br /><br />1.) I draw more on my own travel experience in other Asian countries - and don't think Taiwan is the only best place. I also strongly recommend India and (surprisingly) Bangladesh, but on another branch. Not due to experiences from friends and acquaintances, but because I've been there. Every country in Asia that I mention I've been to personally.<br /><br />2.) Statistics schmatistics: what matters for travel and loving a place is a gut feeling. That's what I go for. By statistics of things to do, how famous the sites are, cultural knowledge etc., the arrow points to China as the place to pick (and yes, I've lived in China), but I'd recommend Taiwan based on many more intangibles (and some tangibles, such as pollution levels).Jenna Lynn Codyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04032277820150000198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2497220891386919340.post-65507959496185607662011-11-09T20:29:09.190+08:002011-11-09T20:29:09.190+08:00You do realize that the reason I'm terrified o...You do realize that the reason I'm terrified of driving in Taiwan is because I have driven a car once in five years? I don't have the opportunity to drive when I visit home (parents need the cars for work). Even before that I think I drove on my own possibly ten times at most.<br /><br />Would you want to drive in Taiwan if you had as little experience as I do? Would you risk mountain roads and scooters/taxi drivers disobeying the law?<br /><br />I did rent a car a few times with a friend who is a much better driver than I am. She drove, I navigated (that's something I'm good at, and I can read the Chinese - she couldn't). She is a fantastic driver - and *she* was freaked out by the roads up to Hehuan Mountain and along the Qingshui Cliffs. I have very little experience - would *you* trust me behind that wheel? I wouldn't.<br /><br />And I stand by my words, by the way. With 24 hours in Taipei, skip the NPM. With more time, go. But it hasn't been the highlight of my time here, by far. I like people more than pottery.<br /><br />(And I was kind of half-joking about it "not being Taiwanese", but enough that I think it was ridiculous to single that out as the main reason, when my main reason was that the poster's time was too short).Jenna Lynn Codyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04032277820150000198noreply@blogger.com