Thursday Morning 木曜日の朝

Scenes from my walk this morning.今朝の散歩の写真

In the area of Chung-cheng Park 中正公園 are some ruins. Ruins of what I'm not sure - maybe an activity center, or a school of some sort (as my wife thinks). Whatever it was, it appears to have been damaged in the September 21, 1999 Chi Chi (Jiji) Earthquake 集集大地震, and subsequently abandoned. The area is blocked off to prevent entry (though it wasn't difficult to hop over a railing to get in), but somebody goes inside because there's a Taoist temple/shrine on the grounds that is well-maintained:

"Fute Chengshen (Fude Jhengshen)" 福徳正神, the local god in these parts

On my way home I passed by this sign, in front of an apartment building on a narrow side street in Fengyuan. It appears to have been put up by someone who obviously doesn't believe in the Republic of China. "Furuton" is actually "Hulutun (Huludun)", the old name for Fengyuan (Fongyuan とよはら 豊原). Wishful thinking?:

Boxing Day ボクシングデー

Not being a Commonwealth country, Boxing Day isn't celebrated in Taiwan. But I at least had the morning free as the school where I work on Tuesday and Thursday mornings is taking the week off. And of course what better way to enjoy the absolutely beautiful morning we had today by going for a walk in the Chung-cheng (Jhong-jheng) Park 中正公園 area?

今朝暇があったから豊原市の丘で歩いていた。

Christmas Eve クリスマスイブ

It's only Christmas Eve today, but tomorrow isn't a holiday in Taiwan, so we celebrated Christmas a day early. This was Amber's first Christmas, and we gave her several gifts. She was very serious about the whole matter, until she heard the first notes from her music maker, and was all smiles after that for the rest of the day.

台湾には１２月２５日は休日じゃないから、今日はAmberの初めてクリスマスを祝った。

In the afternoon we drove to a section of the Tanyashen Bicycle Trail here in Shenkang (Shengang かみおか 神岡). Originally a Sugar Railway line, it has been converted into a popular bike trail linking Tantzu (Tanzih), Taya (Daya) and Shenkang. Amber, of course, is too young to go cycling, but the road is also good for strollers (as long as you're careful to stay to the side of the trail). A segment of Taiwan's high-speed rail line, aka the "Bullet Train" 新幹線, crosses the trail at the section we visited today. It was originally supposed to have started operations in 2003, but as of today (December 24, 2006) this boondoggle still hasn't received final approval from the government to go into service (though we did hear or see several test runs of the train go by while we were there). 

「Tanyashen」という自転車の道の写真。

(in the background is the bullet train tracks)

(if you build it in Taiwan, the vendors will come)

The day wouldn't be complete without the obligatory panorama shot, this one taken at dusk and showing the elevated bullet train line

自転車の道のパノラマ

Merry Christmas!

メリークリスマス！

Kerosene 灯油

Ah, the sweet smell of a kerosene heater. Some may find it smelly, but to me it's very 懐かしい. Coming home from work this evening and stepping inside the apartment was like stepping back in time. One of the things we had sent to Taiwan from Yokkaichi was our kerosene heater, which had kept us nice and warm through a typically cold Japanese winter. However, due to Taiwan's subtropical climate and relative scarcity of kerosene, the heater remained unpacked until now. With the addition of Amber to our family and the consequent need to keep her warm, Pamela did some searching and found the local gas station sells kerosene (at a price relatively more expensive than in Yokkaichi, however). And so, for a brief moment tonight, I was transported back to Japan...

For me, the smell of kerosene will always be associated the Land of the Rising Sun. My first visit to Japan was in late January of 1989, and the ryokan 旅館 where I stayed in Tamachi 田町 upon arrival in Tokyo used a kerosene heater to keep my room warm. Thus did "toyu" 灯油 become the smell of Japan for me. Subsequent travels during Japanese winters, not to mention visits to homes in Gumma 群馬 and Nagano 長野 during the cold months, further reinforced the connection. A kerosene heater may not be a necessity during the short winter season here in Taiwan, but for this misplaced 外人 it's like seeing an old friend again.

ばからしいお父さん

After a cold, wet, windy and miserable Saturday, Sunday came in cold and windy, but sunny. The temperature in our apartment was 15 degrees centigrade (59 F) when I left for Chung-cheng (Jhong-jheng) Park 中正公園 for a noontime walk in the hills. 15 degrees would be a warm day in Japan during winter, but for Taiwanese it means breaking out the parkas. Despite the strong wind, I couldn't have asked for better weather - bright sunshine and clean, clear skies. Everything looked particularly nice today.

今日は寒く風が強い日けれど、とても晴れただから、中正公園に散歩に行った。

 

After returning home, we decided to take Amber out to a local park to enjoy the remaining hours of sunshine before it got too late (and colder).

うちに帰って後、ぼくたちは Amber と近い公園に連れて行くを決めた。
Here's Amber wearing her wig hat:

After arriving at the park, we put Amber into her stroller and started out. Unfortunately, disaster soon struck. While I was holding Amber in my arms so that Pamela could take a picture, I noticed the stroller moving away from us. I always lock the stroller wheels in place when it's stationary. Always, that is, except for this time. And this time the stroller, free of Amber's weight, was pushed along by the wind and propelled into a muddy pool of water! I was able to retrieve the stroller, but everything was sopping wet and coated in mud. I thought our 9000 NT stroller ($275 or ￥33,000) was going to be a write-off, but Pamela suggested we immediately go to her brother's factory nearby, where we hosed it down. It's still there, drying off. I suppose I'll soon see the humor of the situation, but at the moment I'm still feeling like a bloody idiot.

運悪く公園で事故を起こった。ぼくはベビーカーの車輪が錠をすることを忘れてしまって、ベビーカーは強い風によって汚い池に吹いた。

Although our park visit was cut short, in the end we drove up to the golf course around sunset to see the view of Fengyuan (Fongyuan とよはら 豊原)at dusk.

豊原の夕暮れ眺め。

See, I'm smiling again.

UPDATE: The stroller has been saved! In fact, it's cleaner than it's ever been, so perhaps The Incident In The Park On Sunday was actually a godsend.

Japan Times

The Japan Times had an editorial the other day on the recent mayoral elections in Taipei (たいほく 台北) and Kaohsiung (たかお 高雄). As Michael Turton notes in The View from Taiwan "...it's a simple commentary, and yet, better balanced than many". Michael has an excellent analysis of the elections ("Election Reflection") on the same site.

Driver's Licenses 運転免許証

According to the Japan Times this morning, the Japanese government may soon allow Taiwanese to use Taiwanese driver's licenses during short-term stays in Japan, a small step in the ever-closer relationship between the two countries. The article further states that people with Japanese driver's licenses may be allowed to use them to drive in Taiwan. My Japanese license is valid until 2009. I wonder how a Taiwanese police officer would react to seeing me with one of those?

A busy day 忙しい日

Today was one of those days where you found yourself running all over town, taking care of one thing after another. We had to take our laptop to Taichung in order to get the hard drive replaced. As it took about five hours to get done, we killed the time by first going to the 2006 Korean Expo at the Taichung World Trade Center 台中世界貿易センター. Pamela picked up some kimchi and spicy mushrooms, while Amber, as usual, enjoyed the attention she got from some of the people there.

Next, it was on to the Wang Kao Liao (Wang Gao Liao) lookout point on top of Tatu (Dadu) Mountain. The Takeng area was hidden by a layer of smog, but the towering mountains behind them were clearly visible.

The last stop we made before picking up the computer was at Toys 'R' US to do some Christmas shopping. Here is Amber's first encounter with Santa Claus. As the sign notes, only 16 more shopping days before Xmas!

Conspiracy theories 共謀の見解

This morning's Japan Times has an editorial on the continuing difficulties being faced by Taiwan's president, Chen Shui-bian. What struck me were the opening lines:

“Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian has dodged yet another bullet. Unlike the failed assassination attempt during his last election campaign, this attack was metaphorical.”

The JT editorial staff obviously accepts that an assassination attempt occurred on March 19, 2004 against Chen and his running mate on the eve of the presidential election. Compare this with the editorial in today's China Post, entitled “Finding out the truth of the 3-18 shooting incident” (interesting how they got the date wrong). The column is full of statements implying the assassination was staged. Some examples (sorry, I couldn't find the editorial online):

“…Tang Shou-yi, who supposedly made and sold the gun used to shoot President Chen Shui-bian…”

“…the mystery-shrouded shooting incident…”

“…Chen and Lu were reportedly injured by bullets fired from the gun of a would-be assassin…”

“…one of the bullets which supposedly…hit President Chen and Vice-President Lu.”

“…(the would-be assassin) had drowned himself…10 days after the alleged shooting”.

It's clear the China Post thinks the shooting was staged so as to prevent the police and military “who were traditionally supportive of the blue-camp coalition” from voting in the election. What the China Post fails to explain, however, is why the pro-KMT police (in the paper's own words) would be involved in a plot to ensure the re-election of a president they oppose. The China Post has been around since 1952, which means it was the English-language propaganda mouthpiece of the KMT during Taiwan's long authoritarian period. It still trumpets the line that Taiwan is an intrinsic part of the one-China fantasy. So it should come as no surprise that the Post believes Chen was re-elected due to some shadowy conspiracy. Of course, to really prove the whole thing was staged, why not have the losing candidates from 2004, Lien and Soong, re-create the shooting by using their own bodies to show how it was done? With live ammo of course. Then the matter might finally be settled :)

On a clear day...

Today was a very fine day, so I took some photos of Fengyuan from the windows of one of my places of employment. On a clear day, you can see ugly architecture forever.

今日は晴れの日だから、職場から写真を撮った。

Pachinko パチンコ

There are many things that Taiwanse have picked up from Japan over the years. Pachinko, unfortunately, is one of them. There are a lot of places around Taiwan that claim to be pachinko parlors, and Fengyuan is no exception. Here's a sign for one such establishment in downtown Fengyuan, not far from the Miaotung (Miaodong 廟東) Temple:

I love how the sign states the pachinko parlor is exactly 168 meters away. That's 551 feet!

The writing of "pachinko" in katakana パチンコ is frequently seen:

I have no idea how pachinko Taiwanese-style compares to the game in Japan. I've only been inside a pachinko parlor in Japan just once, somewhere outside the town of Kanra 甘楽町 in Gumma Prefecture 群馬県 (and that was around 1989/90!). I lost, which is probably why I never developed a taste for it. And seeing as they look pretty sleazy in Taiwan, I don't think I'll be stepping inside a pachinko parlor here anytime soon.

Late Sunday Afternoon

Despite the overcast skies and cool temperatures this afternoon, we took Amber out to a nearby park, Fengchun Kungyuan (Fongjun Gongyuan). Or should I say "Because of the overcast skies..."? The last thing I want to do is keep my daughter cooped up indoors just because the weather conditions are less than optimal. As you can see from the pictures below, she didn't mind the lack of sunshine one bit.

Before going out, Amber tried on the new hat the mom bought for her yesterday:

So this is what she's going to look like when her hair finally grows in!

At the park:

Fengchun Park has a couple of small Taoist temples on its grounds. This isn't unusual in Taiwan, and I'm sure these ones are unrelated to the fact that this particular park used to be a cemetery. The bodies were supposedly dug up and moved to another location (there are some old graves across the street from the park), but I can't help thinking of that old movie "Poltergeist":

You find these paths everywhere in Taiwan. Stones are embedded in the pavement, and the idea is you walk barefoot over them. Taiwanese believe that by doing so, the "hsuehtao (syuedao)", the points in the human body where acupuncture can be applied, on your feet can be stimulated, and is therefore good for your health. I believe these rocky footpaths would be a very effective way to extract critical information from a criminal/terrorist suspect:

The prize-winning shot of Amber:

The smile at the end of the day that makes these outings so worthwhile:

Early Sunday Afternoon

I just got back from going for a walk in the Chung-cheng (Jhong-jheng) Park 正中公園 area, and what a difference a week makes! This time I didn't get there until close to noon, so by that time the morning market had long since finished. The cool cloudy weather also kept a lot of people away from the trails, but there were plenty of critters out.

A couple of egrets 大鷺 hunting in a stream, very difficult to photograph up close:

Even though it's early December, the spiders クモ are still out there:

Same goes for the butterflies ちょうちょう:

Ditto for this mantis 蟷螂:

Small factories are everywhere in Taiwan, even in the hills and mountains 小さい工場:

Housing 家 (the dome in the background is a nunnery 尼寺):

A distant view, and the obligatory panoramic shot: