Dour, 電通-controlled, family-centric Belgian Neocolonialism, enthusiastically jaded observations, support for state-owned neoliberalist media and occasional rants from the twisted mind of a privileged middle-class expatriate atheist and とてもくだらないひと projecting some leftist ideals with my ridicule of Tucker Carlson (from The Blogs Formerly Known As Sponge Bear and Kaminoge 物語)
*see disclaimer below
Taiwan isn't the first place that comes to mind when thinking of wide-open spaces. This is one of the most-densely populated places on the planet (668 people per km²/1730 per square mile), especially when taking into the account the fact that 90% of the population is crammed onto the west coast, as a result of the Central Mountain Range 中央山脈. Therefore it's always something of a surprise when coming across a relatively vast expanse of land. Thanks to my friend Thoth, Amber and I visited one such place this afternoon, the literally named 19 Hectares Grassland (19 hectares = 47 acres), in the city of Hsinchu 新竹.
Due to the uncertain weather (there was one bolt of lightning that struck uncomfortably close to where we were resting, with a corresponding loud-as-a-cannon peal of thunder) and my little girl's four year-old legs, we were only able to cover a small portion of the grasslands. But there aren't too many places in Taiwan where open land is just that, open and (refreshingly) uncluttered, and Amber was especially excited when a goat-herder and his flock came along to feast on the grass:
In addition to goats, there were bugs to check out, but Amber's enthusiasm evaporated a bit after she took a fall and skinned both of her knees and one elbow (not too seriously, fortunately), so we took a drive into downtown Chunan 竹南. There we met up with Thoth's partner Sharon, and trouped off to a small Vietnamese restaurant for something to drink before getting back into the car for the drive home. All in all, it was a pretty pleasant afternoon, and I wouldn't mind going back to see more the grasslands sometime.
Life in Taiwan can really grate at times. The dirt, pollution, oily/greasy foods, dangerous traffic conditions, hidebound cultural traditions, ugly architecture, poor urban planning and narrow-minded parochialism, among other things (and don't even get me started on the beer situation!), all add up to a lot of wearying stress...
...until one switches to Tourist Mode! Then Taiwan becomes the undiscovered jewel of North East Asia, full of beautiful natural attractions, fascinating historical sites and interesting religious structures, one of which I visited this afternoon in the T'aichung County 台中縣 town of Tachia 大甲 on one of those periodic day trips designed to recharge jaded batteries.
Tachia's main (perhaps only) attraction is Chenlan Temple 鎮瀾宮, home to arguably the most famous Matsu 媽祖 image in all of Taiwan. The temple is the site every year of the Tachia Matsu Culture Festival and the Matsu Holy Pilgrimage, which lasts eight days and involves carrying the temple's image of Matsu to Fengt'ien Temple 奉天宮 in Hsinkang新港, and back again. Even when there aren't any festivities going on, Chenlan Temple is always busy, and on this hot and humid Tuesday afternoon, there was a continuous stream of worshipers, young and old, filing in and out.
Chenlan Temple dates from 1732, though the Main Hall has been tinkered with on numerous occasions over the years, most recently in the 1980's, when the money really started to roll in.
Though surprisingly small considering the temple's fame, the intricate carvings on the ceiling inside, and the rooftop figures are among many of the hall's interesting architectural features:
While looking around inside, I was given an English-language guidebook on the Tachia Matsu. Taiwanese in general are very tolerant of gawking foreigners inside their houses of worship, though it certainly helps when the hairy barbarian does his best to keep out of everyone's way and avoids taking flash photos. While I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth (and the booklet was very informative), I was somewhat bemused by this description of the temple's president, Yen Ching-piao 顔清標:
"He is benevolent, generous and frank. He models himself on Matsu's alms and compassion spirit, and leads Chen Nan Temple team to relieve sufferings by hearing voices, develop strength to serve our society, and create a peaceful and happy land together."
In addition to being chairman of the temple's board of trustees, Yen is also a legislator with deep ties to Taiwan's criminal underworld, and recently served time in prison after being convicted of attempted murder. Yet another reason why Taiwan falls under the rubric of places you would like to visit but not necessarily want to live in - this country is basically a gangster state.
Once you've seen Chenlan Temple, there isn't much else to do in Tachia. I took a short walk along Shunt'ien Road to see Lin's Chastity and Piety Arch. Basically a paean to virginity, it was erected (pun intended) in 1848 to honor a woman who remained "virtuous" for seventy years after her husband died early on in the marriage (when she was twelve years old!).
Turning left onto Kuangming Road, I soon came to the Yu Jen Shin Bakery and did what most visitors to Tachia do - buy some cakes as a souvenir. Described by the Rough Guide Taiwan guidebook as "butter pancakes", these extremely flaky cakes can easily satisfy demanding sweet teeth like mine.
Leaving Tachia, on the ride back to Fengyuan 豐原, I paid a quick visit to the Houli Sugar Tourism Village to enjoy another cup of one of Taiwan's rare craft beers. It tasted just as good as it did a couple of days before, and this time I learned the name of the brewery behind it was Taiwan Sanman Barley-Broo. There was still no information on where to purchase some, however...
There's nothing like spending Father's Day with critters, machines and beer, and that's exactly how the Kaminoge family observed the occasion this afternoon. Our first visit to the e-zoo petting zoo, located in the town of Waip'u 外埔 in T'aichung County 台中縣, turned out to be much better than expected. The three of us had a great time interacting with a handful of the sun goddess' creatures, including snakes, horses, tortoises, ostriches, goats, rabbits, water buffaloes and my wife's favorite, the exotic birds:
This particular bird (Parrot? Cockatoo? Macaw?) was especially animated:
In addition to the animals, Amber took great interest in the heavy equipment, going for spins on a steamroller and an excavator, the latter of which she controlled entirely by herself:
e-zoo sits atop a small hill. From the small one-lane road going in and out, nice views across the plain towards Tachia 大甲 could be had:
A small step forward in the ongoing struggle against Taiwan Beer 台灣啤酒:
On the way home from the zoo, we stopped off at the Houli Sugar Tourism Trap...er, Village in Houli 后里. A Japanese-era sugar mill that has been refitted for the modern-day leisure crowd (with a never-ending caravan of tour buses rolling in), the Thing To Do here is eat ice cream. Among the many souvenir shops, however, I was pleased to find a store selling locally-produced wines and paichiu 白酒. The cinnamon-flavored kind was a treat, but I was even happier to learn there were sample cups of a craft beer available for purchase:
In a classic case of Good News/Bad News, the good news was that the lager tasted great! The bad news was that the shop didn't have any cans or bottles for sale, nor was there any information on hand about the beer itself (including its name) or where to obtain some, other than the fact it most definitely WAS NOT a product of the infamous Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation 台灣菸酒公司. Still, it shows that out there in the Taiwanese beer-drinking wasteland, new life is springing up through cracks in the parched ground. I'll drink to that. 乾杯！
In celebration of Father's Day tomorrow (at least in the United States, Japan and 53 other countries around the world - more on that later), this status-symbol seeking elitist snob was treated by his wife and daughter to a veritable craft beer fest at the Gordon Biersch restaurant in T'aichung 台中. For those of you who don't know, the Gordon Biersch Brewing Company is an American brewery that started out in Palo Alto, CA and is now based in Chattanooga, TN (I didn't know any of that either, and looked this all up on Wikipedia). The restaurant is a welcoming piece of Americana in central Taiwan, with familiar foods on the menu (I had a BBQ cheeseburger) and a coloring set for Amber that kept her busy until the food arrived (just like back home). But of course the main attraction is beer, and I went for the sampler, pictured below. The six brews were (from left to right) a Golden Export; a Hefeweizen; a Czech Lager; a Marzen (which Pamela ordered for herself); a Schwarzbier; and a seasonal beer, the name of which I didn't quite catch. All were quite good, but my favorite was the pilsner (Czech Lager).
All in all, I'd rate Gordon Biersch much more highly than Taichung's other brewery restaurant, Le blé d'or. The beer tastes better, and the while the food isn't cheap, they have actual meals, as opposed to the overpriced snacks at Le blé d'or. The environment is also more family-friendly.
As for Taiwan, Father's Day falls on August 8. Why? According to Wikipedia:
"In Mandarin Chinese, the pronunciation of the number 8 is bā. This pronunciation is very similar to the character "爸" "bà", which means "Papa" or "father". The Taiwanese, therefore, usually call August 8 by its nickname, "Bābā Day" (爸爸節)."
What this means in reality is that in roughly 5½ out of every 7 years, Father's Day falls on a weekday, meaning Dad has to work on the day that is supposed to honor him. Which isn't very "auspicious", if you ask me :)
Today is the Dragon Boat Festival 端午節, a national holiday that I missed the last couple of years going off on trips to Japan. This time I was home, but sans family. Pamela and Amber were in Hsiluo 西螺 from Monday night until this afternoon in order to attend the wedding of one of my wife's nieces. The last time they had left me alone in order to visit the ol' ふるさと, I attempted a long-distance walk in Changhua County 彰化縣, with the goal of reaching the big Buddha statue there. Unfortunately, due to a wrong turn, I never made it (see here), but today I set things right. For one thing, I got off to an early start, waking up at 5:40 this morning to have breakfast and take a shower, then ride the 40 kilometers (25 miles) or so to Sun Moon Farm and the start of the trail, arriving shortly before 9:00 am. Setting my bearings straight this time, I reached the Buddha statue in about 80 minutes, with the last half of the way passing through a large cemetery. After spending about an hour at the site, including eating some snacks and reading the newspaper, I returned the way I'd come, albeit this time with a couple of wrong (but thankfully minor) turns! It took about 110 minutes to make it back to the farm and my parked scooter. According to the web site where I'd originally learned about this route, I'd covered 16 kilometers (9.9 miles). All I can say is "やった！"
See, I was really there! Honest! The skyline of Changhua 彰化 may not be worth a million dollars, but the view isn't bad from the top of 97-meter (318 feet) high Pakuashan 八卦山, especially with clear skies following the recent rains we've had. At several points along the walking trail, the high-rises of T'aichung 台中 could be clearly seen in the distance.
Taiwan Beer 台灣啤酒 - the local brew favored by the, um, locals as well as delusional long-term expats who have been in Taiwan for, well, too long - is a beer best avoided, unless you believe Budweiser truly is the "King of Beers". Fortunately, the beer market, long the domain of the Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation 台灣菸酒公司, is slowly starting to open up, not only to foreign competition, but also to some home-brewed suds, albeit very tentatively. In the never-ending quest for AOTB (Anything Other than Taiwan Beer), we had lunch this afternoon at one of T'aichung's 台中 small handful of brewpubs, Le blé d'or. I had the Wheat Beer while my wife drank a lager, and while I've had much better-tasting microbrews (and the food was overpriced), it's difficult to see myself myself drinking another Taiwan Beer ever again, unless forced to do so at gunpoint by an enraged Taike 台客, or one of those foreign frogs enjoying life at the bottom of the Taiwanese well :-)
Amber and I took advantage of a momentary break in the weather this morning to journey out and into the hills overlooking Fengyuan 豐原, where it's been ages since we've gone walking. Amber was able to make it up to the top of the trail by herself, and only asked to be placed in the child carrier for the trip down, continuing along the same path. Unfortunately, when we were almost near the bottom of the descent, our way was suddenly blocked by a tree that looked as if it fallen over only a short time before during the recent heavy rains we've had the past couple of days. Unable to get around the obstacle, we had no choice but to turn around and take the long way back to our car, by retracing our route in. Either my daughter is getting heavier, or my back is getting older (or a combination of both), but this was one sweaty workout I didn't enjoy doing. Nonetheless, Amber had a good time being back in the outdoors (seeing lots of interesting and colorful bugs is always a plus) and, weather permitting, I plan on more outings like these in the weekends to come.
My last full day in Kyūshū 九州 got off on another early start - up at six, doughnuts and coffee in my ryokan 旅館 room and packed and checked out of the Nogami Honkan 野上本館 by seven. I had time to take a leisurely stroll along the waterfront before retrieving my bag and walking to Beppu Station 別府駅, where I caught an 8:01am local train on the JR Nippō Main Line 日豊本線 bound for Nakatsu 中津, the first leg on the long ride to Hakata Station 博多駅 in Fukuoka 福岡:
In this case, long = cheap. Seeing as I wasn't in any particular hurry, I decided to save some money by eschewing the Sonic ソニック limited express train. I arrived in Nakatsu at 9:20, where I proceeded to change to another Nippō Line local which departed at 9:37. This I rode until 10:45, when I got off at Nishi-Kokura 西小倉, and took a 10:55 Kagoshima Main Line 鹿児島本線 semi-express, which finally deposited me at Hakata exactly at 12:04pm. Famished after four hours on the train, I found a small eatery, pulled up to the counter, and ordered and devoured a bowl of katsudon カツ丼. Following lunch, I quickly located my accommodation, the Hakata Guran Suishō Hotel 博多グラン水晶ホテル, deposited my bag (it was still too early for checking in), and plunged into the busy streets of Fukuoka.
With a population of 1.5 million people, Fukuoka is Kyūshū's biggest city, the largest urban area west of Ōsaka 大阪 and the eight-largest metropolitan area in all of Japan. In fact, it was something of a shock seeing all the people walking about. For the past week I had been staying in smaller cities and towns, and even Kumamoto 熊本 now seemed quiet in comparison. Fukuoka ranked #16 in the 2009 listing of the world's most livable cities, and having spent a week there last year, I can attest to the fact that it would seem to be a good place to live and work. However, in terms of sightseeing, there isn't much to see and do in Fukuoka, and having "done it all" a year ago (so to speak), I was wondering what would be the best way to spend the rest of the day.
The answer, it turned out, was baseball, or "yakyū" 野球, which in this city meant the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 福岡ソフトバンクホークス of the Pacific League パシフィック・リーグ. On this Saturday in late May, they were scheduled to play an interleague game 交流試合 against the Chūnichi Dragons 中日ドラゴンズ of the Central League セントラル・リーグ in an afternoon contest at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome 福岡ドーム. The Hawks have a strong fan base throughout Kyūshū, and both they and the Dragons are perennial contenders in their respective leagues, so I assumed the game would be a sell-out. At the very least, however, I would have a good excuse to take a look in the team store outside the dome, so I took the subway to Tōjimmachi 唐人町, and followed the crowds to the stadium:
To my surprise (and delight), tickets were still available, and I came away from the box office ¥2800 ($30/NT980) poorer, but with a great seat along the first-base side of the field, where I quickly consumed a hot dog and a cup of beer, then got on with the business of watching the game:
For those of you who have never attended a professional baseball game in Japan, with its organized cheering sections 応援団, the following video might give an idea of the atmosphere:
In a Major League game, you have the seventh-inning stretch. In Japan, there is "Lucky 7":
As for the game itself, the Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ could summarize the results better than I ever could:
HAWKS 4, DRAGONS 2
"At Fukuoka's Yahoo Dome, Tsuyoshi Wada 和田毅 struck out 10 and gave up one run over six innings and Nobuhiko Matsunaka 松中信彦 had a tie-breaking RBI single in the fourth as Fukuoka Softbank rallied past Chūnichi. Hitoshi Tamura 多村仁志 tied it at 1-all with his RBI double in the fourth followed by Matsunaka's base hit to left for a 2-1 lead. Katsuki Yamazaki 山崎勝己 led off the fifth with a homer off Chen Wei-yin (3-5) and Yūichi Honda 本多雄一 added an RBI triple in the eighth. Wada (7-3) scattered five hits, and walked two for his third straight win."
Yes, that was Taiwan's own Chen, aka 陳偉殷, in a complete-game losing effort.
The post-game celebration (on-field interviews and fireworks) was a little over-the-top for a late-spring game (there was still roughly four months to go until the start of the post-season), but the crowd was definitely in a good mood. Exiting the stadium and picking up a couple of goodies at the team shop, I opted to avoid the long lines at the bus stop by taking a long, roundabout walk to the Nishijin 西新 subway station, where I caught the Tube to Tenjin 天神, in the heart of Fukuoka's busy commercial district. After catching up on my email at the Fukuoka International Association's Rainbow Plaza レインボープラザ (Japan is a great place for travelers to stay connected while on the road, with many localities offering free Internet access), I took a long, leisurely walk back to my hotel near Hakata Station. Along the way, I stopped to take pictures of the former Prefectural Hall, built in 1910 (and under renovation when I walked by last year), and a pleasure boat cruising the Naka-gawa 那珂川. I also took my time wandering through Nakasu 中州, Fukuoka's semi-notorious entertainment district. I kept my camera in my pocket and let my eyes take everything in here, if you know what I mean (and besides, you can see videos I made last year walking through the district on my YouTube page:
After finally checking in to my hotel, I relaxed with a can of Orion Beer オリオンビール purchased from a station コンビニ, then went to bed early.
The next day (Sunday), I was up around six again in order to get ready for my flight back to Taiwan, scheduled to depart at 10:50 that morning. One great thing (among many) about Fukuoka is that its international airport 福岡空港 is only ten minutes from Hakata by subway, making it arguably the world's most accessible facility for airplanes. What this meant in practical terms was that I had time after breakfast to check out Sumiyoshi-jinja 住吉神社, and still have plenty of time to catch my flight without rushing. The Sumiyoshi-jinja in Fukuoka is the original of the Sumiyoshi Taisha shrines 住吉大社 , and in any event, was an appropriate way to say farewell to the country of Japan (the main shrine building is on the left; on the right are a pair of large 熊手, ceremonial bamboo rakes, propped up in a sub-shrine):
The flight back to Taiwan was quick and uneventful (just the way I like my airplane experiences to be!), and not wanting to face up just yet to the reality of being back in Taiwan, I decided not to take the highway bus to Fengyuan 豐原, but to ride in style on Taiwan's version of the Shinkansen 新幹線. Still in tourist mode, a high-speed train driver kindly took my picture at the Taichung HSR Station 高鐵台中站:
Once back at home, it was time to reconnect with the family, and to parcel out the souvenirs, including some mini-shōchū 焼酎 bottles for myself and a self-serving/ego-gratifying T-shirt for Amber:
In the end, what can I say? Kyūshū was fantastic, and I only wish I had more time to see other places there. These yearly visits to Japan provide me with not only the opportunity to escape Taiwan for a week at least, but to reconnect with a country and a society where I spent so many of the best years of my life, and which sadly, I truly failed to appreciate until after the fact. It isn't easy to explain (not to mention intensely personal as well), but going to Japan not only offers the chance to indulge my interests in the history and culture of the country, but provides an opportunity to find a sense of atonement and redemption for past errors in judgment, a chance to be a 山伏 in spirit, if not in body.
Or something like that. Whatever...Until next time, I say to Japan "じゃまた".
The gods taketh away, but they also giveth. Denied the chance to hike Aso-san 阿蘇山 on Monday by thick fog and strong winds, the weather on Friday was far more amenable to my plans, a walk to the top of Yufu-dake 由布岳, as outlined in Lonely Planet’s “Hiking in Japan”. After waking up early and having a breakfast of doughnuts and coffee in my ryokan 旅館 room, I got on a Kamenoi bus 亀乃井バス at 7:25am for a 45-minute ride winding through the hills overlooking Beppu 別府, and got off at the Yufu-tozan-guchi 由布登山口 stop. Across the road was the start of the trail for the hike to Yufu-dake. In the photo below, Yufu-dake is the higher mountain on the right. The smaller one on the left is called Iimorigajō 飯盛ヶ城. A short ten-minute walk across the grass led to the start of the forest:
The track came to a small clearing called Gōyagoshi 合野越, where I was now behind Iimorigajō. The small white sign at the bottom left indicated another trail which I would take on the way back down from Yufu-dake:
From this point forward, the walking started in earnest. At first, the trail continued through the forest, but eventually it came out into an area of azalea bushes and fantastic views:
The trail reached a junction, where I had the option of climbing up one of Yufu-dake’s two peaks, Nishi-mine 西峰 or Higashi-mine 東峰. The route up the former involved the use of chains in parts, so I opted for the latter, and 15 minutes later I was at the top of Higashi-mine, 1584 meters (5197 feet) above sea level:
It had taken me roughly 2 hours 15 minutes to make it up from the start of the trail. The views, naturally, were incredible. Looking in one direction, the city of Ōita 大分 and the Inland Sea 瀬戸内海 (and far off in the distance, Shikoku 四国) could be seen, while looking the other way, the city of Yufu 由布 spread out far below:
After about half an hour on the summit, I started the long climb down, not to the Yufu-tozan-guchi bus stop, but to Yufu, the city pictured above. While descending, I heard what sounded like loud explosions and machine gun fire, which I assumed were fireworks or firecrackers (hey, I’ve been in Taiwan for a long time!). However, a look through my binoculars towards the town below revealed that there was, in fact, a Ground Self-Defense Forces 陸上自衛隊 base, and that, furthermore, there were tanks in motion, howitzers in firing position and even a helicopter flying about. As I was walking through Yufuin 湯布院 later, posters on storefronts announced that there would be some kind of open house at the base the following day, so I assumed the soldiers were rehearsing for it.
Returning to the Gōyagoshi clearing, I took the trail going off to the right, signposted for Nishi-tozan-guchi 西登山口 and Takemoto 岳本. It wasn’t long before I came to the foot of Iimorigajō. Looking back, I had a clear view of the mountain I’d just climbed (Higashi-mine is on the right):
From here, it was a long, downhill walk across what my hiking guide described as something out of “Lord of the Rings”, but which I felt was more like what you would encounter in the English or Scottish countryside. In either case, the feeling in the air was magical:
Eventually, the trail entered more forest, and it was another long, steep descent through the dark woods before I finally returned to civilization, in this case a Lawson ローソン convenience store. I had made it to Yufuin, a former town now part of Yufu city. From there, I followed the signs to a pretty little lake called Kinrin-ko 金鱗湖. What the Lonely Planet guide neglected to point out, however, was that the lake was the centerpiece of a full-blown tourist village, complete with cafes, ice cream shops and even a Marc Chagall museum. I hadn’t seen this many people in one place since the shopping arcades in Kumamoto the previous Sunday. Nevertheless, I sought out and found the public onsen 温泉, Shitan-yu 下ん湯, stopping only to buy a “taco” (not the Japanese word for “octopus” タコ, but the Mexican dish, though here it looked more like a burrito. It was tasty, though) from a parked van. After dropping ¥200 ($2.20/NT70) into the honesty box, I enjoyed a hot, relaxing soak that felt great after roughly six hours and 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) of walking:
From the onsen, it was a 20-minute walk to Yufuin Station 由布院駅. The guidebooks say Yufuin is a much better place to enjoy Japan’s hot spring culture, but I found it to be more affected. There were far too many “traditional” buildings, snack stands and souvenir 土産 shops selling cutesy arts and crafts, and there was even a place where you could pay to put your feet in a shallow pool and have little fish nibble away at all the dead skin cells (Doctor Kiss Fish! ドクター・キッスフィッシュ). Beppu 別府, in contrast, while tackier, was also more natural and unassuming:
One store that did merit a stop on the way back to the station was the Yufuin Brewery outlet ゆふいん麦酒, where I bought a bottle of the local suds, to be consumed later that evening in my ryokan (along with the bottle of Takachiho Beer 高千穂ビール that I had purchased a couple of days earlier). While waiting for the bus back to Beppu, I took one final look back at Yufu-dake from the front of the train station, and felt impressed with myself for having walked so far:
Back in Beppu, it was time to eat again at the same station restaurant where I had dinner and beer the night before. The meal this time was the Oden set おでん定食, and I washed it down with another of Beppu’s craft beers. Back at the Nogami Honkan 野上本館, I had another heavenly private bath (a different one from the previous night) followed by the two bottles of beer mentioned above, and then it was off to bed. My last full day in Kyūshū 九州 was waiting for me.
