Over hill, over dale

I haven't blogged in a while because, well, I haven't felt like it lately. Part of the reason is due to the effects of a bad cold that I've yet to shake off. But even more so is the personal strain I've been under of late, which combined with my less-than-stellar health condition to make for an especially miserable weekend this past Saturday and Sunday. Which is probably why it was imperative to get out of the apartment this afternoon and do something before my mind snaps. That something was to head for the hills of Dà​kēng 大坑 after work. That in itself isn't unusual, for I often go hiking in that area on Tuesday afternoons. What was different about today was the route I took. Instead of the usual ascend-one-trail-descend-another routine, I went out all out this afternoon. Parking my scooter at the trailhead for the No. 2, I walked along the road for about 15 minutes to where the No. 1 Trail starts. Upon climbing the No. 1, I proceeded to walk the entire length of the ridgetop, descending via the No. 4 Trail, from where it was a long walk back to my parked scooter. It took about four hours to do (well, three hours and fifty-five minutes, to be exact), but for those 235 minutes all cares, troubles and worries were forgotten, and everything seemed right with the universe. Part of the reason for doing all this was to get my flabby body into some sort of fighting shape for my trip next month to Hiroshima 広島, where I plan to do some hiking and long-distance cycling. But mostly it was to get away from everybody and everything, and for nearly 4 hours, the mission was accomplished.

Despite the warm, sometimes sunny, weather, views were non-existent as a result of the haze.

Lots of lizards were out and about this afternoon.

Two hikers examine the "Taiwan 5 Leaves Giant Pine" 巨木臺灣五葉松. The man in the white shirt was smoking a cigarette, the second hiker I saw this afternoon enjoying a fine tobacco product. The thinner the air, the smoother the smoke.

 Tibetan Buddhist prayer flags, a common sight in Taiwan.

All afternoon I had been wondering if I was going to see any monkeys. As I was reaching the end of the No. 4 Trail, I finally encountered a lone Taiwanese macaque 台灣獼猴. Believe it or not, I thought it was a cat at first. A poodle passing by didn't even notice the presence of the macaque next to the staircase, which just goes to show that as dogs go, poodles are one of the more useless breeds.

Today's route. Next time I may do everything in reverse.

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.

More monkeying around

A glimpse of a Formosan Rock Macaque 台灣獼猴 checking me out this afternoon on Trail No. 1 in Dakeng 大坑:

Just another day in Toyohara

I was standing in line at a 7-Eleven this morning when an old man turned to me and said "背が高いですね". I wasn't expecting to be addressed in Japanese, and certainly not at a corner convenience store in a small, provincial city like Fengyuan 豐原, but I quickly pulled myself together to agree with a "そうですね". He then asked "どこの国ですか", to which I replied "アメリカから来ました", before apologizing for having to leave. At no point in our brief conversation was the old gentleman at all surprised that I was using Japanese to speak to him. Had I not already been running late to get to work, I would've liked to have chatted with him some more - opportunities to use 日本語 don't happen often in these here parts. What I really wanted to know was why he chose to speak to me in Japanese in the first place. Could it be my looks? :)

Following work this morning, I rode over to the Tak'eng 大坑 area to do some hiking. The mountains looked great in the warm weather and clear skies, but my plans to try out the new camera's ability to take scenic shots had to be put on hold due to the layer of smog covering T'aichung 台中 down below. As I was returning to my parked scooter at the end of my walk, a large Formosan Rock Macaque 台灣獼猴 crossed the trail in front of me before climbing up into the trees. I tried to get a good shot of the monkey, but this was the best I could do, with the camera's zoom on maximum:

Coming home from a private lesson this evening, I noticed that the moon looked especially beautiful this evening. My old camera took terrible night shots, but tonight seemed like a good opportunity to see what the Casio カシオ could do. One of the extras that had been thrown in when I bought the camera was a small tripod. Setting everything up on the ledge of our apartment building's rooftop, this was the result:

That's life in central Taiwan.

Pardon my Macaque

It seems I've been getting myself into some monkey business lately. This afternoon, as I was making my way down the No. 1 Trail in the Tak'eng 大坑 area, I came across a troupe of Formosan Rock Macaques 台灣獼猴. There were at least a dozen individuals jumping around in the trees, crossing over the wooden trail, grunting and occasionally baring their teeth at me. It wasn't easy taking pictures or making videos as the monkeys concealed themselves in the vegetation most of the time, but I was able to get a shot of one:

As I was preparing to move on, I turned around and saw one macaque walking right towards me on top of the railing. As soon as I pointed the camera at it, it quickly moved off into the forest:

It's moments like this one that remind me I really don't have much to complain about.

Monkeying Around in Tak'eng

Whenever I go hiking in the Tak'eng 大坑 area, I always keep an eye out for monkeys. I've seen them on all four of the trails there, but out of all the times I've gone walking in Takeng, I've only been fortunate enough to catch sight of some of our closest relatives on six occasions. This afternoon was number six. As I was making my up the No. 1 Trail, I came across what I assume were two Formosan macaques 台灣獼猴 sitting on the railings of the wooden walkway. They beat a hasty retreat into the trees as I approached from one direction, and two other hikers neared them coming the other way. However, they didn't go very far, and sat in the trees looking at us watching them. I took a number of photos, none of which turned out very well, and after about ten minutes or so continued my ascent. As I left the scene, three young people came down the walkway and walked right past the two monkeys in the trees, without ever noticing they were there. It made me wonder how many times I had been unknowingly watched from the foliage.

As you can see from the photo on the right, some other kinds of monkey business were going on this afternoon in Takeng :)

Monkey Business

I got up at 5:45 this morning in order to get in an early morning hike in the Tak’eng (Dakeng) 大坑 area. On the walk up from the parking lot to the start of the No. 4 Trail, I encountered a couple of monkeys, who were remarkably unperturbed by my presence. The local lizards, of which many were out and about this morning, also didn’t seem to mind when I walked by. I wish I could say the same for some of the human residents!

今朝大坑という山地方で散歩しながら、２つの猿に出くわした。たくさんのトカゲも見えた。