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:

Takeng (Dakeng 大坑)

For the first time in about a month, I was able to get out to Takeng today to do some hiking, and what a day I picked for it! Clear skies, warm temperatures (19℃ or 66℉ at the top) and friendly hikers made for a nice afternoon in the mountains. It took about 3 hours to do the loop up the No. 3 Trail, then along the ridge and down the No. 4, and back to the scooter.

今日大坑に行ってハイキングをした。晴れた空、暖かい気温、親しみのあるハイカーがあったから楽しかった。今日のハイキングコースは第３山道から第４山道まで、３時間ぐらいかかった

A sign for a cafe on the road between Fengyuan and Takeng called the "Hsinching (Sincing) Center" 心晴センター. The interesting thing (for me anyway) is that the Japanese word for "center" is used - "sentaa" センター

Here's another interesting sign I came across on the way to Takeng:

A grasshopper バッタ I passed on the way up the No. 3 Trail:

Here's the view from the top of Touke Mountain, elevation 859 meters (2818 feet)...:

...plus a couple of panoramic shots:

A hornet/wasp スズメバチ on the ridge-top trail going towards the No. 4 Trail:

Views from the ridge-top trail:

Going down the No. 4 Trail:

Apparently, the large earthquake that struck central Taiwan on Sept. 21, 1999 stripped away most of the forest on this trail, leaving it exposed.

A last look back at the mountain I'd just climbed:

A grove of betel palm trees on the way back to my scooter:

Finally, a torii 鳥居, a Shinto shrine archway...located in front of a Taoist temple, surrounded by a cemetery, from which bad karaoke was blaring:

Welcome to Taiwan...

Panoramas パノラマ

Today was a beautiful day, one of those uncommon mornings when it's possible to see the mountains that are behind the mountains. And I was feeling very proud of myself because I finally got out of bed and out of the apartment before 9am in order to go for a morning walk (and enjoy the fresh air) in the hills above Chung-cheng (Jhong-jheng) Park. Big mistake. Little did I know that a) there is a very active morning market there on Sundays; and b) everyone else in Fengyuan who wasn't shopping at the market also decided to go for a walk.

A "morning market" sounds like a very charming affair, but truth is, it was crowded, noisy and smelly. The small road was clogged with cars, scooters and people, and all available space was taken by stalls and vendors. I wanted to take a photo of the activity, but there was no place to stop my scooter. And then there were the walkers. Their cars were parked all the way up the road from the park to the start of the trails. There went the solitary stroll I was looking forward to. On the positive side, most of the walkers stuck to the road. And it was nice to see whole families getting some exercise together (my wife and child were still at home in bed). But next time I think I'll wait until later in the morning to do my walk, when the market is finished and most of the walkers have gone home to get ready for lunch. At least I now have a good excuse to sleep in on the weekend.

今朝早く起きて正中公園に行った。間違えてしまった。そこに毎週の日曜日に朝市を開いている。大勢の人が集まって、その市場はやかましくて込んでいた。その上たくさん人も散歩していた。そんな場合について台湾人は「人山人海」とういうことわざがある。次の週末には朝寝坊つもりだ。

Afterwards, I rode over to the public cemetery on the next hill over from Chung-cheng Park. And here I was the only (living) soul.

散歩を終わったのちに近い山腹墓地に行って、この写真を撮った。

Here are three panoramic shots taken from the cemetery:
墓地から３つのパノラマ写真：

Why do the dead in Taiwan get all the best views?

Finally, a view of the field behind my apartment building, looking much like the lavender fields of Hokkaido (note to the sarcastically challenged: I'm kidding)

アパートの後ろに野原

In the news

A couple of articles of interest (to me anyway):
http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/news_content.php?id=326706&lang=eng_news&cate_img=46.jpg&cate_rss=news_Editorial and http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20061126TDY01003.htm

Japanese continued 日本語続いている

Some more examples of Japanese used on signs, this time from the "Little Europe" area (still looks pretty Taiwanese to me, however) in Taichung:

"Osyare" or "Oshare" お洒落, meaning "dressing up smartly (stylishly)". A good name for a clothing boutique, with the romanization ローマ字 adding a nice touch.

A local language school offering Chinese lessons "Chugokugo ressun" 中国語レッスン for students from Japan (why else would it be written in Japanese?)

Akasaka Ramen 赤坂ラーメン. According to the words above the name, their ramen has the same taste you would find from noodles bought at street stalls - "Yatai no aji" 屋台の味. In Japan, ramen is thought of as being "Chinese noodles", but here in Taiwan "lamien" ("lamian") is considered to be Japanese.

These signs are from a "kaitenzushi" 回転寿司, a sushi restaurant where the dishes go round on conveyor belts. In this case, it's a "Super kaitenzushi" スーパー回転寿司 that features tuna, or "maguro" まぐろ. In front of the restaurant were banners advertising a "sushi festival" or "sushi matsuri" すし祭り, 50% off. After I took the second picture, an employee came running out to tell me (in good English) that I wasn't allowed to take photos there. I informed him that as the banners were out in a public space, I was well within my rights to take pictures. Then I realized that I was being Mr. American, loudly proclaiming my rights to one and all. So I switched tack, smiled, and explained that I was interested in how Japanese is used in advertising in Taiwan, and that I had friends in Japan who might be interested in seeing such signs. He seemed to understand, and though I was doing nothing wrong in the first place, a confrontation was averted, and harmony was maintained. And to think I almost passed the Foreign Service exam...

Next door is this Japanese restaurant...:

...called "Fukufuku Tanuki" 福々狸, or the "Lucky Raccoon Dog". If you don't know what a raccoon dog is, go here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raccoon_dog. I saw one once in Nachi 那智 in Wakayama 和歌山県 while walking along a forest path. To see how tanuki are portrayed in Japanese folklore, check this out 

And then there was this sign for a cafe, offering "Mina's favorite sandwiches" ("Mina no daisukina sando" みなの大好きなサンド).:

Finally, there's the name of this apartment building:

OK, it's not in Japanese, but one could argue there is a Japanese connection with the old general. "I shall return...home after work every night".