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:

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...