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?