Terracotta Army 兵馬俑

Today we went to the Natural Museum of Natural Science 国立自然科学博物館「グオリーズｲーランコｴージュエボーウーグアン」 in Taichung (Taijhong) 台中「タイヂオン」 to see an exhibition on the Terracotta Army of the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang (Chin Shih Huang). If for some strange reason you are not familiar with the Terracotta Army, you can read it about it here. Although the English labelling was minimal, it was still very interesting to see some of the figures up close. Even Amber was excited to see the terracotta horses. I'd like to visit Xian (Hsian) 西安 someday to see the entire army.

Amber outside the museum 博物館の前

Photography was forbidden in the exhibition rooms, so we had to make do with these pictures

After seeing the Terracotta figures, we checked out some of the other sections of the museum. Here's a ghostly image of Pamela and Amber seen through a fish tank

I've visited the science museum several times, usually on field trips with kindergarten students, and I'd always found the science displays to be disappointing. Today, however, I discovered a section of the museum I'd never seen before. In the rear are several rooms devoted to Chinese culture, with displays on traditional medicine, agriculture, scientific inventions and the origins of the Chinese people, as well as a section devoted to Taiwan's aborigines. We weren't able to see it all due to time constraints, but one exhibition I really enjoyed was "Chinese Spiritual Life". There were models of various gods, scrolls depicting the various hells and so on. The Chinese Science wing definitely merits another visit.

Amber waits outside while her father is in Caves Books

On the way home we stopped off for dinner at a place called Zen Curry. At least that's what the sign says in English. In Chinese it's called "Chan" 纒, with "curry" written in the Japanese katakana script カレー. The name could be translated as "Wear; Wrap; Tie; Follow Around; or Collect Curry". Not very zen-like

Inside the restaurant there is a large mural on one wall, a reproduction of a 1794 world map. My attention, of course, was drawn to the Japanese in the top center

スパイス大船海図 refers to a sea chart for large spice boats (though I had to substitute 図 for the last Chinese character in the photo, as I couldn't find the kanji), while カレーに使われるスパイスの原産地 (kare ni tsukawareru supaisu no gensanchi) means "the places of origin for the spices used in curry".

I think I'll go watch the DVD I rented from Blockbuster, "Snakes on a Plane", before it gets too late. おやすみなさい

In the park

I often go for walks in the hills overlooking Chung-cheng (Jhong-jheng) Park 中正公園 in Fengyuan (Fongyuan) 豊原. This morning, for a change of pace, I walked up and along a small hill that is inside the park itself. Riding along Chung-cheng Road 中正路 heading towards the park, I stopped to take a picture of this sign, for the Fengyuan branch of a Taiwanese bakery chain called Pao Chuan (Bao Cyuan) 宝泉. The cursive script at the bottom is in Japanese, and reads "Tsuyu no ka" 露の菓, "Dew's Cake". The Chinese at the top of the sign informs us that the confection in question is a snack eaten (literally "used") by the Japanese emperor 日本天皇 - "Jihpen t'ienhuang yuyung tienhsin (Rihben tianhuang yuyong diansin)". In the top left-hand corner, almost impossible to see from the street below, the Japanese reading of "Pao Chuan" is given in katakana ホウセン, "Hosen".

Two views of Fengyuan taken from the trail

A house that has stood abandoned at least since July 2002 (the date on a calendar that could be seen on the wall in the kitchen), roughly about the time I first came across this place. There's a story here, I'm sure. Did the previous owners give it up because of crushing debts? Or did a tragedy occur here? If I have the money, I wouldn't mind buying it and fixing it up.

The "Chung-cheng" in Chung-cheng Park, Chiang Kai-shek 蔣介石. In Taiwan, he's known as Chiang Chung-cheng (Chiang Jhong-jheng) 蔣中正. Every city in Taiwan has a Chung-cheng Park and a Chung-cheng Road named after the former dictator of the Republic of China, the man who lost China to the communists, and whose government imprisoned or executed 140,000 Taiwanese during the martial law era. Statues of the man unaffectionately called "Peanut" by General Joseph Stillwell used to be ubiquitous in Taiwan, but many have been removed in recent years. It appears Fengyuan, unfortunately, hasn't gotten around to doing so yet.

Free Time 暇な時間

The Lunar New Year 旧正月 is fast approaching, and I couldn't be more bummed. Why? Because for the next month, my working hours will be greatly curtailed, and the corresponding reduction in income will hurt. The fact that elementary school students have now started their month-long winter vacation has meant that I now have fewer afternoon hours at the cram school where I work, and another class of mine is on hiatus until the beginning of March because the students, all homemakers, need to see to their children during this time. And then there will be the 9-day break in the middle of February..."Ouch!" goes the sound of my wallet.

But there's often a positive side as well. In this case, it means I'll have more time to spend with my daughter. It also means I can go for walks again in the Chung-cheng (Jhong-jheng) Park 中正公園 area on some weekday mornings, when there are fewer people around, and thus much quieter. And it doesn't cost anything (except the gas to get up there). 今朝の撮った写真を見てください。。。

Not every house in Taiwan is ugly, though you wouldn't know it from the way I go on sometimes. This structure sits high in the hills above Chung-cheng Park, the 山手 to central Fengyuan's 下町.

On the way back into town, I passed by this sign for a Japanese restaurant. The large, cursive script is written in Chinese (and my wife is too tired to translate it for me), but my attention was drawn to the smaller Japanese writing - "Tarabagani" たらばがに, king crab; and "Hokkaido nabemono" 北海道鍋物. Nabemono is a kind of stew cooked in a pot.

Mountain Strolling

Today was cold, and very windy. But it was also bright and sunny, and seeing as Amber had been cooped up in the apartment all day yesterday due to the rain, we took her out to Daddy's favorite local haunt, the Chung-cheng (Jhong-jheng) Park area.

今日は寒くて、風もとても強いだった。しかし天気も晴れだから家族といっしょにぼくの豊原市のいちばん好きな場所の中正公園に行った。

Being pushed in her stroller up the same mountain road where her father often goes for walks, Amber was at first subdued and serious-looking.

最初はアンバーが静かでまじめそうだった。

Having something to play with soon cheered Amber up.
アンバーはすぐに陽気になっていた。

At the top of the hill we stopped at a Taoist temple before turning back.

There were some ornamental carp 錦鯉 in a small pond...

...and chickens walking among graves 墓の中に鶏がいた

Piyun Kung (Biyun Gong) 壁雲宮, "Green (or Blue) Cloud Temple".

Amber enjoyed the opportunity to stretch her legs before getting back into the stroller.
アンバーはベビーカーを降りて幸せだった。

On the way home, we stopped off for dinner at a Chinese/Japanese restaurant called "Tsuichiao (Zueiciao)" 酔喬. According to the restaurant's business card, 酔喬 in hiragana is すいけう, "Suikeu". This has to be a typo, because the second kanji is read as きょう, "kyo" (or as "Takashi", or as "Kyoji", or as...well, anyway, not as "keu"). Let's just call it "Drunk Kyou" for now.

帰る途中で「酔喬」という日本料理のレストランで食事をした。あの店の名詞によると「酔喬」は振りがなで「すいけう」が書いてあった。

こんにちは、新のりです。 "Hello, I am fresh seaweed"...or something to that effect.

Colonial legacy 植民地主義の遺贈

In today's Japan Times, there is an article on a 40-year-old row between the government in Taiwan and a group of pro-Beijing Chinese over ownership of a student dormitory in Kyoto 京都, and how this case is going to be heard by the Supreme Court of Japan 最高裁判所. According to the article, it appears the Supreme Court is taking steps to overturn a high court ruling in 1987 that favored Taiwan. It seems to me that if the R.O.C. government legally purchased the dorm back in 1952, it should still hold legal title to the property, regardless of the present lack of diplomatic relations between it and Japan. However, I'm not a legal expert, so what do I know?

What I do recognize, however, are signs of the legacy of the Japanese colonial period visible in Taiwan. Here are some examples I've come across this week in Fengyuan (Fongyuan), or should I say "Toyohara" 豊原?

This house is clearly Japanese in design. I don't know when it was built, but it appears to be old (though well-maintained). There are a few houses like this one scattered about Fengyuan, but it's a shame there aren't more of them still standing. They look a lot more aesthetically pleasing than the homes most Taiwanese have had built for themselves these days, including the building in the background.

The use of Japanese in advertising is widespread in Taiwan. This sign outside a bakery on Chung-cheng (Jhong-jheng) Road 中正路 is promoting a pineapple cookie with the words "Nihonjin no daisukina omiyage" 日本人の大すきなおみやげ - "The souvenir that Japanese love".

Even when the writing is in Chinese, the Japanese influence crops up. A case in point is the Japanese possessive particle "no" の, which is often used in advertisements instead of the Mandarin "te (de)" 的. This cafe a few doors down from the bakery above combines English, Japanese and Mandarin

"SOFT の 開間". "Soft no k'ungchien (kongjian)", or "Soft space".
"SWEET の 服務". "Sweet no fuwu", or "Sweet service".

Further along Chung-cheng Road, you will soon come across Fengyuan's most famous sight, the Matsu (Mazu) Miao or Matsu Temple 媽祖廟, aka "Miao Tung (Miao Dong)" 廟東. In the front of the temple are several stone lanterns 献灯 that look very similar to those found in Shinto shrines or Buddhist temples in Japan

If you go the back of the temple, where the bathrooms are located, you will see this, a torii 鳥居 like those found at Shinto shrines

Some concrete has been added to the original structure near the top of the arch, and the Chinese lettering is relatively new, but it is clearly a torii. I don't know the history of Miao Tung, but it's possible it may have been a 神社 that was converted into a Taoist temple after the Kuomintang took over in Taiwan.

Amber's first birthday 波ちゃんの誕生日

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMBER! CONGRATULATIONS ON REACHING ONE! 誕生日おめでとう！

Yes, today is Amber's first birthday. And like her first Christmas, our little girl found it all a little difficult to comprehend. It didn't help, either, that she is suffering from a minor cold. Nevertheless, we held a small party for her, complete with hats, a candle and cake, and gifts, of course.

今日はAmberは１歳になってパーティーを開いた。しかし少し風邪が引いたからAmberはちょっとあまり元気じゃなかった。

Amber with her first birthday cake

　

The chocolate cake resembled a puffer fish
ふぐのようなチョコレートケーキ

　

Amber checks out her birthday presents, a Poppity Pop Elephant and a Counting Friends Phone

新しいおもちゃと遊んでいる

　　

Chiou-chiou couldn't have cared less
球ちゃん「チョーチョー」は全然気にしてなかった