美しい日の入り

Burning rice fields might foul the air, but they do make for some nice sunsets. This was the view from the rooftop of my apartment building this evening, looking west toward the Taiwan Strait 台灣海峽.

I'm going up the country, where the water isn't safe to drink from thetap...

(Apologies to Canned Heat)

Inspired my MJ Klein and his Helmet Hero camera, on the home this afternoon from my weekly hike in the Dakeng area, I tried to record parts of the scooter ride. However, while the Bushman had the sense to pay for a good-quality camera that could be mounted on his bicycle helmet, I opted for the stupid and dangerous technique of holding my digital camera in my left hand and filming, while using my other hand to accelerate and brake the scooter. The results below speak for themselves. If the camerawork in movies like "The Blair Witch Project" and "Cloverfield" made you feel uncomfortable, don't watch the following two clips:

Al Lopez is alive and well and living in Australia

Back in the early 1990's, when I was living in Tōkyō 東京, I had an interview with NOVA. At that time, NOVA had yet to become the Eikaiwa 英会話 industry behemoth that would eventually go down in flames in October 2007. The interview was held in an open room at the school's branch in Shibuya 渋谷, and the person who interviewed me was a 40-something American named Al Lopez (no, not the former catcher and Cleveland Indians manager). Mr. Lopez chain-smoked throughout the entire interview, but that isn't what I remember most about the experience. I was still working for a small school called FIES (the Friendly International English School, with branches in Shibyua, Shimokitazawa 下北沢 and Yokohama 横浜, and now long since defunct), and Mr. Lopez asked me why I wanted to change jobs. When I told him that the main reason was the below-industry standard salary of ￥230,000 a month I was making there (this was before the collapse of the "bubble economy" バブル景気), he proceeded to give me a long lecture as to how, in his opinion, I was earning a "fair wage", and that if a school was sponsoring an employee's working visa (as was the case with FIES), said employee should remain "loyal" to his employer and not seek a higher paying job elsewhere. I said nothing during the dressing down (it was a job interview, after all, and I was looking for a better income), but then a few moments later, Mr. Lopez let it slip that NOVA was the fifth (that's right, the FIFTH, as in the number "five") school that he worked for in Japan! So much for "loyalty to one's employer". I didn't get the job with NOVA, thank goodness, and over the years I met a number of former NOVA employees who remembered Mr. Lopez with something less than affection. In short, not a single person had anything nice to say about the man.

I was reminded of good ol' Al today as I checked my blog and found several nasty comments from an anonymous writer (they always are in these situations), poorly written, with atrocious spelling, punctuation and grammar errors (people who have mastered the not-too-difficult skill of writing in English usually don't leave abusive hit-and-run comments on other people's blogs). It seems he/she/it was greatly offended that I didn't find the Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai 蔡依林 attractive enough, and that I wasn't a fan of the great taste of Taiwan Beer. Over the course of three postings, Mr./Ms. Anon raked me over the coals for "hating" Taiwan and its people, as well as for being an alcoholic, a lousy father to my daughter and an all-around sad case of a human being in need of some psychiatric counseling. Then I came to the very final sentence, which I quote in its mistake-filled entirety:

"i left TW for OZ many a moon ago because OZ rocks and Taiwan sucks."

It seems the spirit of Al Lopez lives on in the land Down Under! (at least in the rantings of one netizen there)

Another Hōgen Sunday

Another Sunday, another shopping trip to the Fengyuan branch of Carrefour, where I added to my North Coast Brewing Company (Fort Bragg, CA) beer collection by picking up bottles of Blue Star Wheat Beer and Scrimshaw, a Pilsner-style brew. Today I also discovered that there is a balcony on the 5th floor of the hypermarket where it is possible to go outside and take in the views of Ilha Formosa:

On the way home, we paid a quick visit to my in-laws, where I tried to photograph the sunset from their fourth-floor balcony:

The house on the right looks like it belongs to a wealthy family. When they first built the home, the area was mostly vacant lots. Unfortunately for them, a traditional market opened next door a couple of years ago, bringing with it traffic, noise and odors (the long, low structure between the market and the house houses the market's toilets!). To make matters worse, a night market has recently started up on the other side! It's this lack of zoning ordinances (or the lax enforcement of them) that makes up one of the reasons why I'm hesitant, despite the urging of my wife, to invest what little savings we have in buying a home in Taiwan. I'm sure the people who live across the street from my parents-in-law could probably do with a case of the bottle of Old No. 38 Stout (alcohol content: 5.5%) that I've just finished off!

Happy Fourth of July

As you can tell from the subject heading, today is Independence Day, and the American Chamber of Commerce in Taichung 台中 held an event to celebrate the occasion at a large park next to the Taichung Costco branch. I normally wouldn't bother much with such things, but Amber is reaching the age where she needs to made aware that she has an American side to her as well as her Taiwanese heritage. Unfortunately, today's celebration of the USA's most enjoyable holiday wasn't anywhere near as "American" as I was expecting. There were hardly any flags flying, and instead of introducing Amber to summertime fare like hamburgers and hot dogs cooking on the grill, the food on offer could be safely summed up as Taiwan Generic for the most part. In fact, the event itself differed little from any of the small community gatherings held in local parks that you can see on most weekends in Taiwan. What saved the day for me, however, was the Gordon Biersch booth. Gordon Biersch is an American brewery that operates a brewery/restaurant in Taichung. Their Golden Export went down very well on this very humid afternoon. I guess Taiwan Beer was too afraid to show up!

 

"No problem, honey. I'll watch the kid (burp!)"

Hopefully, Amber will one day get to experience a Fourth of July that involves going to baseball games, watching parades, having BBQ's in the park and seeing fireworks shows at night.

On the way home, we stopped at one of Taichung's Carrefour outlets, where a limited range of American goods were being featured as part of an "America Week" promotion. To my great joy, several craft beers from the North Coast Brewing Company of Fort Bragg, California were among the products being highlighted, and I ended up purchasing the Red Seal Ale, the Old No. 38 Stout and the Pranqster Belgian Style Golden Ale. Leave it to the French to better celebrate the Fourth of July than Amcham!

Oh, and have I ever mentioned that Taiwan Beer sucks?

Golly gee whiz, Taiwan sure is a swell place!

I am sometimes told that I complain too much about being in Taiwan, and in all honesty, there is no doubt a lot of truth to that. I'm sure if I had come here just after college, when I was in my early to mid twenties, I would've probably fallen in love with the country. Instead, the circumstances that brought me here (and have kept me here, despite a couple of attempts to break away) were less than favorable, and thus color my perceptions. There are many things I, in fact, like about Taiwan, such as the mountains (hiking in Dakeng 大坑 has probably done more than anything else, with the possible exception of my wife, to keep me sane here), historical places such as Tainan 台南 and Tamsui 淡水 and, of course, the relics from the Japanese colonial past. I know I should try to focus more on the positive, but...

For one thing, I don't want my blog to end up being one of those Proustian descriptions of all things mundane and ordinary. Here is a picture of a road, this is a shot of a bridge, I often go to this convenience store, you can see the town from the hilltop, this is me eating (and enjoying!) something "strange" from a local market etc. etc. There are roads, bridges, convenience stores, hills with views and even unusual dishes back in the homeland, but somehow it all seems so much more interesting when you are writing about "Taiwanese" roads, bridges, convenience stores, hills with views and dishes. I admit there was a time when going to a Japanese bank to withdraw some money was an exciting adventure in an exotic land, but back then blogs didn't exist to record such experiences (am I that old?).

For another, I wouldn't want to always write about how "friendly" or "nice" everyone is to the foreigner. I have met some great and wonderful Taiwanese people (I even married one of them!), but at the same time, some of the biggest, boorish jerks I've had the misfortune of encountering have carried ROC citizenship (and I don't just mean car drivers and scooter riders), the point being the good, the bad and the ugly are in rough balance with each other. To hear some bloggers tell it, however, you would think the Taiwanese in the collective sense are the nicest, most friendliest bunch of warm-heated folks on the planet. To which I reply: is there anywhere on earth where people are not friendly to visitors? Pick up any Lonely Planet guide to virtually any destination, and the locals will probably be described as "friendly", or some variation of the word thereof. An example of the wondrous complexity of human beings is that we exhibit both xenophobia and warm hospitality to those from other places. Taiwan is a very human place, just like everywhere else (the cynic inside would probably say all that friendliness is just a subtle reminder that one will always be a 外國人).

So my blog entries will probably still exhibit a tendency to lean towards what some will call (with probable cause, I know) "whinging" or "whining" (though I might prefer "keen observation"!). Why? A Canadian colleague in Japan once said it was just more fun to complain than compliment. The truth is there are many things here that I don't agree with, or that I can't understand the reasons why they are done (or not done), and I don't always feel like being the good, little waiguoren. So forgive me, please, if (IMHO) I think the beer is bland, the food from the street stalls and small restaurants is oilier than anything McDonald's or KFC sells, or that if you placed Jolin Tsai 蔡依林 in the heart of the Dōtombori 道頓堀 area of Ōsaka 大阪, you wouldn't even notice her. I will try, however, to focus more on those things that make Taiwan so uniquely Taiwanese...like all the Japanese you see on signage.

The horror that is Taiwan Beer

The photograph above is the second half of my Father's Day present, a Belgian golden ale called "Biere du Bouranier" ("Buccaneer Beer" in English, or ビール　ドウ　ブカニエ in Japanese, according to the label). With an alcohol content of 11%, it certainly has a bite, but the taste is pleasing, and not overpowering. My wife purchased the bottle from a liquor store in Taichung 台中 that mainly deals in imported wine, but occasionally has specials on foreign beers as well. Enjoying what's left of my gift has started me ruminating on the sad state of beer, and the effect that has on beer lovers, in Taiwan...

With the exception of a few establishments in Taipei 台北 and Taichung (that I'm aware of, anyway), the microbrewery industry in Taiwan is almost non-existent. Specialty supermarkets like Market Place by Jasons and Capita'n do carry a few pricey imports, but for the most part, the selection available island-wide in convenience stores and supermarkets is limited, and thus pathetic. There are decent brews such as the major Japanese brands (Asahi アサヒ, Kirin キリン, and Sapporo サッポロ), and Tsingtao 青岛啤酒 from China, to go along with Busch, Corona, Miller and every Taiwanese drinker's idea of a sophisticated import, Heineken. But towering over them all is the local mistake, the imaginatively named, and boringly packaged, Taiwan Beer 台灣啤酒:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/princeroy/2395782710

Just how bad is Taiwan Beer? If you like Coors or Budweiser, you'll enjoy a smooth, frothy mug of Taiwan Pijiu. How weak is it? My wife can drink a couple of tall cans (through a straw!) in a single setting without any noticeable effect (though lately she's been shunning the local product in favor of Asahi). If you're after a beer that is both cheap and tasteless, just head down to your nearest コンビニ or スーパー, and you won't have any trouble satisfying your desires.

Considering the fact that the Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation held a monopoly on the Taiwanese beer market until 2002 (when Taiwan entered the World Trade Organization), it's understandable why most Taiwanese drinkers appear to be satisfied with A-mei's 張惠妹 favorite brew. What is harder to fathom, however, are those Westerners who claim to enjoy Taiwan Beer. No doubt some just don't know much about beer, in the same way as there are people whose CD collections consist almost entirely of Top 40 artists, yet they still say they love "music". But what I can't understand is what drives those who wouldn't dream of drinking Bud or Molson back in their home countries, yet are proud to be seen with a glass, bottle or can of Taiwan Beer in their hands here. I put it down to one of two reasons: 

1.) Either they have been here too long, and have forgotten what a pleasure it is to enjoy a well-made craft beer; 

or 2.) they force themselves to down the Formosan urine in order to fool themselves into thinking that by doing so, they have fully acclimatized to the local culture. If that's the case, why stop with Taiwan Beer? Why not go all the way, and smoke Long Life cigarettes, chew betel nuts, listen to Shining 3 Girl CD's and get a stenciled tattoo of a Taoist god to cover their backsides? Only then will they have truly embraced Taiwanese culture! 乾杯！

Now that I've finished my Buccaneer, it's time to stop ranting. I'll leave you with a couple of pictures taken in Fengyuan 豐原 this afternoon on my home from work:

An art deco-style bridge that I was told dates from the 1930's, and beyond it, an old Japanese-era building that has recently been converted into a Western-style restaurant.

Looking back from 2018:

Of all the blog posts I uploaded when I was using LiveJournal, this one generated the greatest number of comments, which you can read here (the original comments didn't migrate when I moved my old posts to Blogger).