Dour, 電通-controlled, family-centric Belgian Neocolonialism, enthusiastically jaded observations, support for state-owned neoliberalist media and occasional rants from the twisted mind of a privileged middle-class expatriate atheist Crypto Jew and とてもくだらないひと projecting some leftist ideals with my ridicule of Tucker Carlson, all while taking America's blood money and cashing out that pension and TSP (from The Blogs Formerly Known As Sponge Bear and Kaminoge 物語)
*see disclaimer below
I'm not always the quickest when it comes to keeping abreast of the latest technology, but in the last month or so I've replaced two major pieces of personal use electronics. The first was the purchase of a new HP laptop to take the place of my six year-old Acer 宏碁. Today it was time to finally say goodbye (and good riddance) to our four year-old Pentax ペンタックス. The new kid on the block is a Casio カシオ Z450, for which I paid NT10,000 (¥29,000/$315) at NOVA in T'aichung 台中. The difference in picture quality was immediately apparent. Here is one of the last photos taken by the old Pentax, of my daughter playing a 和太鼓 at her kindergarten this morning (although today was Sunday, the school was holding an event to celebrate its founding):
The first image recorded by the new Casio:
The photo was snapped while driving through downtown Fengyuan 豐原 this evening. The difference in quality between the two cameras is most noticeable with night shots.
I'm looking forward to exploring the possibilities and potential of the new toy, er camera. The first real test will probably come this Tuesday, when I plan to do some walking in Tak'eng 大坑. If the weather cooperates, we'll see what kind of scenic shots the Casio is capable of taking. As for my next high-tech investment, next up will be a decent bike, so I can join the cult of those who go...I mean, get rid of some flab by Cycling in Taiwan.
"A marine biologist says he has discovered a new crab species off the coast of southern Taiwan that looks like a strawberry with small white bumps on its red shell. National Taiwan Ocean University 國立臺灣海洋大學 professor Ho Ping-ho says the crab resembles the species living in the areas around Hawaii, Polynesia and Mauritius. But it has a distinctive clam-shaped shell about 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) wide, making it distinct. Taiwanese crab specialist Wang Chia-hsiang confirmed Ho's finding. Ho said Tuesday his team found two female crabs of the new species last June off the coast of K'enting National Park墾丁國家公園, known for its rich marine life. The crabs died shortly thereafter, possibly because the water in the area was polluted by a cargo ship that ran aground."
"Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou 馬英九 met with ex-Defense Agency 防衛庁 Director General Yoshinori Ōno 大野功統 on Monday and expressed hope for closer cooperation with Japan and the United States on regional security...'We hope we can cooperate more closely in this regard,' Ma was quoted as telling Ōno."
The captain of the good ship ROC certainly knows the right things to say in front of honored guests (as opposed to typhoon victims, for example), as the following shows:
"Commenting on Taiwan's relations with China, Ma told Ōno the improvement in ties across the Taiwan Strait 台湾海峡 has greatly eased tensions between the two political rivals. The improved ties between are 'good not only for the security of East Asia but also for Japan's national security,' Ma was quoted as saying."
On the surface, Ma's statement sounds reasonable. A war involving China and Taiwan would almost certainly result in American intervention, and it would be difficult to imagine Japan watching from the sidelines while the conflict played out in its former colony. But are the closer ties that Ma proudly boasts of truly in Japan's long-term interests? A resurgent, nationalistic China that claims islands presently under Japanese jurisdiction and disputes territorial boundaries over potential undersea oil and gas fields is naturally restrained by a Taiwan that is outside of its direct control. If and when Taiwan is brought under Beijing's wing (whether it be through unification, annexation or integration), Japan would have only a relatively weakening American deterrent to rely on for its security. Can the Chinese be trusted to have only "peaceful intentions"? Ma words on the matter are hardly reassuring:
"On the Chinese missiles targeted at Taiwan, Ma told Ōno that Taiwan has raised the issue but Beijing has not made a conciliatory response. Ma expressed hope for closer cooperation among Taiwan, Japan and the United States on regional security while addressing the threat of China's missiles..."
Despite all the steps taken by Ma's administration to improve relations with China (which less charitable souls might characterize as borderline "kowtowing"), the missiles stay in place. The president's stated hope for closer security cooperation also sounds a bit hollow coming from the man whose prime minister threatened war with Japan over a sunken fishing vessel, and whose party for years blocked the purchase of much-needed weapons from the U.S. in the legislature. Actions speak louder than words, and what Ma and his cohorts have been doing for the almost the last two years are more telling than any soothing sounds spoken to visiting dignitaries.
It seems I've been getting myself into some monkey business lately. This afternoon, as I was making my way down the No. 1 Trail in the Tak'eng 大坑 area, I came across a troupe of Formosan Rock Macaques 台灣獼猴. There were at least a dozen individuals jumping around in the trees, crossing over the wooden trail, grunting and occasionally baring their teeth at me. It wasn't easy taking pictures or making videos as the monkeys concealed themselves in the vegetation most of the time, but I was able to get a shot of one:
As I was preparing to move on, I turned around and saw one macaque walking right towards me on top of the railing. As soon as I pointed the camera at it, it quickly moved off into the forest:
It's moments like this one that remind me I really don't have much to complain about.
2010 is here, and the Kaminoge family spent most of the first two days of the New Year high in the mountains, away from the far maddening crowds down below. Our destination was the Nant'ou County 南投縣 resort of Shanlinhsi 杉林溪, which we reached late on Friday afternoon after a long drive up a twisting mountain road in heavy fog. After checking in and dropping our things off in our room at the Shanlinhsi Hotel, we set out on a walk in the thick mist, bundled up against the 10C (50F) chill 1600 meters (5250 feet) above sea level:
We first walked to the Stone Well Rock, a series of natural stone pools carved out by the river:
Leaving the Stone Well Rock area, we encountered a troupe of monkeys leaping about high in the trees above us (and raining branches down onto the ground below with every jump). The fog and dimming daylight prevented any photos being taken of the monkeys, but we could easily see and hear them overhead:
We then walked further on, and down, to a vista overlooking the beautiful Blue Dragon Waterfall, before making the trek back to the hotel area, where had dinner and then retired for the night:
And what a cold night it was, for our room lacked any kind of heating. Fortunately, the small space heater we brought along worked well in tandem with the heavy comforters provided in the room, and while the cold tile bathroom floor had me dancing on my toes, at least we didn't have to wait long for hot water. I woke up at 6 the next morning, and following a quick shower, got dressed and stepped outside around 6:30, leaving Pamela and Amber still asleep in their shared bed. Despite the fact the thermometer read 6C (43F), it didn't feel as cold as the previous day, probably due to the clear skies and fresh air, as I took a walk along the old-growth forest Yuehling Trail. Here's the view from the 展望台 at the top:
The walk took less than an hour, and when I returned to our hotel room, Pamela and Amber were already awake. Naturally, I was ready for a hearty breakfast, and just as naturally, the buffet at the hotel was Chinese-style (blah!) - anyone for spicy cucumbers and cabbage at 8 o'clock in the morning? At least there was coffee, and after going back to our room, getting our things and checking out, we took a shuttle bus about 3.3 kilometers (2.05 miles) to another waterfall area. The Sunglung Rock Waterfall wasn't as impressive as the previous day's Blue Dragon falls, but the setting was attractive, especially the adjacent grotto:
The other "highlights" were a short walk uphill from the falls, but neither the Ancient Red Cypress nor the The Eye of Heaven and Earth were as interesting as what we had seen the day before. However, the natural surroundings were beautiful, and the alternate path back to the shuttle bus stop avoided most of the crowds:
The great thing about Shanlinhsi (other than the obvious physical features) was how well organized it is. Walking trails are well-marked and maintained (the Yuehling Trail I took this morning had trash cans posted along the route), the shuttle buses were frequent and efficient, and there were only a few restaurants and shops. This is because Shanlinhsi is managed by the government - if this were private land, the narrow roads would be clogged with cars parked along both sides, and the resort would be overrun with food and souvenir stalls catering to the tour group hordes. The only place that would qualify as a tourist trap, the Medicinal Garden, was where Pamela wanted to visit next, however. Fortunately, a 1.6 kilometer (1 mile) walking trail led from the garden back to the hotel area, and while my wife and daughter waited for the shuttle bus (both being understandably a little tired from all the walking), I opted for the route through the forest:
Meeting up back at the car, we drove out of Shanlinhsi, going down the same mountain road we came up the day before, only this time being able to actually see more than a just a few feet in front of us! Things got "interesting" when Pamela noticed a turnoff for what appeared to be a shortcut to the town of Chushan 竹山. The views across the valley were fantastic, as the short movie I made attempts to show:
The already narrow road we were on soon got narrower, to where it was only wide enough for one car to drive on (at one point we were almost hit by an oncoming 4WD, which had to back up quite a ways in order to let us get by). The surface condition worsened as well, with potholes and puddles forcing us to go slowly in many places. The road literally hugged the side of the mountain, and the tea plantations on one side, and the steep drops down into the valley below on the other made for a drive that was thrilling in virtually all meanings of the term. The one thing it wasn't, however, was a shortcut! Eventually, we came out onto the main road again, reached the plains down below, and then took another road back up into the mountains! The purpose was to see a long wooden suspension bridge called the "Sky Bridge", posters of which we had noticed on the walls of a restaurant where we had stopped for lunch the previous day. We finally reached the parking lot for the bridge after a long drive along more twisting roads, only to learn that the bridge was a good hour-long walk from the 駐車場. As it was already 3:30, we didn't fancy having to return to the car in the dark, then have to face a long drive home, so without further ado, we turned around and went back the way we came. We did stop, however, to take in the view of the "Sea of Bamboo" from a lookout point on the way down:
It was close to 7 this evening by the time we got home. We're all tired, of course, but we enjoyed the chance to get away from dirt and chaos that characterizes most of urban Taiwan. Shanlinhsi may not be as popular or well-known as Hsit'ou 渓頭 (it's 17 kilometers, or 11 miles, further into the mountains from Hsitou, and the narrow, twisting road no doubt limits the number of tour buses), but it was a great choice for welcoming the New Year. I just wish somebody would put a stop to all the "Sun Link Sea" nonsense!
Mariko Katō of the Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ looks at the different approaches taken by the Ma Ying-jeou 馬英九 administration towards China and Japan in "Will warmer ties burn Taiwan?":
"For many countries China is a key partner in international relations, whether in recovering from the financial crisis or tackling climate change. And this is no less true for Taiwan, whose government is sidelining long-term political disputes with the mainland for the sake of improving economic ties. For some, the pragmatic pro-China policies of the new Nationalist government that came to power last year signal an overdue thawing of cross-strait relations, which could lead to greater international recognition. But others feel that the Nationalist 中國國民黨-led administration is focusing on China at the expense of older friendships, for example with Japan. Taiwan's government...will be negotiating with Beijing early next year on signing an economic cooperation framework agreement, or ECFA 海峽兩岸經濟合作架構協議, a free-trade pact. The government hopes it will pave the way for similar deals with other Asian countries with whom Taiwan does not trade freely, mainly because of opposition from China..."
The government claims that signing an ECFA could eventually lead to free trade agreements with countries like Japan and South Korea, but there have been few, if any, signals from the authorities in China that they would not object to such deals. The Ma administration is placing its hopes for growth on tying the island closer to China, but many here worry that Taiwan will become too dependent on what is already its biggest export market:
"While the government insists the pact is crucial for maintaining Taiwan's economic competitiveness in the global market, critics say little is known of its contents except that it will reduce restrictions on trade between the two sides. Some also fear it will jeopardize Taiwan's sovereignty, while the government insists that any deal will be purely economic."
What does this all mean to the Japanese? Katō writes that:
"...some experts say Taipei 台北 has grown careless about its traditional friendship with Japan due to the shift in focus on China. Earlier this month, Masaki Saitō 齋藤正樹, Japan's top envoy to Taiwan, resigned as director of the Interchange Association 財団法人交流協会, Tōkyō's 東京 de facto embassy in Taipei. Saitō stepped down after he angered the Ma administration in May by referring to Taiwan's international status as 'unresolved.' Ma blocked Saitō from contacting him, the prime minister or the foreign minister, effectively making his job in Taiwan impossible."
Rational people would certainly agree that the KMT reacted in a manner out of all proportion to Saitō's supposed offense - his interpretation of Taiwan's status was supported by many in the Democratic Progressive Party 民主進步黨, after all. Historical truth is the salt on the slug of Chinese nationalism. Kato goes on to explain that:
"Saitō's resignation is the latest incident that has threatened to sour Japan-Taiwan relations. Shortly after Ma took office last year, Taiwan's then prime minister, Liu Chao-shiuan 劉兆玄, threatened war with Japan over a collision between Taiwanese and Japanese vessels in disputed waters. Meanwhile, territorial rights over the Senkaku Islands 尖閣諸島 in the East China Sea 東シナ海 continue to be claimed by Taiwan, Japan and China."
Ma's anti-Japanese feelings are not shared by the majority of people in Taiwan. Unlike the Koreans and Chinese, the Taiwanese in general hold relatively few grudges against Japan over the colonial past. When the DPP was in power, it viewed Japan as a counterweight against aggressive moves by Beijing. The present administration may not like it, but Japan still matters, as Katō further shows:
"Not only is China a priority over Japan in Taipei international relations, the mainland is also catching up with Japan on the number of tourists visiting Taiwan. Under Ma's administration, direct flights across the Taiwan Strait started last July. About 760,000 mainlanders have flocked to Taiwan this year compared with 850,000 Japanese, with Chinese visitors boosting the Taiwanese economy by $930 million (¥86 billion/NT30 million) since last year, according to the government's Tourism Bureau. But the tight spending habits of the Chinese mean the Japanese remain important clients, according to David Hsieh, deputy director general of the Tourism Bureau. 'Japanese people stay two or three days in one place, but mainlanders spend just one day,' he said. 'They come in groups of 50 to 100, but they do not spend money, and they haggle. They can spend as low as $60 (¥5550/NT1949) a day.' Hsieh added that the government continues to spend the most money on Japan in terms of tourism advertising."
Official policy directions may have changed, but people's attitudes haven't:
"Taiwanese interest in traveling to Japan is also still strong. More than 1.2 million Taiwanese tourists visited Japan last year, second only in number to South Koreans, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization 国際観光振興機構."
Katō's article ends with a hint to Ma to be careful when attempting to foist an ECFA on the country and its citizens:
"T'aipei's efforts to foster warmer relations with Beijing are not welcomed by all Taiwanese. 'Taiwan's interest should be first when negotiating with China,' said 34-year-old Shengming Wang, an industry analyst at the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research in T'aipei. 'Most people still don't exactly know the profits and impacts that would come about by signing the ECFA,' he added. Wang said many people in Taiwan, including himself, consider themselves Taiwanese, independent from their ancestral roots in mainland China. According to a government survey last May, 65 percent of the population think of themselves as Taiwanese while only 11 percent feel they are Chinese. About 18 percent see themselves as both Taiwanese and Chinese, while the rest have no opinion."
The central Taiwanese city of Fengyuan 豐原 isn't an especially large city, having an area of 16 square miles and a population of 165,000. But like many such burgs in Taiwan, its compact downtown area can get densely packed, especially on weekends, when the city (to paraphrase a more astute observer of Taiwanese affairs than myself) "vomits up people". It was into this maelstrom that we waded on Sunday afternoon, in a partially successful search for shoes (my daughter found some she liked, I didn't). Amber was like a solar battery on a sunny day, absorbing the energy from the 人山人海 atmosphere and converting it into a Superman-like ability to leap uneven sidewalk sections in single bounds. A true child of Taiwan she be...
The noise of the traffic going under the train tracks already had my daughter excited before we had even reached the center of town.
Accessories being sold from tables set up on sidewalks were an irresistible allure to both child and spouse.
Amber inside the Fengyuan branch of Kobayashi Cookies, a shop noted for its custard cream cakes, which are an irresistible allure to yours truly, much to the regret of my waistline (the sign next to Amber refers to クリスマスのギフト). Yes, that's "Kobayashi" and not the Mandarin reading of the characters 小林, "Hsiaolin", despite the fact the company is from the small T'aichung County 台中縣 town of Tachia 大甲.
What's Christmas like in a non-Western society? All the trappings - trees, lights, music, Santa Claus etc. - might be in place (Japan more so than Taiwan), but when it comes to the actual day, if it happens to fall on a weekday, it's off to school and/or work as usual. Christmas 2009 fell on a Friday, which meant both Pamela and I had to go to our respective places of employment, while Amber's preschool/day care center/kindergarten was open for business. I could have arranged to take at least the morning off, but that wouldn't have been possible for my wife, so we decided to delay opening the presents until today (Saturday). But wouldn't you know it - like many Taiwanese, my wife is sometimes called on to go into work on Saturdays, and this day was one of those occasions. We could have pushed Christmas back one more day, but opening the presents on the 27th just didn't sound right, and besides, Amber was eager to open the wrapped goodies under our little tree. And so it was basically a father-and-daughter affair this year as the Kaminoge household's two American passport holders observed a belated Christmas morning.
Oh well, this is Asia. My daughter still had a great morning opening her gifts (including a few stocking stuffers), and seemed very satisfied with what she got from Santa - a doll and crib, and a Thomas the Tank Engine small train set:
The doll has been by her side most of the day, while Thomas and Percy have been given a number of runs around the track. Dolls and trains - perhaps my little 娘 will grow up someday to be a full-time engineer/mother!
