I'd rant, but I'm too tired

I went to the food court at the local department store this evening to have a bite to eat before my evening classes. After checking out the (few) options, I decided to have a rice omelet with fried shrimp, what the Japanese would call エビフライオムライス. My appearance produced great mirth among the hundreds of workers behind the counter, with one saying "hello", but to her co-workers and not to me (and saying it repeatedly, to the enjoyment of all). There were also comments amongst themselves about how I probably could not speak Mandarin (which is true, but I didn't even get a chance to try). Having endured this infantile and rude behavior on more than one occasion, I did what I usually do in these situations - calmly told them to forget it, and walked over to the next counter, where my order for fried rice with kimchi キムチチャーハン was handled in a calm, professional manner by the single worker present.

The thing with the employees at the first food counter was that instead of being all young people (as is usually the case when this sort of thing happens), I was expected to take this crap from a bunch of middle-aged おばあさん, people who should know better how to treat customers. They wouldn't pull this kind of stunt with a Taiwanese diner, so I was quite happy to take my NT elsewhere.

Fire, fire on the mountain

I've really got to pay more attention to where I'm going. Today, while hiking up to the top of Huoyanshan 火炎山 in San'i 三義, Miaoli County 苗栗縣, I literally walked into four spider webs, inadvertently tearing them apart and getting my clothes covered in cobwebs. In addition, I had to destroy three other webs because there was no way to get around or under them. I pissed off a lot of orb spiders this afternoon, but rest assured, no arachnids were harmed in the making of this hike.

The last time I was on "Fire Mountain" was back in May, which you can read about here. At that time, I spent too long admiring the view of the barren hillsides, and didn't have enough time to see how far the trail went. This time I concentrated on the path, and in roughly two hours I reached the peak of Huoyanshan, 602 meters (1975 feet) above sea level. The trail continued on from there, but it soon narrowed into a ridge with steep drops on both sides, before becoming lost in the undergrowth. For all intents and purposes, the 602 meter-sign was the end of the road.

Though hazy, the view from the summit was still pretty impressive, with a country club in the foreground (golfers and carts being visible with the aid of binoculars), and, in the background, the power station at T'unghsiao 通霄 and the waters of the Taiwan Strait 台灣海峽.

Now that I knew how far the trail went, I could take my time and enjoy the views on the way back down, which is exactly what I did. In all, I was on the trail for over four hours this afternoon.

 

Today's hike is dedicated to the memory of Louis Johns, and John and Hetty Cargill, one of my best friends, and my uncle and aunt, respectively, who are sadly no longer with us.

Comrades-in-arms

I don't know who either woman is, and I don't really care about them, but one is Japanese and the other is Taiwanese, and the latter doesn't seem to have had her feelings hurt by Japan's occupation of the Senkaku Islands 尖閣諸島 (unlike her Chinese "compatriots"). Kyōdō News 共同通信社 has the story of their mutual admiration society in Japan Today:

FUJIWARA, BAI HIT IT OFF OVER CO-ACTING WISH

"T'AIPEI 台北 — Japanese actress Norika Fujiwara 藤原紀香 and Taiwanese top model Bianca Bai 白歆惠 hit it off while exchanging pleasantries and talking about a day they can perform together during a recent event in Taipei. 'She is so pretty and cute. I want to costar with her as sisters,' Fujiwara said to Bai, who returned the compliment, saying Fujiwara has 'both graceful and sexy' qualities. Bai added that she will be happy to just work with her, let alone star as sisters in the event in which Fujiwara promoted kiwi fruit desserts that she produced with the Zespri brand name. 'I’m ready for a paparazzi tour…I even enjoy revealing all about my lifestyle such as fashion and dining,' Fujiwara said after indicating she was shocked with the round-the-clock media coverage of her last time she came to Taiwan."

I'm shocked about the news coverage too, but not in the same sense as Ms. Fujiwara. Kiwifruit bridges the physical distance between two island nations - perhaps some should be sent to the leadership in Beijing. While they're enjoying their Kiwi treats, they might want to take a look at this excellent overview of the Senkaku situation.

Ximending - Shibuya without the crowds

In T'aipei 台北 this morning to take care of some personal matters, I found myself with a couple of hours on my hand before my 1:30 train back to Fengyuan 豐原, so I headed over to Hsimenting 西門町, billed as Taipei's answer to Harajuku 原宿 or Shibuya 渋谷. For once, the hype was fairly accurate, as the crisscrossing streets in the area do bear a noticeable similarity to Shibuya's Center Gai 渋谷センター街:

If you're young and Taiwanese, Hsimenting is no doubt the place to be, full of shops, boutiques and restaurants, many with a Japanese connection or theme. However, there are a couple of sightseeing attractions, as well, with the Red Pavilion Theater being the most prominent:

 

Dating from 1908, when it opened as a public market, the theater is now an arts center. Although there wasn't anything going on when I looked inside, the displays were evocative of days gone by. Another sight in the area is the T'ienhou Temple. Unfortunately, none of the pictures I took there turned out very well.

Compared with Shibuya, there were far fewer people out and about on this Friday around noon, though I'm sure Hsimenting becomes a sea of youthful humanity at night and on the weekends. Unsurprisingly, Japanese signs were everywhere to be seen in the area. Some were aimed at Japanese tourists, while others were attempts at looking cool in the eyes of the local youth (and some were probably a bit of both).

A short walk from Hsimenting, but worlds away in attitude (and hipness) lies Taiwan's government nerve center. The most prominent structure in this area is the Presidential Office Building 總統府, put up in 1919 to house the Japanese governors-general 台湾総督府, it still serves as the office of the head of state. This in contrast to Seoul, where the Koreans, in a fit of nationalist pique a few years ago, tore down the Japanese colonial HQ there, and replaced it with a national museum:

From the Presidential Building, it was short walk back to Taipei Station 台北車站, and my seat on the 1:30 express train.

More local heroes and the Autumn moon

This time it's a Taiwanese player on the Chūnichi Dragons 中日ドラゴンズ:

CHEN CAGES TIGERS AS DRAGONS CLINCH PLAYOFF SPOT

(Kyōdō News 共同通信社 article by way of Japan Today)

"NAGOYA 名古屋 — Chen Wei-yin 陳偉殷 baffled the Hanshin Tigers 阪神タイガーズ over eight shutout innings, helping the Chūnichi Dragons secure a place in the Climax Series クライマックスシリーズ with a 3-0 win in the Central League セントラル・リーグ Tuesday. Chūnichi became the first team from either league to reach the postseason. In the opener of a crucial three-game series at Nagoya Dome ナゴヤドーム, Chen (13-10) rolled to his 13th victory of the season, holding Hanshin to four hits and two walks in a 127-pitch effort as the Dragons moved 2-1/2 games ahead of the second-place Tigers."

A Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to one and all. Expect a lot of smoky skies this evening from all the barbecuing!

UPDATE: We headed over to the Mala Bay water amusement park this afternoon to take advantage of the fine weather, using the rain check we were given when our last visit there came to a premature end due to a nasty thunder/lightning storm.

The view from the water park looking towards Houli 后理:

After we were done having fun in the wave pool, playing in the bumper boats, riding down some slides and taking it easy inner tubing down a "river", we changed back into our street clothes, and checked out the harvest moon in the sky:

Back home, we had just enough time to have fun with some sparklers before it was time for Amber to hit the sack. It's a school day tomorrow!:

Local heroes

Blue skies and orb spiders, from my afternoon walk in Hsint'ien 新田, in the soon-to-be submerged (along with the rest of T'aichung County) town of T'antzu 潭子

Seeing as Wang Chien-ming 王建民 can't seem to get himself off the disabled list, Kuo Hong-chih 郭泓志 of the Los Angeles Dodgers has been getting most of the attention from Taiwanese baseball fans. However, there are also local ballplayers plying their trade in the Japanese leagues, and yesterday one of them came through in the clutch. Jim Allen of the Daily Yomiuri ザ・デイリー読売 reports:

TEENAGE KICKS/ROOKIE AKIYAMA MAKES MOST OF LIN'S HR AS TIGERS TAKE GIANTS DOWN A NOTCH

"NISHINOMIYA 西宮, Hyōgo 兵庫県 - Lin Wei-chu 林威助 threw a lifeline to rookie Takumi Akiyama 秋山拓巳, and the teenager made the most of it. Lin, relegated to the bench for the past three seasons, belted a come-from-behind two-run homer at a packed Kōshien Stadium 阪神甲子園球場 as the Hanshin Tigers 阪神タイガーズ knocked the Yomiuri Giants 読売ジャイアンツ a full game behind them in the Central League セントラル・リーグ pennant hunt with a 4-2 victory on Monday. 'I wasn't pitching the way I could but after Lin's homer, I knew I had to buckle down and shut them down,' said Akiyama, 19, who notched his fourth straight win. The attendance of 46,780 was the largest in Japan this season, just slightly bigger than the crowds here on Saturday and Sunday... Trailing 2-1 with a man on in the fourth inning, Lin belted a high cutter into the seats in right off Seth Greisinger (0-2). Having blasted a pitch to the warning track in right in his first at-bat, Lin's homer improved his career average against Greisinger to .188 in 32 at-bats. 'I had not been able to hit him in the past," Lin said. "He's always been able to get me with either his changeup or his cutter inside. After hitting a changeup well the first time but making out, I prepared myself to hit his cutter the second time.'...The victory moved the Tigers two games back of the CL-leading Chūnichi Dragons 中日ドラゴンズ, who played later in the evening against the Tōkyō Yakult Swallows 東京ヤクルトスワローズ at Jingū Stadium 明治神宮野球場." (and lost 4-3)

Just as I'm always happy to see the New York Yankees lose, it's gratifying to see the mighty 巨人 taken down, especially as a local boy played a key role in their defeat.

Typhoon Fanapi

It's been a strange summer, precipitation-wise. We've had a lot more rain than usual this season, with afternoon thundershowers being an almost daily occurrence, but typhoons have been few and far between (not that anyone is complaining). Our first typhoon of the year has arrived relatively late - Typhoon Fanapi started kicking up wind and water last night, and it was pretty gusty this morning. However, it seems things have quieted down, at least in our area.

And that was pretty much all she wrote, folks. At least in our area, Fanapi was a relatively uneventful typhoon. The result was a boring afternoon for all involved, especially Amber. I did, however, take her up to the roof around 5 p.m. to look at the sky, which is always a sight to behold in the aftermath of nature's climatic furies.