Saturday in the park, I think it was the Fourth of July...

No, it turned out to be the Thirtieth of April, but one could be forgiven for thinking it was Independence Day, what with all the fireworks going off in the distance, no doubt in honor of some Taoist god's birthday. Amber and I did go to the park this afternoon, though, where my daughter celebrated the recent breaking of her high fever, and subsequent return to 元気-ness, by riding her bike, playing baseball and hide-and-seek with her old man, and generally running around and expending energy. It was great to see her back to normal. Tomorrow morning, Amber and her kindergarten classmates will be giving their annual Mother's Day performance, so there will be no sleeping in on this particular Sunday.

Amber wields her stick in front of a banyan tree (júng​shù) 榕樹, a ubiquitous sight in these here parts.

Another not-uncommon thing to see is Tibetan prayer flags, like these on a nearby rooftop. Tibetan Buddhism, or Tsàng​ch'uán​ Fó​chiào​ 藏傳佛教 has a large following in T'ái​wān​ 台灣, and the Dalai Lama is a popular figure here. This doesn't seem to automatically translate into widespread support for the cause of Tibetan independence, however. During the few times I've brought up the subject in my adult classes, the results were uncomfortable silences on the parts of my students. While many Taiwanese would probably favor formal independence from China under the right circumstances, I doubt many of them would feel sympathetic towards giving minorities such as the Tibetans, Uighurs and Mongolians the same freedom from Han Chinese (Hàn​tsú) 漢族 suzerainty. ​

Back on the home front, mother and daughter enjoy a game of Wéi​ch'í 圍棋, the ancient Chinese board game better known in the rest of the world by its Japanese name, Go 囲碁 「いご」.

Early mornin' out 'n' about

For one reason or another, I hadn't been able to get out into the hills and mountains to have a much-needed breather from the noise, dirt and general chaos that is life in urbanized T'ái​wān 台灣​. One Tuesday was a national holiday, which meant I was engaged in the waseigo 和製語 term "family service" ファミリーサービス. The following Tuesday my kindergarten class had a field trip to a "farm". Last Tuesday I needed to visit the psychiatric clinic at the local general hospital, part of a long, ongoing story that I hope to blog on once the mess has been finally settled. And this Tuesday I had to stay home and take care of my daughter, who unfortunately has come down with a nasty cold.

So it was that this morning I found myself free as a result of the above-mentioned "situation", and decided to take advantage while the window of opportunity was open. However, said opening meant having to wake up and be out the door by around 5:20am. This is what the streets of downtown Fēng​yuán​ 豐原 look like at half-past five in the morning:

It felt good to be out on the trails in the hills behind Chūng​chèng​ Park 中正園, and the one-hour walk will hopefully leave me in better shape for when I return the mountains of Tà​k'ēng​ 大坑 next week, weather permitting. However, I was far from alone this morning, for the hills were alive with sounds of Taiwanese talking and listening to music on portable radios. At times, the beautiful melodies of the birds singing in the early-morning air were drowned out by the cacophony of "hikers" enjoying the "outdoors". There's a good reason I usually venture out on weekday afternoons, instead.

Speaking of birds, I caught sight of this magnificent creature on the way back to my scooter:

Thanks to the efforts of my old college friend Andrea (via the modern miracle of Facebook), I'm pretty confident this is a Malayan Night Heron, or hēi​kuān​má​lù​ 黑冠麻鷺 (see here and here).

Later in the day, on the way home after picking up Amber from her kindergarten, I noticed something odd about the license plate on one of those ubiquitous blue pickup trucks you see everywhere on this island:

Why does it read "Shinjuku" 新宿 next to the numbers? Perhaps it's an attempt to look cosmopolitan, like those ridiculous European Union license plate frames that seem to be popular these days (for those who don't know, Shinjuku is one of Tōkyō's 東京 biggest and busiest districts). If so, it should be pointed out to the truck driver that Tōkyō-area license plates either read "Shinagawa" 品川, "Nerima" 練馬, "Adachi" 足立, "Hachiōji" 八王子 or "Tama" 多摩 (the districts where the prefecture's motor vehicle bureaus are located), with "Shinagawa" by far holding the top position on the coolativity scale, with Kanagawa Prefecture's 神奈川県 "Yokohama" 横浜 plate running a close second. 

Cats 貓

Hope everyone had a nice Easter 復活節. Amber was up early this morning, looking for the chocolate Kinder Surprises the Easter Bunny had hidden during the night in both her room and the living room. The weather was very pleasant today, so of course I took advantage of it by staying indoors the entire day, and giving the apartment a thorough spring cleaning from top to bottom. Our two cats were much smarter than me:

Happy 黑皮 (Hēi​p'í)

​

Momo

This caricature of Amber was drawn by the thirteen- or fourteen year-old daughter of one of my wife's friends, Watermelon Fish (yes, that is her English name). It certainly brings out the アニメ/漫画 side of my child:

According to legend, Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. Not many people know, however, that Christ actually escaped crucifixion and eventually made his way to northern Japan 東北地方, where he married, had kids and lived to be 106, almost as old the celebrated "Kinsan Ginsan" きんさんぎんさん twins. You can visit his grave in the Aomori Prefecture 青森県 village of Shingō 新郷, the "Home of Christ" キリストの墓. You can read about the story on Wikipedia or watch this video posted on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/RoninDave

Gray areas

For quite some time now, I've been using a combination of my Washington state driver's license and a valid International Driving Permit in order to drive legally (or so I thought) here in T'ái​wān​ 台灣. However, I was recently informed by the police that as I'm a resident here, I'm required to get a Taiwanese license (a fact which I knew, but I'm a firm believer in the concept of "plausible denial"). So this afternoon, my wife and I went to the local motor vehicles office to get the skinny on having my present driving papers changed over to the coveted Taiwanese chià​shǐ​hchíh​chào​. I cooled my heels outside while Pamela did the inquiring indoors. She emerged about 15 minutes later with a paper in Chinese that (according to her) says everything is hunky-dory with my current arrangement, and that therefore there is no need to get the local license. Apparently it has something to do with the principle of reciprocity, as the state of Washington allows Taiwanese drivers to use THEIR 駕駛執照 in conjunction with an IDP. Actually, very little is spelled out clearly, and the paper says nothing about motorcycles or scooters. Anyone who has been in Taiwan​ for a while can tell you it's not uncommon (in fact it's very common) to be told different things regarding laws and regulations by different officials working in different sections of the government. Now I need to keep the "explanatory" DMV document with me while I'm driving or riding just in case I end up being interrogated by a member of the local constabulary. TIT - This is Taiwan​.

This is also Taiwan - a car parked illegally outside the motor vehicles office:

A couple of signs espied this evening in T'ái​chūng​​ 臺中:

This food stand selling sushi 寿司 (shòu​ssū 壽司 in Chinese) and oden おでん (kuān​tūngchǔ​​ 關東煮 in the local lingo) is called "House" ハウス in Japanese. At least it thinks it is. Unfortunately, the characters 八咫屋 can't be read in this manner. Yes, this is also Taiwan​ :-)

This sign advertises full body and foot massages. For Japanese tourists, getting a マッサージ (legitimate and otherwise) is a popular activity in this country.

Close, but not quite

It's an easy mistake to make, and therefore a commonplace one here: using a full-sized tsu (つ or ツ), instead of the half-sized syllable (っ or ッ) when words contain double consonants. And so we get the nonsensical suritsupa スリツパ when it should be written as surippa スリッパ, the Japanese word for "slipper". If it's any consolation, my ex used to misread 日光 as Nitsukō rather than Nikkō, and she most definitely should have known better!

Why I don't want to buy a house in Taiwan

My wife often says we should buy a home in T'ái​wān​ 台灣, a concrete box that we could proudly call our very own. I'm very leery about doing this, for a number of reasons. Take the building below, for example...please (rimshot)! When first constructed, it probably looked very modern, but age has not been very kind to it. The pink surface tiles have become darkened and stained over the years, giving the building the look and feel of a New York subway station restroom. Add to that the lack of overhanging balconies, the bars on some the windows (even on the upper floors) and the fact that these rooms are facing north instead of south, and you've got yourself a dream home (or condo, to be more accurate) with all the charm of a disused mental hospital. And all for probably the same amount of money that it would take to get yourself a proper house (with a yard) back in your homeland. It's best to keep looking, darling.

Of Saturdays 星期六

Amber crosses over Ch'úng​té​ Road 崇德路 on the T'án​yǎ​shén​ cycling trail 潭雅神綠園道.

At the Hú​lutūn​​ Tourist Night Market 葫蘆墩觀光夜市:

Amber tucks into a bowl of catfish. My wife actually doesn't know the Mandarin word for this dish - she always orders it by its Taiwanese name 土虱, which sounds like "Tosa" to my ears, though Pamela insists I'm not saying it correctly.

Amber took this shot of me tucking into a cup of San Miguel beer.