Here and still There.

I’ve been home a little over a week now and have had a little time to decompress from the flight and think about the trip as a whole.  My sleeping schedule is still a bit out of sorts and Tanja’s fluctuating shifts don’t help regulate it.  A few times I’ve woken up, confused as to where I was, but the plushness of my surroundings quickly helped me realize I was at home.  When I fall asleep at an appropriate time, I’m still waking early in the morning, unaided.  My body still isn’t used to the cold, but I think this year will feel a little colder than last since I’ve dropped a good amount of organic insulation.

Although I’ve packed away all my luggage and laundered all the clothes, there’s still one important piece of business that lingers after the trip has concluded, the health of my father.  We took him directly to the hospital emergency room from the airport and admitted him for care.  The first day, they performed a head CT to get a baseline, and monitored his health over night.  When a nurse noticed that he was slightly less responsive the following day, they ordered another head CT and thought they saw something of concern, thus admitting him to the neurological ICU.  Stroke was suspected, but more test were needed to confirm and see if there was any damage.

After moving him, an MRI was ordered since it provided a higher resolution of the brain and the supplying arteries.  We requested a digital copy of the scans so Tanja could take a look at them too and help us decode what’s going on.  She said she couldn’t see what was concerning about the brain, and the arteries looked clear so if it was a stroke, it most likely wasn’t the traditional massive blockage or leakage, but something more along the lines of a transient ischemia, or mini strokes.  An enhanced MRI might provide further answers as to where the effected area was and how it happened.

The EMRI was performed the next day, and Tanja wasn’t scheduled to work, so she accompanied me to the hospital for a visit.  She suggested we go in the morning during the shift change, as it would be the best time to ask questions and perhaps see the doctor.  Of course she was correct, and the doctor in charge of my father was actually a doctor she served under during one of her rotations through the ICU at Henry Ford.  To her credit, he instantly recognized her and treated her as an old colleague, showing her the scan images and discussing the diagnosis, almost exclusively with her, despite the presence of his PA and 5 other nurses in the room.  It’s always a source of pride for me to see her in her professional element, and the information she dumbed down for us provided a greatly needed source of security concerning the future course of treatment.  The EMRI showed some diffused lesions in the area of a few meninges (brain folds), which were areas of slight inflammation, likely the source of the odd decrease in brain functions.  This sort of meningitis isn’t common in stroke so the cause of his ailments would was hypothesized to be an infection of some sort, either viral or fungal since if it was bacterial, he would likely have died already.  A lumbar puncture (spinal tap) was ordered and the spinal fluid pressure was recorded, with the withdrawn fluids being sent to infectious diseases to have whatever the foreign invader was cultured for identification.

The culprit was found within the day, to be Cryptococcus, a yeast common to everyone.  For some reason, perhaps diabetes and travel stress, my father was immune suppressed enough for some inhaled spores to invade his cerebral spinal fluid and work their way to his brain.  Now that the cause was known, the course of treatment was clear and administration began immediately. 

So that is where we stand, the immediate course of treatment is an IV administered antibiotic for ten to fourteen days followed by an oral pill for much longer, as much as two years, until the infection has cleared.  During his stay, more lumbar punctures and CT scans will be used to diagnose his progress, but every day shows some sign of promise.  He still sleeps much of the day, but some cognitive abilities are returning.  Seven days into the treatment, and he is starting to be able to definitively recognize faces, and recall and say their names.  His ability to read aloud is returning and image recognition is staring to return.  It will probably be a long road to recovery, and we’re still not sure what to expect in terms of autonomy.  One positive from these events is the retirement that was forced upon him.  I’m just hoping for enough recovery for him to fully enjoy it without hindering my mom’s plans too much.

I think until that happens, a part of me will still be on that trip to Taiwan.  His illness started about halfway through the trip and really reduced the amount of time we had to experience the trip together.  While I still tried to remain active and see the required sights, much was lost because he wasn’t there with me.  I got one good, very hectic, week with him but I can’t resolve to file away any memories of the trip until all aspects of the journey have been completed.  As far as I’m concerned, this journey isn’t complete until he’s better, so I remain in a limbo; at home, but not completely here.  So I hope you’ll allow me to further bore you with posts, until I feel complete.

Home Again

Well, I’ve had a little time to decompress and get some sleep.  Rest crammed in the belly of a flying metal beast is near impossible unless you have the advantage of being stacked in the esophagus, closer to the maw.  I think they call it business class. 

My dad is resting and being analyzed, and will hopefully recover fully from his travels.  The flight went well enough, without any major incidents.  When I checked us in online and printed boarding passes, I requested a wheelchair at every airport, which helped facilitate movement and allowed us to bypass most of the lines through security and boarding.  All the airport staff were very nice and accommodating, which eased much of my travel anxiety.  None of them will ever read this, but I thank them just the same.

I’ve had a little time to unpack, do some laundry, and organize things, but not thoughts.  I imagine I might have some more posts trickle out of  my head during the next week.  I thank you for reading thus far, but don’t want to try your patience any longer than necessary, so you don’t have to read the wrap up if you don’t want.  You’re more than welcome to, but it will just be my after thoughts, preserved for my own posterity.

It’s great to be back.  The air is drier, and has a sweeter smell.  All the surfaces are softer and more familiar.  To celebrate my return, Tanja took me to the local coney island where I broke diet to have two chili dogs and a helping of chili cheese fries.  I needed to shock my gastrointestinal system into western diets, at least that’s the excuse I’m using.  I worry about the welfare of my relatives in Taiwan and their worry for my dad, but unfortunately, I have no way of communicating directly to them.  I emailed one of my cousins to keep him abreast of my fathers condition with the hopes that the information will disseminate to everyone else.  I’m sure my mother has contacted people as well.

I can’t foretell when the wrap-up posts will be made, but I can guarantee that they will be made.  If you’re leaving me now, thank you for bearing with me this long.  I appreciate your audience, patience, and well wishes, and more than welcome your comments. 

Long way back home.

I’ve begun the final leg of my journey.  The trip from Taipei to the Narita airport in Japan felt blessedly short.  I managed to switch seats with someone on both legs so I could be seated next to my dad, at a sacrifice for the leg room afforded to me with an isle seat.  He seems to be traveling well and has more mobility today than he has in the past week.

Farewells in Taipei were tearful all around.  I wasn’t sure if the tears were because of our departure, or because of the health circumstances surrounding it, but I suspect it was some mix of both.  One part was odd though.  After we checked our luggage and the farewells were in process, two of my aunts and my uncle Joe appeared to be praying Christian prayers with my dad.  The only reason I suspect it was Christian was because one of the Aunts was saying short phrases, and the other two were saying something that sounded like “amen”.  I knew my grandmother was a Christian, but I didn’t think anyone else in the family was.  It was an event that neither me, nor my youngest uncle partook in.

We procured a wheelchair for my father which was fortunate since we were running a little late.  The wheelchair gave us easier passage through security and customs, and allowed us to board the plane early so I could get him situated.  While I requested a wheelchair at every terminal in our journey, it was lacking at the Narita airport.  I’m not sure what oversight caused it, but fortunately, I was sure to address the boarding attendant when we reached our gate, and they let us board the plane early.  It was a little frantic trying to get seated next to him, but it will be worth it since I’ll be able to check his welfare the whole trip.  There was actually a medical emergency on the flight to Narita, with the crew asking if there wa a medical professional on board.  It made me wish Tanja was with us so she could administer emergency help like she has on another occasion.  It’s always a source of joy and pride when I get to watch her in her profession, unexpectedly.  There was a little delay in disembarking the aircraft since the emergency crew needed to clear the ailing passenger before th other passengers could leave.  That gave us just enough time to pass through Japanese security and make it to the gate to board the plane.

So now I’m an hour and a half into this final leg of the journey.  A surprise that should have been expected is that, while the flight will take bit longer with the absence of a tail wind, it is shorter by four hours compared to the flight from Detroit to Japan.  So I’m looking at approximately ten more hours of flight, and the four hours reduced feels like a blessed stroke of luck.  It’s still a long time to sit in one place, but it’s comparable to watching all three extended version of the movie “The Lord of the Rings”, a feat I have done once, with minor physical ailments resulting.

The first meal served on this last flight was dinner-like with a choice between chicken and beef.  While the food had some Asian flair, it was the first non-Asian meal I’ve had since HuaLien, disregarding fast food.  The salad had half a grape tomato in it, and after I bit into it, I realized that it was the first fresh tomato I’ve had in three weeks.  Biting into something that fresh, flavorful, and raw was such a shock, it was all I thought about for the rest of the meal.  I hadn’t realized in all the meals in Taiwan, not one had uncooked vegetables, only uncooked fish.  This will be something I’ll be happy to return to. 

The current movie is, unfortunately, “How the Earth was Made”.  While I might have watched it at home, I’ve had my share of nature education for at least a week.  I might make another entry after my brain is broken by the flight process.  For now, I’ll try to escape into a book.

Last Day

Well, it’s my last day here in Taiwan if you don’t count the time it will take to hop on an airplane to begin the arduous journey in the flying torture chamber they call an airplane.  Today was spent finding one last geocache, successfully, wrapping up some loose ends and packing.  My dad brought so many gifts to Taiwan, that I can use one of the empty suitcases for my carry-on bag, significantly lightening my load.  On the other hand, he’s bringing so much back, that two of the largest suitcases are full and one of them may be overweight.  I did manage to exclude the 7 wooden ducks that he was supposed to bring back; orders from my mom.  Unfortunately, many books and DVD’s made it into the bags.  After I packed up all the extras, I locked up the bags to prevent any unauthorized stowaways.  However, that all took place later in the day.

My primary intent today was to find one more Geocache, after dropping by my aunts one more time to return the key and print up our boarding passes.  The cache was hidden near the Taipei Sports Arena, and was fairly easy to find.  I traded in my last travelbug and traded out a travel coin from Germany.  Unfortunately, I didn’t know the goal of the coin was to make it to New Zealand, so I’m taking it way off it’s course.  Hopefully it will find a way back.  The main highlight of the day was something that should have happened weeks ago.  I got to talk to Tanja on the computer via Google Chat.  I missed our meeting yesterday, and we never planned on coordinating any time of real time communication.  She surprised me by taking the webcam off my computer and installing it on hers, so I got to see her and Chloe for the first time in three weeks.  It will be even more wonderful to see her in person “tomorrow”.  I put quotes around it, because, while I’ll be leaving Taiwan on Saturday at 9:00 and arriving in Detroit at 12:00 Saturday, I’m actually leaving on Friday at 20:00 EST, so my tomorrow is your two days from now.  It’s a little mind bending.

Some relatives and friends stopped by tonight after dinner to say their good byes and wish us safe travel.  It’s difficult to say if I’ll ever see them again, even though they’re family.  It would be nice to be closer to people you have an innate bond with, but even with computers, the distance makes a meaningful relationship difficult. 

So baring any accidents, this will be my last entry from this connection, in this location.  Experience tells me that I won’t have a connection in the interim unless I purchase some time on the airplane, which I’ll only do in an emergency.  I’ll probably still write some entries on the ride back, and they’ll probably be filled with how horrible the experience is, and I’ll wrap up the blog with a few introspective posts.  While this is about finding my roots, maybe it won’t be isolated to this specific travel event.  It will be difficult to find Chinese culture related things to write about in South East Michigan, but I’m not ruling out the possibility.  I guess that’s it for now.  See you on the other side. 

No update today

I didn’t get to do anything I had planned for today so there’s no update.  I’ll hopefully have something to report tomorrow.  Sorry.

Sun Yat-Sen: the father of Asian Democracy

My suspicions were partly true about sleeping in when in more comfortable surroundings.  However, I can’t say that it was rigorously tested since I went to sleep late the night before, so I might have just been more tired.  I did set my alarm and woke to it, planning on hitting one more site before I headed back to my father’s apartment: the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial.

As I understand it, Sun Yat-Sen was a political figure in China in the early 1900’s and was a key inspiration in overthrowing the Qing dynasty.  He’s often considered the father of republican democracy in Asia, so has a particular place of reverence in the mind of Taiwanese seeking independence from China.  Since I was planning on returning to my Dad’s around noon, I skipped breakfast for now to hit the memorial.  Luckily I made it there 15 minutes before the hour.  Just enough time to snap some pictures of the outside before the changing of the guard.

 

 

The changing of the guard happens every hour, on the hour, although I’m not sure if it happens at night.  The changing of the guards is a highly ritualized affair with precision synchronized marching, rifle presentations and twirling, finalizing in two of the five members ascending metal boxes on either side of the memorial to stand guard until relieved the next hour.  I took a few videos of the procession, but the files are large and will have to wait for upload until later.  The pictures will have to do for now.  I hope I wasn’t too blatant about the target of much of my photography, because the guards were using M1 Garands as their ceremonial weapons.  As far as I could tell, everything was real meaning they were performing the drills with 10 pounds of gun.  The weapons themselves bore bayonets and all the metal was chromed and polished.  The stocks were too black to be normal linseed oil treated walnut, so they might have been painted or lacquered.  I did get a picture of the receiver markings on one of the guards which displayed the Springfield Armory stamping and the serial number of 5383491, placing it in the same year bracket as mine, 1954-1955.  After the ceremony ended and the crowd cleared out, I took some better framed pictures of the memorial statue and headed out for breakfast, skipping most of the informational sections, for brevity’s sake.  I would need to head back soon.

Breakfast was Burger King, this completing my western fast food round up, since I haven’t seen a Wendy’s.  No, I’m not including Pizza Hut or Domino's since they often add multi-limbed seafood as a topping.  With breakfast over, I packed up my belongings and took the MRT back to my father.

 

 

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, consisting of minor local exploring and some quiet reading and planning of the remaining two days.  We did go out to eat one more time with my dad’s friends, at a fancy Chinese buffet.  Because my dad is still a little fatigued, we decided to grab a taxi to take us from door to door and all met up at the restaurant.  The served a tasty lychee flavored carbonated drink that tasted more like a light citrus than a sweet lychee.  Unfortunately, you can’t purchase it anywhere, or I would bring some back so you could sample it.  One of my dad’s friends brought his two kids, so I had some English conversation with them, but their level of English competency about equaled my level of Chinese.  I could follow most of the rest of the conversation, until they would break out into Taiwanese, which sounds like absolutely gibberish to me.  The difference is night and day and I can’t understand a lick of it.  Provided translations were lacking.

I hope to do a little more souvenir shopping and find one more Geocache tomorrow.  I think the weather will hold out.  The past few days have had a 30% chance of rain, which in Taiwan means it will rain, but only at 30% of a full downpour, i.e. a light mist.  Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll make it to the Taipei Zoo to see the pandas unless I can squeeze it in on Friday.  Otherwise,  it will have to wait for a return visit.

Link to today’s web album.

Taipei 101

The morning began, on one of the four days left before we fly back home, very similarly to many of the other days before it.  I supposed it’s only natural for fantastical surroundings to become more mundane as you become accustomed to the environs.  Our time is rapidly drawing to a close here in Taiwan, and there are a few major sights left to see.  One of them is the Taipei 101 skyscraper.  The plan was for my dad and I to travel out the 14 stations to the Sun Yet-san memorial station to tour the area and stay the night at my now empty Aunt Ellen’s apartment.  As the morning moved towards noon, I realized that my dad, although appearing on his way to recovering his strength was still not able to make the trip.  Despite suggesting we get a taxi to save on walking, we decided it was best for him to conserve and build his strength for the arduous plane ride home.  Although he might have been more comfortable in my aunts place, the energy expenditure might have been more detrimental than the rest would have recovered.  I packed overnight necessities and reluctantly left my dad in the care of his brother.

The cloudy weather wasn’t ideal for sight seeing from high places, but it made for effortless traveling.  I think I can expect the same kind of conditions for the rest of the week.  After dropping off my extra baggage at the apartment and reconfiguring my camera bag, I set off for the next station over, that would take me close to the skyscraper.  A few blocks south of the station, I could see the tower piercing the cloud cover, looming above the city.  The base of the building was swarming with tourists and shoppers.  The first four floors of Taipei 101 was made for shopping, housing many high end clothing and accessory stores.  The combination of vendor and sight seeing attractions makes for a chaotic lobby, but before I waded through the crowd of tourists, I had a mission objective across the street, as my GPS pointed.

 

I planned this morning to finally get my first Geocache in Taiwan and drop off one of my two travel bugs.  There are a few caches within easy walking distance to the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT i.e. train), but one specifically placed near the Taipei 101 destination.  My GPS pointed me to a small park across the street from the skyscraper and the accuracy, combined with the clue led me to my hidden treasure.  The cache was hidden under a brick in the bushes inside a tin used to store tea leaves.  Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, lest they think I’m some foreign spy, I quickly made a log entry and swapped my travel bug for a geocoin from Switzerland.  The later will accompany me back to Michigan to be placed in a cache there, fulfilling it’s desire to travel around the world.  Now on to the spire.

Taipei 101 gets its name from the 101 floors that reside above ground.  It also has 5 levels below that house parking and food courts. It was the tallest building the world from 2006 to 2010.  I passed by the shoppers lazily flitting from store to store, and located an elevator that would take me to the fifth floor where the ticket sales resided for a trip to the observation level on the 89th floor.  There’s actually a higher observation level on the 91st floor but it was closed due to weather.  The elevator up the 1,258 ft takes only seconds since the 101 boasts a very quick, pressurized lift.  Despite the pressurization, my ears had to pop a few times on the way up.  The ride was so quick that I didn’t have enough time to get my camera out and record a video, but I was prepared for the ride down.  The 89th floor observation level seemed to be right at the cloud level, as I could see some parts of the city while parts further out on the horizon were obscured.  This floor boasts a 360 degree view of the surrounding city with another of the 101’s attractions in the middle.  The wind dampening system.  The view was still spectacular, even though it was slightly obscured by the clouds.  The pre-festive decorations and music fortunately did little to detract from the surroundings.

The wind dampening system consists of a 660 metric ton spherical mass hanging from four steel cables.  Should the tower sway from wind or earthquake, the inertial mass of the system will dampen the swaying oscillations of the building, preventing it from collapse.  The sphere is viewable from two levels, the 89th, and one below accessible by stairs, on the 88th.  The 88th floor also houses a gallery of coral and jade treasure, along with high end souvenirs.

The gallery boasted magnificent sculptures carved from enormous solid pieces of ox blood jewel coral and emerald jade.  While some of the smaller pieces are for sale, the price puts the items well out the means of normal people.  The gift shops inhabiting the 88th floor, while having more reasonable prices than the works of art, still boast high end jewelry.  Decorations of red coral, jade, pearl, gold, and diamond glittered in the multitude of cases.  The rarity, or perhaps the markup, of the pieces made even the most innocuous looking item beyond immediate reach.  Luckily, some smaller items were available for purchase, and I acquired some minor treasure for friends at home.  I’ll have to reserve more shopping for locations more at my economic level, unfortunately.

 

After perusing the lofty treasures of the 88th floor, I took the rapid elevator back down to earth and descended into the basement levels for a bite to eat.  Subway would be my dinner tonight and watched with pleasure as the sandwich maker tessellated the triangular slices of cheese on my sub.  In America, they overlap the cheese, long side always facing the same direction, creating cheese-less bites.  The mayonnaise also tasted different; sweeter with some other flavor.  Also, although I ordered a foot long, the individually wrapped the sandwich in six inch sections, which allowed me to save half for later.  How convenient. 

Fulfilled, I headed back to the quiet apartment.  We’ll see if I sleep in with the sound of motor vehicles being far below and my back resting in a softer bed.  I hope to see a few more sights in the morning before heading back to my Dad.

Since I have the luxury of using my aunt’s internet connection, I’ll be uploading a backlog of videos I’ve taken over the trip on my YouTube page.

Link to Today’s Album.

Somber Day. Successful Night.

I woke up this morning to a gray misty day with temperatures hovering at 70F.  Portent of things to come perhaps.  Today, I finally convinced my dad to go see a doctor since he was still feeling fatigue.  For some reason, my uncle needed help carrying down two five gallon buckets filled with gardening implements and fruit.   I helped, thinking that he just needed to move them into the basement for storage or something.  I was more confused when he loaded them into the car to go to the doctors.  In my mind, I was imagining a hospital ER, maybe a physical and some blood work to check electrolyte levels.  In reality, a cousin drove my dad, two uncles, and I to a private clinic a few streets over.  As best as I could follow the conversation, the doctor was concerned with his diet since he wasn’t regular and simply prescribed him some laxatives and sent him on his way, an unsatisfying outcome in my mind.  The pharmacy we picked up the prescription from was across the street and sold many herbal remedies (read: mumbo jumbo) along side prescription drugs.  My confidence was not elevated by the experience.  Luckily I would be proven wrong, so far.

After the doctors, we hopped back in the car, but I noticed that we weren’t driving back to the apartment.  '”What’s going on?  Where are we going?”  “We’re going to visit my parents tombs in the mountains.”  I have no problem going to see the tombs, but I really didn’t think it was the best idea since my dad was still very weak.  Despite my consternations, we proceeded as, apparently, planned.  So that’s what the tools were for.  We made our way across the river and up into the mountains to first visit the tomb of my grandmother.  It’s situated on a hill with many other tomb structures overlooking the Taipei valley. To reach it, you have to traverse a path up part of the mountain, not accessible to the car.  I’m not sure how often they visit, but it was a little overgrown, so everyone set to work clearing weeds and trimming the brush.   Since my father was still in a weakened state, he didn’t do any of the work, but sat quietly on a low wall with his thoughts.  I was checking on his welfare when I noticed a small mantis sitting on his shoulder.  I don’t get to see them much, so it was a little wonder to watch.  After everything was cleared, they placed fruit and water on the tomb and proceeded with the rituals. They were very similar to the events of visiting my maternal grandparents, which is odd since my paternal grandmother was a Christian.  The mountain mist smothered and remnant jovial thoughts that the situation might have missed.  After paying respects one more time, we packed the car back up and moved down the mountain a bit to my grandfather’s tomb.

My Grandfather’s tomb is situated right next to the one-lane road a bit down the mountain.  Again, some cleaning was needed so we cleared weeds and brush.  When that was near completion, I noticed a larger mantis sitting on the gravesite wall next to his tomb.  If I were a superstitious person, I would probably make note of the appropriately sized mantes respective to each tomb, especially how one was sitting on my dad’s shoulder, but I’m not superstitious.  I did, however, guide a large ant into the scythe-like arms of the larger mantis, even if it wasn’t a representation of my Grandfather.  We made similar offerings and performed similar rituals for my grandfather then packed up the car and made our way back into the city for lunch. 

Lunch was a simple affair, consisting of noodles and some vegetables.  My dad had a broth with some dumplings, and I warned him not to eat too much, but my words fell on slightly deaf ears.  My concern for his intestinal fortitude grew with each mouthful, and by the end, I was certain that he would make himself sick again, but he seemed to be okay, if not still a little fatigued.

 

After lunch, we made our way back to the apartment, where my dad downed his medicine with a bottle of Kinderlyte (Pedialyte) that I found at the pharmacy.  He was fairly tired, so I left him as confortable as I could in his bed as I made my way out the door.  I was going to use the cooler weather as an excuse to explore the town a bit more without sweating my brains out.  It’s a good thing I did, for I stumbled across a small storefront selling police and military gear.  While they didn’t have the brand of bags I’ve been searching for, I got a lead from the shop owner that I might look into.  More importantly, I finally had success finding my Taiwan flag patch!  Things were looking up. 

The best news of the day came after I made my way back to the apartment.  I opened the door to my dad, eating dinner and operating at a normal activity level.  I’m not sure if it was the Kinderlyte, the medicine, or some mystical healing from visiting his parents, but he’s finally appearing to return to normal.  He’s keeping food down and his headaches are receding.  Maybe in another day, we can spend some time together looking at the last few sights around Taipei that are left on the list.  I’m really hoping for his continued recovery since I was dreading an ailing father combined with a 19 hour flight home.

Link to today’s album.

Freebird

I woke up this morning with the full expectation of going to the famous Jianguo Holiday Jade Market.  It’s only held on the weekends and some Mondays and Tuesdays if they fall on a holiday.  Since this would be my last weekend in Taiwan, it was imperative that I went.  My dad is still feeling a bit under the weather so he was unfortunately out of the picture for the day.  That didn’t stop laoshi from ambushing me shortly after I took my morning shower with the proclamation that we would be going to  the 12th Taipei International Bird watching Fair.  The brochure he pushed into my hands promised a “Taiwan ecosystem exhibition, international exhibits, guided walks, games with ecological themes, and saes of field guides and bird watching equipment.  I can’t imagine why the admission would be free.  Stripped of my dad’s translation abilities I stood stunned trying to formulate the words that would politely excuse me from the pending ordeal.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t invoke the proper words and off to the Bird watching Fair we went.

Everything I feared about the trip manifested itself within the first 30 feet of exiting the apartment building.  I can’t fault the guy for walking at a shuffling pace, he is pretty old after all.  That fact doesn’t make it any more bearable.  Instead of stopping to talk with my absent dad, he encountered a friend of his walking in the other direction and consumed ten minutes conversing with him.  I was too miserable to take pictures of breakfast.  Although it was similar to ones I’ve had before, it tasted like ash served to a condemned prisoner.  After eating, we boarded the train that would lead me to my doom.  Would this event take all day?  It was only 8:00 so maybe at most, it would only take four or five hours, then I could split and make a break for the Jade Market.  He’s actually pretty well known for his knowledge, and photography of birds.  After considering this factor, this would probably take all day.  After mulling these condemning thoughts over in my depressed mind we arrived at the station that would transfer us to a bus to take us to the Guandu Nature Park.

A twist of fate.  We sat at the station, apparently waiting for bus, but it became apparent that we were waiting for his friends.  One by one a group bird nerds formulated, all dressed in semi-concealing greens and tans, sporting patches that proclaimed various birding societies.  Camera bags, tripods, spotting scopes, raincoats; I was not going to fit in, in my white and orange polo shirt and blue jeans, another miscommunication as I can go as subdued as the next guy.  Another twist of fate: was that a pain in my stomach?  Was it dread, psychosomatic pain, or did I really not feel well?  It started to increase.  Eureka!  My way out.  I formulated the words for my escape plan an adequately pulled it off.  “You go and look.  I’m going back to the house.  My stomach doesn’t feel good.”  He nodded in acknowledgement and happily lead his group off to the bus.  I think I was an anchor for him anyways.  But this anchor now had freedom!

I made the trip home, really feeling a little sick in my stomach, but some “rest and relaxation” cured that right up and, after checking on my dad, I was out the door to the Jade market.

To call this place a market is an understatement.  It’s more like a “jade Costco” or “jade football field”.   To make a point, the place was huge, and it was filled with various vendors selling different kinds of jade, bone or ivory, and semi-precious gems and crystals.  Prices ranged from frighteningly cheap to terrifyingly expensive.  The one variance that this market had from the others was that the vendors weren’t very aggressive in their sales pitch.  I was free to wander around and take a look over the table without being accosted to take a longer look.  If I had interest in an item, they were more than willing to help, and a good number of them spoke enough English to dictate prices and haggle.  Those that couldn’t would punch out a price, and if you waited long enough, they would say “discount” and punch out another price.  I read a bit about picking out jade before I swam with the sharks, but the amount of knowledge I gleaned was more of a life preserver rather than a chainmail suit.  Regardless, I found a few nice items to bring back and disperse to friends and family, although a few of the items I really desired were set well beyond my comfort level.  Shopping with my Dad’s friends and relatives is a double edged sword.  Twice I’ve been blocked from purchasing something because they knew a better place or had a better connection, both unfruitful so far.  However, I have no doubt that I could have used their assistance in purchasing items today… if I got to purchase anything.

Lunch was McDonalds, easily ordered in English.    The night was completed with a well needed workout at the local community center.  The facilities have a large swimming pool, squash and badminton courts, basketball/volley ball courts, a spinning area, climbing walls, and a workout room.  The workout room is well equipped enough and use of the machines and free-weights are about a U.S. dollar an hour.  They run kind of funny here with very short strides.  It’s also ironic that in the lobby, there’s a “Mos Burger”, which I’ve never heard of before coming to Taiwan, but it appears fairly successful.

Not many pictures, but here’s today’s album.

A Cavalcade of Cousins and Cuisine

Today started off like many of the days before it.  A corn based variation of chi fan, but with a special sponge cake surprise.  It was my first taste of chocolate in two weeks, and was a welcomed familiarity to my tongue.  Today, I was to meet all the relatives from my dad’s side of the family.  I thought that it would be a dinner affair, but when people starting streaming in around noon, I knew I was wrong.  Much like family gatherings in the U.S., our reunion was based around food and was to be a whole day affair.  Some people would come and go, but most of the group stayed the whole day to talk, eat, and take pictures.

All of my uncles and aunts were there with some spouses, a few cousins and a few of their kids.  It would have been a pretty lonely affair if not for the saving grace of some English speaking relatives.  Three of them could speak English well enough to hold good conversations with, and I was filled in about life when they were young and my Grandmother was still alive.  One of my cousins said that she would wake up each morning and walk  up the closest mountain for a workout.  I walked that path the other day, and it’s not that easy, even at 33.  One of my uncles, at least I’m told he’s my eldest aunts husband, but he might be a great uncle considering he’s a WWII vet, gets up each morning at 4:00 to walk 2.5 km (5 mi).  He’s not what you could call lithe, but it’s still impressive that he can hold that regime at any age.  Apparently, the war took him to Holland, France, North Africa, and Germany, but he lived in the U.S. for  time selling boats and has worked in the shipping industry.  He’s a smart man, and tried to stump us younger generation with a mathematical pattern riddle.  Luckily I’ve studied combinitroncs so I had it figured out in a matter of minutes, to the admiration of my other cousins.  He spoke broken Engish in a gruff voice befitting a man with his life experience and I could easily imagine him in older times, sitting around a campfire, retelling tales of his youth.  Luckily I got some of his conversation on video. 

I’m not sure how the time flew buy, but six hours later seems like half that much and the next round of food was ready for consumption.  A few more cousins came with their raucous boys, which added to the entertainment value of the evening.  My Uncle Joe, eldest of the brothers, brought some old pictures of my mom and dad right before he left for America, in digital format, so I now have the record of his transition.  There are also a few of them from the last time I visited Taiwan, almost thirty years ago.  I think those pictures are some of the most valuable things I’ve gotten this trip, so I’ll have to make many redundant copies of them when I get home.  Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not going to upload all the older pictures to conserve storage space.  I only have about a gig of online space left, and a week might easily fill it.

The night finally wound down and people started leaving.  It’s odd thinking that it might be the last time I ever see some of them.  I might make the trip back next year for the anniversary of my maternal grandparents death, and it’s unknown if I’ll see my paternal relatives then.  Despite only seeing me for the second time in my life, they were all very welcoming and inviting.  It’s unfortunate that distance separates me from relatives on both sides of my family.  Thinking about the closeness I’ve seen in all the relatives this trip makes my life’s connections feel a little bit sparse.

Link to today’s album

Quiet day, loud night.

I really didn’t do anything today.  My dad is still feeling a little under the weather, so we made no plans to go out, which is a little nice.  I did venture out on my own to look around at a few of the farther rail stations, but didn’t see anything interesting.  One of these days, I’m going to have to go out to find a geocache or two to plant these travel bugs.  I did get some relaxing reading done during most of the day, which is fine by me.

After dinner, my uncle and I did go out to the famous Shilin night market.  If there’s a polar opposite in touring styles to laoshi Shin, it’s my uncle.  His english competency is about the same so touring usually breaks down to a brisk walk with pointing and some attempted communication in Chinese.  Some of the times I know what he’s trying to say, other times I just nod and say “yeah”.  He does get the idea when I want to stop and take a closer look at something, but there’s no way for me to convey any thought about what I’m looking for.  For instance, I’m trying to locate an embroidered Taiwan flag patch, and saw a small airsoft store, but couldn’t convey to anyone what I was looking for.  It’s a little frustrating, but sometimes I’ll come across a store clerk that can speak Engilsh.  It’s a wonderful thing.

The Shilin night market is a crazy kaleidoscope of color, sights, smells, and sounds.  I’m not sure if Friday nights draw larger crowds than other nights, but the place had a higher volume than all the other markets I’ve been to.  There were areas for carnival-like games of chance, food courts where I swear I smelled stinky tofu (the other item on my no-eat list), and lots of male and female fashions, but mostly female.  Any souvenir trinket you could desire could be found here, with the exception of my aforementioned patch.  Glass baubles, jade jewelry, cell phone charms, items of every kind.

There was another small area where a local pet store set up their animals for sale.  They sold baby chicks, cats, puppies, turtles, and fish.  Nothing really exotic, but they did have one bulldog and what looked like two French Bulldog puppies.

We breezed through the market pretty quickly, which wasn’t too bad since I’m much to large to even think about trying on any clothes and I don’t think the fashions much suit me.  Upon arriving back at the apartment, we were greeted with a very loud movie being projected on a small movie screen in the park across the street.  I’m not sure how long it’s going to go for, but I doubt something like this would ever be able to happen in the States.  My uncle said that when he was young, he would watch these old Taiwanese movies.  I guess it’s some kind of community entertainment for the old people.  I’ll just stick to reading my Nook.

Today’s web album.

Second verse, same as the first, and the third, and the fourth……

Waking up between 6:30 and 7:00 is getting to be a pretty normal routine.  I’ll be interested to see if I can continue the trend when I’m back in my confortable quiet bedroom at home.  I doubt it.  I didn’t think we had any plans today, so I decided that I wanted to swing by the Yamaha music store I’ve seen in passing a few times to see how their prices were.  There’s a Yamaha instrument factory in Taiwan, so there’s a chance I could pick up an instrument or two for a reduced price.  I wasn’t exactly sure where it was, but I knew the general area.  Unfortunately, because of the mind bending way the streets are arranged, it might mean a lot of searching on foot.  Laoshi said that he knew where it was and would take my dad and I to go see it after breakfast.  I should have known something was up. 

We found the shop okay, after walking at a snails pace and stopping so he could pluck a random leaf from a random bush and make us smell it.  The prices are better than what I could get online, so there’s a good chance that I might purchase something.  First, he wants to check with one of his friends, who happens to be a supplier of such things to all the schools in the area.  Now that my business was out of the way, the sucker punch landed.  Off to some museums!  The first one we went to was a museum that housed diplomatic gifts from various countries.  My dad said that if the gifts were too expensive to be of a personal nature, it belonged to the people and was housed here so people could see it free of admission.  The place also housed various currencies and Taiwan currency through the ages.

 

After that thrilling encounter, we grabbed some lunch at a vegetarian buffet.  If there were vegetarian buffets like this in the U.S., I could consider changing my eating habits.  There was a large variety of foods, greens, and vegetables I’ve never seen before, and I could eat bravely with the knowledge that I wouldn’t be eating any odd parts of animals.The purple thing was supposed to be some kind of sweet potato, but I didn’t like it, and it was the only part of the meal I didn’t like.  This probably ranked up there as one of my most consumed meals.

Next we went to a Natural History Museum.  The saving grace was that it was small, so we didn’t spend much time there.  The dinosaur exhibits were nice to look at, but I’ve been to natural history museums before, and I think the information contained within isn’t exclusive to the area of Taiwan.  It’s not that I hate museums, but you have to understand, everything is in Chinese, and laoshi Shen only speaks Chinese so I don’t get any information from any of the displays besides what I can deduce from a preschool level.  Also, the guy talks a lot so he moves very very slowly though the exhibits, increasing the time spent in these places.  Luckily, this place had a small café, so I picked up a mango smoothie and waited for them there after I was done looking around.

After that, it was time for dinner, so we wandered though a nearby park to a café where we waited the arrival of my dad’s friend Shao Shin.  On the way there, we came upon some odd little long legged birds that were hunting for worms in the dusk hours.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have my zoom lens, but I did have one of my faster lenses, so I did get to capture some of the action, despite the low light.  Dinner tonight was hotpot, and I requested the vegetable heavy portion, which still came with some intestine and beef.  Of course, I passed the intestine on to my dad and happily ate all the veggies.

Web album for today.

On my own. Sore feet.

I woke up at my customary time today, but was amazed when I awoke once earlier during the night to silence.  So there is a time in which motor vehicle traffic slows enough to not be heard.  Regardless, today I was determined to get out on my own.  The forecast was clear skies and in the low 70s, perfect for walking around.  That plan almost came to a screeching halt when my dad told me that laoshi planned to take us driving around in a taxi to look at a volcano and the northern shore of the island.  I felt terrible telling my dad that I really wanted to get out and look around Taipei at my own pace, and that I also wanted him to rest one more day, but there was no way in hell I was going to spend another full day looking at rocks and plants.  Thankfully, he stood up on my behalf and informed them that I was going out on my own to look around.  My primary goal was to attempt to look for a new backpack to use for carting around my camera equipment, and I had a few leads on where to purchase one.  I thought I left my dad to a day of relaxing at the apartment, but it turns out that laoshi still took him back out to the flower expo.  He doesn’t see the worse for wear tonight, so I guess he’s regaining some of this strength.

So off I went into the semi-unknown with nothing by some money, my camera (which I didn’t use very much) and the raw determination to finally get a personal experience without all the untranslated lectures.  I navigated the rail system without a hitch, making all the appropriate transfers and transitions like a native.  The pay card system they have is very convenient.  You have a pre-paid card that you use to pass through a turnstile at what ever station you enter in.  When you exit the station at your destination, you pass through another set of turnstiles and swipe the card again.  The system deducts the appropriate amount from your balance and you’re good to go.  Toll through each station probably costs around $0.10 USD, so it’s very inexpensive to travel around.  Of course, not all of the city can be reached by rail, so there’s still some walking involved.  If you’re looking for an obscure style of bag, that amount of walking is multiplied.  My feet are sore.

After expertly navigating the labyrinth of streets, lanes, and alleyways, I found my first destination.  An airsoft store which caters to a lot of foreigners.  Taiwan prohibits private gun ownership, so airsoft stores are much more common here than in the U.S.  For those of you who don’t know, airsoft guns are plastic and metal 1:1 replica of real guns, both modern and historical, that use electric motors to shoot plastic bb’s at high speeds.  Associated with these guns are the gear, so finding a military style backpack at one of these stores was my best bet.  Unfortunately, the store was closed.  Okay…..

Off I went, back to camera street to look at all the stores I missed from the day before.  6 stations and a few blocks later, I was looking at lots of shuttered store fronts.  Unfortunately, no one told me that many stores that sell non-food items don’t open until noon, so I had hours to burn before anything would be available.  I spent the time hopping off at each train station and exploring the area, staying mindful of the distance travel as to not get lost.  I wandered through a few shopping districts until I found that some of them were starting to open up, and headed back in the direction of the airsoft store.  At one station, I found an attached Sogo shopping mall, so I took a quick look.  High end clothing and accessories, 5 floors of women’s, 2 floors of men’s, nothing to hold my interest.  Finally, I made my way back to the Jiantan station and found the airsoft store to be open. Thankfully, they had something that would work for the time being.  It’s not exactly what I was looking for, but it will do for now.  I also asked if they had an embroidered patch of the Taiwanese flag, but they unfortunately did not.  The hunt for that continues.

Soon after I limped my way home, my uncle informed me that we were to meet up with my dad and laoshi or some dinner, so I crammed my sore feet back into my shoes and headed back out the door.  Dinner consisted of some tasty noodles and miscellaneous dishes of vegetables and meat, and of course, nothing to drink but the hot soup. I avoided the pig intestines, but so did my dad.  Of course the topic of conversation for dinner was food, and the topic arose about the Taiwanese Costco, thus off we went.

The Costco looked eerily similar to those in the United States.  Almost all western foods, with the exception of some local fish and fruits.   Of course, the DVD’s were of a different playing region and the covers were in Chinese, but there were lots of english books and magazines.  They even had some Christmas decorations out already.  Emulation to a “t”.  There were two crazy things about this Costco.  First, it was just about as large as its U.S. counterpart, which is wild considering the premium placed on square footage in Taipei.  Second, it was jammed pack at 21:30, with an almost full parking lot.  The foods you can order outside the checkout lines were the same; pizza, hotdogs, and chicken bakes, but the pizza had a seafood topping option and clam chowder was also on the menu.  I got a large Coke and finally slaked my thirst.  A fitting end to a long day.

I unfortunately didn’t hook back up with my cousin Geoff.  He left out one number in his phone number and didn’t get a correction until later in the day.  Maybe I an contact him tomorrow, however, I have a bad feeling that we’re going to do something educational.

Album link for today.

A relaxing day.

We had a pretty light day today, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t get up early.  At least I’m sleeping in until 7:00, but I’ve been waking up with a little bit of a sore throat the past two days.  At night, I’m going to sleep with a little tightness in my lungs from breathing in the city pollution.  I think the two are related.  Breakfast was a hearty chi fan and some fruit.  After filling up, my dad rested while my Uncle and laoshi went to a local market, about a block away.  Finally, I was going to get some exposure to the local life.

 

Most of the buildings in this area consist of at least four floors, many a little higher.  The first floors are always some kind of business or garage with the remaining floors used for housing.  This makes for a lot of commerce, either prepared foods or more durable goods, on every street.  The local market had this setup, with the first floors of every building being a closeable stall, lining a walking street, about the width of one car.  That’s not to say there were cars on the street.  In fact, pedestrians ruled this area with scooters and bikes struggling to make way.  The crowd was a complete mix of the old and young, shopping for food, clothing, toys, and candy.  Not much in the way of durable goods, which are probably left for other open markets or small shops.  The air was surprisingly neutral, considering the variety of foods being sold.  The sounds were pretty stereotypical.  Music was playing in the distance, there was a hum of conversation, with the shouts of competing vendors rising above it all.  If you caught the eye of a vendor, they would instantly rapid fire some prices at you in an attempt to sell of their perishables.  The local meals we’ve been getting are really cheap.  A breakfast or lunch will run you about 1 U.S. dollar, and is more filling than fast food, States side.  Unprepared food is even cheaper, and one could easily live on 15-20 U.S. bucks a week, eating well; especially if you enjoy seafood.

After that quick foray, we relaxed the rest of the day, leaving again only to take a quick trip to the famous Camera Street, were I wanted to compare some prices.  There are supposed to be about forty camera stores in this area, but we only got to a handful of them because laoshi kept stopping every twenty feet to point out a building of interest to my dad.  Because of this, we ran out of time, since we needed to head to my aunt Ellen’s for dinner with my cousins from California.  If I want to explore more, I’ll need to head out on my own. 

Dinner was a home-cooked affair with every dish being edible and very enjoyable. I haven’t seen my cousins for 15 years, so it was nice to catch up a little.  They brought two of their boys with them, and it was enjoyable watching those bundle of energies race around the house.  Last time I was in Taiwan, I was probably about their age, and I’m told we stayed at that same house.  It’s retrospective times like these that make me slow down and enjoy things a bit more.  They’re in town a few more days so hopefully I’ll be able to see them again.  My cousin Geoff has made multiple invitations to go out, so I might take him up on the offer, just to see Taipei from a younger perspective. 

Tomorrow should be another restful day, but I ‘m thinking about going out on my own.  I’m beginning to feel comfortable enough with the rails and brave (or restless) enough to attempt it.  Travel is cheap, and I always have a cellphone and GPS to help. 

Web album for today.

A truncated day, we need rest.

I thought today would be a day of much needed rest. We’ve been getting out every day on fairly limited sleep for the past week and while I feel I could handle it, my dad is getting pretty worn down.  Unfortunately, laoshi Shen wanted to take us to the International Flower Expo that was happening in another part of Taipei and my dad is too polite to refuse.  At least the activities wouldn’t be extended too far into the night since he had to go teach a class around 14:00.  We grabbed a quick breakfast and headed out on the rail through four stations to reach our destination.  Since it was the opening day, the place was flooded with tourists from all over.  If you’re agoraphobic, this venue is not for you.

I’ll let my pictures do most of the talking since there’s only so many words in the English language that can describe flowers, and I don’t have access to a quarter of them.  It was an interesting event and it probably would have been more enjoyable if I hadn't already had my fill of this educational vacation.  Some quick items of note are the various orchids, the water calligraphy painters, and the bonsai.  After laoshi Shen left, my dad starting feeling under the weather.  If you know my dad, you’ll know what that means.  He’s feeling better now, but we had to rest a bit and recharge before heading back to the apartment, earlier than planned, which was okay with me.  I’ll be monitoring his health closely.  We did go out to dinner, but it was a casual affair, grabbing some food at a local neighborhood restaurant.  We’re going to grab dinner with my Aunt and her three kids tomorrow, so we have at least one activity planned for the day.  Besides that, I think we’re going to lay low for a few days so my dad can recover some energy.  Maybe I’ll be brave enough to go out on my own and find a nearby geocache.  I always have my GPS to guide me home, although it’s of little use in the winding streets near the apartment.    Here’s a picture of some stray dogs.

Link to today’s album.