[9] I'm 24

I've aged just by switching sides of the globe. Must remember that I was 1 when I was born.

Pics from 6/23. Out with some of the coworkers:

7/3/2010

Museum of Contemporary Art. Summer Holiday exhibit by the director of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. A lot of the exhibit was video or in the dark, so it was hard to capture by camera. The exhibit was centered around a character called Lili, a mannequin placed into various realities through the use of photography, video, or stage sets. The mix of real and unreal aimed to question parts of existence or recall life experiences. Pretty interesting, although i would not have understood much of it without the written explanation. I'm guessing that's how most people look at contemporary architecture today as well except there is no caption

Can't see it in the photo, but this figure was set up fountain like, with tears flowing out of its eyes:

Nearby the museum. Confusing rebar.. it's like a sideways version of a typical Ghanaian building which often has rebar sprouting from its top. Also, IT'S HERE:

Walking south through the Zhongxiao metro mall one the way back from the museum:

This pic will probably move to my previous post at some point to join my comment about Taiwan and scrunchies:

I like the Zhongxiao metro mall because it's full of strange non-mall like spaces. There's a big open area with mirrors where people hold dance classes or practice dancing on their own. There's also the underground book street and a bunch of exhibit spaces. This time I stumbled upon some grasshopper (computer program) projects done by some Taiwanese students. The display was titled Pet Ohmu (If you understand the reference, we can be friends.):


7/4/2010

Completely forgot that it was independence day until the day after. Still had fun. Potstickers with David C and friends for lunch (Plate of 10 for 4 NTD. That's a small meal for 13 cents!)

Then went to the Taipei Exhibition Hall for their Stationary and Computer exhibit. There were some nice pens, but it was mostly cute and unimpressive:

Afterwards, went to Bitan (South of Taipei on a mountain by the river) and ate at a hut-like restaurant where the specialty was whole chicken. Note the chicken in the picture still has eyes. Proper serving technique was to put on some plastic gloves and tear the chicken to pieces:

These were some of the cauldrons over wood burning stoves that the chicken was cooked in. The chef looks quite professional, no?:
7/8/2010

Waiting in line for the subway (zhongxiao fuxing station).

7/9/2010

There are way too many Italian pasta places around here. So far they taste terrible.

[8]

Heat index for today. High of 49 C. Translation 120 F. I am currently preparing to die.

(I have the dates from the past two weeks all mixed up in my mind so I'm just gonna call this whole mess) 6/20/2010

The Taiwanese seem to think their Shanghai pavilion looks like a toilet. What does that make the US pavilion?

I've been working on housing plans for the wealthy. The maid quarters are kept seperate from the family quarters so that their paths do not cross. The maids even have their own entrance and bathroom. In one sense it seems luxurious. In another, it's like segregation. Are there homes in the US like this?

I love that the culture here is still a farming culture. People are always bringing in produce from their family's farms to share with everyone at the office. Lychee, peanuts, mangoes... mangoes!

Watched cloudy with a chance of meatballs on DVD with my aunt and cousin. Wonder how the nerd stereotype works for people in Taiwan where seemingly scrunchies are still in style. [Insert photo of entire stores devoted to scrunchies filled with fashionable youngsters].

I walked through the National Taiwan University campus. It's a pretty nice place to walk, lots of trees, green spaces, and ponds. With all the joggers, walkers, and families hitting around baseballs, it reminded me more of a park than a University.

Their palm tree boulevard reminded me a lot of the one tree conservatory in Ghana, except paved and with cars.

Drunken Moon Lake

At the Gonguan subway station outside of the university. The building is covered in a piece of work by some artist. It changes colors depending what side of the building you're on.

I asked my aunt if red cars had higher insurance in Taiwan. Apparently it's the white cars that are the reckless drivers here. white? really?

Jingmei nightmarket takes over the streets of the daytime produce market.

6/23/2010

Sushi out with the coworkers. I was deemed the second biggest eater. Also, my first time drinking Taiwan beer. Pretty terrible. It's also strange being in a country where pretty much everyone has lower alcohol tolerances. I feel like they would freak out if they saw the way Americans drank. A lot of people were feeling sick the next day at work. All the people who hadn't been drinking, that is. Beer isn't enough alcohol to kill of germs is it?

6/25/2010

Is it a bad sign for stinky tofu when I walk through a night market and can't tell if I'm smelling food or sewer?

6/26/2010

Went back to Baisun for a visit. The cousins' family came along. They stayed at a hotel so they could bask in the a/c. How Taiwanese homes survive without a/c on all the time in this heat is beyond me.

Cat house at the hotel

Garden area surrounding the hotel. Also, look I took a people picture! Those are my cousins.

I liked the way the ground was 'paved'

I stayed in the guest room at my grandmother's house. Bamboo mats are rather excellent for keeping cool at night. I kinda want one.

My uncle looking inspired on the cable car at Sun Moon Lake (possibly Taiwan's biggest tourist attraction) close to where my grandmother lives.

Owl trying to blend in with the buses.

Sun Moon Lake is a park displaying the cultures of the Taiwanese aboriginals. It's also an amusement park but the rides weren't worth taking pictures of... lame.

Also, the last thing i expected to be taking a picture of, but rest stop ftw? American rest stops are like stinky bathroom plus gas station plus mcdonalds and maybe some vending machines. This was more like let's sell really high quality, fancy, and expensive foods in a really decked out building. Oh, and why not hold some concerts upstairs too.

[7]

6/10/2010

Apparently people here think limes are yellow and lemons are green... unless, of course, they play restaurant city. Then they know.

6/11/2010

Rather dislike being called shy. It's not that I'm scared to speak, it's just that I'm terrible at thinking of things to say... even more so in chinese. I disliked being called shy so much today that i ended up making it a point to make the effort to talk more and am now much more comfortable with my coworkers.

6/12/2010

Went to the Taipei Underground for real today. In the US if I see something decent for $5, I buy it. Here, there's whole stores of decent clothing under $5... I initially had to stop myself from compulsive buying. Taiwan must be the only place I've been where I actually "crave" shopping because it's so affordable and everything fits! Not a big fan of the pants sizing; everything only comes in three sizes: S, M, L. Also not a big fan of shop owners following me around while I shop, giving suggestions, pushing stuff in my face, and encouraging me to buy. Used to shopping in peace in the US with help offered if needed.

Shida Night Market. Snowflake Ice. Nom nom.

6/15/2010

Tempted to never take the bus on a Tuesday again. The driver gets on my nerves, makes for a very long half hour drive.

6/18/2010

Sushi! Paid for by mahjong money. (Not my mahjong money)

6/19/2010

Sort've mind boggling seeing international students back in their natural habitat.

Huashan Creative Park (Preserved historical structures. Originally abandoned warehouses/factory that were used for wine production during Japanese occupation, this area was later discovered by artists and thespians and reoccupied for its tall open spaces.):

I need a place to put a potted plant... hey look, i'll just cut off the top of this tree and then it can have a stand! :

Outside Huashan on my way to food. Sign made of circuit boards announcing the beginning of the Bade Shopping District. Whole street just selling electronics. There's also a shoes street and camera street somewhere... saw the book street today too:

Another random building that caught my attention for being outside of the Taiwanese norm. (Not the orange one, the one next to it):

Duan Wu Festival [6]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duanwu_Festival

<--That's today! Most uneventful day ever. Holiday from work and no rice dumplings. (Thank goodness! I've had enough of those this summer to be done with them for the rest of the year!) I count it as one of my weaknesses that I get tired of eating foods rather quickly even if they happen to be delicious.

A coworker told me a different version of the story behind the holiday where QuYuan was emo, got drunk, saw the reflection of the moon in the river, thought it was beautiful, chased after it and drowned. I couldn't find this version of the story online in English; but the way she told it, it was quite poetic.

端午節快樂!

Fast Forward [5]

Super quick week... I can barely remember what all happened.

I've realized that I don't know how to disagree, but maybe in the contexts where certain topics were raised it's been appropriate that I kept my mouth shut? People were being astonished(-) by the state of google's workplace, where people wear shorts and t-shirts to work and only dress up for meetings with the outside (also the way American students dress and lounge in libraries). I've always marvelled(+) at the play at work creative environment that google sets up. "You wouldn't dress like that, right?" "ummm... I guess I'm an American too."

Here are some images from my walk home from the subway station. I've been trying to pinpoint what gives buildings in Taiwan a characteristically Taiwanese feel... Haven't really figured it out; in general their just like any other square building with strip windows/balconies or punctured windows. Am I'm just being tricked into thinking there's a Taiwanese style by all the Chinese writing?

Metal Doors are pretty common.

6/6/2010

11am Decided to go looking for an English speaking church. I've been confused by my own feelings about Christianity but I still feel compelled to find a church. It's almost as if not going would be like giving up on truth or running away from things that I do not understand.

12pm I ran into Will's cousins. They came up to me after service. At first I figured they were part of the congregation and wanted to welcome me to the church, but then, "Hey, you know William Huang right? You were at our house for Christmas." o_o. I recognized them at that point.

1pm Met Wisdom at Shilin to go to the National Palace Museum, but first some delicious fried dumplings and red bean ice.

My aunt was surprised I'd want to go to a museum, but the exhibits were quite good.

Furniture: I found some of the furniture to be very spatial compared to the usual object-like designs that are more common nowadays.

Painting: I'd be interested to knowing the evolution of landscape painting within oriental culture. Rather than attempting realism, nature is portrayed abstractly from the very beginning.

Carvings: I've always been amazed by sculpture of any kind. The limited ability to "erase" mistakes when chiseling away from solid stone always seems daunting.

10pm Tennis! Racquet needs some fresh tape.

11pm I read somewhere online that rubbing the inside of a banana peel on a mosquito bite helps to keep down the swelling... it worked!

6/7/2010 Reality

9am Design is hard in the real world. One word, money.

6/8/2010 White or Black

12pm Coworker kept pulling me under her umbrella to keep me out of the sun. I had to explain to her why Americans liked to be tan. She recalled the strange Caucasians from movies basking in summer sunshine on the beach.

6/9/2010

8am This novelty is the rice burger from Mos Burger that I mentioned in a previous post.

3.30pm Waited in line for 2 hours to get my Visa fixed. A German and French guy were sitting in front of me speaking English. It's amazing how English has become a cross-cultural tool for communication even when no english speakers are around. I'm baffled by Taiwanese students needing to score high in English in order to get into better schools. Even if the student is high scoring in every other subject, if their English skills aren't there, they lose. English may be important, but is it essential?

6.00pm Dropped by the Chiang Kaishek Memorial since it was only one stop away.

I was surprised by the paved roadway replacing what i would usually expect to be a grand stairway.

Finally, enjoy this sideways movie... Couldn't figure out a quick way to flip it. Note how the figure walks faster at 7 seconds. It never fails to amuse me.