soon after i arrived in taiwan, ben told me there are more temples per capita in taiwan than anywhere else..now that the holiday is over, i'm very much inclined to agree..there are temples EVERYWHERE!! at times it seemed as though i saw a new temple everytime i turned my head..at least in taiwan they're really colourful, often with really intricate designs and decorations..then again, if i lived in taiwan, i'd probably get tired of them in taiwan as well...
after saying goodbye to ben on the hsr, i continued to taipei..it was nice that the train comes into taipei main station and that i had been there before, so i knew where to go for the hostel i wanted..lonely planet maps are often VERY confusing, and i'm not sure i could've found the hostel w/out having known ahead of time where to exit the station...there are lots and lots and lots of exits, and the hostel isn't on a main street..since i arrived just after noon, the hostel had a bed for me, and i was good to go..since i arrived just after noon, it was also blazing hot, so i stayed in for a couple hours, reading and relaxing..
while reading and relaxing, i spent some time looking at the taipei section of the guidebook, and figured out a few things i wanted to see around the city..
my first project was finding the post office to mail off a letter to my sister..according to the map it was straight out of one side of the bus/train station..the hard part was finding the right exit, and walking in the right direction after exiting..that was probably the least recognizable main post office i've ever seen..at least the people inside were really nice..
the first sight ended up being the chiang kai shek memorial..i walked there, it wasn't far..a couple subway stops, but that wasn't necessary, i walked it..(again, the most difficult part was figuring out which direction i needed to walk in after finding the right exit out of the subway/bus station)..according to the guidebook, it looked like the memorial was a bit back off the street, and i was worried about seeing it...it turns out i needn't have worried...the entire complex is surrounded by a big white wall with a blue top..the entrance area has a huge gate, which i think is called the taiwan democracy memorial..given that chiang kai shek was anything but democratic, it's ironic that the two are so close together..the middle of the complex is a wide open flat space..(broken up only by a giant flag pole in the middle)..on one side is the national theater, and i've forgotten what the fancy building on the other side is..(they look the same)..toward the back, in the middle is the chiang kai shek memorial..it's another building with a blue roof, the outside is painted white..it's round-ish..you walk up a couple flights of stairs outside, into a room with a giant statue of chiang kai shek..is it bad to say that i found the ceiling more interesting than the statue? inside the room i saw entrances to two stairwells, and saw a few people going down..i didn't know what was down there, but figured i should find out..it turns out the stairs go all the way down to the first floor (the statue is on the 4th floor) where they have pictures and items related to the life of cks..there are a couple armoured cars that drove him around, medals he received, former flags of the republic of china, etc..i'm a geek, i like seeing that sort of stuff..
after making my way out of the memorial and looking at the map in the guidebook, it looked as though there was a teample fairly close, so that's where i headed..for once, the map was accurate, and easy to follow..the temple wasn't so easy to find, as it is on a busy street, and the entrance isn't big..another taiwanese temple..fancy, colourful, intricate and a few people worshipping..
from there i walked through a designated shopping area..mainly just to see what was there..street vendors caught my attention (food always catches my attention:) and i bought mangoes and watermelon..YUM..not long after the fruit purchase, the rain started..not too badly at first, but then it started pouring..thankfully, many of taipei's sidewalks are under overhangs, so i was able to walk a little while and not get too wet..but there came a point when it wasn't possible anymore to walk w/out going out in the POURING rain..so i sat near a store for 10-15 minutes..just watching people, eating my fruit..eventually, the rain let up enough that i was able to walk across the street w/out getting totally soaked..i made my way under more overhangs, eventually back to taipei main station, where i went underground..underground all the way to the correct exit out of the bus station, and back to the hostel..lots of stairs, turns, etc..it would be easy to get lost under there foreva!!
i met interesting people in the hostel that night, just hanging out in the lounge..
and that night was when i began to wonder if the hostel is ever truly full..i heard the owner guy tell more than one person that there weren't any beds left, but in my room i was the only one sleeping in my bunk bed..and the other two folks in my room were the only ones sleeping in their bunk beds..so my room alone could've held 3 more people..not that i minded having just the three of us in there..
the next morning i got up and made my way back to the mrt station..i took a train to the suburb/town of danshui..it sounded like a nifty day trip..an easy subway trip, out to the end of the line..(and i met fun locals on the train)..
danshui wasn't what i expected..there were two forts i wanted to see, so i walked..and walked...and walked...(not that far, but in that heat it felt far!)..the first was more camouflaged, and near a shrine, which i also checked out..the fort was hidden in the sense that invaders/attackers wouldn't have been able to see it easily..they would've been almost upon it before they would've seen it, and by that point they would've been in trouble..the walls are redic thick..not very big, it was really only one big square with a courtyard in the middle..
from there i walked back toward the train station, and stopped at another fort..fort san domingo...this one was a bit more interesting, but still very small...it was actually mostly the residence of the british consul in taiwan for a long time, so you get to see the house where they lived, and worked..the rooms didn't have any furniture in them, only displays talking about the history of the area, who had attacked who, and lived where, and defended when..nifty information, but a LOT of information..i'm probably one of the only people they've ever had who actually read everything..what can i say, i'm a geek..i tried to climb up onto a wall to get a good photo but the lady watching the facility immediately told me no...boo hoo..
from there i stopped at starbucks..i needed calories, sugar, and liquid..i know starbucks is an evil international company, buuuuut...
then i started looking for temples..in dansui the temples were all relatively small..still and complicated and fancy as ever though..one of them was quite difficult to find, hidden in a market with only a small entrance to be seen..the guidebook always talks about different aspects of each temple that are unique, but they never seem different to me..i love them, but i don't see big differences..the last temple i wanted to see was close to the train station, and completely deserted..i love those kinds of temples..
from there i went back to taipei on the train, i can't say enough about how fabulous public transportation is..taipei has a particularly easy and convenient system..
i decided to go see two majour temples, one of which was the confucious temple..it was one of the quietest temples i saw in all of taiwan..across the street from that one were two more, both of which i enjoyed as well..i left the last one as night was falling, so the lights were on everywhere..i'm such a sucker for night lights in a big city..dinner that night was at another street market, and it was FANTASTIC..
the next day i was a bit slow in getting started with my day..no reason in particular, but i didn't make it out the door of the hostel until after 11 in the morning..ooops..my first stop was the memorial for sun yat sen, who is regarded as the founder of modern china by almost everyone, even those who otherwise disagree politically..sun yat sen spent a lot of time with chiang kai shek, hence the memorial on taiwan, despite his actual tomb being just outside nanjing, china..the memorial wasn't anything special (another big room with a big statue of the guy) but i enjoyed the changing of the guards, a ceremony with happens every hour..it looked as if there were sailors, air force folks and soldiers in the ceremony, but i don't really know..high stepping, everything choreographed with great precision, etc..nifty..of more interest to me were the groups gathered outside the memorial..there was a rifle group practicing a routine (to the britney spear song "toxic"..!) and some old folks doing tai chi, and another group in yellow shirts doing i don't know what..it seemed to be a popular place for groups to get together..from there i spent the rest of the day wandering around temples..there are TONS of them in taipei..i made my original choices based on what sounded interesting in the guidebook, and what would be easiest to find using public transport..taipei not only has great public transport, but outside of the exits to most subway stations are maps showing whateva is nearby..schools, temples, historical sites, majour stores, etc..using those maps i found temples not listed in the book..and those temples were all better than those listed in the book!! the one that was highly recommended in the book was super crowded, and i thought it wasn't anything spectacular..but there was one two streets down that was awesome..three levels!!! fantastic..
after dinner in yet another street market that night i decided to splurge on a foot massage..my lower leg was still super scratched up from my fall in hualien, so i didn't envy the guy who had to work around the giant scab..anywho, he did a great job, and i did not want to get up and walk back to the hostel..
my last day in taipei was rather bland..i got up late, packed up, walked out the door late, and walked back to the chiang kai shek memorial to get postcards..i didn't get as many as i wanted, but i did get what most people would consider WAAAAAAAAAY too many postcards..(more evidence that i'm really just a geek)
after picking up my stuff at the hostel i took the hsr back to the airport and flew back to seoul..the flight went just as well on the way back..i was sad to leave taiwan, in many ways i like it better than i like korea..but oh well..someday i'll get back to see more..maybe..
Showing posts with label taiwan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label taiwan. Show all posts
02 August 2010
26 July 2010
hsinchu and the gods...and ben
even though i knew when my summer holidays would be, i didn't get around to booking tickets to go anywhere until the month i left!! i ended up deciding on taiwan, for a couple reasons..one, because it is close to korea, and two, because my friend ben lives there..i've known ben since we both lived in garmisch at the same time, have traveled with him before, and he said there was another gapper as his neighbor in taiwan..i looked at lots of different ticket finding web sites, each saying they could find the cheapest tickets, the cheapest were actually to be found on the airline web site!! go figure..
the most recent lonely planet guide to taiwan was published in november 2007, which means the research was done most likely in the first six months of that year..taiwan has changed quite a bit (at least in terms of infrastructure) during that time..
while i was waiting in line for immigration at taoyuan international airport, a couple ladies in official uniforms came up to me and asked if i would be willing to participate in training drug dogs..i said yes, and they put a cloth that must've had a particular smell to the trainee dogs in my pocket..i was told to stand in line naturally, while they brought the dog through the area..if the dog smelled the cloth it would sit next to me..and it did..the people behind me in line hadn't been there when the officials asked me, so they were surprised at what happened, and joked that i shouldn't carry doggie treats in my pockets..
getting through the rest of the airport was a breeze..the airport is definitely under renovation/construction, so it seems kinda dark/dingy right now, but oh well..the guidebook said the hsr (high speed rail, otherwise known as a bullet train) didn't go to hsinchu, but according to ben, it did, and i knew he had far more current information..i asked the nice ladies at the information desk how to get to the hsr station, and they gave me directions to the bus company desk that would get me to the station..30 taiwan dollars ($1USD = (approximately) 32NT) later i arrived at taoyuan hsr station..$125NT and 13 minutes later i arrived at hsinchu hsr station..like many of the english teachers in hsinchu, ben has a scooter, and he picked me up with it at the station..it was only out in the sun for a few minutes, but when we came back out from the station, the seat on the scooter was hot hot hot!! ben knew where he was going, and we drove to his housing arrangement..but first we stopped off for lunch, in a small restaurant he said he frequents that has good noodles..yum:)
ben told me ahead of time that hsinchu isn't a very interesting place, that it doesn't have as much typical taiwanese culture..there is a science and engineering "park" there, where quite a few companies have offices, and maybe factories? driving through there (as ben lives toward the back of the area) felt like driving through a business district in any town in the states..ben lives in a complex that operates much like a hostel, only there aren't any dorm rooms..people rent rooms monthly, so he didn't have to sign a year long contract when he moved in..he lives in a studio type room, has his own bathroom, and shares a community kitchen with others living in his building..it's not a bad setup..ben also told me ahead of time that a guy who had also lived in garmisch (overlapping with me by a few months though we never met) also lived in this complex so we tried to go see him..but james was severely hungover from the night before..lol..instead, we got back on the scooter, and ben said he would show me around town..he didn't think it would take long, telling me again that hsinchu is boring and there isn't anything to see/do..not too long after we got into the downtown area, we noticed traffic getting a bit crazy, and we could hear fireworks going off..when traffic got bad enough that we weren't moving anymore, ben pulled the scooter over, and parked it on the sidewalk..(along with tons of others)..we figured it would be easier to see what was happening if we could run around..at the first intersection we came to, people were setting off fireworks..nothing big, just the ones that whistle, and put out a lot of smoke..after getting through the intersection i was nearly deaf, and the smoke was awful..thankfully the wind was blowing..we kept following the parade, and finally saw the gods..ben said he had heard that occasionally the gods are taken for a walk, and it seemed that we had been lucky enough to see it happen..the gods are really big costumes put over the heads of men..the men then walk along for a little while, before they trade places with someone else..i'm guessing it's pretty toasty inside the costumes..it was funny to see sneakers coming out the bottom of each "god"..we were able to walk faster than the parade was going, so soon we moved up and kept finding more people..there were drummers, guys riding in trucks with gods in the bed of the truck, etc..nifty stuff..there seemed to be several groups of gods as well..each time ben and i thought we had circled around to the same place in the parade we realized we were seeing different gods from what we'd already seen..after a while we figured we'd had enough..after wandering through a food market, we hopped back on the bike, and been took me to what he called a country club..i don't know what it is really called, but in a lot of ways, it did seem like a country club..a couple of his friends were lounging around the pool, so we joined them..getting in the water felt fantastic, as the weather was soooooo hot and humid..from the pool we went home, and hopped in the shower..
a week or two before i arrived, ben had asked if i wanted to go to a massive rave with him..even though it's not my normal cup of tea, i figured why not..that was scheduled to happen the first night i was there, it was called the white party..obviously, you had to wear white..and there were supposed to be thousands of people there..after cleaning up, we met up with james, the guy who had previously lived in garmisch..james and i figured out that we had overlapped by a couple months, but hadn't ever met..fun to catch up with someone who lived in the same place as you, and knows a lot of the same people..anywho..james, ben and i drove to a bus station and caught a bus to taipei..we didn't have to wait more than 5 minutes for the bus to leave, yahoo!! the bus took us to taipei main station, which is a giant transportation hub in the middle of the city..two subway lines come together there, lots of buses end/begin there, and the hsr goes there..at this point ben, james and i had been hoping to get hostel beds for the night, since it was going to be super late in the morning by the time the party was over..unfortunately, the hostel ben knew, (the cheapest hostel in taipei) was full..at least, that's what the guy said..while we were trying to figure out where to stay, ben and james were getting texts from mari, who had just arrived at taipei main station, she had taken the hsr from hsinchu..the three of us went to find her at the station, which took a lot longer than anyone expected..the station is pretty big, and to get from the hsr station to the bus station involves going through a lot of stuff underground..it's confusing, to say the least..then we went back to the hostel (which was only a 5 minute walk) to preparty and continue figuring out the sleeping situation..after a while, it became clear that hostel beds weren't going to be easy to find, and they would be over $20USD..which seemed ridiculous, especially since we wouldn't have been going to sleep until sunrise or so..in the end, james ben and i decided to go to the rave with our bags, and find a way to store them there..that was an adventure in itself..
the party was held in a conference center near the base of taipei 101, currently the tallest building in the world..nifty..i was amazed when we walked in, just seeing all those people (5-10,000) all in white..i attempted to make a meeting time/place for ben, james and i, but that didn't happen..and i knew i would lose ben, as he has ADD when it comes to partying..since i knew where we had stored our bags (james didn't know, and ben had already been drinking) i figured i would just wait for the boys there..two djs split the night, and kept the music going the whole night..fun times..it didn't bother me that i completely lost everyone i had arrived with, i knew eventually things would work out..plus, i was sober..i danced the night away, moving around a bit myself..when 4 o'clock rolled around, and the party was over, i realized i was completely knackered..i can't remember the last time i voluntarily stayed up all night! maybe when i lived in germany? anywho, i went to the security guard booth at the carpark where ben and i had left our stuff (along with james' stuff) and decided to wait..0445 came, and still no ben..i got a bit creeped out by the REALLY DRUNK guy who decided to sit next to me and try to make conversation..three problems: one, i could smell him from 2 meters away..WAAAAAY too much alcohol..two, english wasn't his first language, and in his condition, he wasn't able to say more than ma'am, and beautiful..three, he moved where he was sitting so he could sit across from me and look at me directly..after realizing he wasn't going to go away, i stood up with all our stuff, and went walking..i found a foreigner who let me use his mobile phone and called ben..ben was passed out on a bench in a small park somewhere, and didn't know the answer to "where are you?"..ooops..fortunately, he was able to come to where i was, and we figured out a new plan..
we ended up deciding to go straight to hualien, instead of going back to hsinchu..sooooooo, we walked to the closest MRT station, waited for it to open (the MRT opens at 0600) and took it a few stops back to taipei main station..i should mention that while we were waiting, ben behaved like a local, and "rested" on the ground:)
the most recent lonely planet guide to taiwan was published in november 2007, which means the research was done most likely in the first six months of that year..taiwan has changed quite a bit (at least in terms of infrastructure) during that time..
while i was waiting in line for immigration at taoyuan international airport, a couple ladies in official uniforms came up to me and asked if i would be willing to participate in training drug dogs..i said yes, and they put a cloth that must've had a particular smell to the trainee dogs in my pocket..i was told to stand in line naturally, while they brought the dog through the area..if the dog smelled the cloth it would sit next to me..and it did..the people behind me in line hadn't been there when the officials asked me, so they were surprised at what happened, and joked that i shouldn't carry doggie treats in my pockets..
getting through the rest of the airport was a breeze..the airport is definitely under renovation/construction, so it seems kinda dark/dingy right now, but oh well..the guidebook said the hsr (high speed rail, otherwise known as a bullet train) didn't go to hsinchu, but according to ben, it did, and i knew he had far more current information..i asked the nice ladies at the information desk how to get to the hsr station, and they gave me directions to the bus company desk that would get me to the station..30 taiwan dollars ($1USD = (approximately) 32NT) later i arrived at taoyuan hsr station..$125NT and 13 minutes later i arrived at hsinchu hsr station..like many of the english teachers in hsinchu, ben has a scooter, and he picked me up with it at the station..it was only out in the sun for a few minutes, but when we came back out from the station, the seat on the scooter was hot hot hot!! ben knew where he was going, and we drove to his housing arrangement..but first we stopped off for lunch, in a small restaurant he said he frequents that has good noodles..yum:)
ben told me ahead of time that hsinchu isn't a very interesting place, that it doesn't have as much typical taiwanese culture..there is a science and engineering "park" there, where quite a few companies have offices, and maybe factories? driving through there (as ben lives toward the back of the area) felt like driving through a business district in any town in the states..ben lives in a complex that operates much like a hostel, only there aren't any dorm rooms..people rent rooms monthly, so he didn't have to sign a year long contract when he moved in..he lives in a studio type room, has his own bathroom, and shares a community kitchen with others living in his building..it's not a bad setup..ben also told me ahead of time that a guy who had also lived in garmisch (overlapping with me by a few months though we never met) also lived in this complex so we tried to go see him..but james was severely hungover from the night before..lol..instead, we got back on the scooter, and ben said he would show me around town..he didn't think it would take long, telling me again that hsinchu is boring and there isn't anything to see/do..not too long after we got into the downtown area, we noticed traffic getting a bit crazy, and we could hear fireworks going off..when traffic got bad enough that we weren't moving anymore, ben pulled the scooter over, and parked it on the sidewalk..(along with tons of others)..we figured it would be easier to see what was happening if we could run around..at the first intersection we came to, people were setting off fireworks..nothing big, just the ones that whistle, and put out a lot of smoke..after getting through the intersection i was nearly deaf, and the smoke was awful..thankfully the wind was blowing..we kept following the parade, and finally saw the gods..ben said he had heard that occasionally the gods are taken for a walk, and it seemed that we had been lucky enough to see it happen..the gods are really big costumes put over the heads of men..the men then walk along for a little while, before they trade places with someone else..i'm guessing it's pretty toasty inside the costumes..it was funny to see sneakers coming out the bottom of each "god"..we were able to walk faster than the parade was going, so soon we moved up and kept finding more people..there were drummers, guys riding in trucks with gods in the bed of the truck, etc..nifty stuff..there seemed to be several groups of gods as well..each time ben and i thought we had circled around to the same place in the parade we realized we were seeing different gods from what we'd already seen..after a while we figured we'd had enough..after wandering through a food market, we hopped back on the bike, and been took me to what he called a country club..i don't know what it is really called, but in a lot of ways, it did seem like a country club..a couple of his friends were lounging around the pool, so we joined them..getting in the water felt fantastic, as the weather was soooooo hot and humid..from the pool we went home, and hopped in the shower..
a week or two before i arrived, ben had asked if i wanted to go to a massive rave with him..even though it's not my normal cup of tea, i figured why not..that was scheduled to happen the first night i was there, it was called the white party..obviously, you had to wear white..and there were supposed to be thousands of people there..after cleaning up, we met up with james, the guy who had previously lived in garmisch..james and i figured out that we had overlapped by a couple months, but hadn't ever met..fun to catch up with someone who lived in the same place as you, and knows a lot of the same people..anywho..james, ben and i drove to a bus station and caught a bus to taipei..we didn't have to wait more than 5 minutes for the bus to leave, yahoo!! the bus took us to taipei main station, which is a giant transportation hub in the middle of the city..two subway lines come together there, lots of buses end/begin there, and the hsr goes there..at this point ben, james and i had been hoping to get hostel beds for the night, since it was going to be super late in the morning by the time the party was over..unfortunately, the hostel ben knew, (the cheapest hostel in taipei) was full..at least, that's what the guy said..while we were trying to figure out where to stay, ben and james were getting texts from mari, who had just arrived at taipei main station, she had taken the hsr from hsinchu..the three of us went to find her at the station, which took a lot longer than anyone expected..the station is pretty big, and to get from the hsr station to the bus station involves going through a lot of stuff underground..it's confusing, to say the least..then we went back to the hostel (which was only a 5 minute walk) to preparty and continue figuring out the sleeping situation..after a while, it became clear that hostel beds weren't going to be easy to find, and they would be over $20USD..which seemed ridiculous, especially since we wouldn't have been going to sleep until sunrise or so..in the end, james ben and i decided to go to the rave with our bags, and find a way to store them there..that was an adventure in itself..
the party was held in a conference center near the base of taipei 101, currently the tallest building in the world..nifty..i was amazed when we walked in, just seeing all those people (5-10,000) all in white..i attempted to make a meeting time/place for ben, james and i, but that didn't happen..and i knew i would lose ben, as he has ADD when it comes to partying..since i knew where we had stored our bags (james didn't know, and ben had already been drinking) i figured i would just wait for the boys there..two djs split the night, and kept the music going the whole night..fun times..it didn't bother me that i completely lost everyone i had arrived with, i knew eventually things would work out..plus, i was sober..i danced the night away, moving around a bit myself..when 4 o'clock rolled around, and the party was over, i realized i was completely knackered..i can't remember the last time i voluntarily stayed up all night! maybe when i lived in germany? anywho, i went to the security guard booth at the carpark where ben and i had left our stuff (along with james' stuff) and decided to wait..0445 came, and still no ben..i got a bit creeped out by the REALLY DRUNK guy who decided to sit next to me and try to make conversation..three problems: one, i could smell him from 2 meters away..WAAAAAY too much alcohol..two, english wasn't his first language, and in his condition, he wasn't able to say more than ma'am, and beautiful..three, he moved where he was sitting so he could sit across from me and look at me directly..after realizing he wasn't going to go away, i stood up with all our stuff, and went walking..i found a foreigner who let me use his mobile phone and called ben..ben was passed out on a bench in a small park somewhere, and didn't know the answer to "where are you?"..ooops..fortunately, he was able to come to where i was, and we figured out a new plan..
we ended up deciding to go straight to hualien, instead of going back to hsinchu..sooooooo, we walked to the closest MRT station, waited for it to open (the MRT opens at 0600) and took it a few stops back to taipei main station..i should mention that while we were waiting, ben behaved like a local, and "rested" on the ground:)
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