Day 33 (Aug 10): A Brief Note on Healthcare

Since I was still sick and resting in bed, I present you instead with a brief note on healthcare.

First, on a somewhat related topic (but not really related, this is more or less an awesome video) I want to direct you to this video, published by the BBC, and titled, The Joy of Stats. As someone who loves studying human geography and demography, and have taken a geomatics course, this video is simply wonderful in how it uses statistics to show human progress in the last 200 years.

In general, Canadians are proud of their healthcare - publicly funded, and often quoted as being the envy of the world. Of several values, our medicare seems to unite Canadians as a concept that is a part of our nation, often with little debate along the mainstream media and population, though not without exception. Perhaps, our medicare is something that differentiates us from Americans, which is essentially what being Canadian is all about. We can feel this love of healthcare in the CBC special, The Greatest Canadian, where Tommy Douglas, father of medicare, was voted as the greatest, beating our founding father John A. Macdonald (6), national hero Terry Fox (2), famous Prime Minister Trudeau (3), and Wayne Gretzky, "The Great One" (10). 

I don't want to get into the healthcare debate at the moment, because a) I said I would keep this brief, and b) I still want to understand the issues significantly more before I start publishing opinions, but I have this to say.

Canada's healthcare may have been the envy of the world at some point, but currently it is riddled with inefficiencies that are being compounded as the baby boomers age. We need to get out of the idea that our system is superior, or that our system is great because it is Canadian, because countries worldwide have gone through healthcare reform and have updated their medicare systems for current world. Many Canadians, myself, seem to immediately dislike the idea of privatization - regardless of whether the system is two tiered, partially, or fully private. 

Taiwan's healthcare system has a mix of public and private providers. I don't understand the system in detail, but the existence of a competitive market for health has helped shape Taiwan's healthcare into a system that rivals those in developed countries, including Canada. And in terms of wait times and options, it's simply great, addressing issues that plague our Canadian systems. Of course, Taiwan's healthcare systems have problems of its own - I'm not saying that privatization is right, or even good, but we shouldn't reject an idea simply because it's not Canadian. Just as Tommy Douglas introduced it to us, we can make any healthcare ideologies Canadian - just as long as we insist it's the world's bestest. 

Day 32 (Aug 9): Sick once again.

I am sick for the second time during my trip in Taiwan, and I spent most of the day in bed, with an exception of a quick trip to a doctor to get some pills to help put my fever to rest. Needless to say, today wasn't too eventful, but just for the sake of incorporating a graph, here's one!:

A Health vs. Time graph for my 10 nights in Tainan. The graph is an overlay on my summary of events on the Taiwan page,with the amount of text per row being approximate to how eventful my day was. An outline of the text in each row is a good approximation of how sick I was.

That's it for today!

Day 31 (Aug 8): Father's Day

In Chinese cultures, the number 8 is lucky, as its pronunciation in Cantonese is similar to the pronunciation of wealth and prosperity. By association, August 8 tends to be a lucky day. There's even a dim sum / sushi buffet in Hamilton called August 8. In Taiwan, August 8 is also known as Father's Day, because the number 8, is also pronounced like the word for dad. To celebrate, I joined my second aunt's family, including cousin Mark, his wife Sophia, and his grandfather, for a lunch at a vegetarian buffet.

Vegetarian food is very popular in Taiwan, often from religion reasons but also due to health purposes, and this restaurant proved it. The incredibly large room was packed, and there was plenty of food to choose from. Besides the regular trays of food, a salad and dessert bar, and lots of various soup items, you could also create your own hotpot and choose a plate of vegetables that they could fry for you. 

What I appreciated most was the fruit juices they made right in front of you, with fresh watermelon, guava, and lemonade drinks. I also thoroughly enjoyed the warm almond tea, which, along with a high consumption of Vitamin C and other nutrients at the vegetarian buffet, was probably a good idea as I coped with a worsening sore throat and a growing cough, but unfortunately, not enough. The sudden onset of sickness was a bit too much, and by mid-afternoon, I was in bed at my second aunt's home with a fever, perhaps a relapse from the Loveboat sickness, and would stay at their house until the night before leaving Tainan.

Day 30 (Aug 7): Tainan Culture

After a long night's rest, I was up for brunch... aka lunch with some breakfast food, because I slept through breakfast. Tainan is a very cultural city, Taiwan's formal capital, with countless parks and statues, and is also famous for its markets and vendors. Earlier, my grandma bought some pork buns, and for lunch, we went to get Peking duck - right down the street, just steps from home. 

Peking Duck Takeout!

Left: The vendor. You can see that a whole duck is 400 NT, or about $13.60 Canadian.
Right: Ducks... but if you look behind them, there's a statue in the park just across the street.

 Below's a close up.

Later in the day, I went to get a much needed haircut at a nearby barbershop recommended by my uncle (mom's eldest brother to be precise - Mandarin and Taiwanese is so much more precise with relative labels). The owner was very nice and friendly - you don't have Taiwanese speaking foreign university students coming for a haircut too often. =) Cost for cut and wash? Well under $5 Canadian.

I took a detour on the way back to my grandma's house, gazing at the house numbers at attempts to fully understand the numbering system in Taiwan (of alleys, lanes, and sections, of roads) and stopping by at the 7-11, to buy one of my favourite drinks in Taiwan - HeySong Sarsparilla - HeySong being one of Taiwan's most famous drink makers, while Sarsparilla refers to drinks made from the Sarsparilla plant. It's a bit like root beer; some say it's like root beer and Dr. Pepper, and others say it has a small aftertaste of minty toothpaste. It's a bit of an acquired taste I suppose, but I like it =). It's also supposedly good for a sore throat. Most of all, it's great as a refresher on a hot day in southern Taiwan. If you want to try some Hey Song Sarsparilla, you can usually find some at T&T Supermarkets in Canada.

For dinner, my third eldest aunt and uncle brought me to a dim sum place nearby their home. Coming from Toronto, one of the world's most multicultural cities, I'd say we have some pretty awesome dim sum places that rival other places worldwide - though I'll save the comparison with Hong Kong itself after I visit. As for Taiwan, the food was good, as always, but the highlight was the addition of fresh seafood items on the menu. And I, for one, love fish.

Back at my grandma's home, on the third floor, I was back on my computer. Here, I take the time to add a very important thank you to my second uncle, who lent me one of those internet sticks early upon my arrival in Tainan. Needless to say, though my grandma is up to par with her cellphone and satellite TV, she has no need for wireless internet. Opening the doors to the internet allowed for me to continue working on a backlog of posts, and to keep in contact with friends in Canada, loveboaters, and the daily sporcle challenge. And of course, a thank you to my grandma and second aunt for opening the doors to their homes and lives so that I could rest and enjoy Tainan.

An update on the TTC

I wrote a post titled "Life in Taiwan: Taipei Metro" about three months ago after taking the transit system in Taipei. Generally impressed by what I experienced, I listed five things about the Taipei Metro that, as a transit rider, I appreciated, or thought was really neat. I preceded/introduced the discussion with a rant about the ease of using the Taipei Metro for someone new to the city, as opposed to the TTC.

One main issue was the failure of the TTC to have an integrated system with Google Transit, a feature used by many main transit systems around the world, including the Taipei Metro, which made it easy for someone like me, who can barely read Mandarin, to have confidence that I won't get lost on my first trip to some place in Taipei I'd never visited before - and get there on time. The Hamilton transit system is also seamlessly integrated with Google Transit, and it's a feature that was not only very helpful in my first few weeks in Hamilton, but a feature I still use to plan my trips around the city.

Well guess what. As of about 1-2 weeks ago, the TTC announced that it had [finally] reached an agreement with Google Transit, and had been collaborating with the search company to provide TTC details on Google Maps. That feature is now online, and though not perfect, is a great tool for planning your trips involving the TTC. I suggest you try it out: just ask Google Maps for directions, e.g. Ontario Science Centre to Toronto Union Station, and click the icon that looks like a subway (between the car and the walking person).

I am pleased that the TTC has taken this move, and I hope that the TTC can take more steps into making our transit system more representative of a world-class city, an image that our mayoral candidates are trying very hard to sell. Unfortunately, I haven't heard many concrete ideas from the current frontrunners of the race, though the keepttcpublic campaign seems to cast a light on the issues that lie ahead. It seems like we're in for a long battle between public funding and private funding before we actually get to see any significant improvements in the TTC.

Day 29 (Aug 6): Return to Tainan

After a little more than an hour of sleep, I was awake again, making sure nothing was left in our rooms and waving goodbyes out the window (which faced the departing buses). By ten o'clock, all my bags were moved down to the front lobby, filled with campers and Loveboat staff, busy with check-out, and moving out. Final pictures were being taken, and there were plenty of hugs among our goodbyes. Yearbooks (or monthbooks?) were distributed after check-out, which unfortunately only gave us a few moments to give each other our last words (and leaving out any friends who left earlier). Luckily, in today's world of social networks, the Yearbook gave us plenty of information to contact our Loveboat friends.

My first piano teacher, Grace, who was also spending some summer time in Taiwan, picked me up from the Jiantan Youth Activity Center. We first stopped at her parent's house (she lives in Toronto), and along with her parents and nephew, we headed out to Sushi Express, a Taiwanese franchise restaurant serving sushi... conveyor-belt style, aka sushi train! (It was a choice between sushi express and sukiyaki [scroll down about two thirds]; I decided to try something I've never tried before).

Her home in Taiwan is at the heart of East Taipei. Taipei 101 is visible from her window (left), though you can get a better shot just a few steps outside. The Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (below) is in the adjacent block.

Here are a few pictures from lunch. At Sushi Express, each plate is $30 NT, just less than a dollar Canadian. I thank Grace and her family for their hospitality, and together (her parents, her nephew, herself, and I), we managed to polish off thirty plates =). After lunch, we went back to their home, and I had some "sugar apple", a rare treat I manage to try about once per visit to Taiwan.

After lunch, I was all set to return to Tainan, where I would spend most of my remaining days in Taiwan. Again, helping me around Taipei, Grace brought me to a 7-11 and bought me a ticket for the Taiwan High Speed Rail =). Good thing we got the HSR ticket in advance, as the lines in the station were very long (Friday afternoon, rush hour - I would assume so). I said goodbye and a final thanks to my former piano teacher - I'd see her again on our flights and adventures on the way back to Toronto.

The Taiwan HSR is about three and a half years old, with its grand opening taking place during my previous visit to Taiwan - but I didn't get an opportunity to ride it then. The Amazing Race, season 12, had a chance to ride it late 2007, finally in 2010, I've returned to Taiwan to see how it's like. In one word: convenient. Convenient because it's fast. Because it goes to the airport. Because it goes through the major hubs on the west coast. A major time saver, the HSR reduces travel time from Taipei to Kaohsiung by 2-3 hours, and has lightened highway traffic by 10%, and has significantly reduced the amount of air travel between the two cities (cutting the greenhouse gas emissions per person).

The video clip has not been edited in any way, showing the view 
outside the high speed train as it runs at a speed of 298 km/h.

Taking the 3:00 pm train, I was at the HSR Tainan station at 16:43 (the trains run exactly on schedule. in every way unlike the TTC). The station is in the outskirts of the city, but the HSR ticket price ($1350 NT, or about $45 CAD) also covers the shuttle bus lines that run through Tainan's major roads and to its major stops, while stopping at attractions along the way, such as my Grandma's house =P. Well, maybe it's the park across the street that draws the tourists, but the bus stop is literally within 10 metres from my maternal grandma's front door =).

Within minutes, I was settled in the home that my mom, along with her brother and three sisters had grew up in, and was playing with the piano. My second aunt arrived shortly afterwards, and we headed out to have dinner with my cousin Mark, and his wife Sophia, who were married about a year ago!

Dinner was great as always. We shared some Apple Sidra, Mark's favourite drink, and soon I was back at my grandma's house, sleeping almost immediately following a busy day with only an hour of sleep to prepare for it =D.

Day 28 (Aug 5): Sunrise, Sunset... Sunrise

Today, August 5th, marks the last full day of Love Boat, where we spent four weeks learning about Taiwanese culture and touring the beautiful island with other overseas youth. Officially known as the Overseas Compatriot Youth Formosa Study Tour - our camp would officially end with our closing ceremonies, which would feature many of the skills that we have learned in the past month. As the program is government sponsored, we were promised speeches from the heads of the organizing committees. Along with a few cameras and journalists, and the presence of a few SIPs (somewhat important persons), several rehearsal slots over the past few days, as well as today, were set up so we would have a smooth (and hopefully impressive) performance.

With a late morning flute rehearsal and a run-through of the closing ceremonies in the afternoon, the day passed by without much activity. Free time was spent trading contact information and packing our luggages. Even dinner was simple - we had our average cafeteria-style Asian food. Honestly, I was somewhat disappointed. Other summer programs that I had participated in, like Shad, ended with a bang! Eating rice with some type of chicken in the basement of a youth centre seemed a little anti-climatic, especially with the great food (and seafood!) that Taiwan has to offer...

After dinner, we were given some time to change before the closing ceremonies. Wearing our semi-formal / formal attire, my friends and I took the opportunity to take some pictures on the roof of the Activity Centre. The rooftop provided some of the most beautiful views of Taipei - and I've been to the top of Taipei 101 before. 

The Sunset over the Keelung River. (by inference, this is the view towards the West =P)

To the East.

Kevin and I. Longtime friends from Toronto. Taipei 101's in the background.

Heading back downstairs for the closing ceremonies, we passed by tables, displaying many of the crafts that we've been working on in the past four weeks. 

The closing ceremonies featured our performing talents, including Kung Fu, Traditional Dance, Speech Arts, the Chinese yo-yo, and the dizi, aka the Chinese flute. The night went well, and with the official finish out of the way, we spent the rest of our scheduled time playing group games, and taking pictures for our final farewells. 

Of course, being the last night, our activities were far from over. We did have our last bed check at 11pm to clear our the last administrative technicalities - making sure the room was still in order and that no one stole any clothes-hangers. Soon, we were outside, walking around Shilin night market, before arriving at Holiday KTV to Karaoke with a group of 14 (my second time). 

We sang until four in the morning, with songs mostly either in Mandarin or in English, leaving before the sunrise, and with enough time for those who were leaving on the early six o'clock shuttle bus. 4:30 a.m. is perhaps the time with the least activity in Taipei. The night market stands begin closing after midnight, but there is always activity until two to three. By five thirty, (as we noted from our last time at KTV), the morning rush is just beginning.

The sunrise for Aug 6 was around 5:20, and we made sure we were on the rooftop to see the sun's arrival on our final love boat morning. Clouds kept us from seeing a distinct shape, but the sky gradually became brighter and brighter. Lots of pictures were taken, before departing from the great scenery, and saying goodbye to those leaving on the early bus. Returning to my room at six-thirty, I finished some notes/gifts for the counselors, and was able to nap at seven.

View towards the South, just before sunrise. That's Taipei's second tallest building.
I love the mountains in the back. Almost like a powerpoint background =P.

Left, middle: The view towards the West, before and after sunrise. Right: Towards the North.

The sun rising in the East.

Day 27 (Aug 4): Drawing to a Close

Our explorations have neared an end. We started with about two weeks in Taipei, spending mornings in class, and the rest of the day getting to know others in the program - through activities as well as afternoon outings to some of Taipei's sights, including Jinshan Beach, the Taipei Discovery Center, and the National Palace Museum. Free days allowed us to visit even more places, along with friends and family also in Taiwan. Once our cultural knowledge was "up to speed", we started a ten day tour around the island, touring around from morning 'til night.  We arrived back in Taipei and continued exploring for two long days. Today - we start wrapping up.

Preparations for tomorrow's closing ceremonies have started, an opportunity to show the heads of the Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission that yes, we did actually learn stuff. Our lobby had a few people working on speeches - a few students were asked to say some words - while those in the performing culture classes needed to gather and rehearse. That included the flutists - along with those who practised traditional dance, the Chinese yo-yo, and Kung Fu.

Our relatively unproductive practice started at 9:30 and ended soon after eleven. We spent most of that time looking for a place to practice; apparently, people don't like to put up with a dozen players of the Chinese flute (louder and buzzier than the Western flute) who are out of tune, and struggling through their songs. After being asked to move several times in several places, we found an empty hallway, played a bit, and then the director came to listen. If she expected a sloppy performance (and I think she did), we definitely qualified! =D. Our main goal though, was to try to get the music memorized. My playing still wasn't great, but having performed the Taiwanese folk songs before, the notes were already in my head =).

We were given a boxed lunch, and we had the rest of the day for free time. Along with four other friends, all roommates, we headed back south to Ximending, Taipei's go-to-place for young shoppers. Two people in our group were looking for a haircut, and they found a pretty nice place above a tea shop. We then went shopping, looking for last minute gifts, and had some fun at the Tom's World arcade (I've already been there twice before, so I've said enough about it).

mmm... lunch.

heading out. Abbey Road style.

Heading back out of Ximending, I suggested that we visit the 228 Peace Park, as the other four have not visited the area yet. My journey there happened about two weeks ago (link: here), but it was good to pass through again. We boarded the MRT and went back to Jiantan to drop our bags and rest a little, before heading back out for dinner.

The larger MRT stations feature a station profile, to guide you through the maze of escalators.

We had hot pot at a restaurant just south of the Shilin Night Market. There are two places right next to each other, featuring dinner for $200 NT (just over $6.50 CAD, no sales tax, no tip needed). One was all you can eat, but the other had better reviews from friends, so that's where we went.

The restaurant was fairly packed. The menu was on the placemat. First, we picked our main meat style (beef, pork, lamb, etc... or a variety of meat, or fish + meat, at a slightly higher cost(; I chose lamb. We all chose the standard broth, and the standard set of hot pot items (everything minus the lamb) were brought out: plenty of vegetables, various mushrooms, corn, various fish balls/cakes, tofu, other soy-bean based products, a piece of pumpkin/squash, some taro, a shrimp, and a piece of pig blood rice cake. Of course, eaten with a sauce based on sa-cha sauce. Well, standard stuff - Taiwanese style hot pot. Yet, it always seems too hot in Taiwan to fully enjoy it. Best had at home, in Canada, with friends, on a snowy winter's day =).

Left: Placemat Menu. Right: Plate of vegetables, mushrooms, etc.

Left: starting to cook... Right: the arrival of meat. yum!

For $200 NT, the meal was very good - we had more than enough food so that if felt like a buffet anyways. Also, there were self-serve drinks (I liked their milk tea) as well as dessert, including ice cream, grass jelly, green bean soup, and a chocolate fountain along with biscuits.

Leaving the restaurant (after stopping by at another table to say hi to other friends), we decided to take a walk through Shilin yet again. We considered going bowling and trying bumper cars (yep, all at the night market), but opted out for a bit more arcade fun before heading back to the Youth Center for our second last sleep at Jiantan. Actually, knowing how life is on the last night of most summer programs, I might as well call this our last sleep at Jiantan =).

A photo taken from the MRT Red Line, passing over the Keelung River.

The building on the very left is the Grand Hotel. The building in the centre is where we sleep =).

Day 26 (Aug 3): Exploring Taipei, Day 2

Finally hitting the hay at around six, we slept through breakfast to catch about two and a half hours of sleep before forcing ourselves up to visit Yangmingshan National Park. Much of the park is within Taipei City limits, covering the mountains directly North of Taipei. Unlike Toronto, which seems to expand northward endlessly, with housing gradually become more and more sparse, Taipei (and most of Taiwan's other cities) don't really have much of a suburbia - driving north, the city simply ends and you're driving up the mountain in Yangmingshan National Park.

On the road to Yangmingshan. (only about an hour from the downtown core)

The geological treasure here is the volcanic activity, making its presence with fumaroles (small gaps that allow steam and gases to escape; not geysers) and sulfur deposits, thus giving the nearby air the flavour of rotten eggs (note: it's actually the sulfur dioxide that gives the smell, not the sulfur itself). There are hot springs in the park as well, but we didn't get to go there =(.

Left: The main fumarole. Right: Some gas/steam escaping by some rocks.

We were promised a hike, but all we got was a short paved path between the small visitor centre to the main fumarole. If you've ever had the pleasure of visiting Yellowstone National Park - Yangmingshan is like a super-scaled down version, though in the mountains, featuring simliar geological features and not much plantlife due to the acidic soil. If you haven't been to Yellowstone... you should!

Later, we did find a trail of about two hundred metres leading upwards to a small observation platform, giving us a view of the mountains on one side, and Taipei on the other. The mountains here don't have much plant life though, so the sight wasn't as majestic as our other mountains shots, but it was nice to see Taipei from a different point of view. 

Left: We hiked up this trail! Right: within the trail (not me, but the earlier blog hijacker =P)

The view of the city. Taipei 101 is in the eastern side of the city, so it's cut off by the mountain on the left.

The weather was very hot though, so eventually, we all congregated on the lower floor of the visitor centre, which sold some snacks and an array of cold drinks. For lunch, we were bussed back to the Jiantan Youth Center. I don't remember napping afterwards, but the fact that I don't remember what I was doing might signal that I probably was =P. It wouldn't have been too long though, because at two, we were headed towards the Taipei Zoo. 

I have worked a summer in the Toronto Zoo - known to be a very spacious (the largest in Canada), providing plenty of space for many exhibits, and plenty of living areas for the animals. The Taipei Zoo is just as impressive (do I dare say even more than Toronto?), with more animals than you can see in a day, and lots of beautiful flora throughout the park (Toronto's vegetation can't compare with the tropics =P). The Zoo is Asia's largest; still smaller than Toronto's by land area, but with its exhibits are placed much closer together (individual exhibits are still very spacious though), the zoo has a lot to see. 

Admittedly, what I find most surprising about the zoo is its price: $60 NT for regular admission, and $30 NT if you're a student. That's less than toonie for an adult, and cheaper than anything in a dollar store if you're still at school. That's compared to $21 CAD if you want to visit the Toronto Zoo. Both are government operated. Luckily, most elementary schools in Toronto bring kids to the zoo for a much lower fee, but at regular costs, the Toronto Zoo becomes a pricey outing for a family. 

As an animal lover, I did enjoy my time at the zoo - if I had known the price, I probably would've visited even earlier on one of the free days so I could spend more time there. I won't go through the animals one by one, but there is a slideshow below with lots of pictures. Highlights included the Penguins (which aren't at the Toronto Zoo =/) and of course, I went to go see the tigers! The Taipei Zoo features the Bengal Tiger; I haven't seen one of those in a while since the Toronto Zoo has Siberians and Sumatrans tigers instead.

My last stop was to see the zoo's famous pandas, a gift from Taiwan's neighbour. Mr. Ma accepted these two pandas from China in '08, named Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan (meaning "union"), while we sent them macaques. It seemed that the unity spirit wasn't very alive today though, as this was the best shot I could take:

Poor guy. Should return home.

Shenkeng Old Street.

Anyways, we left the zoo at around five, and headed to our last dinner in "touring" mode. We stopped at a restaurant, and sat at our respective tables (Table 7!). After some food and some guava, we were dropped off at another night market, this time at the Shenkeng Old Street. We weren't given any descriptions or anything, but some post-visit research tells me that the area is most famous for its remodeled old-style buildings, and stinky tofu! Unfortunately, with the sun already down, I didn't take much note of its architecture, but we could definitely smell the stinky tofu throughout the street!

Late at night, we were back at Jiantan. Needless to say, we were quite tired, and we collapsed in bed in no time. 

Day 25 (Aug 2): Exploring Taipei, Day 1

Back in Taipei after our down south trip, we continued to explore the city in a similar fashion as we had explored the rest of Taiwan. Soon after breakfast, we boarded the tour buses, this time on the way to the Presidential Office Building (yep, no fancy English name like the White House or Parliament Hill... just "Presidential Office Building).

Our visit took place shortly after a state visit from the King of Swaziland, so we as we approached, we sailed through streets lined with flags of the Republic of China along with the flag of Swaziland. We drove by the front facade of the building, before making our way to the back, where we deboarded. We were each given a visitor tag and passed through a security check on the outside perimeter of the building. In the distance, we could hear yelling on a speakerphone - a protest somewhere, though I never did spot them. I have no pictures because we were told that we could have no photography in the building, and I figured that I didn't need to bring my camera. Instead, here's a picture courtesy of Wikicommons:

The Presidential Office Building

The building is shaped as the word "日", a part of "日本" - also known as Japan. Facing East, towards the Land of the Rising Sun, it shouldn't be too hard to guess that the six-story building was constructed during Japanese occupation on Taiwan - specifically in 1919. The building was originally for Japan's Governor-General of Taiwan, but became the office for the President in 1949. Major restorations were done around the same time, as the building was significantly damaged by bombing from the US during WWII.

We entered through one of the back doors (out of six possible ground floor entrances) and passed through a second security checkpoint. My travel guide says that "English-speaking guides are provided free of charge - it's not possible to tour the place without one and many exhibits have Chinese-only captions" - but our camp decided to opt for the Mandarin speaking guides, one per bus. English pamphlets did help, and the diagrams and pictures coupled with our previous knowledge did allow us to piece things together. FYI, we were kept safety away from third floor at all times (I didn't even see a staircase going up) - home to Mr. Ma and the Vice-President.

The first floor is essentially a museum, with rooms displaying information regarding the building's history, the Japanese governor-generals, Taiwan's past and present presidents, and a timeline of past events. The hallways also featured a gallery focussed on Taiwanese art, as well as a section with children's drawings anticipating next year's 100th year celebration for the ROC. 

About after an hour's time (with the guide - no wandering alone in the President's building), we were led to the gift shop, and guided out the door. We were picked up by the buses, and sent back to the Jiantan Youth Activity Center for lunch, also allowing us to grab our cameras (and wallets) as we prepared for the afternoon's trip to Taipei's most iconic landmark in recent years: Taipei 101. 


Before the tower and mall, we were first dropped off at the neighbouring Taipei World Trade Center. I'm still unsure of the exact purpose of the stop, but we were directed to a seminar room, given orange drink, and shown an introduction video to the TWTC complex and its services. I guess, assuming that we were graduating students/entrepreneurs, looking for a place to invest/start out, the staff were just making sure that we would remember Taiwan as an option. However, most people were fidgeting throughout the film, wanting to duck out to the mall next door to invest in a pair of shoes. 

Shots of the outside of the TWTC buildings.

Left: Apparently, there was some comic-con like convention on the bottom floor. Didn't take a look though, but the line seems crazy anyways. Right: Bridge to Taipei 101!

Luckily, the video wasn't too long, and in no time, we were crossing a bridge over to Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world from 2004 to 2009, ending its reign with the completion of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. We were given free time until eight pm, giving us lots of time to shops, and potentially visit the observation deck. I had hoped (almost assumed) that they would bring us to the top (technically the 89th floor - everything above is communications), but perhaps the logistics would be difficult, while the $400 NT ($13.05 CAD) per person cost could have been a little costly. Ultimately, I didn't go - mainly because I've been before four years ago. 


A brief summary of the experience though - going up from the 5th to 89th floor involves the world's second fastest elevators (yes, surpassed by the Burj Khalifa as well), at a speed greater than 60 km/hr (16.8 m/s). At the top, you'll have an amazing view of Taipei, along with a view of the building's huge wind damper. The damper reduces the building's sway, and being in an earthquake zone (ring of fire!), Taipei 101 needs to be quake-proof!

The fourth floor featured a ring of international cities! We were on a lookout for Canadian cities. 

We didn't see Toronto =(... but we say Hamilton! I doubt it's my Hamilton though =/

The Book Store! We spent a lot of time there.

We mainly just did a lot of shopping/browsing in the Taipei 101 Mall (first five floors plus some basement floors), and the surrounding malls, with crowds getting busier as the sun went down. For dinner, I finally had one of those MOS burgers (the one earlier still used regular buns) - this one featured the rice buns. At a cost of $65 NT (just over two dollars), the burger was okay - interesting to try, but not a personal favourite. Oh well. Still awesome.

MOS Burger! A Japanese Burger Chain, but also available in Taiwan...

famous for its soy-sauce rice buns!

Taipei 101 at night

At eight we boarded the bus, and returned to Jiantan. Still early, we went to the Shilin night market, mainly for some night time snacks and drinks, while bringing back some potstickers for those too lazy to leave their rooms. Bed check took place at 11, but our day would go on quite a bit longer. Sneaking out, especially during the last week, with counselor security more slack, was not a problem, with a few of us (party of five), making it out to the Holiday KTV at the Shilin Night Market. 

We booked a room, costing us $440 NT per person (around $14.31 CAD) for the night. That would include a moderately spacious room with its own bathroom, and a food bar outside. Options weren't great, and we weren't too hungry. Music options came mostly in Mandarin, though Taiwanese, English, and Japanese songs were available too. We sang for quite a while - well, they did - I sang just a few; most of the singers were in the level seven class (I'm in level four) so they had a wide range of Mandarin songs to chose from - but we all had a good time. We wandered out at 5:30, surprised to see the sun already up, and streets starting to fill with morning commuters. We made a stop at the 7-11, and went back to Jiantan to catch whatever sleep we could before our visit to Yangmingsan National Park in just a few hours. *Yawn* 

Day 24 (Aug 1): Sick

Well, I hinted in the last post that I was getting a sore throat. And simply put, I got sick. It wasn't too bad though, mainly a cough and a runny nose, and I figured that a day's rest, fruit, and some basic meds would bring me back to travel mode soon enough. It also helps when your cousin's a doctor =).

5 Reasons why it's easy to get sick on the loveboat (aka the Expatriate Youth Taiwan Summer Camp):

1. Close proximity to other campers. And counselors. We're on a bus for a good portion of most days, with limited air circulation, and then we sleep in rooms with up to eight campers in total. Many counselors and campers have worn facemasks in the last couple days (and even as early as two weeks ago), and the chorus of coughing we bring to each destination definitely indicates that something's going around.
   
2. Lack of sleep. Sure, bed check's at 11, but that's often followed by sneaking out, watching movies, using the computer, hanging around, playing cards, and anything else but sleep. The 6:50 morning calls don't really allow for sleeping in.
   
3. Lack of nutrients. Night market / vendor food doesn't normally provide a "healthy option". Enough said? Even the provided meals are usually lacking when it comes to vegetables, and when we do get them, they seem like they've been stir fried, and drenched in oil.
   
4. The heat. With the exception of the lovely weather in Sitou, most of our time is spent in hot and humid Taiwan. Too much time outside often left many uncomfortable, and/or dehydrated.
   
5. The cold. The instinctive thing to do after spending a day outside is to enter the hotel room and turn the air conditioning as cold as it goes. But honestly, I think I spent more time on this trip uncomfortably cold than uncomfortably hot. Museums and stores tend to have their AC units turned on quite strongly too. 

Well, there you go. Either way, I was feeling much better the day after, ready to explore some more of Taipei. 

Down South Trip Map!

I said I would prepare a map earlier, and well, I tried. But Google Maps isn't always the easiest to use, so time kept me away from the task. With a little practice and some free time, the geo-marking becomes almost routine, and over the past two days, I have prepared this beauty:
 (note: all lines and icons are clickable!)

View 2010 Down South Trip in a larger map

Despite the convenience of directly embedding the map on the site, the experience is probably better on the Google Maps site itself. You can click here to open it, and the URL is www.bit.ly/LB2010dst. (Love Boat 2010 down south trip!). There is a description, and the flow of icons on the left sidebar is much more convenient. For the more adventurous, you can try viewing this in Google Earth! This will require downloading the software though, so if you don't know what I'm talking about, stick to Google Maps =). 

Day 23 (July 31): Return to Taipei

We stayed in Fusing, Taoyuan last night, within an hour and a half’s driving distance from Taipei. I suppose we could’ve returned to Jiantan yesterday, but there were still a few things to see in the area. Despite Fusing being an essentially empty town with the exception of our youth center, the “Mark of the Chiangs” is found in nearby Cihu, our first stop of the day.

 I’ve already gone through an explanation of Chiang Kai-shek and his relationship with Taiwanese history, but as he was the first President of the Republic of China on Taiwan while ruling with Marshall law, people either love him or hate him. His legacy is often a political battle: should we honour and respect the guy who was a military hero back in the early days of the ROC in the 1920's / 1930's... why should we commemorate the guy who fled to Taiwan "temporarily" with military and government officials responsible for the 228 massacre and the forty years of White Terror? Political arguments have also complicated the aftermath of his death. His body is "temporarily" stored here, stuck between those who want him buried in Taiwan's main military cemetery, or returned to his birthplace in China. Yet, his body remains here for now. Reminds me of the KMT still temporarily on Taiwan.

Cihu was home to his favourite residence, filled with ponds and lakes.

The place we visited is full with statues and busts of Chiang Kai-shek, among pretty landscapes of a small lake, a river, some bridges, and of course, the mountains in the background. We also visited his Mausoleum, and after watching the changing of the guard, we were permitted to walk through the building, passing by open doors that showed a closed coffin, placed with his portrait and a cross. 

Left: Ceremonial Guards; Right: Boardwalks on the Hill nearby.

Afterwards, we had about thirty minutes of free time, where we walked around the area, particularly over the bridges and along the river. Soon, we were back on our bus and driving towards our final stop on our “down south” trip: Yingge, known as Taiwan’s number one place for ceramic goods.

The town contains a ceramic factory as well as a museum dedicated to the history and science of ceramic goods, but our stop was its famous Ceramics Old Street, featuring over eight hundred shops selling… ceramic products (what a surprise!). We were now very close to Taipei; crossing a bridge on the way to Yingge gave us a view of Taipei 101 in the distance, and returning to sea level away from the mountains, the weather once again was very hot and humid. Thus, when we stepped off the bus into the heat, our first thought was to find air conditioning, which turned out to be at the 7-11 right down the street.

How often does a 7-11 get a rush of over a hundred foreign students looking for cold drinks and AC? =P

Once we had cooled down, we walked down the street, passing by several shops selling kitchenware, ocarinas, clay figurines, and tea sets, ranging from cheap souvenirs to bowls that cost more than my four weeks in Taiwan. We had about an hour; I didn’t see anything that caught my eye, and an hour later, we were back on our bus on the way to the Jiantan Youth Activity Center.

from expensive museum-like stores to much cheaper shops

The surrounding streets became more and more familiar; heading Northward, we crossed the bridge over the Keelung River, took a right turn at the first traffic light, passed by our bowling place, and returned to our Youth Center at Jiantan. We thanked the bus driver, took our bags, and headed to our new assigned room... well, except those who beelined for the laundry machines. 

The room situation turned out to be quite chaotic though. By this time through the program, friends have been made, and there are others you want to room with, and perhaps others you don't. Hence, campers were involved in a huge shuffle of keys, a process that left nearly no one in their original room make. This would later make tonight's bed check a headache - for communication and liability purposes, the counselors need to know who is in each room and we need to sign for responsibility. A room sign up list would've been a better idea. Just sayin'. 

By six o'clock (arrival was at four), we were settling down in our room, happy with our roommates. We had picked up our luggages from the basement (we were given bags to put our stuff in during the ten day trip), and many were now either sleeping or getting ready to head out in the evening.  

I had plans with one of my dad's friends - Jim - who used to study in Toronto but is now working in Hsinchu, Taiwan high tech capital, as an engineer for iPad touch screens. Our first stop was dinner at the Miramar Entertainment Park, a five story mall with a rooftop featuring a concert area and a ferris wheel. We had sukiyaki for dinner, a Japanese style hot pot dinner, distinctive from other hot pot styles because of its traditional shallow iron pot, its specific broth, and a special raw egg [yolk] sauce for dipping. As it was a Japanese restaurant, we decided to give some of its sushi a try as well, ordering two shrimp-asparagus hand rolls.

Sukiyaki Dinner series. [I have started experimenting with embedded slideshows]

After dinner, we took the ferris wheel on top of the mall, offering a view of Taipei's night sky, with Taipei 101 not too far in the distance. The ferris wheel was 70 metres in diameter, taking about ten minutes to go around. There are two lines for the ferris wheel - we waited for about five minutes for one of the regular ferris wheel cars, but there were a few in line for the wheel's one transparent car. Waiting time was 72 minutes, but with the right person, what's nicer than having a 360 degree view of Taipei all around you? 

The wheel. Left: The Miramar Entertainment Park/Mall; Right: The wheel at night.

The view from the very top.

Afterwards, we stopped by a bakery, and we then headed to Jim's parent's house (he would bring me to his, but it's at Hsinchu, an hour away). On the way, Jim insisted that we stop by another small shop specializing in Taiwan "small eats" near the area he grew up. We didn't have much seafood during hot pot, so he brought me to one of those places "only the locals know", where we ordered oysters, clams, a small fish, and some bamboo, all accompanied with one of our favourite drinks: Apple Sidra.

As eleven approached, I was dropped off back at Jiantan. After a ten day trip, a long day, and with a growing sore throat I feared would worsen, I was soon in bed, right after the nightmare that was bed check that night - glad I didn't have to wake up for some 6:50 wake up call next day =).