4.29.2006 so I fell face first into a fountain tonight...

Ever have one of those moments like fate slapping you in the face saying "you made a bad decision somewhere today"? Well I had one of those in the form of a moment suitable for any light hearted comedy about girls who find awkward moments as easily as books in a bookstore.

I like being lazy on Friday nights. Pool is something I'm not very good at but doesn't take a lot of effort or thought.... at least the way I play it. So Meg, Han and I went to this great 24 hour place close to Shilin night market.

At the end of the night Meg and I were rushing to the MRT station because we were afraid we missed the last train home. We somehow ended up at the back of the Jiantian MRT station. We started hurrying around to the front.... it was raining very very hard. We saw what appeared to be a large puddle, and not being girly girls, decided to tear through it in order to make the train.

Meg was ahead of me. We ran up the steps towards the puddle and I saw her legs disappear (she's very tall).... at that moment I let out a loud screech and tried to slam my breaks on. But it's too late. One foot already plunging into the fountain, my arms flailing wildly trying to use my umbrella to somehow save myself as if it's going to break the wind like a parachute. I end up falling face first in the fountain. Submerging my whole body and half of my head.... I even had nasty fountain water go down my nose and partway down my throat. Somehow my arms didn't even end up in front of me. They were straight out like I was running to embrace the water. There is a possibility that some of it was swallowed but I'm going to pretend that didn't happen.

Gasping and still partly screaming I stand up and Meg has turned around with this "what the #$!@ is your problem??!!!!" kind of look on her face. Then at that moment she seemed to realize all of what happened and started laughing hysterically.

The next thing out of my mouth "What do we do?!!????"

My purse, of course not zipped because that would be practical, was like a water canteen filled for a small army. I turned it upside down and a big SPLOOSH of water came out. I expected to see some koi fish and seaweed swim out. The verdict still isn't out on my ipod and new cell phone. I'm scared. Meg snapped some pictures with her cell. If we can figure out how to transfer them I'll add them here.

We decided to ride the MRT home even though we looked like we spent the evening in a lagoon swimming with a swamp monster. Thankfully I had a hoodie on and hid all of my face a la Kenny from South Park. It's not like you ever see the same person twice in Taipei, but I wasn't going to risk it. I left a nice slug trail of water behind me wherever we went.

In retrospect I feel like a bigger idiot because as we were running up the steps that lead us into the fountain (of doom) I thought to myself "oh wow, look...fountain spouts". But it is really level with the ground, truly.

Meg is very happy about the whole experience. I'm waiting for the bacterial infection to set in from outdoor fountain water.

Labels: I'm a ditz, taipei, taiwan

posted by cat @ 4/29/2006 03:05:00 AM 1 comments |

4.28.2006 should've been 60 candles

I've survived what should've been my father's 60th birthday without any emotional melt downs. I really wanted to try to take the day off work but my kids had their mid-terms.

It's a good thing. I was fantastically busy all day. After work I was invited to go over to my tutor kids' house early to watch Astro boy after I told them I haven't seen it since I was 6. It comes on right before I tutor them. So we watched Astro Boy in Chinese and they translated for me.

I spent a few hours at Eslite (24 hour book store) picking up some materials for a big secret project I'm working on for my family, since I can't make it to the reunion this summer.

When I got home Meg had a present in the form of a photography subject that she couldn't even talk about without squealing in terror. I was told to "look under the pink bag near the kitchen". It wasn't as bad as what I thought it would be. I should've known because of what a big wimp she is.

She stood behind me while I photographed it jumping if I made the slightest move and squealing with an umbrella pointed in my direction so I wouldn't try and throw it on her. This was brought on by me chasing her around the apartment with it. I screamed a few times just to make her freak out. I really need to set up a video camera secretly setup sometime.

I took 88 pictures. 32 of which I'm in love with but I'd like to slim it down to 15 or so before I post. They should be up in a couple of days :)

Thanks to those of you who keep up with me and have your ears open when I need them. "Even so far away I can still feel you".

Labels: bereavement

posted by cat @ 4/28/2006 03:41:00 AM 0 comments |

4.25.2006 six months and one day today.

Wherever you are, whoever you are. Tell your father you love him. As much as possible. A child's love should be unconditional, as much as a parent's.

Labels: bereavement

posted by cat @ 4/25/2006 02:02:00 AM 0 comments |

4.20.2006 my new watch is cooler than yours

Do you have any idea how much I love this watch? From Shilin night market.

Labels: uncategorized

posted by cat @ 4/20/2006 02:52:00 AM 3 comments |

4.18.2006 Yingge pottery making

Han has been bringing up "pottery making" for awhile and finally last month we went. Meg, Han and I hopped a train and went to Yingge (also Yinge, and Yingko... sounds like Ing-Ah) township within Taipei County.

Yingge is a sweet day trip even if you don't feel like getting your hands dirty and making some pottery. There are dozens and dozens of little shops selling beautiful pottery and all kinds of cultural goods.

There weren't really that many places to eat. There were a few little stands and the restaurant we ate at. There were signs with pictures pointing to the restaurant. One of the perks of the meals is different areas of the menu entitled you to different pieces of free pottery. We made off with some nice plates and couple of cups.

Having a local boyfriend helps. There were plenty of shops clearly advertising pottery making (anywhere from 100 - 200 NT) but we found a quaint place in a back alley run by a man and his children. We spent hours getting our hands dirty, purposely making misshapen things and starting from scratch.

When we finished we paid our 200NT and they took our mailing address. About 4 weeks later our pieces were couriered to our door. Cooked, and painted! This was all included in the 200NT (7$ CND!) And they're beautiful.

It was a lot of fun and we'll be back.

If you're in Taipei or coming go to the Taipei train station and hop a train to Yingge (sounds like Ing-ah)

Google Earth
If you have Google Earth download this yingge.kmz

Labels: Taiwan day trips, Yingge

posted by cat @ 4/18/2006 12:09:00 PM 1 comments |

Google Earth map added to Jioufen post

Added a GoogleEarth .dmz file to my Jioufen post.

Labels: Google Earth, taiwan, Taiwan day trips

posted by cat @ 4/18/2006 12:06:00 PM 0 comments |

New study suggests that Ginger fights Ovarian cancer

Oh geez. Please don't tell my mother (the ginger pusher). I'm never going to live this one down. Click here to view the BBC article.

Labels: relationships

posted by cat @ 4/18/2006 10:53:00 AM 1 comments |

4.12.2006 chingrish shirt: every girl wants to be a palyoby bunny!

shirt reads:

Dicso Palyoby Fueur (think that's supposed to be fever) Oenp all nght

Labels: Chingrish or Engrish

posted by cat @ 4/12/2006 10:24:00 PM 0 comments |

chingrish shirt: tasty treat for the kiddies

Labels: Chingrish or Engrish

posted by cat @ 4/12/2006 08:45:00 PM 0 comments |

chingrish shirt: ....and she loves me

My new favourite t-shirt. I have to get another photo wearing it. It's so obviously a girls shirt. That's what makes it so funny.

Labels: Chingrish or Engrish

posted by cat @ 4/12/2006 08:10:00 PM 0 comments |

restoring my faith in humanity - a shout out to Ikari

I have some stories I haven't told on here from my first span of time in Taiwan (May 2005 - August 2005) and since I'm short on material I figure I'll start digging in the archives.

I worked really hard to get to Taiwan. I had a goal of coming over here with no debt and a bit of money in the bank. Around the December I started considering splurging on a new film camera. Merry Christmas to me From: me. I had been using the same Olympus that accompanied me to Bolivia. The camera is older than me and does a super job but the view finder is a bit messed up and my amazon trek in Bolivia filled any movable part with sand. My father actually bought the camera when I was quite young from a lady selling her sister's goods. Her sister had been one of Noel Winters' murder victims. No bad karma around the camera though :)

Anyway even though it went against everything I had been working for I decided to break down and spend the money on a new camera. My photos are always my favourite souvenir and I hadn't been happy at all with how a lot of my photos were turning out.

I spent around 500$ CND on the Canon Rebel T2. I loooooooooooooove it. I was instantly grateful of my splurge.

Onto my story...

Everything exciting seems to happen to me on my way to Fulong beach. On our way to Fulong beach last year, sometime in July, Deb advised me to bring my camera since the mountains, ocean, and train ride are very beautiful. At the time I only was shooting film. I like digital but I still enjoy film a lot more. I looked around the apartment and my camera was gone. I was heart-broken but tried not to freak too much. I retraced my steps and realized that I lost it downtown on one of the days Meg and I were getting film developed.

I've always been a determinist (ie things happen because they are supposed to) but I was having a hard time swallowing that I lost a camera I hadn't even owned for 6 months especially since it took me so long to justify the purchase. It was also the first camera I had ever bought myself (dad always gave me his hand-me-downs). I tried calling the place where I got my film developed, no luck. Then it occurred to me that Meg and I had stopped for lunch at Ikari coffee in the same area (Taipei Main Station area).

In a way I didn't even want to go check. It had been nearly a week since I lost the camera and if I had just left it on the seat next to me, like I was thinking, I was sure it would be long gone. "Maybe some aspiring photographer got it and this will be their inspiration to pursue their passion?" I thought..... still trying to find a way to not flip out about this and look at this as being a lesson of some sort and not just a "don't be so careless dumbass!" kind of lesson.

Meg went with me back to Ikari for moral support. I hadn't even walked through the door when I noticed one of the workers making lots of hand gestures towards me. When I walked through the door she was making camera motions. I started nodding frantically. She disappeared into the kitchen and reappeared with my camera. I started crying and gave her a huge hug.... which seemed to make her uncomfortable. Taiwanese aren't the most huggy of people. :) Especially with strangers heehee.

So needless to say, after going through a period of having trust issues in general the whole incident really raised my spirits and restored my faith in humanity a whole lot. It would've been so easy for anyone working at the cafe to take and keep my camera. Especially since it took me almost a week to return for it.

Ya Ikari coffee! You rock. Even though you give me a hard time about getting a second tea cup when I order a big pot of tea. I forgive you.

Labels: I'm a ditz, taiwan

posted by cat @ 4/12/2006 05:18:00 PM 0 comments |

4.09.2006 I had such a good day it gave me a headache - Jioufen

Note: I've put instructions for how to get to this part of Taiwan on the bottom of this post for any Taipei residents.

This weekend was my first time visiting Jioufen. Jioufen is located on the North-Eastern coast of Taiwan nestled ontop of a very beautiful mountain. I have officially found my favourite place in Taiwan. Well at least until I discover the next one.

Last summer Meg, Deb and I were headed up to Fulong beach. We were approached by a Taiwanese woman in the train station who was curious about us and who wanted to practice her English, I think. This is a pretty typical occurence, especially when you're intransit or with a couple of other foreigners. She asked us where we were going... after we talked for awhile she told us about this great place called Jioufen where she was headed. She was nice enough to write down the train stop and bus info incase we ever felt like visiting it in the future.

Riding trains is one of my favourite things in Taiwan. If you can't get a seat you can "stand" but instead of standing you can actually sit in the doorway of the train cars on the stairs. Some of the doors can be kept open so you can sit there on the edge watching everything go by. Probably not the safest thing in the world to do but it makes me happy. It took us about 40 minutes to get to Ruifeng (also spelt Ruefeng or Rueifeng) which is at the base of the mountain that houses Jioufen.

A very exciting bus ride up the steep, narrow, winding roads up the mountain took us to our destination. To our right a fantastic market filled with all kinds of Taiwanese/Chinese cultural goods at really great prices. After the market a cluster of teahouses on the side of the mountain with the best ocean views in Taiwan (in my opinion).

We decided to stop for some food since we pretty much just rolled out of bed before we headed to Jioufen. We found this fantastic little restaurant a little ways into the market. I believe it was actually called "Jioufen". I really should've taken a picture of the sign. I had one of the best hot meals I've had in Taiwan. A bamboo cup filled with fried rice, green veggies, and a soup that has this really yummy vegetables in it and some fish balls (only about 200NT).

After we fueled up I decided I wanted to backtrack to the 7/11 that was close to where we had gotten off the bus so I could use the ATM machine (which didn't exist). When we got outside the 7/11 we looked up towards the beautiful mountain that was sitting on top of the mountain we were standing on and noticed what appeared to be actual hiking trails. I looked at Meg and asked "Feeling ambitious?".

I think it was decided before I even asked. The hike was a bit extreme but thankfully it was a bit cool and clouded over. There was a stone stairway the whole way but it was an incredible amount of work getting up the mountain. I'd love to know how high it is. All the work was definitely worth the view of both Jiofen and Ruifeng below as well as the ocean all around us and Peace island in the distance. Not to mention being able to breathe such clean air. It's something you really gain an appreciation for living in Taipei.

The ocean for me is home and if I go more than 2 months without seeing it I start to go buggy. I grew up seeing it every day of life. Not being near it is weird. The whole ordeal of climbing the mountain, being with such a good friend, the ocean all around, the clean air, the sound of the wind rustling through the thick long grass that covered the mountain...it was so spiritual and cleansing. There's no other way to explain it. We both literally got teary-eyed between gasps of exhaustion... not that we're sappy wieners... ok I guess we are... but the ocean and mountains are two strong symbols for me. The ocean is my mother, the mountains are my dad. I can't see the ocean without thinking about mom, or a mountain without thinking about dad. The mountains to dad and the ocean to mom were their releases, their escapes, their cleansers, their spiritual havens. Mom sitting by the ocean or dad climbing a mountain...it's when I got to see both of them at their most peaceful and happiest. Being close to either is being close to them.

Going down we were both jelly legged. If I stopped for more than a couple of seconds my legs started shaking uncontrollably. We stopped at the cutest "cafe" ever! The bus cafe. It's a cafe run out of a bus. The surrounding area is set up like a sweet little zen garden with lawn furniture on it. And of course it had a spectacular view down the mountain and of the ocean and temples below. We stopped for a beer as a reward for our hard work.

After the cafe we headed back in the market. We popped in and out of dozens of stores, stopped for some deep-fried mushrooms, and then at the very end stopped at a quaint little tea house for some flower tea (jasmine for me and chrysanthemum for Meg). One word, gourmet.

After tea we decided to head back home. In the train station we were helped by an incredibly sweet Taiwanese girl named Chanel when trying to buy our tickets back to Taipei. We talked to her the whole way back and made a new friend. After the train ride we exchanged MSN addresses.....then the strangest of things... I got home and received a message from an old Taiwanese internet friend. Before I came to Taiwan I found a few Taiwanese people to talk to over yahoo messenger. A guy named Ben was one of these people. Ben and I talked for a long time but fell out of touch eventually. We never met in real life but he gave me a lot of information about Taiwan and it was just so great to get a feel for how people here were. Anyway, when I got back home he popped online:

Ben: hi
Ben: long time no see
Ben: do u remember me
Ben: ?
me: of course! Hi Ben! How are you?
Ben: fine
Ben: do u go to rueifung
Ben: today?
Me: 8-O ya
Me: did you see me?
Ben: did you meet a Chinese girl?
Me: haha yes
Ben: Do you know her name?
Me: Chanel is her English name. You're scaring me How do you know?
Ben: she is my older sisiter

That would be a crazy enough thing to happen back home but to happen in a country with a population of 24 million when I'm in the middle of nowhere getting help from a kind random stranger??!?!?!?!?! It blew my mind. It really is a small world.

Anyway, for anyone in Taiwan, or coming to Taiwan. You need to see this place! I saw no other foreigners while I was there. And not that all places in Taiwan should be flooded with foreigners but it's a shame this place isn't a little better known. Here are the directions of how to get there:

How to get there

I know there are buses that go to Ruifeng but my guess is they take too long, and because of the traffic, lack of parking, and incredibly narrow roads I wouldn't recommend driving.

Go to Taipei Main Station to the train station. Buy a ticket to Ruifeng (80NT) or a return ticket (160NT).

Once you arrive in Ruifeng walk straight out across the open area in front of the train station (only one exit) and cross the road to the other side. Wait at the bus stop (directly across the road). Make a mental note of the buildings so when you bus back you know where to get off. It's easiest to remember the OK store and the open area in front of the train station. A lot of people will get off at this stop.

Grab the first bus that says "Jioufen". Bus fare is 15NT. Enjoy the steep climb up the mountain on the narrow roads :)

You'll know when to get off the bus because 98% of the people on the bus will get off. You should be close to a 7/11. To the right of the 7/11 is the market and tea houses (located at the end of the market) and to the left are some really cool temples, the mountain we climbed, and "the bus cafe" I talked about above.

To get back catch the bus on the opposite side of the street from the 7/11. Take the bus down the mountain. Look for the OK store or the open area in front of the train station.

I recommend bringing warm clothes just incase. It was hot when we got there but it's very moist and being so close to the ocean it gets a bit chilly at night, especially at that altitude. On top of the mountain we climbed it was really chilly too and that's what made us climb back down when we did.

There are also some other attractions like the Gold Ecological Museum and some abandoned mines that I've heard are really incredible. Before you leave the train station check the brochure rack for the English brochures.

That's all for now. I'm looking forward to the fire walking coming up next week at the Baoyan temple. Then next weekend Wulai! I should hopefully have some video and lots of photos of course.

Google Earth
If you have Google Earth download this Juifang.kmz

Labels: Jioufen, taiwan, Taiwan day trips

posted by cat @ 4/09/2006 01:05:00 AM 1 comments |

My Photography: Once I went outside updated

uploaded to once I went outside

Labels: Photography

posted by cat @ 4/09/2006 12:05:00 AM 0 comments |

4.03.2006 sculpture: meet Trevor

I'm not an artist. I don't take myself to seriously. I like to get my hands dirty now and then and have fun and take pictures of my fun. This has prompted a new album in my photography section called "art projects".

In there is my Trevor album. Trevor was created over the weekend from a fallen palm branch found in Gongguan park, some clay, a nut, and a branch of some sort.

Click the image below to go to the gallery.