Fulong Sand Sculpture Contest

Early last month we went to the Fulong sand sculpture contest on the northeast cost of Taiwan.  Much of northern Taiwan’s beaches are not white sand like the Caribbean, but are still picturesque. Fulong Beach is an exception and has white sand.  Fulong is an island on the island, separated by a river.  The bridge provides pedestrian access to the beach, and some people use the river current to boogie board out to the ocean.

A popular sand sculpture contest was in progress, with artists from more than 15 countries, including the U.S. and Canada.  I have been to ice sculpture contests before and thought the artists had a difficult time with the elements, including a melting sun.  However the high wind and occasional Taiwan rain makes sand sculpting more difficult.  The artists were continually repairing their work.

The Taiwanese were crazy about Taiwanese descent Jeremy Lin’s recent fame, and this was obvious by the Linsanity sculptures that were advertised as a reason to attend.  Based on huge volume of the Jeremy Lin clothing items I have seen in Taipei, with the word Linsanity printed on the front and back, there ought to be some good sales taking place about now.  Give me a Linsanity shirt with a bad picture of the man, a pink Hello Kitty hat and I am ready to mix it up with the motor scooter gangs of Taipei.  Sorry for losing focus…

The beach was beautiful and the sculptures impressive.  I took more than forty pictures, but can only show a few.  We walked the beach, ate a nice seafood lunch and took a leisurely train ride back to Taipei. 

Urban Jungle

Taipei is an impressive city for green spaces and the use of plants to improve life quality. There are numerous small parks around the city that feature well maintained plantings and also many private buildings that do the same.  Water features are also common.  The city places artificial waterfalls to disguise utility boxes and other bland infrastructure.

I have seen the plant wall used around the U.S. and they typically are dried out failures that look good only after freshly planted.   Taipei is full of thriving plant walls that benefit from the ample rain.  Plant walls are common at construction sites to hide the unsightly activities and reduce noise.  Plant walls often have species’ identification guides, so you can educate yourself about what has been planted.  Buildings use plants as signage and numbering.

Taipei has an extensive system of hiking trails in the mountains surrounding the city.  The hillsides are covered with impatiens and azaleas, growing wild.  Hibiscus plants 3 meters high grow along the roadsides in the country.  These are invasive species to Taiwan, though not too many of us complain.

Imagine the weeds of Taiwan are actually the flowering plants found in the U.S. garden centers. 

Umbrellas for Rainy Taipei

I have been amazed by how much rain Taipei receives.  During the month of February, it seems like it failed to rain only two days.  February is nowhere near the rainiest month and is not part of the typhoon season.  They actually have names for the rain seasons, with the Plum Rain season covering May-July. The 10 day forecast that I look at frequently, rarely shows a day without rain.  I have always said that you can tell how much rain a city receives by how high the curbs of their streets are.  Taipei has high curbs and also builds gutters into their sidewalks.

Living in a vibrant city that rains so much, has caused me to change my thinking about umbrellas.   Growing up as a male in the U.S., the only respectable time for a man to possess or use an umbrella was on the golf course.  I have an extremely large umbrella mounted to my golf bag and I have been very happy on many occasions to have it.  However, to carry the little umbrellas to and from work, or shopping, or restaurants…well it just didn’t seem manly.

My thinking about carrying an umbrella, since living in Taipei, has changed.  I read a blog by a Brit that said “it rains more in Taipei than Manchester and the men actually carry brollies (umbrellas)”.  I carry a brolly everywhere I go.  I never leave the apartment in Taipei without my backpack, which carries my Taipei map, Boy Scout compass, camera and umbrella.   Burberry recently opened a new store in Taipei and named their marketing campaign “Make it Rain in Taipei”.  We don’t need any more rain and they should have named it “Stop the Rain in Taipei”.  I attached a link to their Taipei promo.  Also, there are many Taipei rain YouTube videos and attached a link that shows the motor scooter people decked out in rain suits and a bicyclist carrying an umbrella, which is normal.

I follow a blogger named Morgan that is a West Texan living in Taipei-her blog is called Our Home in the East.  She commented on the rain of Taipei and quoted:

Average yearly rainfall in the Amazon Basin: 1500-2100 mm (60-83 inches)

Average yearly rainfall in Taipei: over 2400 mm (95 inches)

I recently returned to the U.S. and brought my golf clubs with me.  We picked the clubs up from our Zhu Nan house.  The clubs were stored in the lowest level of the four story home, and the most humid.  My wife warned me that the clubs had some mold on them.  I was appalled to see the travel bag, golf bag, shoes, clubs and umbrella covered in mold.  I did my best to clean them, but trying to dry wet golf gear in 99% humidity isn’t easy.   Back home in the U.S. I cleaned everything again and laid them on the driveway to dry in the hot sun and 26% humidity.  A repairman servicing our house commented that I must be anal about clean golf clubs.  I responded that I am anal about clean everything; however my clubs were covered in mold from Taiwan.  He told me his military service took him to Vietnam and he fully understood.

The umbrella industry was centered in Taiwan from the 1960s-80s.  Like many industries, umbrellas have moved to China.  At one time 75% of the world’s umbrellas were manufactured by more than 300 companies in Taiwan.  Rihanna had a sexy video several years ago, where she pranced around with a Totes umbrella (check it out).  This brolly was made in Taiwan and caused a run on that particular model.  Umbrellas are part of fashion in Taipei, much like purses for many women.

I have come to love Taipei and have adjusted to carrying an umbrella.  They are actually very useful and really don’t compromise my manhood too much.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhNi09wzql4

http://www.fastcocreate.com/1680708/burberry-makes-it-rain-in-taipei

Grilling in Taipei and Hello Kitty

We moved into our new Taipei apartment a little more than one week ago and it is a huge upgrade from the previous one.  I told my wife that on a scale of 1 to 100, the old apartment was a 6 and the new apartment was an 80.  Actually I should have said 2 and 95, but I didn’t want her to think even worse of the slum apartment we lived in and I needed to leave some room on the upper end of the scale hoping there are even better apartments in Taipei.

Within one week I have already got into trouble.  We hosted a dinner party last night and I made my famous barbeque baby back ribs.  They were not so famous in the U.S., but they seem to be appreciated here in Taiwan.  I could not find premade BBQ sauce in Taiwan, so as I have become accustom, necessity forced me to make my own sauce.  It is delicious and I will never again use premade sauces.  I tone the spiciness down a little for the Taiwanese tongue.  After applying a dry rub, and cooking at low temperature in the oven for hours, I move the ribs to the grill for the finishing touches and application of the sauce.  So how does that get me in trouble?

We moved the grill to the balcony of our new apartment, and after removing one shelf, I made it fit.  The propane tank was “smuggled” on the bus by my wife, as she took transportation from her employer to Taipei.  She treated the tank as if it were a bomb, hiding it in bags and a box.  She called me from the bus telling me to meet her at a prearranged location to accept delivery of the “package”.  We got the tank safely to the apartment and installed it on the grill.  The propane tanks in Taiwan are about half the size of the tanks in the U.S.  So how did I get in trouble?

We had some doubts whether a grill would be allowed at the apartment; however we never asked and hadn’t read anything prohibiting them.  The managed ignorance allowed me to cook at least one meal of ribs for the party.   Shortly after the cooking was finished, an elderly neighbor lady rang our doorbell and was accompanied by two apartment building officials armed with radios.  They may have had Taser guns, but I couldn’t see them.  When we answered the door, the lady marched into our apartment to tell us she was worried the building was on fire.  She asked me if I spoke Zhongwen and I responded buxing, Ingwen.  While each of us knew we didn’t understand each other, we continued talking and I invited her to have some ribs.  My theory was that if she tasted them, her complaint would seem insignificant.  Also, if a burning apartment building smells like barbeque ribs, then let’s burn it down now.   I’m not sure what will happen next, but I’m guessing a list of rules will be modified prohibiting grills. The grilling season in Taiwan is September and grilling any other month seems crazy to the Taiwanese.  I’m not kidding.

I have an American friend living in Taichung.  When visiting his apartment, he showed me his grill hidden in an enclosed balcony with a high powered exhaust fan.  I thought it was overkill, but I now understand his motives to protect his grill from Taiwanese grill month rules and dynamic apartment policies.  I have posted a photo of our grill and a view from the balcony.

p.s. I have joked about the Asian love of Hello Kitty.  One of my beloved Asian airlines now has decorated their jets with Hello Kitty and requires their pilots to wear Hello Kitty uniforms.  Actually the pilot comment isn’t true, but I am conflicted by the whole thing.

Danshui

The port town of Danshui lies north of Taipei, where the Danshui River meets the ocean.  The name is usually pronounced Dan-Shway, however it is spelled in Pinyin English many different ways, including Danshui, Tamsui, Danshuei and others.  Taiwanese Chinese can be confusing.  The city was settled by the Spanish in the early seventeenth century and was more important than Taipei for several hundred years.   The Taipei MRT system runs the entire way to Danshui and due to the transportation ease; it is a popular weekend travel location for the people of Taipei.

The red brick Fort San Domingo was constructed by the Spanish in 1629 and later occupied by the Dutch, Chinese and British.  It was the British consulate until 1980.  Scottish Canadian missionary George Mackay was highly respected for his work in the 19^th century.  He constructed hospitals, churches and universities around Taiwan and spent much of his time in Danshui or Tamsui, whatever the city is called.  The red brick Aletheia University, also called Oxford, is now a museum dedicated to Mackay’s work.  A bust of Mackay is featured in the town center.

Fisherman use the port to access the Straits of Taiwan and Pacific Ocean.  As you can see by the picture, it is important to plan your fishing excursion based on the tides.  There is some commercial port activity nearby. 

As in any Taiwan city, the street foods are fantastic.  We ate little quail eggs, deep fried animal body parts and the most wonderful ice cream dish I have ever tasted.  A thin rice “tortilla” is filled with ground peanuts, cilantro and ice cream, and then rolled like a burrito and it becomes a nice handheld treat.

Our day trip to Danshuei or Tamsui or whatever the city is called was one of many discoveries that my wonderful wife has made possible.

 

Tea Culture of Taiwan

Taiwan has a significant history of tea consumption and it is an important part of their culture.  Certain green tea species are native to Taiwan and were found growing wild in the central part of the island by Europeans.  In the early 17^th century, the Dutch controlled Taiwan and the lucrative tea trading routes from Asia to Europe.  The Dutch encouraged Chinese to immigrate to Taiwan as farmers, including tea cultivation. In 1683, Taiwan came under the loose control of the Chinese Qing Dynasty and tea cultivation continued to expand.  In 1895, the Japanese took control of the island and introduced black teas.

There are numerous small towns in Taiwan that cater to tea industry tourism.  We took a gondola ride to the top of a mountain and then hiked down into a tea plantation to watch the farmers harvest tea.  Local restaurants serve tea, but also cook with the plant.  I enjoy the fried rice with tea leaves. 

Visiting the towns where tea is grown reminds me of visiting wine regions around the world.  Tea is found drying on tarps in the streets, “fermenting” or oxidizing in yards and for sale at hundreds of tea shops.  A “Tea Master” has a museum dedicated to the tea trade, and of course offers tastings and tea for sale.  My favorite tea of Taiwan is Oolong , which has a following around the world. 

Taiwan exports green tea to the U.S., Japan, Hong Kong and Great Britain and the black teas are shipped primarily to Russia and Turkey.  I enjoy tea almost as much as wine, so living in Taiwan has been a treat.

Sun Moon Lake

Sun Moon Lake is the largest lake in Taiwan and a popular tourist attraction for Taiwanese and mainland Chinese, and at least one American.  There are small towns on both sides of the lake, with numerous hotels and restaurants, and a number of boats that take passengers back and forth.  The lake is important to the aboriginal people that have lived in this area and a burial ground is located on the small island of Lalu. Much of the island is now submerged due to the raised lake level created by a hydroelectric dam.

After Chiang Kai-shek fled China and established his government in Taiwan, the dictator spent considerable time at Sun Moon Lake.   During the time he spent there, government decision making officials also transferred from Taipei to the resort area.  Chiang Kai-shek had a pagoda built as a memorial to his mother, which creates a nice photo.

In 1999, a strong earthquake struck the area, toppling buildings in Taipei 150 km away.  More than 2,400 people were killed.  This is significantly less than the number of Taiwanese that Chiang Kai-shek murdered, however it is a reminder of the earthquake danger of the island.  A photo of a collapsed temple nearby Sun Moon Lake is posted below.

It is the banana season in Taiwan and I never realized how many different times of bananas there are.  This is one of my favorite fruits, though I am more cautious since biting into a banana and finding a live worm.

The day trip to Sun Moon Lake was very enjoyable and of course we ate numerous foods from the street vendors.  The street is my wife’s restaurant and I love it too.