The Taiwan update
1. Highlights from our trip (in chronological order)
a. the first nightÕs hotel. We were meant to stay with RebeccaÕs great aunt, but she wasnÕt feeling well and was worried about us bringing SARS from the airport into our home, so she had made a reservation for us at a hotel. What a wonderful plan. The hotel was great Ð a suit, with a bathroom the size of both my bathrooms and kitchen combined, a bed bigger than my living room (plus a single bed for V), and a kitchen/dining room with free fruit. Breakfast |http://www.geocities.com/sbroshar/a1.jpg| was included with the room (well worth the 30 dollars a person). Highlights of breakfastÑwonderful coffee and fresh guava and papaya. |http://www.geocities.com/sbroshar/a2.jpg|
b. |http://www.geocities.com/sbroshar/b1.JPG| The square. I canÕt really explain this, but youÕve seen it in my pictures. Three large buildings Ð the big one |http://www.geocities.com/sbroshar/b2.JPG| is a monument to a leader, the smaller ones |http://www.geocities.com/sbroshar/b3.JPG| are a theater and concert hall. But itÕs great because so many people are there, just hanging out. We watched various college pep clubs |http://www.geocities.com/sbroshar/b4.jpg| practicing routines, 3 year olds taking roller blade lessons |http://www.geocities.com/sbroshar/b5.jpg|, various tourist groups from other countries taking group pictures, high school drum squad practice. The atmosphere was so fun, relaxed, laid back.
c. night markets. Crowded, dirty, wonderful. Illegal venders lay out blankets and goods on small pedestrian streets Ð shoes for around 8-9 dollars, imitation wallets, bootleg CDÕs, cleaning demonstrations, and a lot of food. Even if you donÕt need to buy anything, walking around the night markets is fun for people watching, and just being out somewhere exciting at night. I bought 2 pairs of sandals and some DV tapes (from a store). And the food is great Ð various meats, fruits, so many things I didnÕt try so canÕt explain.
d. search for a clean bathroom. Walking around the shopping area, needing to use a bathroom. Since Taiwan is very dirty and cramped, similar to Japan, we were thinking the best place to find a clean western style toilet would be a large office building. As we walked towards the building, we laughed at the cartoon condom billboards. We went into the building, and thought it was slightly strangeÐ sterile smell, strange counter with electronic board, waiting room chairsÉ Noticed the sign ÔCenter for Venereal DiseaseÕ and decided to continue our search elsewhere.
e. jasmine tea. Oooh, so nice, I brought some back with me. At the famous dim sum restaurant (I canÕt remember the name), they pour the tea from 3 feet above your tiny cup. And the pot stickers were amazing!
f. more tea. Karaoke bar after the dim sum was swank Ð high rise, every room had a private bathroom, and the Chinese songs have the original music videos under the lyrics. But the tea was good Ð got some hot herbal tea in a large pitcher and shared it. Strange brown Chinese herbsÉ plus skipping back to the tea shop the first night Ð I canÕt remember the name Ð but basically tons of teas, hot or cold, with fruits, as a smoothy, with the tapioca balls, etc. they have a branch of this in Berkely(?) or LA, so IÕm excited to frequent it next year. About as expensive as Starbucks. I had a green tea Ð green mango frozen thing. And there were weird balls in it, too. YumÉ
g. Chinese massage therapy. Apparently most masseuses in Taipei are blind Ð itÕs good work for them Ð donÕt need to see and people feel less uncomfortable. He was pretty amazing Ð Becca translated a bit at the beginning for me. I have been having back problems with Aikido Ð one place near my spine especially hurting. Becca told him this, and he ran his hands up and down my spine and found a flaw in my lower back Ð IÕm not sure if itÕs a slipped disc, but one is out of place. He said it was probably from my posture. He also found problems in my shoulders Ð he said that because theyÕre not strong enough IÕm probably transferring stress (from Aikido) to my lower back. The next hour was a lovely full-body massage. I was warned it could really hurt, but the only thing that was really painful was the pressure point between my thumb and forefinger he squeezed for about 5 minutes. Supposed to help the digestive system.
h. day markets. While V was getting her massage after me, and Becca was getting a facial, I explored the street market a few blocks from the apartment. Saw live chickens in their cages, plus through various stages of butchery. Stalks of sugar cane and their various stages of butchery. Small shrines, making gyoza on the sidewalk, and a lot of fresh fruit.
i. hairdressers. We didnÕt need a haircut, didnÕt need to have our hair washed, but got a wash and blow-dry just for the experience. We went to a small, crowded hairdresser in the above day market. Sat down, had the warm shampoo solution squirted on our hair while it was dry, and then a 30 minute vigorous head and neck massage. Vigorous is the key word. Followed by a very tedious blow-dry. It was interesting, and cheap (3-5 dollars). But I think I prefer the Japanese way Ð slow, perfect attention to every detail, etc.)
