Blogs from Taiwan, Asia - page 126

BBA donated 500 NT under my name today so I can write on an unglazed tile which will be used to renovate the "Meow" in Keelung. We were by there today and spent almost an hour doing traditional Buddhist temple things. I also found out that this year is a shitty year for dragons and that I need a lot of help. Printed on a pink piece of paper is the 12 Chinese zodiac signs and below the signs is a short synopsis of what's ahead in the year. Beyond the gloom and doom, one of the things for dragons was the danger of bankruptcy. Well, that's close to reality, isn't it! So BBA spent another chunk of money, in the form of donation, of course, and now the folks in the temple are going to ... read more

This morning I woke up early, 7am ish? This is going to sound pathetic, but I woke up and looked at my new cellphone, wishing someone would call me... Ring, damn it, ring! And of course no one called. You losers. Call me!! I wanted to get online and check email, upload my pix, so I tippy toed to Guava's room. His door was locked. $@%^!. By then I was wide awake, out of bed, internetless, and still craving fruit and all things fiberous... I think Guava heard me giggling his doorknob; he came out a couple of minutes later. We watched cartoons until about 8am, and that's when it hit me. If he's awake, he could buzz me back in if I went out by myself. I know, this is so stupid, why am I ... read more

Hey Sally! Ok, so the deal with the turtle in those photos... 3 days ago was the birthday of a (my very bad, literal translation here) local earth god? Earth as in land, dirt; god not as in all supreme being but more like a secondary god who has influence locally. So for good luck and prosperity, you're supposed to go to his temple (in Chinese it sounds like "Meow") and light incense and donate money and buy a sweet rice turtle? Hey. I'm not making this stuff up. That morning BBA had called in to purchase a turtle. I'm thinkin the original idea is that you have to show up in person to arrange for this but old people these days... And along with the turtle you're supposed to write a little message on a ... read more

We left India on Thursday after a full day of sightseeing in very hot Indian weather (it was about 35 Cel) and arrived in Taiwan on Friday night. It took two connections and three airlines - Silk Air, Singapore Airlines, and DragonAir - to arrive in Taiwan on Friday night; Singapore is our new favorite airlines. Of course, since we had showered Thursday morning, we were extremely dirty; our feet were looking exceptionally tanned (a little help from India dirt and dust). Our Taiwan host Jon (a friend from Binghamton) picked us from the airport. We had almost forgotten about Western lifestyle but are happy to be back in the modern world. Jon has provided us a mattress on the floor of the living room which has been perfect (our sleeps have been exceptional here). Also, ... read more

Driving a scooter. It was something I was dreading for a really long time. As soon as I arrived and started to meet people, I was told of foreigners who had lost limbs, gotten brain damage, broken bones etc etc. So, naturally, my first instinct was NOT to jump right into learning how to drive. I was certain that I could make it in this city with my two legs as transportation - and maybe the bus from time to time. Well - I soon came to two realizations: (1) apparently the bus runs on its own schedule, and (2) I am far more lazy than I had remembered (why should I walk up the street when I have a perfectly good scooter in the garage?!) Anyways, I decided that when Faye left for her vacation ... read more