Bloody Moon Festival Weekend

Hello Moon Festival  or Mid-Autumn Festival a three day holiday weekend, celebrating the much needed end of summer. I have so many pleasant memories associated with this harvest holiday,  yet this year's was a little different.

Last year we went to three separate waterfalls including the amazing Auhua waterfall in Yilan County,  as well as Mingchi Forest, a wonderful memory, a fabulous weekend (read post here). A few years back when we lived in Tainan, my daughter and I headed to Guanshan to witness rolling hills of orange daylilies against the backdrop of the blue mountains that separate the east coast from the rift valley. A distinct, amazing mid autumn festival weekend. A further Moon Festival weekend of note was  shrimp fishing  at my friend's family business, where we joined her family BBQ, surprisingly dazzled by their impressive fireworks celebration.

 Friends back home ask me what Moon Festival is. In Taiwan it amounts to accepting the obligatory invitation to a communal mass BBQ which is a smoky, loud and carnivorous endeavor. (For a thorough explanation click here).

Zen and I went to a pre-Moon Festival BBQ in Toucheng with friends the weekend before the actual holiday and that was quite enough processed meat, pomelo and smoke to last me.


This year's blood moon wasn't visible in Taiwan, but the absurdly powerful gravitational forces were indeed felt in the form of a wicked typhoon.  The night before the typhoon came, I overheard my neighbors beneath my balcony complain I was boring for not BBQing (among other things), so I went down and joined them and had a good time. It was a more subdued and less smokey affair.



Leaving work Friday I told everyone I knew, "Just you watch, it will be a 4 day weekend" and sure enough Typhoon Dujuan indeed gave us in Yilan another day, Tuesday off and a rain free one at that. I admit watching the news I was starting to feel apprehensive, the typhoon was literally bigger than all of Taiwan and it was hitting smack into Yilan. Local news was vastly more entertaining. There was Yilan train station a sea of people all pushing each other to try and take the afternoon Monday train back to Taipei before all hell broke lose. The high-speed train stopped running at 3 pm leaving millions of travelers on their holiday weekend stranded.
                               

On the morning of  Monday the 28th it was calm. Zen was playing with her friends outside. The wind started to pick up so the girls were playing with the gusts, trying to walk against it. Around noon I called her in and at around 1pm the rains came and it looked like being inside a car wash looking out of our windows. The news said the typhoon would hit us directly at 9pm, but it seemed to have come sooner. Our windows were leaking in our bedrooms and kitchen. We went thru all our towels and some blankets trying to sop it all up. It was a minor inconvenience, but we were safe. Little did I know that all our neighbors lost power and my coworkers lost running water too. I had filled up my bath tub just in case.

My daughter and I drank pots of chai and British tea and watched episodes of Portlandia, reveling in being utter couch potatoes for a day. Typhoon Dujuan left at 1am and Tuesday was called off everywhere but Tainan. Yilan received  914 mm of rain, just second after Su-ao which is still Yilan County and a 15 minute drive down the coast.

My favorite doorman, Moon Fest BBQ with neighbors the night before Dujuan

 The weather Tuesday was perfect, the better to assess the damage and clean up. All the trees in our neighborhoods were blown over, completely uprooted, the topsoil was ripped out by the winds. In other parts of Yilan and Taiwan the rivers were flooded. I spent most of the day cleaning my balconies and floors, washing the towels and blankets that quickly dried in the sunny weather on Wednesday. If it weren't for the fallen trees and blown off building signs, you would haven't guessed a typhoon was in town the day before.

The fallen soldiers at Yilan Sports Park

Not the most ideal mid-Autumn Festival weekend, but I can't complain. Taipei dwellers tend to flood Yilan on holiday weekends anyways and working full time and Z doing homework at her anchingban til 6:30 makes kicking back at home a necessary and joyful relief.

Mid Autumn Festival BBQ, Toucheng.

We Be Jammin' Harvest Moon Marmalade

Pomelo orchard near Jioulio Waterfall

Its Autumn in Yilan and like everyone in Taiwan, we have pomelo fruits coming out of our ears.

 Its the gift that keeps on giving, but I prefer it more than moon cakes, lesser calories and more healthy.

Pomelos (Citrus Maxima) are an ancient grapefruit, but much larger and sweeter than their newer descendants. Its the largest citrus fruit and in Taiwan the flesh is white/pale yellow.

 My work gave each of us a hefty box, with a dozen pomelos for Mid- Autumn festival, plus my building gave each of us several, so not wanting to waste I decided to make marmalade with my daughter.

It was a bit labor intensive to say the least. We had to peel them all and the rind is much thicker and stronger than other citrus fruit. Then we separated the yummy flesh from the inedible skin. Our hands were burning from removing the fruit,we had to rinse them several times. While we did that, I boiled the rind three times with fresh water before slicing thinly and adding to the boiling mixture (I dont have a food processor).

The recipe I found was 4 cups of sugar to 1 pomelo and we used 5 pomelos (I still have quite few left). Feeling uber-creative I decided to add some pomegranate fruits, inspired by the season of Autumn. I thought seeing the seeds suspended in the marmalade would look cool. It just made the final batch orange (pale yellow + blood red = orange).

My daughter removing the sweet flesh from the bitter skin

I had to buy some props for teaching from one of those "everything stores" and felt lucky to find different sized jars. I washed and dried them the night before and used the "water bath canning technique." A few days later, I gladly gave my co-workers a small gift to celebrate the season. It still feels like summer around here though!

The final result, Pomelo and Pomegranate Marmalade

Over the Moon: Mid Autumn Festival Yilan Style

Suao port and beach from Suhua Highway

The one thing to expect on a 3 day weekend in Taiwan are the crowds. That and train tickets will be sold out 2 weeks before they sell at the station (you can buy online with a Taiwanese ID #). So when we had moments of crowd-less nature, I definitely was over the moon with gratitude. It was also the first time in 6 years I was free in my own car to explore Yilan.

The empty Neibi beach, Suao.

Saturday Day 1 of our Moon festival weekend, went as planned. On our way to Nanao, we stopped for coffee at Neibi beach. It was totally desolate. We had the rooftop cafe to ourselves as well as the view of the Pacific. Where were all the crowds? In Kenting no doubt. After coffee and a shared shaved matcha iced tea with red beans we were back in the car.

The woman at the cafe told me in Mandarin that the local Matsu temple was moving the goddess idol to visit a god in Yilan and she explained times and locations. I was pretty giddy to have my comprehension of her explanation proved when we ran into the pilgrims. They had the coolest shirts, a sea of red devotees.

My friend climbing for a jump, Auhua Waterfalls.

After that it was back in the car to Nan'ao and there we found the crowds, bumper to bumper on the notoriously dangerous and most beautiful highway, the Suh-ua Highway. Its danger is not due to the narrow one lane switchbacks that plummet to the Pacific, but because fellow drivers are impatient and pass the corners on blind spots.

Outside a little aboriginal village called Aohua (the 161 km marker) there is the most magnificent waterfall. Three aboriginal teens on one scooter took us there. There were other cars in the lot and we hiked up a 5 minute walk, scrambled some rocks and there it was. There were a few families, but the pool was so enormous, the water dwarfed us so there was room enough for all. My companion bravely scrambled a bit up the wet and slippery rocks to plummet into the sparkling cold abyss.

 

We went home as planned, beat, ready for Sunday and finding a camping spot. Our day 2 definitely did not go as planned, except for the coffee at the revolving cafe on Highway 7. We found a camping spot next to Champing Lake, which was fairly close, like 15 minutes outside of Loudong. There was a lake circumstanced by wooden walkways and the camp spots had wooden platforms and BBQ grills. There was even a go-cart track. Surpisingly, there were few campers, maybe 2 or 3 tents that I could see. And still, greedy for solitude, we kept going further up the 7, farther away from big cities, only to find more crowds and rain. Camping did not happen. 

We did go up the eastern part of the North Cross highway to check out the Mingchi Forest Recreation area. It was disappointing. The lake was over-developed and charged an entrance fee. The Forest area itself has a massive resort  (明池國家森林遊樂區) on it with cabins and a restaurant that was of course crowded. The North Cross Highway which is high in altitude has some nice views and dark, misty, dank forests. There were moments we drove in clouds and we definitely got caught in the rain on the way back. We took a walk behind the cabins and found a few trails, but there were no camping spots there. Who knows we might com back on a non-holiday weekend and stay in one of the cabins.

Day 3 of our Moon Festival weekend, on Monday, we took our time heading out to one more nearby waterfall. Around the corner from Xingliao Waterfall is the abandoned Jiuliou Waterfall, about a 20 minute drive from my home. The trail was not very well maintained, but there wasn't another person there. We had the whole overgrown trail and small waterfall to ourselves. The overgrown parking lot is a perfect camping spot, no bathrooms, wooden platforms or vending machines. The path from the parking lot to the trail has a pomelo orchard on it. Pomelo is the fruit of the mid-Autumn festival.

We will hopefully return to those falls to camp next weekend.

Turtle Island from the Suao/Suhua Highway overlook

The Tokyo Plan

Tokyo itinerary

I was originally concerned that accommodation would be outrageously expensive but after alot of research found decent prices places (1800NT range) some places that wouldnt charge me extra for a kid. The best bet for my money was an awesome located backpacker party place for 4000yen a night, double w/bath. But I dont want a party vibe and opted for a place NW in Ikebukuro, a traditional Ryokan, same prices for single no attached bath, but traditional japanese bath tub for all guests. Im so excited!  There are so many places to experiences in and around the Tokyo area, I sort of been fantasizing moving there. I never had this strong fascination w/Japanese culture before, not until recently, I can't explain why.


Sat: Tainan Highspeed at 8:30am to Taoyan International airport, check in at 10:50am, 12:50 departure CX450. Arrive at Narita: 17:10 flight

Keisei Honson Express to Nappori (1000yen), then to Ikebukuro (160yen). Or (1200yen) change to Ikebukuro Keisei Narita sky Access from Narita o Nappori (160yen) then to Ikebukuro (160yen). Check in at kimiryokan. Night + dinner around Ikebukuro.

Sunday: Asakusa (Sensōji Temple), lunch Waentei-Kikko 12:15 performance

Harajuku on Sundays(where the locals come out to play - in costumes), Yoyogi Park (buskers & rockabilly Japanese- truly bizarre +Meiji Jingu (one of the most important shrines in Tokyo), Omotesando (shopping & great architecture). Walk to Shinjuku.

Shinjuku: Shinjka Gyoen Gardens (picnic) + dusk at TMGB (closes at 7pm). Metropolitan Govt. Building, have a mocha in Starbucks and watch the hordes cross the intersection in front of the station (Hachiko exit),

Monday: Nikko? Or Kamakura? I just read a post on LP's Thorntree that the UNESCO's world heritage sites in Nikko are all under reconstruction for the next few years and mostly under scaffolding so Im thinking of skipping Nikko ) : and checking out Aizuwakamatsu for some autumn splendor.

Tuesday: early am Tsukiji (Tsukiji- Shijo station), walk to Shiodome at 11 ADMT (46th-47th floor Caretta shiodome) walk to Palace Higashi-Gyoen - The East Gardens of the Imperial Palace (Tokyo Station)

check out and leave for Narita: 12:30

Flight at: CX 451 , check in 2 pm 15:55 departure, arrive Taipei 18:30, highspeed  it back to Tainan, work the next day (big sigh)

LINKS

http://www.tokyoessentials.com/free.html

http://www.kimiryokan.jp/facilities.html%20++%20(no%20extra%20charge%20for%20child%204000%20p/night)

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2014_when.html

http://www.crowdedworld.com/japan/hotelminowa.html

http://wikitravel.org/en/Tokyo/Taito

http://www.traveltokyo.info/Hotels.Taito%20less%20than%20Yen%205,000.html

http://hotel.tokyogigguide.com/asakusa.html#asakusa

http://www.tokyohostels.com/tokyo-hostel-faq.php

http://www.juyoh.co.jp// ++

http://www.newkoyo.jp/index.html ++ (single 2300 yen p/night +500 yen extra for child)

http://www.sawanoya.com/ (charge extra 1050 yen for child)

http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1&nav=messages&webtag=ab-gojapan&tid=612

http://www.toukaisou.com/

http://hotelink.co.jp/english/

http://www.tokyo.hostel.com/%20bAkpak%20Tokyo%20Hostel%20(no%20extra%20charge%20for%20kid)%20small%20single%20w/fridge,%20bath,%204000yen%20p/night)

http://www.tourism.metro.tokyo.jp/english/tourists/guideservice/guideservice/index.html

http://www.tourism.metro.tokyo.jp/english/tourists/guideservice/volunteer/index.html

http://skybus.jp/explains/index/00033

http://tokyo-tokyo.com/tokyo_shrines.htm

http://www.tsukiji-market.or.jp/tukiji_e.htm

Moon Festival 中秋

Last month on the autumn equinox was the 中秋  (zhong qiu)Moon Festival or mid-Autumn Festival. Festivities differ depending on region. In Taiwan it is a time for families to get together eat BBQ, blow off fireworks and fingers and eat. Just do not point directly at the moon because Taiwanese tradition says your face will be scratched up. (Don't ask, I am just telling you what numerous sources told me).

Last year I went down the street to Anping Harbor and walked around the family crowds with friends, ducking between the fireworks, carrying Z, trying not to get our heads blown off. It was very smoky and sounded like a war zone. I literally picked up Z like a football and ran in and out of explosions. This year my friend Grace invited me to go with her husbands family in Tainan County for some moon festival BBQ fun. Her son Jeffrey and his best friend Ethan are also Z's best friends/classmates so it all works out.

Megan and Cyprus

The day before my coworker and former housemate Megan (also from CO) gave birth to her firstborn. I visited her and then unnamed son (now Cyprus) and happy father admiring the new baby. New babies are great, makes me think of my experience good and bad. It made me miss nursing, but definitely not the sleepless nights!


Grace and family and Ethan and his mom Kelly picked us up and went to their family's shrimp farm where an old uncle harvested us a couple of buckets of fresh shrimp and fish to take back to the BBQ. On their fish farm they have their grandfather's grave and from there  a a beautiful view to the gigantic Buddhist temple complex, which we visited before going to the family home.

It was a nice evening of few mosquitoes and lots of meat. The kids were playing with sparklers. A fat uncle would light them up for the kiddies and he later would go behind one of the cars to light the big fireworks. It would all be illegal in the States, even the sparklers so I enjoyed that aspect of it although the kids were frightened of the loudness of the explosions and really they were too loud to appreciate their beautiful colors.

It was a late night for a school night. I enjoyed Grace and Kelly's company. Z was in heaven playing with her friends. I think we really got to appreciate what the Moon Festival is all about which is fellowship and family.