Of Sheltered Princes and Princesses

 Today at work, my class along w/the other kindy and preschool classes took an all day field trip to a nearby farm .Everyone arrived early and was excited. There were caged goats to feed, chickens and fighting roosters, water rockets, a wading pool with dirty water. It was fun. There was a butterfly garden with several butterflies (we’ve seen better on other farm field trips), a spiky shelled turtle and bunnies.

Water bottle rockets

Some observations: Several of the kids in my class were afraid of butterflies. I had 2 girls wrapped like mini spidermen on each leg. Some of the other children in my class were afraid to feed the goats, who were caged. Ok they are 4 years old but really I couldn’t believe how “sheltered” these city folk are, and this is Tainan, a provincial town by most Taiwanese and Im not exactly country folk myself, more suburbanite, but really! I recall a childhood of catching lizards (I was a lizard farmer in my fantasy) and grasshoppers. (Where have all the grasshoppers gone? Fa, la, la, all the GMO plants and insecticides, Fa, La, la,….

It all came to a sad culmination when we gathered around a bucket of mud and the teenage worker (volunteer?) proceeded to demonstrate how to play with mud. He started his introduction by saying, ”in your grandparents day, they didn’t have toys so they played with mud.” He showed them how to make a mud pie with a hole in it and throw it against the ground. I felt really old and really grateful. I recall getting brown in the sun as my mom let me and Andy play with mud for an afternoon all summer and we made mud pies, cakes, soufflés, burritos, no instruction needed. I asked my younger coworker who was American if she played with mud (I needed some agreement that making mud pies as a kid is in fact NORMAL and these wonderful kids are lacking) and she didn’t of course.

Whenever I get near goats no ones knows the flood of memories and emotions that seethes my deep internal places. How I was worked to the bone for 7 months as a WOLFER in Ireland once when I was 21. I literally woke at 3am 7 nights for 7 months and took care of 360 milking Nubians and 100 non-milkers in 165 acres in Co Cork where the Blackwater River flows to the sea (Yougall, on the border of Cork near Dungarven). There was another WOLFER Claire but she left me after a few month (she was there longer before I got there). I love goats, they’re quite affectionate and smart and have their own personality. When I get near goats I physically hurt and feel heart ache. I left that farm (my bosses were Namibian Germans) and vowed if I EVER work THAT hard again it was going to be for myself. It was educational, I know how to care for goats and make apple cider (they had an apple orchard), along with goat cheeses and yogurt. Since then I’ve had this fantasy of when I do ever settle down somewhere , I will get me a couple of goats….Oh the stories I could tell of being a goat herder! (We had 60 sheep too, but they got on my nerves, I had no patience for their stupidity, ‘tho I pitied them).

Ok kids are sheltered here, Z is 5 and still not comfortable riding her bike on the street or rollerblading. (We were popping wheelies at 5 I roller-skated at 3 or 4). Taiwanese kids don’t get much outdoor play time, they don’t have these long luscious summer vacations, or a backyard (their houses go vertically where ours have a circumference of front and back yard. The majority of my students don’t go to the park. Parents are working or don’t see the point. In that respect my school is indeed providing the kids with a good, all around, education.


We made some traditional rice steamed buns filled with red bean paste. These are made of mashed rice flour colored red and after the red bean paste is added is pressed with a stamp. My kids used a turtle shape (symbolic of a long life) which is traditionally eaten on the first day of Chinese New Year. They places them on a leaf and the old gran steamed them. They had a semi edible keepsake of their day on the farm.

Every place has its good and bad, kids are sheltered here, my kids dont like their hands to be dirty, DIRTY, they freak if they are sticky or yucky for more than 30 seconds, but they dont have to fear about some crazy NRA dude with a gun and no health insuance for his psych meds to go Rambo in their school. Just some thoughts before I call it a day.

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

Catching up in Kenting

My dear friend Monica and I reconnected after 11 years (good friends can do that sort of thing). We worked together at Kid Castle in Chu Wei, Tamsui once upon a time. Thanks to Facebook she found me and when she saw I was in Tainan, contacted me—she too had moved south to Tainan County, living near the Science Park. We met at the Julius Mannich Merchant House, turned restaurant, for a dunkel and some sausage, catching up, her husband Roger watching the kids (my daughter and her son) while we chatted, then went out for dinner later. We made vows to go camping together in the near future.


After a few weeks we made plans. On Friday straight after work, Z and I took a local train 2 stops north (cheapest train I ever took, 15NT a ticket) and they picked us up. We went shopping at Carrefore for the BBQ and I spent a 1000NT on wine and meats, shrimps. That Friday we had a late dinner and she and I caught up over a bottle of burgundy and cheese.

 The next morning we made our way down south towards Kending, stopping at the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium (NMMBA) on our way. It was my 3rd time there, by 2ndtime this year, but that’s ok, Z still loved it and I got to spend time with Monica and her family. We spent the day there and then made our way to Kenting around dusk, found the farm (Kenting Tuscany resort) and started to set up camp. Well Roger set up the tents while Monica and I watched one of the workers on the farm help us get our BBQ charcoals going. Im a bit of a camp fire expert myself, but charcoals are out of my experience, Ive been a vegetarian most of my life and only recently started eating meat again. So we had another late dinner, again too much wine and I consumed too much tasty meat.

Z and I slept like rocks. They on the other hand had a terrible night, their son waking up every hour and they didn’t get to sleep til 530am. They had to put him in the car and run it, took him to 7-11 and were afraid his crying was gonna wake up all the campers (I didn’t hear him). I woke up around 6 to the sound of rain on my tent and tied my umbrella to our top opening coz the water was splashing a bit on us.


We were all moving slow and hurting that morning (except the kids) so we first went to a find a breakfast shop and then recovered most of the day in the Sichong River Hot Spring Area located at Checheng Township, Pingtong Hot springs. We went to the original Japanese Hot Springs, a hotel, with several outdoor pools, rooftop patio, Japanese style gardens, etc. They were filming a travel show with I guess famous Taiwanese travelers (Monica and everyone knew them) and people were snapping pics with their cellphones. Around 2:30 we left the pools, washed and dressed and walked around admiring some of the hotel. I saw the famous little private bath where the Japanese emperor spent his honeymoon. That hot springs was built by the Japanese Army in 1895. The private rooms were gorgeous and cost 800 NT an hour. The public pools we went to cost for me I think it was 250NT and Z’s was slightly cheaper. The water was odorless, clear, sodium carbonated.


 Emperor Hirohito honeymooned here while he was crowned prince



We dined a 5 minute walk from the Hotel. Around the corner was the infamous Big Mountain Goat restaurant serving all things goat, the specialty being goat hotpot with Chinese medicinal herbs. They had some eclectic collections of nic-naks I appreciated. The kitchen was outside across a lane in the back next to a rocky enclosure with chickens, an angry hissing goose and some turkeys all free ranging together in soon to be succulent harmony. The goats must be kept some other place. We had a few dishes along with our goat hotpot. I asked what Chinese medicinal herbs they used and I guess it’s a secret concoction.



Goat w/Chinese medicine Hot Pot specialty

Afterwards, Roger drove us back to the main highway and dropped us off at the local bus stop, making sure I got the right tickets and right bus (Ive taken the slow Pingtong bus from Kenting and that was nightmare). We parted and they intended to drive to Taitong and then on to Green Island (but a typhoon kept them in Kenting). Z and I waited 15 minutes for the 88 bus at 4:10. It took 2 hours to Kaohsiung train station (she slept most of the time) and then we took the hour train back to Tainan , reaching home at around 9pm.

Sleeping on the bus to Kaohsiung

 LINKS

http://www.travelsinasia.com/Taiwan/Anping2.html

http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/m1.aspx?sNo=0002122

http://www.ktnature.com/llll/camp/4.htm

http://www.ktnature.com/

http://www.taiwanhotspring.net/eng/03_guide/02_main_a.asp?bull_id=245&taiwan_id=10


Playing w/Penguins



Z on the farm

Moon Dancing in Guanshan

For the upcoming 3 day weekend (Moon Festival/ Mid-Autumn Festival), I really wanted to go to some obscure beautiful place in Taiwan, preferably w/hots prings. Well, truthfully I wanted to go to Hualien (yes I’ve lived a total of 5 ½ years in Taiwan and still have yet to make it to the Taroko Gorge, but I have been to Green Island, Penghu, Kenting and Alishan). All the accommodation in Hualien was booked, hostel minzu, hotel, full. I knew the orange daylilies in 60 Stone Mountain were now in bloom and imagined it might soothe the soul to take a change of scene and frolic in rolling mountains, fields of orange daylilies (yummy in soup, that’s why they’re cultivated). For photos click here.


I decided to make Guanshan (關山鎮) our base camp , 40 km north of Taidong on Highway 9 in the picturesque mountain valley between 2 mountain ranges. Guanshan is well known for its flat bike paths through pastoral rice paddies and sugar cane fields. We also saw tons of water buffalos, slogging in the murky river runoffs.

I had bought a train ticket last minute a few days before our departure, which meant no seats, but I didn’t mind sitting between the carriages. Our train departed at 6:30 am for Kaohsiung and the same train continued on to Hualien (stopping at Guanshan somewhere after Taitong). I’ve taken early trains before and actually this same on when we went to Green Island via Taitong, but it was like unseen forces restrained me from making this train on time. I hit every red light (optional in Anping, but I don’t do it in the “city”). Halfway to the train station my scooter backfired a few times and died, wouldn’t restart and when it did was tediously slow (grandmas on their bicycle passed us). We finally pulled into the parking lot adjacent to the station and in my hurry the scooter fell over and all my crap spilled out. (Z calls it our transformer scooter, half scooter, half trash can.) Picked up the scooter gathered our bag and made it to the man taking tickets at the gate just as I saw our train pulling away heading south. Two more minutes maybe one and we would of made it. Well, I’ve learned by now from traveling(which is life magnified), I’m too blessed to stress,  that it all works out for the best and it did, on the next train we at least got a seat. We even had time to go home and the Anping’s morning market (my fav place to be every other Sat morning).

There was some confusion at the ticket booth, he spoke zero English and it was all my broken Mandarin and facial expressions, but we got the next train around 1030 am, no charge and a seat. At Kaohsiung we changed trains. I called the minus owner and tried to explain we missed the train and we’d arrive later (she was supposed to pick us up.) She didn’t seem to understand what I was saying, but I understood her, she said call her when I go there. I had to have my friends Vicky and Allen call her and tell her we‘d arrive at 1:45, so she would be there (impatient me didn’t want to wait.) Of course when we got there she wasn’t there and I was saying hello to every auntie for about 10 minutes and then called her and she came 5 minutes later.

The minzu’s name is宜客山莊Suitable guest mountain village, and tel: (089)810736, the address：台東縣關山鎮新福里溪埔路22-1號 No.22-1, Rd. Xipu, Sin Fu Li, Guanshan Town, Taitung County. http://ekweb.svu.com.tw/

The minsu room was cozy and roomy, with views and from the patio. Our room had a queen and single, AC, vanity, bathroom, cable, table and chairs for 1800NT a night, including breakfast ( a run to the local breakfast shop; Taiwanese style sandwiches and warm soy milk). We immediately went to the local bike rental shop (several big ones) and got an electric lazy lady for the whole weekend, for 200NT. I strained my knee the day before, squats with a barbell, plus sitting on the train immobile w/ Z on my lap, my knee was hurting. I felt guilty about being lazy as I like riding a bike, especially outside enjoying the scenery, and my daughter said, “Oh mom you just have to take it easy.” Maybe my knee was just a way to be lazy, but it was better than really damaging my knee and actually by Tuesday it was 90% better. About 10 minutes later we were hitting the trails for the remainder of the day as an afternoon storm blew in and quickly cooled everything off. Our bike was ridicules, it had a huge rectangle canopy that was useless in the rain, front basket and kid seat in the front, with this weird metal frame right in front of Z’s face (she said it didn’t bother her, she just tilted her head around it to see). It had a kickstand like a motorcycle that eventually fell off (they fixed it while we slept). But it was fun, I let Z do the power and she was tickled to believe she was really driving it, laughing, perma- smiling as we made up songs about our lazy, lady electronic bike. It reminded me of simpler times when I was a kid and my Dad used to let us do the power on his motorcycle when we rode front or when he let us steer the car when we sat on his lap.

It took about 10 minutes to check out the town of Guanshan itself, a hit and miss by car. The street parallel to highway 9 had the majority of the sites, eateries, traditional market, temples, the only English bushiban. It was getting dark so we bought some groceries (yogurt, fruit, ginger tea, noodle soup) and had a late lunch/early dinner on our veranda as it rained.

I forgot to turn off my alarm clock off on my bootleg i-phone and woke up at 5:30 to catch the tail end of the sunrise. The minus lady came at 7 with breakfast and we were off on our bike until lunch. After lunch we waited an hour for our supposed driver but he was stuck in traffic (60 Stone Mt). I didn’t mind, and had a quick power nap. He finally arrived in a massive guzzling blue van and I thought, Im not paying for that, so they called a relative w/ a taxi and for 1000NT had him drive us to Loushan waterfalls and 60 Stone Mountain (and later the other direction to the Hongye hot springs). No one would rent me a scooter w/o a license ,according to the Minsu lady, which might have been true, but I doubted it (she gets a cut from my taxi, plus I’ve rented in other parts of Taiwan before, best to deal with scooter rental people face to face). I wasn’t going to push it, Z was tired and I in my lazy mode didn’t feel like driving. It was a better decision because 60 Stone Mt, like all beautiful places in Taiwan on a holiday weekend is packed bumper, to bumper.

If you go to Loushan waterfalls, bring a swimsuit!! Had I known there would be the loveliest, cool, crystal clear pool, void of swimmers I would of worn my swim suit under my clothes. Z could hardly wait to strip to her undies and cavort like an otter. I was jealous that I couldn’t do the same, “Just take off your clothes like me Mom! “ I wish, but we weren’t in Europe. So it was enough to stand knee deep, take pictures, admire the families already beginning their BBQs on the large boulders, a boy catching crayfish for lunch. The view from the bridge there was amazing, the valley sprawling below, the indigo mountains in the late summer haze in the background. I wasn’t even aware then how majestic the waterfall was until I saw it from the nearby Volcanic mud baths. It was tall and vertical, Polynesian.

Soon we were stuck in the traffic of 60 Stone Mountain. The road was at some points so narrow that the oncoming lane would have to wait, there were no buses. The top is a relative term, because just when it seemed we arrived there was more road, more rolling hills of exploding orange. Fortunately Taiwanese like to travel in packs and so it was easy to find a piece of peace and quiet away from the hordes. We walked, took photos until the day was cooling and the sun dropping. We saw an interesting rainbow that was so low, it was actually on the daylily fields, not in the sky. Z was feeling peckish so on the way down we stopped at one of the snack stands by the crowds for some sausage stuffed with daylilies and I bought a few bags of the dried flowers as gifts. The rest of the evening we spent soaking our bones in the beautiful hot springs of Hongye. Actually it was my 2^nd time there (I was there 4 Moon Festivals ago on a staff trip), but we went so late the first time it was too dark to see the beauty around it. We admired the rising full moon from the warm, odorless, mineral pools. We had our driver stop at the local dumpling place for dinner.

On Sunday I planned on taking a local public bus from Guanshan to Wulu to admire the east end bit of the famous (and for me elusive because I’m w/o a car) South Cross Highway. The minsu lady was a riot and insisted there was only one bus and Id never make it back for my train. She was actually too much, talking loud, telling me in Chinese, “you’re not helping me” which was hilarious, she wanted me to pay another 1000 NT and hire her relative to drive me. She followed me to the bus stop and refused to let me wait in peace and got the other passengers in the conversation. Finally Z told her “why cant we just ask the driver ourselves! My mom thinks you’re annoying!” Actually I was calm, I knew this old song and dance and have been bested by the best of them (Delhi touts) and had this amazing supernatural composure to ignore her ravings. Of course there was absolutely no problem on the public bus. We were the only passengers on the way up. Z got car sick both ways (poor thing I should of bought medicine before).




The Wulu gorge was amazing, majestic vertical cliffs dropping into the wide Beinan River(卑南溪) below. The river was grey, cement colored, chalky, hence it’s name (white is bei). The road was narrow and winding and even I felt a little nauseous. I couldn’t imagine hiking down to the river to these makeshift hot springs I’d read about. Definitely not with Z and not with a bum knee, but the desire is still there. The bus passed through Wulu and onto the aboriginal Bunun town of Lidao. We had an hour to explore and found the elementary school playground with this curious mural of two traditional Bunun kids South Park style. I’m from Littleton, Colorado so the South Park reference seemed all the more personal, like a confirmation of my right for us to be there at that moment. We walked around the town admiring, the farms, the local stone cutters art and ran back to the bus surprised to find it packed w/ young indigenous on their way back to Guanshan (and presumably the big city of Taitong). Our little bus was held hostage by one young man, who was still drunk the previous night’s Moon fest activities, I’ve  been there before. I liked the way he spoke Mandarin, although I’m not sure if it was the accent from his Bunun tribe or his intoxication because he took up all the space for speaking, no one else spoke.


I had a dream the night before that the bus stop was at the red traditional gate by the market and down the street from the temple. I had no idea where the bus stop was. Turns out that’s where the bus dropped us off on the return trip and we walked across the street to the local grocery store and called the minus lady to pick us up. She did and we spent the rest of our time (2 ½ hours) chilling in the patio shade, me catch up on reading and Z doing her simple addition, taking breaks to check her work, drink some tea or share a laugh.


The train back to Kaohsiung was what I was expecting, seatless crammed between the carriages. At every stop more people got on, until when boarding passengers would just look at us, and try their look at another car. For the first hour Z and I sat on our bag, next to a nice enough young man. After an hour I couldn’t sit anymore and stood, sometimes leaning on the wall, always one hand on Z’s shoulder when the doors opened (I was afraid from al the pushing and shoving she might get knocked our the door as she as on the edge of the step.) That was part of the experience and to her credit she didn’t complain once, and stood the last hour herself, leaning on the bag (there was no room for sitting). She did ask the last couple of time if we were there yet. At Kaohsiung I bought us both seats on the fast train to Tainan and we arrived in Tainan for the first time, she yelled “hooray we’re back in Tainan!”


LINKS


Maps and info http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/m1.aspx?sNo=0002123&id=R172
Hiking Mt. Guanshan http://www.taiwanese-secrets.com/guanshan.html
Biking http://www.taiwan.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=34661&ctNode=2158&mp=1004
http://www.guanshan.gov.tw/eng_page3.php
Wulu Gorge http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/m1.aspx?sNo=0002123&id=14294
Taitung Hongye Hot Springs http://tour.taitung.gov.tw/en/AllInOne_Show.aspx?path=1669&guid=52228058-a2d6-41dd-bf9a-de1bdb406b46&lang=en-us
























Costco Comes to Tainan

Ok so I realize my life might actually be more of a prosaic bore after all if I'm getting all animated over shopping at Costco, so please just indulge me. After at least 3 years of rumors, since I've been here, Costco finally opened last week here in Tainan. Its right across the street from B&Q (like a Home Depot) and its an utter madhouse. My friend Erica drove us and we used her card.  We joked that it would be like Shilin Night Market in Taipei and it nearly was.The lines to get in reminded me of the Taipei  International Flower Expo. We drove around, bumper to bumper just to get into the underground parking lot (B3). No more driving down to Kaohsiung for Costco runs!



the entrance line

Of course I spent way too much, but the goods will last me a while: a block of sharp Cheddar, mozzarella cheese sticks, fishies, canned wild salmon, organic salsa, RoC night cream (hooray for Retinal!  Its illegal for Taiwanese dermatologists to sell Retinal because of potential Vitamin A overdosing), organic tortillas, a massive container of grated Parmesan and Bob's Redmill multigrain muesli (he really is the highest quality grains goods out there), and frozen blue berries. What I didn't find but looked for: organic peanut butter. Sure they had massive jars of Jiffy, but I'm a purist when it comes to nut butters, no sweeteners (corn syrups probably) or carcinogenic hydrogenated oils, thanks anyway.

Checkout and food court

After the checkout I waited in line for 15 minutes for some massive hot dogs and then called it a night. It was perfect for stalking up on not necessarily needs, but wants. Perfect for stalking up for the following day's typhoon. Next paycheck I will buy maple syrup (pure of course), feta cheese, organic peanut butter, coffee, corn chips, and see if they have some pita bread. Hmmm cant wait!

Astonishing Alishan

Alishan is one of Taiwan's must see attractions after Taroko Gorge and Kenting and I finally made
it. Its a mystical mountain, cloud and tea country and home to the indigenous Rueli tribe. Now its pretty touristy and there was an eye sore of a car park full of mainland Chinese tourists and their smog making mega buses. I am already aware of the reputation of mainlanders, from the personal accounts of local Taiwanese and the confessions of traveler's tales. What was interesting is the Taiwanese steering me away from buying oolong tea that was sold only to mainlanders (cheaper quality). When we dined in Fenchihu, my friends also checked a few restaurants and told me we couldn't eat there because they cater to Chinese tourists.Quality for the locals, nice to be on the receiving end. (For all the pics click here.)I finally made it to Alishan. Ive been meaning to go since Z and I first came to Tainan, especially since she was into Thomas the Tank and wanted to do the old steam train from Chiayi, but that was destroyed by the floods of Morokat (major Typhoon a few years ago.) My friends took us, Allen and his family, Vicky and hers. Allen's wife has a friend whose sister and husband have a home stay outside of LongMei off of road 129. We left Tainan Sat morning, had lunch in Chiayi sampling some of its famous Turkey rice (huo jirou fan) before heading up the winding mountain roads. I braved the black jelly egg (skin egg).

We quickly checked in and were welcomed, getting to know one other over several pots of oolong, and oversampling some local varieties. Their home stay was in a modern, all glass building, with 3 large bedrooms, 2 with double queens and the other a family room with 2 large doubles, all with their own bathrooms TV, wifi. The place is called "53.1" and surmounts  a mountainous valley, complete with a hiking trail through misty tea farms. They have a little cafe in the back that serves the included breakfast (you will be satiated) and a shop in town that sells tea, hand made glycerin soaps, etc.(For their website click here.)

My room was great, actually it was Vicky's but she kindly traded with me since my glass walls commanded the glorious views. Our rooms were 2800 NT per night including breakfast which was hearty and dinner.Two of my walls were all glass and overlooking this grand mountain view that dropped along side the hiking trail. The trail cut through terraces of lush tea and white powdery bamboo full of butterflies. Z and I climbed it the next morning after breakfast while all the others went back to sleep after watching the sunrise.


 It started to rain as we left out homestay and we assumed it would clear.  We bought rain jackets at 7-11 an I had a much needed coffee and we waited for 30 minutes or so and decided to go for it.  It really was coming down hard and the kids were whining to go back and Allen thought we were crazy  to try (maybe we were). We checked out some local eateries. The kids  had bamboo soup and we adults had strong ginger tea. The rain was hard and the kids didn't want to hike so Allen and his wife took them back to our homestay and the rest of us, Vicky and her husband and Allen's mother in law decided to brave the downpour and walked around the park.

Our feet were soaked, but the scenery inside the ancient forests was stunning. The trails were empty but for this young couple we happened upon and we made new friends. Isabella is a finance attorney in Taipei and her ex boyfriend is a lower district judge in Kaohsiung. When we first entered the ancient Cypress forest I was of course amazed when I saw the first few 800 year old Cypress trees. Then we walked along and there were 900 year old specimens, 1000, 1600 and when we started to be in the presence of 2000 year old trees I was awe struck like in the presence of something sacred. I thought about the Rocky mountains that are always growing and they are  millions of years old,  but was is it about trees? Then I thought about a road trip I took when I was 18 to B.C and our chance and private encounter with the Redwoods somewhere on the CA/OR border, all misty and majestic. The darkness of the forest, like in Germany or England the feeling of timelessness, it was dark like that under that tall foliage, the sound of water and birds then the rain stopped. I took off my raincoat for the rest of the day still using my umbrella as the trees were dripping from the recent downpour. I liked how seedlings would land on an ancient stump and revive the stump, make a new and more interesting life. There were 4 seedlings that landed on the same stump and thrived. Some Taiwanese person named them The 4 Sisters and it stuck. There were some funny signs, how this Cypress resembled an elephant head or a dragon and phoenix but there was one tree that had 3 generations all growing from the original stump which was interesting.

In the middle of our excursion we reached a temple next to a small market catering to tourists selling locally grown wasabi and aboriginal wild boar jerky, so Vicky bought 6 bags of the jerky for gifts and gave one to me. We went into the temple and Vicky's husband explained that on that particular god's birthday (the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month) all the forests moths of this particular species come pay him a visit and land all over his idol. There was  a poster showing his beard and costume all covered in moths, kind of weird and creepy and Id like to see it.

When we emerged from the thickness of the forests, we were greeted by a smiling rainbow. I expected it to disappear quickly but it stayed around the remainder of the day to look over our shoulders and watch the sunset w/us. When the sun was setting over the clouds and mt tops obscured by firmament, the rainbow only deepened her hue.Near the parking lot we climbed to a viewing area for the sunset which of course was just as stunning as our day had been. There wasn't this clean sea of clouds like a blanket that covered the earth, like you see on pictures everywhere in every shop and restaurant, but the clouds were curling and moving, with wisps like hair and changing color like a blushing girl or a garden, coral, lilac, rose. Overlooking everything was the aboriginal holy mountain which I instinctively knew was sacred as I couldn't keep my eyes off of it.

We returned in the rain, famished, my feet blistered from walking in soaked sockless shoes and were greeted by a big pot of noodle fishball soap, dragon fruit for dessert followed by hours of endless Oolong. Our host was a self confessed expert (as is every Taiwanese' friend I have haha), but he really did know hi s stuff and his English was excellent.  Im so well educated in tea from my friends, thanks for teaching me to taste if the tea was picked in spring or winter, from the high Nantou peaks to lower tropical Taidong. (High is best). Drinking a pot of oolong is like having a body high, alert yet calm, like smoking a spliff w/o the paranoia or coughing. The sweetness, after a few good cups my whole palate is sweetened, refreshed.

I had our host swear to wake us for the sunrise. He said 5:15. My body is always on farmer time so I woke at 4:45, made myself some instant Alishan coffee and when I saw day breaking at 5,woke up Vicky. We were ready by 5:15 and walked 5 min up the road to a grand pavilion, empty but for us and our hosts 3 dogs. I had to carry Z on my back, she was tired. We waited til 6 am and the clouds all but obscured it. It wasn't the photo perfect blanket of clouds and this golden orb but it was still mystical and magical and I love early mornings. We returned and everyone but me Z and Jeremy (Vicky's son) stayed awake and ate. I was pretty beat but Z and I hiked the top of the mt behind our guesthouse. Of course at the top was all white clouds. On the walk down I power napped at a few rest stops. We checked out and took lunch at one of the better rail stations, Fenchihu, with its old street, reminded me of Anping or Makong. The kids had fun climbing all over the old steam engines parked in the garage. We ate at an old wooden restaurant that served Japanese style worker lunches from times gone by. Walking along the shops and sampling some of the snacks we were tired and returned home Vicky's husband driving like a speed racer and us asleep in the back a lovely weekend with friends what can be better?

Ghost Month Monologue

The veil between the dead and living has been temporarily lifted for a month, so locals believe. The 7th lunar month is Ghost Month when the hungry ghosts come to haunt the undead. There are many superstitious rules to follow and I only remember two: don’t swim or hang your clothes outside to dry for fear of being possessed. Did I mention possession is a real, normal phenomena here, like catching the flu. I have one Taiwanese friend who takes her only son to the temple to be routinely exorcised. He comes home with a big red stamp of approval on his forehead.

My friend told me it all started during the Ming dynasty, a royal astrologer to the Emperor told him that the 7th lunar month was very auspicious, so the Emperor being the caring leader wanted to horde all the good luck for himself and had his people told the converse. Superstition and ghost stories grew throughout the years. It can’t all be bad luck, as the Chinese Valentine’s Day is also this lunar month (a very nice little folktale I wrote a poem about "On this night of 7's" ). I’ve also heard stories that Ghost Month originated in India with Buddhism, that during the 7th lunar month, Buddha’s disciples attained enlightenment more during this month than the others and that one follower in particular was told that his mom was unable to pass onto the next world unless he appeased her ghost. Apparently she was starving, her belly was insatiable and her throat too thin. Who knew? Whatever the origins my neighborhood has been full of more people burning ghost money outside their buildings than usual, paying off their ancestors to find peace.

Last weekend during the full moon was the climax. All the temples were active. Every building had a table full of offerings and the ghost money burnt so fiercely, the air was hazy, my eyes stung and my throat was irritated. My apartment building had several tables outside the front door covered with bowls and large trays full of snacks, fruit, ghost money and the neighbors’ apartment number. The temples put on shows for the gods. I’ve seen puppet shows, burlesque teases, Chinese opera all with full blast sound systems (because the ghosts are hard of hearing). Its seriously loud, loud enough where even me (I think I may be slightly deaf no joke) have to stand away from the stage to take pictures.

Do you take me for a cynic? Truly I believe in ghosts, I saw them with my own eyes twice and have had more experience than I can count with spirits (mostly in night terrors, out of body experiences) so have my folks. The first ghost I saw I was a kid and I saw it with two of my brothers. It was late, my folks had company over it was around 10pm we were outside on the driveway, a summer night when a little ghost like Casper, no bigger than 3 feet ran past us, luminous, flying as he ran. As he flew past it left imprints with a face each more terrorizing than the previous. We all screamed and my youngest bro John ran in the house and told my folks- who didn’t take us seriously. The second time I saw a ghost I was 20 years old in Catalonia, a seaside village north of Barcelona. I was an au-pair and my then family was staying at their summer home, the grandfather’s home. The baby had a nightmare and for some reason neither me nor the mom heard him crying (it was our job to be there when he woke as the Dad was too macho for that.) Anyway as I walked in I saw the Dad (not happy to be the one comforting his son on a Sat morning) asking me why I didn’t hear Pedrito crying. Standing behind them was a man, life-sized, tall, dressed, luminous, who commanded me in Spanish to enter “Venga!” I was so shocked I really didn’t even pay attention to the annoyance of Pedrito’s father. After 30 seconds or so the ghost faded. Maybe it was the grandfather? Maybe Pedrito saw the ghost and got scared or he had a nightmare and the ghost came to comfort him?

I have met many travelers throughout the years with their own ghost close encounters and I always thought it would make a great travel book. I collected the most stories in Egypt and Sudan, some local folklore, others first-hand encounters and also some  ofmy own personal experiences I shared with a group of volunteers outside Khartoum. I believe in ghosts, spirits, demons, angels. Am I afraid of them? Not after Sudan. I have my recent stories of Z and I and spirits in Taiwan. Ghosts are abundant here, like mosquitos, maybe because people believe in them so much.