Dear potential travel show producer

On the bullet train to Taipei to catch our flight to LAX

Ordering dinner at the local noodle shop after ballet

Visiting Alisse at her hospital before we left Taipei

Hey Potential Travel Show Producer,

Here is an original idea for a travel show. Instead of some young, hot, upper middle class, single chick that can only speak English and gets all her info from LP, why not a single mom with a cute and hyper -intelligent 4 year old that is fluent in Mandarin? Or instead of another white dude who is middle aged and stays at nothing less than a 3 star hotel in Europe, what about a Chicana who was an illegal migrant in western Europe for 2 years and speaks lots of languages (at the very basic level). How many of the ones on TV have survived San Fermin w/o a hotel room, or been in the middle of a gun battle between Kashmiri extremists and the Indian army? Or maintained a vegetarian diet in S. Korea? Or was classed as an American spy and had her passport seized in Sudan?

Traveling when you are young and flexible is one thing, but with a kid, a 4 year old who cant be forced to move beyond her own pace, who likes to try Indian curries and wants to eat snails at the local market, who sometimes refuses to walk by herself and has to be strapped to my back, things can really get interesting, especially when you as a parent haven't had a good nights sleep because one thing or another... That's when the expert travelers are separated from the comfy, holiday makers. Teaching her to be kind when she is tired of all the attention of being the only blue eyes kid in a 50 mile radius,or when we both are sick of the extra attention and just flat out ignore the people, life can get real. Explaining terms like carbon footprint, answering her question if she is indigenous, watching her speak Chinese beyond my level, it gets surreal.

It would definitely make for an entertaining travel show. We could show people what they can do on a budget with their kids (or childlike friends.)

Kindy Graduates

All good things come to an end. I'm an expert in meeting wonderful people and then leaving our separate ways. In July I had to let go of 16 beautiful souls.

The kindy class I had for 2 years are now off to elementary school. Some of them gave me so much grief, a bloody lip, numerous headaches, stiff neck aches, a couple of common colds and an enormous vacuum in my heart when they left and had to grow up.

I know every teacher believes their kids are the smartest, but mine really are. They all became fluent, we had deep conversations everyday about life, God(s),health, family, going pee, keeping our hands to ourselves and walking with scissors.Two of them were vegetarians from religious beliefs, one was the friend of cockroaches, one's mother was going through Chemo and his family remains a living testament to the power of Grace and selflessness. Their parents were the absolute greatest support. They all took their children's education and emotional health as first priority. They were gracious with me and Z, especially when we first arrived and didnt have anything. I received a used microwave, blender, kitchenware, kid clothes. Gifts continued on during holidays up until I was showered with bouquets and more presents on our last day of the semester.

I am not the crying type, but even I, the Dark Queen (as my loving bro John calls me) got emotional during my good-bye speech. My co-teacher Pauline (the bad cop)cried like a baby, and the stupid camera guy had her blubbering almost during an entire song on the 2 big screens on either side of the stage.

We had to rehearse the first act of a play, plus songs with movement. This is in their element, they can hear a song one time and nearly have it memorized. Of course the graduation performance was a smashing success, the other 2 graduating kindy classes also did well. They did a traditional tea ceremony with their parents and that was also highly emotional (for the parents and even for me as the observer.)

I am still recovering from my separation from some of them who I adored. I didn't exaggerate when I told their folks on stage I knew they are already making the world a better place.

Weekend in Lukang

I was supposed to meet Sherry around Changua High Speed train station, but somehow we ended up in Yunlin. She and her brother Michael picked us up and we had hot pot for lunch then drove to their friends home in the country. It was a beautiful home, a real house, as opposed to apartment buildings, condos, triplexes, etc. The owner a friend of Michael's and his wife retired there and are turning it into a cafe. The owner who spoke excellent English, studied in San Fran, was full of pompous, patronizing comments the whole time. He was overcompensating for something. His wife was kind. Since we were his guests I just politely bit my tongue and tried to just be with Z.

There wasnt much to do that first day we just walked around the carnation and veg farms. We went out for dinner, the home had no kitchen or food. I dared a bit of Michael's pig brain soup. It actually was tasty and buttery, melted in my mouth, but it seemed kind of dangerous, mad cow, mad pig, there is some mad goat disease happening here at the moment. I didnt sleep very well that night. Michael and his friend talked loudly til midnight. Z and I slept on some hard wood furniture and she peed in our sleeping bag.

The next day after some much needed cup of coffee we were off to explore and ended up in the living museum of Lukang. Michael's friend made a comment how fast I drank my cappuccino which really annoyed me. I felt like saying, "dude if you would of made it hot the way its supposed to be and not lukewarm, then I could drink it properly." He really prided himself on his coffee, so I just said I drank it fast for medicinal purposes,(I didnt sleep.) I was happy to leave there and start seeing some new parts of Lukang.

Lukang reminds me of Tainan; west coast harbor town, old Matsu temple, the oldest Qing dynasty (and best preserved) Longshan temple. There were Western style buildings from the Japanese occupation I am guessing. Michael dropped us off near the Matsu temple and a street that reminded us of Tamshui, had a Ripley's Believe It or Not museum, lots of touristy trinket stands, etc. There was so much action at the Matsu temple, so much commotion that Michael got stuck in traffic and we were walking around in the hot sun, melting for a while. We got a chance to see some more folk rituals. Apparently some local gods from a nearby temple paid Matsu a visit. The doll like gods are carried by men in sedan chairs, and there is a lot of firecrackers and Chinese instruments, loads of people. I was carrying Z on my back the whole day, one hand around under her bum and the other hand taking photos and videos. This Matsu temple is a pilgrimage site every 3rd lunar month. Devotees follow her around, as she is carried out of her temple and to the surrounding 50 towns for a week long.

We walked around the old market, looking for a place to eat lunch. We went to the infamous "breast touching lane". A lane so narrow a person can pass only one at a time. A true gentleman waits for the lady to pass first. Michael was keen to get his photo taken under the sign for this lane and Sherry wanted to go back the lane and actually see what would happen. I walked back to the car. It was a fun day. They dropped us off at the train station and we had to wait over an hour for the next train and 2 hour slow, ride back to Tainan.

I always love connecting with Sherry, and with Michael we always eat well and in abundance.

Easter and Tomb Sweeping Day in Penghu

(For all the photos click here)
I really did not have the money and I failed to plan ahead to get flights out of Tainan, but I decided to go somewhere I havent been before in Taiwan, the Penghu Archipelago for our only 3 day weekend of the year. Sure we could of taken a boat from Chiayi, but that would mean a train to Chiayi and taxi to the port, when it seemed easier to have the Kaohsiung airport shuttle pick us up at our home and drop us off at the check in counter. Who would of thought that Easter and Tomb Sweeping Day would fall on the same weekend? Kind of creepy. So flights to Makung were full of locals returning to fulfill their filial duties. Our flight left Kaohsiung at 7:30 am which meant the airport shuttle was at our doorstep at 5am.

We arrived in Makung around 845am and the owner of the home-stay Mr. Wu (Makung Traditional Homestay) was waiting with his car. He was a local who was retired after a career in Taipei at some agriculture and fishing government position. He married a woman who was 10 or 15 years his junior from Makung and their 2 unmarried kids were still living in Taipei. Their home belonged to his wife's mother who they are caring for and they recently renovated it. It was located on a narrow alley, about 10 paces from the oldest temple in Taiwan a 16th century Matsu temple that looked her age (older than Lugang's well preserved Qing dynasty Longshan temple). He charged me 2200NT p/night including breakfast, didnt enforce the checkout time and helped reserve all my boat tickets and scooter rental.

The weather was much colder than I anticipated and our summer clothes were insufficient. This would not be a weekend to explore all the wonderful white sand beaches. Our first day after our arrival and breakfast we took a boat outside Makung to some floating fish farms in the sea. We pulled up and exited our boat, sat down and the people started lighting the coals on our table BBQs for us to eat unlimited amounts of oysters. Of course Z doesnt like seafood (she loves fish) and the fire scared her so we were left with watching the male tourists trying their hand at catching various sea animals (if they caught, they would pay by weight and then the boat chef would cook it up for them). One of the fisherman decided to help Z give a go at catching a squid. We had no idea that as they are being taken out of the water they start shooting steady streams of water, squirting at us. Z and the man were reeling in this squid, but its wiggling, squirting body freaked her out, she dropped her pole and ran. After what seemed like the longest, most boring 2 hours of me trying to eat oysters and entertaining Z who was playing with the oysters instead of eating them, a glass boat pulled up and we sat down below deck and tried to make visual sense out of the cloudy, murky water. All visibility was gone from the storm, which was disappointing because I wanted Z to see the pretty coral the way Ive seen it from my diving days.

The rest of that first afternoon we spent walking around Makung which is a great place to explore on foot, so many beautiful temples, a wonderful park by the beach, old crumbling walls, very pretty winding, medieval side streets to get lost in. I held Z a lot, too much as she got tired of walking (but not tired enough not to run in the park). We found a cheap but tasty noodle and dumpling place and fruit stand that made fresh shakes, which is all I needed.

The next day bright and early we went island hopping to the 2 largest outlying islands and rented some scooters. First we went to Wang'an, saw an empty Green mossback turtle preservation Center, and the very interesting and ghost town like Chungshe old dwellings. We also found some caves that the Japanese had built a military base during their occupation which had a very beautiful coral shore with views to smaller island rocks and pretty moss green patches everywhere.

The cool thing was that traveling with a kid was to my advantage (finally!). Although I came on a crowded boat full of tourists from Makung and there were other boats doing the same thing, it took me longer to get going; I was the last one to get my scooter and then we had to hit the toilet before setting off, so we never went with any crowd and when we stopped and got off our scooter to check something out we were the only ones there, I dont know where everyone else went, especially some of these mega tour buses I saw driving around. It was magical that way, having these islands to ourselves, it felt very free on the scooter to be the only ones on the windswept, grassy, very un-Taiwanese roads with feral goats everywhere and surrounded by gorgeous, wild turquoise water and islands out on the horizon. Z and I yelled our bleats to the goats who responded back (I used to be a goat herder so I can do a pretty good goat bleat).

Z was keen to see the famous 2 heart stone weir on Chimei island, a ring of stones to catch fish at low tide and shaped like one big heart and another smaller heart. Most couples come here to get their picture taken of the heart shaped weir in the background. When we got there, she said, "look its a Mommy heart and a Zenaida heart!" Which to me summed up not only our 3 day Penghu getaway but our dharmic existence together. The lone woman selling coral and shell trinkets took our picture and I was so very aware and so grateful that I do have this immense love, this child, a mother's love for her child, my love for Zenaida. It was really a private moment for me, no words or tears or anything, no one else to share it with, maybe the shell trinket woman saw as witness, its good to be awed by the mundane. I get so caught up on cooking, cleaning, washing, all for her, yet she herself, being with her is the supreme priority and joy.

On our third day we rented a scooter in Makung and drove to the aquarium which was closed because it was a Monday, so we drove to the picture perfect Erkan Old Residence, on the other side of the island. Its a century old Fujian, Japanese fusion village, eclectic, partially inhabited in the middle of nowhere. It has this artsy vibe, that made me think of Taos, New Mexico, the outside of the homes were adobe-esque, the landscape, more desert, grassy, prickly pears and aloe, no Taiwan like bamboo jungle and just lots of individual attention to detail and creative expression. It seemed like a nice place to retire if you were an artist. On our way to Erkan, we stopped to eat prickly pear ice cream and marvel at the 300 year old Tungliang Banyan Tree that canopies the Lungte temple and its courtyard. We also bought some roasted peanuts for a snack. Its local tradition to eat roasted peanuts on Tomb Sweeping Day to ensure a year of robust health. Then we went over the impressive Trans-Ocean bridge, impressive because the views of the ocean on either side, and the sky were amazing. Its was almost stormy so there were so many shades of blue, the salt in the air, the ethereal lit sky, little Z sitting on the front of our smart and new scooter, it was almost heaven.

The whole weekend was a bit too cool for our warmer weather clothes, I wish I would of packed appropriately. (But everyone I talked to in Tainan all said the same thign about how hot it would be). I bought myself a beautiful teal scarf with silver threads, and new jeans that were altered, but for Z I just had to layer her up and didnt find clothes I would of liked for her, so I was always a bit fussing inside if she was warm enough because she sat in front and the air blasted her (she wouldnt wear my scarf).

After Erken, we stopped to check out Lintou beach, a white sand beach bordered by a 1 hectare pine forest. It was too cold to swim so we just played in the sand for a bit and returned to our home-stay. After we packed, I paid our bill and the Mr. Wu drove us back to the airport but not before they took some photos together with Z. The flight back to Kaohsiung was in business class, which was nice for a change, lots of room on our 30 minute flight.The shuttle driver could not find us which was annoying because we are the only foreigners standing around waiting, and he was the dude just chain smoking outside looking like he was waiting for someone to come pick him up.

So was it worth it? I paid more than I thought, much more than I anticipated. But writing this months later, having suffered financially these several months (first by my return from the US in March and my Penghu 3 day weekend) it was worth it, to share it with Z and talk about it later. On our first day in Makung, I bought her this handmade stuffed zebra that is the sweetest thing I ever saw (Zebras being her favorite animal coz they start with "z".) She named it Zoe and sleeps with it every night (Osito and N2 her bunny have some competition). I had fun just taking so many pictures again.

Taiwan never ceases to amaze me. That these small, tiny islands could have so many destinations worth going to. There are still so many Taiwanese natural wonders on my list waiting, calling us to come.

Resources:
http://tour.penghu.gov.tw/English/Tour/Tour-1.asp
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/taiwan/taiwans-islands/penghu
http://iguide.travel/Penghu

Return to Tainan: Goodbye Flying Club

As I said in the previous post, the flights back, were the most painless despite my poor health at the time. Zenaida was my best travel companion thus far and I had zero jet lag. We returned and our friend Mr. David Wu invited me to one of his friend's Japanese restaurants (another friend with another Japanese restaurant) which was a nice treat. And he began by telling me some bad news. "I have some bad news for you". My heart sank a little.

My wonderful gym the Flying Club was closed--for good. The owner took everyone's money and ran off to mainland China, there was no way to recover our money. Apparently this happened before in Tainan, the owner of a health club hightails it to the mainland, free from prosecution and living the high life, because China doesnt recognize Taiwan as an independent country. How can you deport and prosecute someone under this kind of status quo?

The staff had not been paid in 2 months prior to his hasty departure. Ok, I was slightly sick to my stomach from having paid a year's membership in January (12,000NT) before I left to Denver, especially since the year before I was just doing 1500NT every month and also I was super broke upon my return from Denver and was expecting a meager paycheck from my not working for 4 weeks. Even more sickening than the loss of needed money, was I was going to miss the place and the people. My evening classes, the ability to bring Zenaida and know she was safe. The facility itself was pretty luxurious, the pool, the spas (hot springs as Z calls them). I was making some seriously fun progress in Belly Dancing, our teacher formed a group and we performed.(After years of ballet, tap, jazz, Flaminco, Mexican folk and Nigerian dance, Belly dancing is the most difficult, especially on a mental level).

I tried some undeniably strange experiences for the first time at Flying Club, besides belly dancing. I was buried alive in heated sandalwood powder for an hour. I had to wear Japanese pajamas and lie down inside a cedar box full of sandalwood that been heated for the previous hour until it got to 40C, than I lay on some towels and Jessica got a shovel,proceeded to bury me with more of the fragrant wood chips and then when only my face was exposed, she closed the wood casket, turned off the lights and left me there to be buried alive. On a cold rainy day, maybe during my menstrual cycle, its the perfect thing to do on my lunch break and I was never charged. After Jessica dug me out and gave me a hand out of my "casket" my Japanese pj's were soaked with toxic sweat, I didnt even feel like I broke a sweat, nor did time seem to pass, I must of always dozed and never noticed. Jessica also enclosed me into a gigantic ceramic jar that was pumped full of medicinal steam. Just something to try when FC offered the weird and wonderful and we had the time.

I was moping for my loss about a week, and then checked out my options which werent much. I signed another contract at E Powerhouse, which is down the road and cheap. I paid 6 months for 4000NT and eventually another 6 months and bought my co-workers fine treadmill for 8000NT. Every time I went to E Power I was feeling sorry for myself for about a month. The facility is pretty getto compared to the luxuriousness of the Flying Club. The weight room is crowded with equipment, there is no separate room for core stuff like fitness balls, medicine balls and my beloved buso balls. (Have some balls people!) I was really fond of the buso ball too, so many cool things I could do with that and a 5 kg medicine ball. The first thing I asked at E Power was for a buso ball, but my request is still unanswered.

The locker room is a closet, no room for water spas or saunas much less room to actually remove your clothing. (Sorry my big, not sun-tanned ass is in your face sister).The door is also a sliding door which every time it opens reveals whoever happens to be stuck partially naked when some other lady walks in. After a couple of months they bought a kind of wood screen that slightly helps. Even worse were the smells of the lady's locker room. The space is so incredibly small, but it somehow squeezes 2 benches, some lockers, 4 showers, a toilet and no air circulation. Every time a woman took a dump, it stunk up the place. After they recently started using the A.C. the air quality has improved or I just got used to it

Now after 6 or so months of going I like it. Up until last month Jessica my trainer from Flying Club could come in twice a week and train me. Having a treadmill at home gives me more options, frees some of my lunch break I might need to run errands or get a massage. There are always the familiar smiling faces. Did I mention E power is the place for Rocky wannabes, real body building, competing, huge dudes (and one lady, Kolly who will be my new trainer next week). So the weight room is mostly big protein shake guzzling dudes, but at lunch time its nearly empty and with Jessica's wonderful education, I know my way around and enjoy myself. Sadly I cant bring Z and can never do any of the night or weekend classes, bye bye Belly dancing for now.

Every time I drive by the Flying Club I cant help but feel a little sad. It was a great facility and needed only decent management. The destruction men have nearly leveled the building after 6 weeks of knocking it down into a unrecognizable pile of rubble. It must of cost a small fortune to tear it down.

The photos are of me and ex Yankee pitcher, old local folk hero, Wang Jimmy and Jessica in the former Flying Club.

The wood tiger returns home to the Mountains

By the generous grace from others Zenaida and I were homeward bound for one month during Chinese New Year. It started with my friend Doreen dropping us off at the High Speed Rail shuttle bus stop in Anping's harbor, a 60 minute bus ride, followed by a 1 hr 45 minute bullet train to the Taoyuan station, another shuttle bus, 10 hour flight to LAX, getting our luggage, security and another flight into DIA, arriving at 11pm in snowy conditions.

Zenaida was great until somewhere over the Pacific she could not get comfortable and Malaysia Air would not let her sprawl out in the floor in front of her seat. She proceeded to call me "silly old shrimp mom" for the first time,that she has repeated in angry instances since or when she thinks its funny. (Where she heard "old shrimp" I have no idea.)She peed in her seat and I striped her down, wiped her little body and dressed her as fast as I could and was really fine with the sleep deprivation.

We arrived and my Dad and brother's Matt and Ed were there. Ed and Matt hadn't changed (but don't tell protein shake, muscle pumping Matt that), but my Dad, wow, his hair had gotten whiter. Zenaida first thing she said was " you look like Santa Claus" which was pretty hilarious and exactly what I was thinking. Mom already had hot burritos waiting which was like the food of the gods after eating rice and noodles for a year and half.

My bro John was home for better or worse. At one point I was going to change my flight and return to Taiwan early on his account of being emotionally unstable w/ Zenaida. It was shocking that a just turned 4 year old could so make a 30 year old regress to the same emotional level. It was sad and painful and abusive.

On the upside, I got to work out everyday and take my beloved yoga classes from my world class teachers and some rocking kickboxing classes which having come from tropical sea level back to high altitude I didn't seem to be affected by much. Z played in the snow and reconnected with her cousin Emma (play-fight-play), and I enjoyed being with my parents and my bro Matt. It was, but for John, a totally relaxing, uplifting treat.

The return flights and mass jumble of shuttle buses and taxis somehow, we made it home. It was by far the best 14 hour flight ever and since Zenaida knew what to expect she was like a professional traveler and settled in no matter where we were. I couldn't ask for a better travel buddy than her. I am also aware of how so many prayers supernaturally flew us safely over, because I literally didn't have the stomach for it (having puked all day of my return flight.)I wasn't sure I had the health or stamina to take care of Z and all the painful hours I was anticipating (that really were non laborious).

I had the first time experience of not wanting to leave home. Of crying at the check in counter, my Dad hugging me perplexed. I didn't want to come back to Taiwan, but felt I must. Colorado is pretty close to paradise after all. That I was finally cured of destination disease. For me being someone who couldn't take being home for a month without looking at maps and plans for escape, it was a powerful epiphany and one that is currently propelling me to take some risks with my dreams and the near future plans of my life and my daughter's life direction.

2010 Resolutions

So of course I have my wish list of resolutions and fantasies. So here goes:

1. Make a food diary and eventually consume 1400 calories a day, lose 5 kg.
2. Learn and incorporate kettlebells into my fitness routines
3. Improve my Mandarin, really take my lessons seriously and make room for homework.
4. That means less time surfing the net and watching videos
5. Finish and start writing all those screenplays and stories Ive been meaning to write. At least the one dearest to my heart.
6. Save money, pay off my grad loan.
7. Get a used car. Explore more of Taiwan go camping.
8. Wean myself job wise, way from Sharefun and teaching kids, find a school with more holiday time, or teach adults in a college.
9. Stop going to bed late. 11 pm and no later.
10. Be more patient with Z.
11. Discover more about my mission, calling, destiny and do it.

Seems pretty reasonable, doesn’t it? Nothing over the top after looking at the above list. I refrain from saying meet Mr. Right, as in 2009 I pretty much purged myself of that fantasy (not that I don’t believe it could happen, it is just not important anymore).

Well lets get it on already, I welcome the new year with open arms, with expectations of open doors and meeting the right people at the right moment and loving people more because I am loved.