exploring the infinite abyss never stop tag:travellerspoint.com,2009-05-12:/blog/?domain=infiniteabyss 2009-07-03T17:11:26Z jfanaeian img/travel-blog-feed.png A look back at eastern Asia tag:travellerspoint.com,2009-07-03:/blog/?domain=infiniteabyss&thisblog_entryid=11&entryid=166721 2009-07-03T17:11:26Z 2009-07-03T17:11:26Z ... but here's a final look at the map! [map=187693 lat=32.5 lon=118.095238095238 zoom=7.56] ... ... but here's a final look at the map!

See the itinerary of this trip, and details about each destination.

A look back at eastern Asia remains copyright of the author jfanaeian, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> BEIJING (belated). tag:travellerspoint.com,2009-06-27:/blog/?domain=infiniteabyss&thisblog_entryid=10&entryid=166121 2009-06-27T16:47:39Z 2009-06-27T16:47:39Z I’m currently typing this in Word as I wait at the Tokyo Station en route to Utsunomiya. Just “finished up” (can you ever really?) at Kyoto which was a really nice city. As cliché as it sounds, I simply must go back there at one point or another. Yeah, that’s right, I’m writing about China when I’m already in Japan. Got a problem with that? Anyways, this post is about BEIJING and not Japan just yet. Beijing was like a ... I’m currently typing this in Word as I wait at the Tokyo Station en route to Utsunomiya. Just “finished up” (can you ever really?) at Kyoto which was a really nice city. As cliché as it sounds, I simply must go back there at one point or another. Yeah, that’s right, I’m writing about China when I’m already in Japan. Got a problem with that? Anyways, this post is about BEIJING and not Japan just yet.
Beijing was like a breeze of fresh air compared to Shanghai. There is no comparison! I was actually shocked arriving into Beijing and seeing clear blue skies. Where was all this smog I keep hearing about? Anyways, I eventually made my way to the hostel (it was down a rather shady alley) and unloaded there. I had to get my Japan Rail Pass so I decided to save some money and take a stroll to the office which I thought was about 6-7 blocks away. I later found out that Beijing has the biggest city blocks ever.
Anyways, after successfully getting the rail pass, I checked out the Forbidden City, starting with the north entrance (it was the one closest to the hostel). I guess I shouldn’t be surprised when I see that the emperors here were living in some ridiculous luxury. I thought Versailles was pimped (in terms of area and building sizes… not pomp and treasures, at least from the outside)! It was pretty funny because you would walk up and down the steps for buildings, and coming out the next size you would see another building which was even bigger and more grand than the previous one. This probably repeated itself about 3-4 times.
Tian’anmen Square was next and that’s probably the least welcoming and friendly square I’ve seen. Your bags need to go through x-ray machines, and there is more security there than in some airports (and apparently there are some plain-clothes policemen lurking)… not exactly the square you would go out to visit for a family picnic or to toss the frisbee around. Anyways, it was pretty interesting to see in person after hearing all about it in History class. Unfortunately my camera battery died shortly after taking a few photos so I figured I’d come back later to see it more thoroughly (that never happened).
After resting up, I decided to go out for dinner somewhere… partially because no one else in the hostel was eating there and it just seemed like they didn’t serve food (which they did). There was a street called Nanluogoxiang that had a few places to eat found in LP so I thought I’d wander around there. What a pleasant surprise that place was! Turns out it was just a small walking street, full of tiny cafes, bars, restaurants and shops. They were so small one bar was actually called “12 mm^2 bar”. I really enjoyed the atmosphere, and you could tell this is where the young, hip crowd (along with the expats) liked to hang out. I walked around a bit, did some window shopping and ended up running into a Kiwi couple who I also happened to run into in Chengdu and Xi’an. Who would’ve thought it’d be possible have unplanned encounters with the same people three times in the most populated country in the world? After a nice dinner at a Tibetan café, we called it a night rather early because we were all going to the Great Wall bright and early the next day…

Woke up the next morning bright and early at 5:50 AM. Walking outside I noticed some cloud cover so I figured this was the typical weather I kept hearing about (wrong). I was embarking on the 10 km hike from the Jiamanting to Simatai sections of the Great Wall. Skip ahead about 3.5 hours and 140 km outside of Beijing later, and we’ve arrived… where the skies are as blue as can be.
To save some time and energy, we elected to take the cable car up… and the higher it went, the more breathtaking the view of the Wall became. In fact, not until I had started hiking could I really appreciate the beauty, wonder and magnificence of the Great Wall. I wasn’t really expecting much from it, and to be honest, I had probably signed up for it more out of obligation than pure desire. As cliché and typical as it sounds (funny how most cliché things are actually true), the Great Wall was the thing I most enjoyed about China. Seriously, combined with the fantastic weather which allowed you see the Wall for miles and miles away, words couldn’t do what I saw that day justice. Plus, I don’t think I have a strong enough vocabulary. I don’t think I’ve been in that much awe since Kilimanjaro and the sunrise on the Serengeti.
Just to be clear, it absolutely completely DOES matter which section of the Great Wall you do. Badaling is the one most commonly seen in photos, is closest to Beijing, and it’s where most tourists flock. The section opened up after that was opened up afterwards, and is supposed to be pretty cool and with fewer tourists. However, unless you’re really adverse to hiking and steep slopes, I would highly highly recommend doing the Jiamanting-Simatai route for the following reasons: (1) It is the least crowded section by far due to its distance and well, as I said… steep sections. I would even be pretty scared to do some of those areas if it was raining. Oh yeah, it takes most people 4 hours to hike the 10 km. As a result, fewer people = better photos and more time to stare in awe; (2) Most of this section is unrestored, and quite frankly look like those ancient ruins (which they are)… but there is a certain authenticity about it that makes you further appreciate it. In fact, I actually walked through the restored parts kind of quickly because I thought it made the Wall look a lot duller than the original sections.
Ok, enough gushing. So yeah, the sun was out, the walk was awesome, and it was pretty challenging too, which I’d say adds the fun element to it. Got pretty tired near the end especially because of the incredibly steep/large/long flight of stairs. To finish off a nice 3.5 hours of hiking, they had a zip line which you could take down for an extra 40 RMB. I figured since I’m here, why wouldn’t I? Swallowed a bit of anxiety and went for it! “Don’t worry, it’s pretty good; only 1 in 3 die on the line,” joked a guy in front of me. A great day was capped off with a solid 30 seconds on the line as you whiz over the river and see a gorgeous view of that valley.
(Lunch… etc… long bus ride home… etc)
I was pretty exhausted by the time I got back to the hostel but I knew this was my last evening in Beijing. I told my body to stop complaining and took a taxi to snap a few shots of the Water Cube and Birds Nest. It was nightfall by this time, so they were both lit up beautifully in their own way. I walked past the Birds Nest first, and it had some subtle red and orange lighting in between the seemingly random cross-hatches. The construction workers must’ve been thinking “wtf” the whole time they were laboring over that thing. Kind of shame it just sits there now. I hear they’re turning it into an “entertainment/shopping complex” which is a real pity. Next door was the Water Cube which was lit up brightly in a sort of aqua-navy blue if that makes any sense. Nevertheless, it was a cool shade of blue, and I spent some time trying to play with my camera to truly capture the blue. I don’t think I did get it right in the end, but close enough… I really need to learn how to use that White Balance properly.
Finished off my last time in Beijing with a nice stroll in the squares nearby. Of course, given China’s seemingly love affair with massive slabs of concrete, that’s pretty much what they were… but it was still a pleasant walk and a nice way to end Beijing for me.

BEIJING (belated). remains copyright of the author jfanaeian, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> I wish I skipped Shanghai... tag:travellerspoint.com,2009-06-21:/blog/?domain=infiniteabyss&thisblog_entryid=9&entryid=165255 2009-06-21T11:00:52Z 2009-06-21T11:00:52Z Don't mean to sound so negative, but Shanghai is the first city in my travels I wish I had skipped over. I guess I was swayed by its metropolitan allure, but unless you're into miles of walking to shop and most things being overpriced, then maybe you'll like it. The only real history it had here was the Shanghai Museum, which was conveniently only a couple of blocks away. Alas, it was pretty comparable to the National Taiwan Museum in ... Don't mean to sound so negative, but Shanghai is the first city in my travels I wish I had skipped over. I guess I was swayed by its metropolitan allure, but unless you're into miles of walking to shop and most things being overpriced, then maybe you'll like it. The only real history it had here was the Shanghai Museum, which was conveniently only a couple of blocks away. Alas, it was pretty comparable to the National Taiwan Museum in that after about the halfway point I started to get a bit bored. I guess for some reason, there's only so much Chinese history I can take?
The Bund is under heavy construction for the 2010 Expo, so we decided to give that a skip. On top of that, the unbearable weather really made it difficult to do any exploring.
Not much else to say about Shanghai except I'm glad to be leaving in a couple of hours. Fortunately Beijing looks like it's chock-full of things to do which should occupy me enough until I get the hell out of China!

I wish I skipped Shanghai... remains copyright of the author jfanaeian, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Xi'an "completed", Shanghai on deck tag:travellerspoint.com,2009-06-19:/blog/?domain=infiniteabyss&thisblog_entryid=8&entryid=165098 2009-06-19T12:42:20Z 2009-06-19T12:41:35Z Wow, I didn't realize how difficult it is to keep up with this blogging thing on the road. Fortunately I have some time to burn before AV gets in so I can catch up here. Don't want to stay too long because it's 20:22 and there are still beads of sweat on my forehead even though I'm just sitting here. Anyways, the train ride to Xi'an was smoother than I thought. Got a good night's sleep, met some friendly people on ... Wow, I didn't realize how difficult it is to keep up with this blogging thing on the road. Fortunately I have some time to burn before AV gets in so I can catch up here. Don't want to stay too long because it's 20:22 and there are still beads of sweat on my forehead even though I'm just sitting here.
Anyways, the train ride to Xi'an was smoother than I thought. Got a good night's sleep, met some friendly people on the train too. The most striking thing to me on the ride over was the number of radio spires there are dotting the countryside, and in the city too, whether they're on the ground or on buildings. My (un)educated guess is that they're remnants of Communist China; they have that sort of ominous aura about them in their jet-black/Eiffel-tower-like structure. Or maybe I'm just on crack.
Got into Xi'an around noon and right off the bat you can tell this place is seeping with history. The first thing you see are the massive city walls surrounding the city which is pretty cool. I didn't get a chance to bike on them this time around, but really there is so much to do/see in Xi'an. Spent a couple of hours getting the next train ticket ready, settling in, etc., before heading over to the Big Goose Pagoda. Got off the bus in front of the square that is right beside the pagoda, but the opposite side of the entrance. It's a big slab of concrete, but apparently there's a fountain show that they have late in the evening which I missed (oh well). Upon gaining entry to the pagoda's grounds, it's really amazing seeing the different Buddhist carvings, sculptures and figures throughout the area. Pictures aren't allowed though, but I was caught offguard - I was pretty blown away by what they had inside the temples. The pagoda itself wasn't anything special unfortunately. It towers over the area around it, but inside is pretty much just 7 flights of stairs with some Buddhist artifacts along the way. Again, the buildings around the pagoda were much more impressive and made the site worth visiting.
I headed over to the Muslim Quarter in the evening. They had lots of cool little stands there, but being the cheap-ass I am, and knowing that most figurines/knick-knacks I buy end up just sitting in a corner of my house after a while, I didn't buy anything except for some tea for my dad. I wandered around so much that I got to the Great Mosque after it had closed. Oops. But yeah, the Muslim Quarter was quite cool, and I would've gone back the next day had I not been so pressed for time.
The next day was pretty much all Terracotta Army! I took the bus to the railway station and was looking to connect to another bus there, but it took me about half an hour to find the right bus because that station is so damn huge. From the station, it took an hour to get to the site. On top of that, it takes a good 15-20 minutes to get to the pits themselves. I followed Lonely Planet's recommendation of visiting Pit 1 (the biggest, most famous one) last and I'm glad I did because it made me appreciate what I saw in the smaller Pits 2 and 3 a lot more. For some reason, I found the higher-ranking officials particularly interesting. Maybe it's because of the contrast between the way they looked so boss-like and authoritative, and the pawns in Pit 1 looked so dinky hahaha. But yeah, Pit 1 is gigantic and I'm pretty sure they're not even halfway done uncovering the whole thing. One thought that came to mind - they paved/developed pretty much everywhere behind and around the pits... how do they know there's not more underneath? There's probably some easy, fast and high-tech way of doing it that I don't know about. Meh, I'm not an archeologist. Anyways, it'll be cool to see what it's like again in 5-10 years from now to see how much more they've uncovered and if there's been any headway with the mausoleum nearby.
So after I was finished there (I took my slow, sweet time and was done in about 3 hours), the buses back to the hostel were so dreadfully slow that I almost missed my train. I sweated my brains out running to the train, only to realize I got on the wrong car and had to do the walk of shame through 5 other carriages on the way to the right spot. I was exhausted.

Ok, that's enough for tonight!

Xi'an "completed", Shanghai on deck remains copyright of the author jfanaeian, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Recap: HKG, Shenzhen, Chengdu tag:travellerspoint.com,2009-06-17:/blog/?domain=infiniteabyss&thisblog_entryid=7&entryid=164788 2009-06-17T08:20:34Z 2009-06-17T08:20:34Z Left Taipei on the 14th. It was actually pretty sad... the night before, Lim and his roommates pulled a prank on me (the story: the waitress at the place we ate at the day before thought we were flirting with her and had gone crazy and wanted to kill us, so in the morning we would have to go to the police to file a police report and I'd have to delay my flight)... which was followed by a surprise ... Left Taipei on the 14th. It was actually pretty sad... the night before, Lim and his roommates pulled a prank on me (the story: the waitress at the place we ate at the day before thought we were flirting with her and had gone crazy and wanted to kill us, so in the morning we would have to go to the police to file a police report and I'd have to delay my flight)... which was followed by a surprise birthday cake. Seriously, those guys were too nice to me. I miss them already!

Got into Hong Kong where I found out shortly that Celina had given me the wrong number (haha), but thank goodness for facebook (sick), because I saw the new message she sent with her new number. Spent a few hours wandering around a small small area of Hong Kong. Our time included walking past the slew of nannies sitting on cardboard boxes on their day off, her slipping on some water in the mall (bahahah), and each of us getting some cheap and ridiculous-looking sunglasses (which I am wearing on my head right now). After a day of running around, she gave me some directions on how to get into Shenzhen. Bye Celi!

How is this for a welcoming party into China? Getting scammed by the cab driver! He tried to charge me 280 RMB to drive me to Rene's place, which I managed to bargain down to 150 RMB which was still a major ripoff. I tried to tell him to turn on the meter but he pretty much ignored me. China and I totally got off the wrong foot.

Flew into Chengdu the next day and my impression hadn't improved very much at all. Coming in, it was a very dreary city full of grey everywhere. I don't know if I was just tired from the nights of sleeplessness but it just looked massive, dull and busy yet uneventful. Fortunately Sim's Cozy Garden Hostel was a completely different atmosphere. Full of green everywhere, you could relax by the pond, at the bar, in the restaurant, upstairs, on the terrace. I couldn't have asked for a better place to stay. Kept it low key that night because by the time I sorted out my train and plane tickets, pretty much everywhere was closed... that's ok though because I pretty much only came for one thing: the pandas.

The next morning we went to the Chengdu Panda Breeding Base (?) to check out the pandas. I was worried because this could be the biggest hit-or-miss thing on the trip, especially since Chengdu was so out of the way. The weather was actually PERFECT for panda-viewing - cool, misty and overcast. As a result, the pandas were able to stay outside the entire time we were there. I took about 200 photos that day (no joke) because you can't get enough pandas. My previous exposures to them were crowded zoos where two or three of them were the main attractions and it was impossible to get a good look at them. This time, the entire base was devoted to them, and although there were crowds, they would come and go and it would be easy to get awesome looks and photos of them as they played (mainly the babies), ate and lied down in laziness.

I HAD to get time with one of them. I knew coming in you could spend time with a baby, which costs an arm and a leg, or an adult. I eventually bit the bullet and went all out - got about 2 minutes of panda cub time. Amazing! That little bundle of joy felt as fluffy as it looked as I cradled it in my arms and on my lap. The staff there did a great job with my camera and got a few dozen photos in that short time. It was expensive, but to me at least, it was definitely worth it. The photo-ops with the adult looked just plain awful in comparison. You had to stand behind it and all you could do was pat it on the head. Anyways, I was pretty much on cloud-nine the rest of the day. Mission accomplished (and with flying colours too)!

I'll finish the recap later (including train ride to Xi'an, etc) because this is already way way way too long!

Recap: HKG, Shenzhen, Chengdu remains copyright of the author jfanaeian, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Oops... tag:travellerspoint.com,2009-06-12:/blog/?domain=infiniteabyss&thisblog_entryid=6&entryid=164205 2009-06-12T09:35:26Z 2009-06-12T09:24:16Z Well how long did that last for? Not only have I not updated this blog, but I dropped the ball on my journal too until just yesterday. It's not so bad though, I think the more important blogging will be coming up in the next 2.5 weeks as I go around China and Japan! Anxiety is being replaced excitement as I prepare for this to happen. Just to summarize, here are some things that have happened over the past couple ... Well how long did that last for? Not only have I not updated this blog, but I dropped the ball on my journal too until just yesterday. It's not so bad though, I think the more important blogging will be coming up in the next 2.5 weeks as I go around China and Japan! Anxiety is being replaced excitement as I prepare for this to happen.

Just to summarize, here are some things that have happened over the past couple weeks:

  • Moved out of the old dorm! Had about two restless nights in three, and mosquito bites everywhere. I couldn't take it. I asked Lim and he found me place on the 5th floor really quickly. He's such a nice guy.

  • Went to Beitou on Saturday to check out the hot springs. Going into almost scalding hot water in 35 C weather, and then bouncing from hot to cold bathing water afterwards is a bizarre but refreshing feeling.

  • Checked out Wulai on Sunday with Erin and Adam. It's a really beautiful place there, nestled in some mountains. Did a lot of walking, saw a lot of waterfalls, and did a little bit of swimming in the cold river water.

  • Got introduced Rita, the next exchange student here, who is coincidentally in the same lab, and even more coincidentally is from Canada. She just finished her second year at UWO. Spent the last couple days showing the ropes here; a nice change of pace for me, I must say.

That's about it for now! I'm definitely ready to go, I'd say 4 weeks was a good amount of time to spend here. I think I'd be a bit bored/restless if I spent any longer...

Oops... remains copyright of the author jfanaeian, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Things I've realized while in Taipei tag:travellerspoint.com,2009-06-01:/blog/?domain=infiniteabyss&thisblog_entryid=5&entryid=163007 2009-06-02T05:32:42Z 2009-06-02T05:29:09Z [list] [*]Chinese is extra difficult to learn properly because I am probably tone deaf. I can hear the tones fine but more times than not, I just can't say it the way I want. At the same time though, I've been told I have an excellent accent! [*]Some old Taiwanese men like to take 3 AM walks. [*]The awesomeness of a trip is more a result of the company than the destination itself. [*]My overall health, fitness and my good eating habits soar when ...
  • Chinese is extra difficult to learn properly because I am probably tone deaf. I can hear the tones fine but more times than not, I just can't say it the way I want. At the same time though, I've been told I have an excellent accent!

  • Some old Taiwanese men like to take 3 AM walks.

  • The awesomeness of a trip is more a result of the company than the destination itself.

  • My overall health, fitness and my good eating habits soar when I'm living on my own.

    • Things I've realized while in Taipei remains copyright of the author jfanaeian, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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    ]]>         Visiting AV in Macau tag:travellerspoint.com,2009-06-01:/blog/?domain=infiniteabyss&thisblog_entryid=4&entryid=163005 2009-06-02T04:41:37Z 2009-06-02T04:27:06Z [map=187693 lat=23.8153846153846 lon=115.784615384615 zoom=29.25] All right, it's Tuesday, I'm bored at work, so that means it's time to update the travel talk! Last weekend I went down to Macau to visit my friend Alkarim who is teaching high school science at an international school there. It was pretty much on a whim - I booked my flight on Wednesday after finding out a roundtrip would only cost about $180 CDN. Anyways, I landed in HKG airport around 20:30 and took the ferry ...

    See the itinerary of this trip, and details about each destination.
    All right, it's Tuesday, I'm bored at work, so that means it's time to update the travel talk!

    Last weekend I went down to Macau to visit my friend Alkarim who is teaching high school science at an international school there. It was pretty much on a whim - I booked my flight on Wednesday after finding out a roundtrip would only cost about $180 CDN.

    Anyways, I landed in HKG airport around 20:30 and took the ferry across to Macau. I'M ON A BOAT.
    First impression of Macau? Shaaaaady. I'm not sure why but I just got that vibe right off the bat. I follow Al's pretty accurate directions and end up walking through his apartment door by around 22:30. At one point, I swore I was in the wrong building because he had a sweeet place. We were both pretty tired so he just took me to the nearby hotel, Altira, where they had a rooftop bar/lounge and we just chatted up there for a couple of hours to round off the night.

    The next day Al took me on a walking tour around the main part of town (Central Macau). It's a pretty small place so we covered it pretty quickly. Visited the Grand Lisboa which was disgustingly bling. The hotels are pretty much Vegas are all over again in terms of grandeur and massive massive casino floors (Baccarat seemed very popular for some reason). The smoke smell wasn't as bad as Vegas but it's probably just a matter of time before the fabric soaks up the fumes. Mmmm, tasty. It's strange/depressing seeing the pretty rundown buildings which were literally across the street or just next door. We then walked through some small alleyways and roads. In these parts the Portugese influence really shone through with the cobblestone roads and the architecture of some of the old buildings. He led me to these ruins of a church where literally only one wall is standing. Apparently it had burned down a couple of times so they just gave up trying to save it. Afterwards, we hiked up to a lighthouse which had a pretty sweet view of the entire city, and that pretty much ended the tour haha. Capped it off with some sort of spicy coconut curry noodles which was the spiciest thing I've had in a long time. We were done by 13:00. After some rest he took me to the Venetian which totally trumped the Grand Lisboa in bling and excess. It would be quite the sweet hotel if you weren't so disgusted by how gaudy it was, the cliche indoor canals and the typical brand-name stores inside. I'll admit though, some of the carvings and structures on the outside and inside walls were pretty impressive.

    That evening he was planning to go out with some of his teacher friends so I tagged along (more like he told me I was coming but I was OK with that). Went out for Thai food, which was honestly pretty weak in terms of the spice, but maybe I was just comparing it to the ridiculousness of the noodles I had at lunch. We eventually made our way to the MGM Grand Hotel and went to the bar there. Some cover band was playing on and off throughout the night, and for the most part the bar consisted of (in descending order) prostitutes, minors, old straight guys and old queer guys. Again, shaaaaaady.

    On Sunday, I had to be ready to leave for my ferry around 15:30 so we just made a quick hop to Coloane to check out the beaches there. We didn't really know where to go because Al hadn't been there before either so we just got off the bus at a random stop and checked out the nearby beach there. Not the cleanest looking place, plus Al wasn't feeling very well (haha), so we just chilled out on the rocks for the afternoon. Felt bad for Al, he didn't get any better as the day went on, and in fact was probably feeling worse when we got back. I left just as he was probably ready to collapse :P

    Funny thing was that when I was there it made me miss Taipei - to me, it's friendlier, got more of an authentic culture (instead of an awkward mishmash of asian and gambling) and still cheaper (although Macau is pretty cheap too). Huh, go figure.

    Visiting AV in Macau remains copyright of the author jfanaeian, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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    ]]>         Weekend in Taitung tag:travellerspoint.com,2009-05-24:/blog/?domain=infiniteabyss&thisblog_entryid=3&entryid=162202 2009-05-25T03:53:59Z 2009-05-25T03:51:51Z [map=187693 lat=23.026455026455 lon=121.449735449735 zoom=85.05] Whew! Best couple of days on the trip so far! Turns out our family had some friends in Taitung and my parents wanted me to visit them (didn't know who they were!), so I decided to check it out for the weekend. Arrived late Friday night, but before going to bed I had a nice home-cooked meal. On Saturday, I went to the beach with Milly and Sarnie - it was probably a 20-minute drive from Milly's ...

    See the itinerary of this trip, and details about each destination.

    Whew! Best couple of days on the trip so far!

    Turns out our family had some friends in Taitung and my parents wanted me to visit them (didn't know who they were!), so I decided to check it out for the weekend. Arrived late Friday night, but before going to bed I had a nice home-cooked meal.
    On Saturday, I went to the beach with Milly and Sarnie - it was probably a 20-minute drive from Milly's house, but it was worth it. The beach was essentially deserted, there was nice sand, a great view of the coast and the mountains and there were waves! Usually when I go to the beach there's a small tide and that's about it, but this one had waves you could actually ride. I was told that this was in fact the flat season and there's not much surfing to do at around this time. Mark, who is from South Africa and teaches English, met up with us an hour or so after. He happened to bring along his surfboard and teached me how to surf! Although I sucked of course, I still had a lot of fun. I wish we could've stayed longer (Milly and I had to go to their family friend's for dinner) because Mark's buddy arrived with a Sea-Doo.
    After dinner, Milly and I were still hungry so she took me out to a nearby restaurant for some seafood and then we hung out at the nearby city beach. Not a beach for swimming because it's full of rocks, but more for hanging out and enjoying the view. We sat there for an hour or so, just chatting and listening to the waves. It was kind of funny though, there were some sort of spotlights coming from what I think were lighthouses, but it was sort of an erratic spotlight (for some reason it reminded me of the eye of Sauron hahaha).
    Afterwards, we headed down to "Blue Bar". It was this cute little outdoor bar/lounge that was just overlooking a small cliff and a view to the beach below. As Sarnie had put it earlier, some day a tsunami will probably take it out. In the mean time, it was an awesome place to just sit and chill to cap off the night. We sat with one of Milly's friends from school and a couple of guys originally from Taitung who work in Kaohsiung and Taipei and are just in town to visit.

    Sunday was pretty laid back. We went to a local art gallery to check out some amazing Chinese paintings as well as some Native Taiwanese artifacts. Briefly headed down to the city market and the city beach where I took a lot of photos of some old fishermen. They weren't fishing to make money, but just because they love to fish. Love it. Tried some of the local green onion cake (a bit too greasy, but still good) and shaved ice before departing on my train back to Taipei.

    Had a great time. Man, if my exchange were in Taitung, I could just go to the beach and practice surfing every weekend. That would be fantastic. Oh well, Taipei has its perks?

    Weekend in Taitung remains copyright of the author jfanaeian, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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    ]]>         One week into Taipei tag:travellerspoint.com,2009-05-20:/blog/?domain=infiniteabyss&thisblog_entryid=2&entryid=161845 2009-06-12T09:35:40Z 2009-05-21T06:41:36Z [map=187693 lat=25.137481910275 lon=121.556750051685 zoom=435.33] Well I totally dropped the ball on this travel blog in the first week, but I've been keeping a (rough) journal in the mean time, so how about a recap? Last Wednesday, when I first arrived I had about 5 minutes of panic. Expecting to have that fun feeling of walking through the gates, seeing your name on a sign, and seeming very important, I found no one there to meet me. I frantically pulled out my laptop ...

    See the itinerary of this trip, and details about each destination.
    Well I totally dropped the ball on this travel blog in the first week, but I've been keeping a (rough) journal in the mean time, so how about a recap?

    Last Wednesday, when I first arrived I had about 5 minutes of panic. Expecting to have that fun feeling of walking through the gates, seeing your name on a sign, and seeming very important, I found no one there to meet me. I frantically pulled out my laptop to find out the cellphone numbers of my contact persons, but met up with him (Lim) about two minutes later. Phew. We dropped off my luggage in my dorm (with which I'm sharing with a local student), and went out for lunch. I decided to jump off the deep end and asked Lim to take me to somewhere local and authentic. If we're going to continue the metaphorical swimming pool, let's just say I took a few mouthfuls of water when I jumped in. I enjoyed the beef noodles, but as for some of the other appetizers (100-year old egg) I wasn't ready to warm up to that just yet. He and Wei-Yi (other contact person) said I had a small appetite. Ouch.
    In a way, I guess I underestimated the immensity of the language barrier. Not only did I not speak the language, but having only Chinese characters everywhere made me feel completely lost. That evening I could only really go to the 7-Eleven and grab a few snacks for dinner because I couldn't read anything else anywhere and nothing was familiar. I wanted out!

    On Thursday, we met up with my supervisor for the exchange, Dr. Liu. He showed me around the lab briefly. Lim, Wei-Yi and I got me familiar with the transit route to/from work, and we also stopped at a nearby night market. I tried the stinky tofu, and it didn't taste half bad. Honestly I didn't realize the smell of it until about 3/4 of the way through for some reason.
    My roommate is super introverted. He talks maybe a sentence or two to me when I'm in the room, and it's mostly about rules. Oh well, at least I know that I can get peace and quiet when I need it.

    Friday was a turning point for me. Went to the hospital on my own, and I did not get lost. The workday was pretty boring until around 3 PM when Dr. Liu took me around to see some patients. He made me put on a white coat, and I looked ridiculous because I was wearing sneakers and shorts. Oh yeah, I'm a tall foreign-looking dude too. Some of the looks I got from the patients and families were pretty funny, but some of them said 'xiexie' to me. Really don't know what they were thanking me for haha...
    On the way home, I decided to jump off the deep end again. I attempted to go back to that same place we went to on Wednesday, this time on my own, hopefully ordering the beef noodles. The owners didn't understand me, so they called their daughter, who translated it to them. She also wrote it down in my journal, which was nice! On top of that, while I was enjoying my dinner, they gave me these two dessert candies for free! And when I was leaving, the whole family said bye, it really made my day. So to keep the momentum going, I ventured down the market near TMU, and got myself some $1.25 bubble tea and the best green onion cake I've ever tasted with hand gestures and pointing. I was pretty proud of myself that day.

    On Saturday, Wei-Yi, Ronald (her boyfriend) and I went to the National Palace Museum. It was all right... it was mostly just artifacts and pottery art from all the different Chinese dynasties. It was actually kind of neat to see that the art reflected the philosophy/policies of the leaders at the time. Turns out their 'prized' exhibit were these pieces of jade, one carved into the shape of a bokchoy (complete with accompanied louse) and a porkchop slice. The bokchoy was pretty detailed and impressive... and I don't even know how they got the jade to look like porkchop. Honestly, if it were on my plate at a restaurant, I would've eaten it. That's how real it looked. That evening we went to the Shilin. I think we were all pretty tired at this point, so we really didn't stay for that long. It was pretty massive, so I'm sure I'll make at least one more trip back.

    Sunday I decided to go on a little adventure on my own. I decided to check out the shopping scene at the Sogo department stores and Taipei 101. In a nutshell, it was kind of disappointing. I've never been a big department store shopper, and the prices were pretty much similar to that in Canada. In the end, I didn't buy anything. Taipei 101 is where all the posh stores are at, so I just speed walked through the first floor. However, when I was downtown, imagine my surprise walking out of the department store, and having the street FLOODED with people. They were wearing bandanas, carrying signs, making noise, blowing horns. I had no idea what was going on. Soon after, they all started marching and chanting. Half intimidated, half fascinated - I had just seen a foreign protest! Cool beans.

    Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday have flown by. I visited Xiemen on Tuesday which was definitely the coolest shopping place I've been to so far. Bought a couple shirts for myself, a couple gifts for others... and I'm for sure going back there for a day. It seemed like there was a lot of Japanese influence, so I imagine I'll be breaking the bank when I hit Tokyo...

    This leads me up to today, Thursday. I'm currently waiting for the ethidium bromide to settle into my gel before taking some pictures. Shit, I just heard some thunder and I do not have my raincoat.

    Off to Taitung tomorrow! Wow, I can't believe I just recapped an entire week.

    One week into Taipei remains copyright of the author jfanaeian, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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    ]]>         YVR tag:travellerspoint.com,2009-05-12:/blog/?domain=infiniteabyss&thisblog_entryid=1&entryid=160943 2009-05-12T07:52:36Z 2009-05-12T07:37:23Z I know this isn't necessarily me at one of my destinations quite yet, but I'm giving this whole travel blog business a shot. I could easily just stick with my WordPress one, but I thought I'd give this a shot. It's been pretty uneventful so far. I'm just glad I had my long stop-over at such a nice airport. Fortunately for me BK and Starbucks are both open 24 hours, and the third season of 30 Rock is pretty awesome. ... I know this isn't necessarily me at one of my destinations quite yet, but I'm giving this whole travel blog business a shot. I could easily just stick with my WordPress one, but I thought I'd give this a shot.

    It's been pretty uneventful so far. I'm just glad I had my long stop-over at such a nice airport. Fortunately for me BK and Starbucks are both open 24 hours, and the third season of 30 Rock is pretty awesome.

    I saw a woman wearing a protective mask again today (N95-grade?). Pretty hilarious.

    I was a bit nervous about getting this whole thing going when we were driving to the airpot today, but the minute I set foot on the airport cement, it just all left. Something about airports really gets to me, I never get tired of them (well, not easily at least). I love the airplanes, the glowing signs, walking through the hangars, amongst the crowds of people form all over the world, and feeling like you're going somewhere significant.

    See the itinerary of this trip, and details about each destination.

    YVR remains copyright of the author jfanaeian, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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