Formosa Rediscovered

礁溪飲食

2010-06-09T16:49:00.000-05:00

we went to a steakhouse, taiwanese style. what do they have on the menu? "American style bbq pork rib". sounds promising. we ordered it. and...

this was an atrocity. an affront to all the bbq ribs in the world. it was a wrong cut. the membrane on the back of the rack was not remove. it was charbroiled and tough instead of slow-smoked to a melt-in-your-mouth tenderness. and it has no bbq sauce. it was the most horrible bbq ribs i've ever tasted.

to wash the horror away, we went to a craft brew restaurant. they have a green-algae beer (yes, really, and it's grassy green) on the menu that weren't currently available. so we ordered a dark and a wheat. pretty good.

礁溪漫步

2010-06-09T16:35:00.000-05:00

五峰旗瀑布

跑馬古道

蘭陽平原

礁溪易遊居

2010-05-03T17:06:00.001-05:00

new year hotel were hard to book and expensive. i ended up booking 2 nights for the end of new year at a loft-style hot spring hotel in 礁溪。

the first floor of the loft. first thing kevin tend to do at all the hotels was to plop down on the sofa and turn the tv on....

the hot spring was piped straight into the bathroom in a big nice stone tub.

the loft has a bed and another tv.

it is not kevin-sized....

the breakfast was sent up to the room every morning. looks pretty good right? but kevin hated it so much... he complains about the bread, the sandwich, the salad, the mayonnaise. this theme shall persist in our travel. he practically threw tantrums when unpalatable food should cross his way. should i call him an uncompromising gourmand or a picky whiny eater?

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

2010-05-02T21:17:00.002-05:00

dark washroom

2010-05-02T21:16:00.000-05:00

the bathroom is kind of dim, as a result, kevin often shaved badly.

Ocean in the Washroom

2010-05-02T21:14:00.000-05:00

Hawaiian theme bar in the 101 area.

the woman's washroom has soothing ocean sounds. the man's washroom has vocano noises and light simulation.

Shojo Formosa Chang

2010-04-21T03:28:00.003-05:00

Kung Hei Fat Choi Burger King!

2010-04-21T03:27:00.000-05:00

the king gave us red pocket...

北投

2010-04-21T03:19:00.001-05:00

during new year break, we went to Beitou, the hot spring on the subway line. since 2 years ago, someone has decided to dress up the station and the train.

Kevin had picture taken with little people with no genitals taking a hot soak in front of the Beitou Hot Spring Museum.

I had my picture taken with people singing karaoke in the park.

醬太郎

2010-04-21T03:08:00.000-05:00

lots of restaurants and stores are closed during new year. Taipei was rainy, cold, and empty. we went to eat some bbq to cheer up. we went to 醬太郎 by 中山 station. they have all you can drink beer on tap and a pretty good selection of meat. their hotpot and sashimi were decent (that's pretty good for an all you can eat bbq).

kevin grilling some french fries, onion rings, and edamame....

finally we went 爬山...

2010-04-21T01:54:00.000-05:00

kevin thought we would go 爬山 (it means climbing mountain but in reality more like hiking trails in our case) every morning and do taichi on top of the mountain. but the mountain (in our case, the four animal mountains 四獸山) is not that close to us, so we never went...

finally, during new year break, we go 爬山。this is Elephant Mountain, over looking Taipei 101.

Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant

2010-04-19T23:37:00.000-05:00

Lunar new year this year is on the same date as Valentine's Day. This restaurant got decorations for both. The burger and beer were pretty good. Kevin ordered seared tuna. Not so good with the beer.

alibi suitable picture

2010-04-19T22:26:00.002-05:00

here's the high speed train we love so much. so fast, so reliable...

Tainan Trip Day 2

2010-04-19T22:17:00.001-05:00

we hired a taxi to go to 七股 salt mountain. i thought there would be mountain range made of salt but there was just one big salt mount.

because of the cold wind, kevin bought a bird-watching hat to protect his bare head. then we drank salt coffee (pretty good), ate salt 豆花 dessert tofu. then we won salt face wash and salt shower gel in a draw.

in the afternoon, we were scheduled to take a boat trip of 七股潟湖 inland sea. the trip included unlimited amount of grilled oysters! Kevin wanted to skip the boat ride and just ate the oysters while knocking back six-pack of beer.

but unfortunately for Kevin, we still went on the boat. this picture is taken by me. please compare it to the next picture taken by Kevin.

this is the picture taken by Kevin. you can see the difference in arm lengths. almost looks like someone else took the picture.

we went to a sand bank on the inland sea then we went to the oyster farm. our guide looking for the oyster....

viola!

than our captain (funny man, he used the boat as his stand-up comedy club) cast the net....

and there were the fish!

after the boat ride, we drank some ginger tea to expel the cold. Kevin wants to keep grilling the oyster, but for time consideration, we went on to our next destination: the Black Spoonbill Conservation. (that's the bird on Kevin's hat)

they fly through Jeju island. maybe they can take a message to Erica...

Kevin係一個漂泊ㄟ男子....

for dinner, we went to the teppanyaki restaurant in the Landis Hotel. there was a nice big fish tank in the back. in the front was Kevin's prawn. in the middle was the innocent couple who accidentally became involved in my picture.

The Salad

The Soup

The Steak

The Dessert

everything was good but a bit expensive for the amount of food. not quite satisfying. that's the end of the second day.

Tainan Trip Day 1

2010-04-19T21:24:00.001-05:00

it's very hard to book hotel during the new year period, so Kevin and I did a pre-new year trip instead. 2 nights at Tainan. We stayed at 愛閣汽車旅館 Love House Motel, $1690 ntd per night big rooms with flat pannel TV, with jacuzzi, steam room, and a small TV in our bathroom. the toiletry supply went beyond the basic, there were face wash, bath oil, even disinfectant. snacks and drinks at the mini-bar were complimentary. everyday we came back to the motel, they gave us herbal dried fruit and a deck of player cards. breakfast was above average. excellent value. yes, i am recommending it.

Now back to the trip. the weather in Tainan was nice, so Kevin shaved his head to expose his scalp to sunlight.

in front of the city hall, Kevin sat on a dog.

on the way to the motel, we walked by a new year market. they have a beer-drinking contest that Kevin almost participated in.

going out for dinner. Kevin accentuated the sunset with the contour of his nicely shaven head.

we walked by a wine store downtown that sell fruity Belgium beer. Kevin got a passion fruit lambic. i got a tea lambic. the beer was even served in the proper glass!

then we have pizza served by a block of cheese.

they have a brick oven and make the pizza fresh from scratch.

we enjoyed our food. too bad they don't have a branch in Taipei...

on the way back we walked by a basketball court on top of a scooter parking lot. it looked weirder than this picture shows.

Chocolate Loonies

2010-04-18T05:12:00.000-05:00

Kevin's teacher gave all the student red pockets with chocolate coins inside. It's....a.....LOONIE. New Year in Taiwan with a Canadian touch.

大直 Riverside Park

2010-04-18T05:05:00.002-05:00

Kay left...

Kevin and I went to 大直 Riverside Park along the Keelong River. It's mainly new residential buildings. everything is kind of spread out. the open, spacious feeling is really nice, but Keelong River is still stinky.

Taipei 101

2010-04-18T04:55:00.000-05:00

is no longer the tallest building in the world.

we went up the observation deck on the 88th floor of Taipei 101.

and then you climb up to the 89th floor!

and then to the 85th floor that sell precious coral and rocks. with the mystery of Taiwan on display...

姊妹自拍：台北篇

2010-04-18T04:46:00.001-05:00

On top Taipei 101.

Beside Keelong River at night.

大唐溫泉物語

2010-04-18T04:41:00.000-05:00

We went to a hot spring theme park 大唐溫泉物語. everything is Tang Dynasty-themed. they give you robes to change into when you go in and an electronic wrist band. you lock your stuff in the locker and all purchase within the park can get charged on your wrist band.

they have Kissa Fish, or Doctor Fish, that eat your dead skin. the fish really like Kevin hairy white feet...

they have suit-required mixed-gender area and a gender-separate adult only nude bath. the unisex area has multiple scented bath, sauna, steam room, fish pool, water jets message area (highly chlorinated), but there are children running around, family picnicking. kind of like a public pool. in comparison, the nude bath was so tranquil and beautiful, it was like stepping into paradise. Kay and I sat int the open-air bath watching waterfalls and listening to the rain. there are cherry blossom petals floating on top the water. it was perfect. why did we even bother spending time the mixed-gender area?

There's a winding path from mixed gender area to the gender-separate area. They provide traditional oiled paper umbrella!

鶯歌; the land of giant teacup, bottle opening, vase, and the kiln that says "ooooo"

2010-04-18T04:17:00.000-05:00

The Story of Two Fried Chicken

2010-04-18T04:11:00.001-05:00

Shiling night market has a famous fried chicken place 豪豪大雞排. there are always people lining up. Kay bought one.

Kevin showed up later. Disliking queuing up, he went to a stand in the back of the market hall 台中特色雞排, and it tasted actually better than the famous one. Juicier and crispier. but it hardly has any customers at all...

Baby Head

2010-04-18T04:02:00.002-05:00

New Year Market

2010-04-18T04:01:00.000-05:00

Sponge Bob Cakey Pants

2010-04-18T03:57:00.000-05:00

Rrrraaaarrrr~ Patrick tasty...

汐止 lens excursion

2010-04-18T03:53:00.002-05:00

Kevin buying lens from some guy with unlimited supply of old German lenses...

老乾杯

2010-04-18T03:50:00.001-05:00

it's a specialty wagyu BBQ place. very tasty.

and they are both take pictures of the hot burning coals... burning.... coal....

Heigh-Ho Heigh-Ho It's Off to Shopping We Go~

2010-04-18T03:47:00.000-05:00

Afternoon Tea @ Shinkong Mitsukoshi

2010-04-18T03:43:00.000-05:00

Kay came back to Taipei with Carol, Eva, Emily. We met up for tea. There's a prevalent idea of 貴婦 or "expensive lady" in Taiwan. Expensive ladies would drink expensive tea out expensive cups while eating expensive cakes served by good-looking waiters/waitresses in cute uniforms in an elegant setting. The idea is that the expensive ladies enjoy the finer things in life. But in reality, it doesn't really work out that way. Often it becomes appearance over substance, obsession with glamour, a romanticized fantasy. All that being said, It's kind of fun to play out the fantasy. I suppose we would be "faux expensive ladies" (假貴婦) for an afternoon.

This time, we went to Afternoon Tea at Shinkong Mitsukoshi. Afternoon Tea is well-know Japanese chain that also sell tea sets and dining wares. After waiting in line for half an hour we got seated.

We ordered pasta followed by cakes and tea. Neither were good. I took one bite from my pasta and was immediately disappointed. The pasta was wayyyyy too soft. Taiwanese tend to like soft noodles, but at $380 ntd a plate, it's unforgivable to overcooked them! The tea was served in pot with tea cozy, but when I peered inside the teapot... there was no tea leaves (not even tea bags) in it! Are they afraid of people adding hot water? The cakes were average at best. Overall, this place blows big time. I would not go back or recommended anyone going.

All appearance and no substance.... yet there are lots of people waiting for a table.... sigh...

德也茶喫

2010-04-18T02:59:00.001-05:00

I left Kaohsiung a day earlier than Kay. Back in Taipei, Kevin and I went to 德也茶喫 by 善導寺 station. They have a $199 ntd afternoon tea special with all you can eat tea snacks. We didn't like the more jello-like dessert but the lotus pastry and the rice cake were good.

oooooo.... i wrote this entry with proper capitalization.....

Kaohsiung Bus

2010-04-18T02:53:00.000-05:00

is not very frequent....

i am going to use a picture of Kay waiting for the bus as the physical representation of the infrequency of Kaohsiung bus system...

beans by the train tracks

2010-04-18T02:49:00.000-05:00

Kaohsiung station is laid out in a retarded way. To go from the front station or the back station (or vise versa), you either have pay a fee to walk through the station, or you have to take a sketchy out-of-the-way little path that looks like the lurking ground of rapists and muggers.

on this little out-of-the-way path, i found... beans!

i wonder who put them there...

姊妹自拍：高雄篇

2010-04-17T11:18:00.001-05:00

愛河畔

還在愛河畔

旅館

2010-04-17T11:13:00.000-05:00

這字是誰寫的呢？

有朋自遠方來不易樂乎

2010-04-17T10:57:00.001-05:00

Confucius said, "Having friends coming from afar, what joy!"

So KK and MoMo meet again....

Kaohsiung MRT

2010-04-17T10:53:00.000-05:00

Kaohsiung MRT is apparently not doing too well because people are too attached to their scooters. Such nice stations and so empty....

Sponge Bob Banana Pants

2010-04-17T10:48:00.003-05:00

Kenting Kenting Sunny Kenting

2010-04-17T10:39:00.002-05:00

Kenting is has a magical quality about it. almost as if it's not a part of Taiwan. even when it's raining in Taipei and smoggy in Kaohsiung, once we pass into the "Eternal Spring" peninsula, the sky grows blue, the ocean sparkles and the sun sings. People of Kenting are tanned. Local men are often topless. Young local women in tanktops and shorts (running around in bikini just won't do in the modest South). Older local women (especially those who work on the beach) are often seen covered from head to toe.

sun-chasers from Taipei come for a piece of that magic. fashionable girls in high-efficiency sun block flaunt their colourful sundresses, and Kay, being anti-fashionable, came overdressed in pajama pants. She quickly purchased beach shorts which she wore as pajama shorts for the rest of her stay in Taiwan.

the cloud looks like a bunny. really. can you see it?

the tree looks like a deer. you can ride it too. really. can you see it?

Everybody surfs in Kenting, even Doraemon.

Kay cosplaying...

2010-04-17T10:03:00.000-05:00

Kay got a mosquito bites on her eyelid. For those who read Devil's Ointment.... This is Kay cosplaying the main character.

姊妹自拍：墾丁篇

2010-04-17T09:55:00.000-05:00

At Beach Bistro.

At 砂島.

At 鵝鸞鼻公園.

At 鵝鸞鼻燈塔

At 香蕉灣

基隆 Keelong

2010-04-17T09:29:00.000-05:00

Keelong is a port on the north coast of Taiwan. Best known for its constant rain and temple-front food market.

This is the temple that all the food are in front of. what currently in front of the temple is Erica.

Action pose: Kevin eating crabs.

3 sisters night market adventure

2010-04-17T08:53:00.000-05:00

so we went to a night market, ate food. the end.

here's a nice picture.

3 sisters hair cutting adventure

2010-04-17T08:47:00.001-05:00

so since all three sisters were in Taipei, we went to cut our hair. Kay and Erica got perms, driving the cost of each of their haircuts over $1000 ntd. i did without the perm, costing under $300 ntd. haircuts are much cheaper in Taiwan.

I only have pictures of Erica. She now has very Asian hair. wearing very Asian glasses. and making a very Asian pose.

To each (wo)man his/her solicitor

2010-04-16T22:54:00.000-05:00

Kevin fell prey to Buddhist monk soliciting donation.

Kay fell prey to art school student selling pens that they designed.

Sshhhhh.... Slurpee is sleeping...

2010-04-16T22:43:00.001-05:00

3 sisters nostalgic school adventure

2010-04-16T22:21:00.003-05:00

since all three sisters were in taipei, we decided to visit our old elementary school. accompanying male friends found the whole experience bizzare. quote kevin: weren't you locked up in there for twelve hours a day? why would you like to go back to it.

most of my waking hours during childhood were spent in and around school. without the school, there is no childhood memory!

the washroom i was in charge of cleaning in grade 3. it used to be unisex but now it's separate. i suppose that makes more sense, even though it never bothered me when i was younger.

Erica and the way to her classroom.

Kay and her basket. the hoop seems so short now...

Kevin wasn't very comfortable...

"be a lively good student." the sign looks so old now...

Taipei Restaurants Summary 1

2010-03-02T10:49:00.001-05:00

Since it takes a while for me to update my blog, i am going to summarize my experience in the past month, staring with food.

鼎泰豐 Ding Tai Fung

One of the best known Taiwanese restaurants, a must on any tourist group's itinerary. Their dishes are simple food, skillfully prepared, served by efficient but friendly wait staff, eaten in a pleasant but not fancy setting. After going there a couple of times, I recommend: 蟹粉小籠包, their English menu call it steamed pork dumpling with "crab meat" but it's really the crab roes. the crab roes lend a rich, buttery flavour to the pork, and the delicate wrapper is paper-thin. Very tasty. Also recommend: vegetable & meat bun, fried rice, chicken soup. Their food are not cheap. Sometimes it feels as if such simple food in such a no-frill restaurant shouldn't be so expensive, but then it's hard to find the same food so well-prepared somewhere else.

The bun that defied my expectations. I expected the dough to be sweet but it was not. I expected the filling to have more seasoning but it had not. Then when I expected the bun to be bland and boring, the flavours emerged in many layers. It was kind of zen.

Erica devouring the last steamed dumpling...

Mo Mo Paradise

All you can eat sukiyaki place. We like to go for the $ 299 NTD lunch with drink bar. Sliced beef cooked in their special sauce, dipped in raw egg, hot and tender and savory and slippery. it's beefy yet elegant. Also great selections of vegetables and mushrooms.

Teppanyaki

This is a style, not a restaurant. We ate at many places that do this, some better than others but I don't remember all of them. Usually you order a main dish and it comes with bean sprouts, cabbage, rice, soup and sometimes drinks.

This is in 士林 night market, whereKevin discovered this specific style of cooking. Our favourite place is close to 雙連 Station, but i don't have a picture of that.

Wedding Photo Trip: Part 2 Heaven

2010-02-15T10:20:00.000-05:00

Compare to the second day, the third day was heaven. Our hotel room has a huge bathroom with hot spring directly piped in. There was even a plate of rose petals to sprinkle over the water. Outside, we are surrounded by park, valley, river, and mountains. The air was fresh and the day was good.

Here's some photos to share:

Kevin and his lastest pet.

Before the sun came up the mountain, we walked the trail over looking the valley.

Plum blossom in full force.

The hot spring park. There was also a pond with doctor fish (that's the small fishes live in hot water that eat your dead skin, really).

Relaxing breakfast at the hotel.

Then the sun came out over the mountain and we hiked the mountain trail.

Wedding Photo Trip: Part 1 Hell

2010-02-14T10:47:00.001-05:00

After Erica and James arrived in Taipei, we went on the very strange once-in-a-lifetime "Wedding Photography Trip".

First day, we took the high speed rail to Taichung and checked in Le Parker Business Hotel. Then we went to try on our dresses. Each person can pick 5 dresses and the stylist design something around the dresses. Then we had to stayed around to talk to the photographer. It was quite tiring especially because Kevin and I were still both a little jet lagged. But it was nothing comparing to the second day...

Second day. We were lucky that the weather was very sunny and nice. We started at 9 am. I had a ridiculous amount of make-up put on me, including 2 sets of false eye lashes. Erica had half her eyebrows shaved off. Then we did 2 sets of studio photos before we headed out to Gu Guan 谷關. I don't usually suffer from motion sickness but on the winding mountain roads to Gu Guan, I got extremely car sicked. I was in the car, wearing a gigantic wedding gown in full make-up, trying very hard not to vomit. We took photos after photos. I felt cold, stiff, tired, jet lagged, car sicked and hungry. By 8:30, I insisted to the photographer that we have to call it a day. Which was a smart move, because Erica told me that their session went til 10 pm.

Here's some photos to share:

See all the eye lashes that weren't mine?

My monkeys were in the pictures with us.

I puked in this dress...

This dress kept on falling down...

By this point, it was very hard to smile.

This is our Corona commercial. Cheers!

Hong Kong: Strange Signs

2010-01-30T11:05:00.000-05:00

Hello Kitty taking a poo.

Farting forbidden.

Star Wars sells Adidas.

Hong Kong: Food

2010-01-29T12:37:00.002-05:00

鏞記 famous for their roast geese. Very bustling and busy restaurant. We went while seriously jetlagged and had little appetite, so it's hard to appreciate the food. The goose was flavourful but a little bit dry. Not my favourite.

The restaurant decors are nicely gaudy, almost cute. The dragon pillars had red blinking eyes and there was a statue of a scholar contemplating how tasty the geese look.

龍景軒 is a Michelin Guide three star dim sum restaurant. And it was very very very good.

Their 小籠包 came in a cradle. The shrimp mango roll were to die for.

沾仔記 is known for shrimp wanton noodle soup. The big shrimp wantons were actually the least impressive part. The broth were very flavourful with a touch of sweetness. I usually hate Cantonese noodles for their alkali flavour and their agar-like crunch. To my surprise, these noodles were actually good.

Hong Kong: Impressions

2010-01-29T11:24:00.002-05:00

The first stop on our trip is Hong Kong. It is a very vertical city. Lots of tall and narrow skyscrapers. Yet, there are a lot of nice big parks with old bayan trees and beautiful fountains, creating a strong contrast of nature versus. artificiality / traditional versus modern.

Eight Smoke Hot Spring

2007-02-10T21:46:00.000-05:00

I went to a "wild" hot spring. means free, out in the nature, no one owns it. this one however is very well kept by frequent goers. they even plant flowers and tree, put up curtain so people can change, and well up the spring water into pools. but it's "illegal" because it's in the Yang Min Shan National Park. so we had to go there early in the morning before the park rangers start working.

i stayed over at my friends house. we got up at 3:40 in the morning and left the house at 4:15. we drove up the volcano and got to the entrance about 5:30. it was all dark the moon still hung bright.

we sneaked pass the gate and walked for while, crossed a brook on log, and arrived at the hot spring when the sky started to get bright. the area was like a dream. greeneries and clear water coming in and out of curtains of steam. very beautiful.

there were a hot spring river and a fresh mountain river side by side. the hot spring river was block into small pools but the water was constantly flowing. we soaked in the perfect temperature milky white hot spring water , breathed the fresh morning air, watching the sunrise. my friend's wife is pregnant and unfortunately couldn't enjoy the water. so most photos were taken by her.

then jumped over the cold mountain river. the pressure of the stream felt great.

there was even a waterfall to stand under. very zen.

frequent goers we met there (very friendly) even told us a different path to get the hot spring from the roads. we got back to the car around 8am.

since we were not too far from Jin Shan (Gold Mountain, it's a city), where there is a famous sculpture museum, my friend (a sculptor) decided that we should try to go there. when we got there, we found out that it's closed until after the lunar new year. we drove back to taipei on the coastal highway. gorgeous. (no photos...)

now after i've seen my own photos, i think i need to loose some weight... but that's another business.

noh drama nod off

2007-02-06T06:43:00.000-05:00

i went to see a open air noh drama performance at the national palace museum. it's part of NPM reopening celebration. there were a lot of people. i couldn't get a seat and was way in the back. due to my height or the lack of there of, i couldn't really follow anything on stage.

i fell asleep standing.

now i can't really say what i think of noh drama.

Cake!

2007-01-29T10:53:00.000-05:00

Very pretty cake with gold dust on it. i always want to eat a cake with gold dust on it. DELUX.

japanese style western pastry shop are all the rage in Taiwan. (talk about culture bastardization...) i see this as an improvement. gorgeous (and tasty, with quality ingredient) cakes are to be had for 1-2 Canadian dollars. the cake in the picture was $50 New Taiwan Dollars which is about $1.5 Canadian, tax included. $1.5 in Toronto won't even get me a muffin at starbucks, but here i can get a coffee mouse cake, coated with caramel on one side, caramelized sugar on the other side, filled with fresh banana mash and nuts, sit on a wafer thin layer of dark chocolate and a layer of dark chocolate cake, decorated with baked banana dipped in dark cholcolate, caramel almond, chocolate shaving, choclate sauce and GOLD DUST.

Ahhhhh.....

my secret lesbian identity

2007-01-29T10:28:00.000-05:00

I have to cosplay at my award ceremony (for those who are not into manga/anime, cosplay is... *sigh* too long to explain, please look it up on wiki) and because my character is male with an off the shoulder outfit, i went to buy a "chest restricter". i don't know if this thing exists in North America, but its basically a piece of elastic material designed to bind the female chest to look flatter. mmm...sounds 1920's.

i went to Lala Love Boat Lesbian Fashion. great customer service, very cozy little shop. i was invited to a lesbian social, signed on for their newsletter, and got 2 stamps on my frequent buyer card, and a coupon for a movie. i also learned that "T" means butch and "P" means femme. somehow i feel embarrassed about telling the owner that i am straight, so as we were chitchatting, i made up a "studied-abroad-newly-returned-to-taiwan-single-bohemian-student" lesbian identity.

West Gate District

2007-01-29T10:15:00.000-05:00

This is on the wall in an alley of the West Gate District. i like it.

Mayday Concert

2007-01-28T23:21:00.000-05:00

I went to a Mayday concert in HsinChu city.

Mayday is a highly popular Taiwanese band, the first indie band in Taiwan to achieve mainstream popularity. They broke the mainly boy bands, idol-type singers pattern, and wrote songs that really resonate with Taiwanese youth. (like songs about scooter racing or instant noodles...)

So i bought their new CD and there is a voucher inside for entrance to their concert tour. i missed the Taipei one because my boyfriend was in Taiwan earlier on and i was hanging out with him. so since HsinChu is not very far from Taipei, i decide to go to this concert instead.

I left on the 6:13 am train and got to HsinChu 7:48 am. when i got to the venue, the line for the mosh pit was ridiculous, circled around the venue a couple times then snaked around the square. So i lined up for the balcony.

The line for the balcony was rediculously short compared to the mosh pit. i was about the 300th person for blacony. They handed out braclet with numbers on it at 10am. The number system is to insure orderly and fair entrance (so the people who came first can get in first. no pushing!).

HsinChu is a nice city. quite pretty and well planned city centre with big squares and riverside park. I returned to the venue at 5pm. The worker counted and counted the number making sure that the audience are in the right order. I got a glow stick. Blue. Apprarently that's the perferred colour.

The opening band was Champion. They are kind of Mayday's portege, couple of them worked as Mayday's technicians before. The day of the concert was the bassist Cola's birthday. A cake was brought on stage for him and just when the audience was chanting for a pie-in-face act, they pulled a BL. (for those who are not into Manga/Anime, BL stands for Boy Love, male to male intimacy that makes girls squeal. very popular in Japan.) The singer kissed the cream off Cola's face, the gitarist licked the cream off his cheek, and the drummer fed the strawberry to him mouth to mouth. I can't believe things like this actually happened in reality. seemed to come straight out of a shoujo manga.

Champion's music weren't bad but they lack certain depth that Mayday has. but at least they are the best opening act i've seen (in my rare concert going experience...).

Mayday opened their act with four old songs from their previous albums progressing from 1999 to 2005. I cried when they got to "Stubborn" (2005). The song really touched me and suited where i am in life. "If I compromise, if I lie to myself, even if i am forgiven for that, i cannot forgive myself." "Against the wind I fly better, I am not afaired of thousand people stopping me, only afraid of myself surrender." (but then in Chinese and rhymed...)

Half way through the concert, the cieling fell down. Really. Four cieling panels fell during the concert. No big injury but I heard that someone was sent to the hospital. the band made the audience promise to NOT JUMP under any circumstances, because the venue floor might caved in under the moshpit. Maybe this place needs a renovation...

The guitarist Monster do a cartwheel every concert as part of thanking their sponser Le Power(an energy drink that sent them to Tunisia to film their MV). Because his dad was in the audience, he did four cartwheels.

I had a great time. If i had someone to go with that might even be better... kind of hope that they will sing "Call me number one" (Family in Labour theme song) or "Okay la" (KK's theme song). oh well, next time.

Christmas eve sponsered by Amway

2007-01-14T23:56:00.000-05:00

My friend Ming the sculpter got a new set of Amway cooking set, he invited me to his house for an Amway cookware demonstration / Christmas dinner. The pots and pans are really cool, you can stack them and cook 5 dishes on one stove. The person cooking is his Amway mentor. The food was good.

Then he showed us his Captain Hook Buddha in progress. The hat is removable. It's heavy.

the day before the last day of the year

2007-01-14T23:38:00.000-05:00

This is on Dec 29. They have a battle of band in front of the Warner Vieshow movie theatre. some of the bands are good.

haven't updated for a while...

2007-01-14T23:02:00.000-05:00

i am bad with journal keeping, but that's no excuse. i am going to post a bunch of pictures from the last couple of days in 2006. my camera's batteries died just a couple second into 2007. i wanted to get some rechargeable batteries but havn't done so yet. so all the around the island 2007 pictures are on my boyfriend's camera, and he flew back yesterday without leaving me a copy of those. so... here are the last day of 2006.It was also the first Kevin's here. So we went to climb the Elephant mountain over looking Taipei 101, the world tallest building.

later that night Taipei 101 exploded (into a display of beautiful fireworks).

Noah's Ark

2006-12-21T06:59:00.000-05:00

it rains a lot in this past week. because the way houses are build here (lots of tin/fiberglass roof extenstion), the sound of rain is magnified. sometimes i fall asleep hearing the sound of rain and wake up hearing the sound of rain. sometimes it feels like i am in Noah's ark.

addictive

2006-12-18T09:02:00.000-05:00

the sign says "Opium Tapioca Ice"

win your gelato

2006-12-18T08:50:00.000-05:00

this is Asto Gelato. besides the more conventional flavour, they have gelati made from Taiwan local fruit in season. you can challenge the cashier to a game of rock paper sissors and if you win, you get a discount.

Gong Guan @ Nite

2006-12-18T08:48:00.000-05:00

so i walked around Gong Guan, the area in front of the Taiwan University. this is the view from the square in front of the university gate.

a sign from god

2006-12-18T08:36:00.000-05:00

amongst the coconut trees.

Stranded

2006-12-18T08:31:00.000-05:00

An abandoned fighter plane on the Taiwan University campus. if i don't know any better, i'd said it's an installation piece. red stanciled on it "climbing forbidden".

Taipie People

2006-12-18T08:18:00.000-05:00

My Home in the Tiger Woods

2006-12-18T08:13:00.000-05:00

i live on the second floor, right hand side, towards the end there. the name of the street that i am on can be literally translated as Tiger Woods. I kid you not.

Stone Monkeys

2006-12-18T08:10:00.000-05:00

They are the guardians of a tiny parklet.

Aroma Cafe

2006-12-18T07:55:00.000-05:00

this is the cafe that i come to use the internet. it's closest wi-fi spot to my house, ran by a mid-age couple. they sometimes talk loudly or have friends over, which gives the cafe a homey feeling. they have about 20 different types of beans in the house, and they grind the beans and cook the coffee using the syphon method as you order. the husband would personally cook every single order of coffee. his enthousiam for coffee is infectious, making the likes of starbucks or tim horton seem soulless.

customized in 10 min

2006-12-18T07:46:00.000-05:00

i went to the night market and bought 2 pairs of jeans. the owner hemmed the pantsleg to my length with no extra charge. the whole thing took less than 10 minutes. truly painless shopping experience.

Save me, Ambulance Boy!

2006-12-11T06:19:00.000-05:00

This is a très kawaiiiiiii ambulance!

Free Pet Bird

2006-12-11T06:15:00.000-05:00

Then I went to the computer market which is right beside the jade/antique maket. This woman has a pet bird on her table, not chained, not caged, just jumped around the table and peck at her tools.

it's really neat.

Doraemon!!

2006-12-11T05:38:00.000-05:00

At the Warner ViewShow Cinema's Arcade there are a whole machine of Doraemons...

At the way to the MRT, an old couple is selling little cartoon cakes (illegally...!!!) Notice Doraemon second from the left, between Pikachu and and Hello Kitty.

The police is coming, and the old couple runs away with the cart and still tries to sell people the cakes on the run.

Brave business people. Hurrah capitalism.

(In case you're wondering, it's illegal to sell things on the street withou a permit. The cakes themselves are perfectly harmless...)

Mister Monkey Probed by the CBP

2006-12-11T03:51:00.000-05:00

Mister Monkey was poked, prodded and probed by the US Custom and Border Protection a the airport.

"They squeezed all my monkey dignity out of me," said Mr. Monkey, "I feel naked."

Finally internet

2006-12-11T03:25:00.000-05:00

So I finally got internet access! i am sitting in a cafe in the neighbourhood coffee house with wifi access.

Taipei is quite hot today. i am sweating in my cargo pants, i need shorts. or skirt.

Here is a sign that you would too encounter if you come to Taiwan. On the television yesterday, there was such a scandal about a group of entertainers smoked some pot in Thailand. One actor tearfully confessed at a press conference and his wife and daughter were being haunted by the paparazzi. It seems so over the top and melodramatic after living in Toronto where marajuana is almost legal. So my friends, if you would like visit Taiwan come clean...

cheers.

My new passport is supposed to come today

2006-11-29T11:16:00.000-05:00

previous passport fell into lake winnipeg and caused me many troubles with the border authorities (mainly the american authority, no one else seems to care very much...). I had to pay to get a commissioner of oath to sign a statuary declaration as to how i willfully deface a canadian passport before i can get a new one. and it's not here yet.

still waiting.

bought the ticket

2006-11-13T12:51:00.000-05:00

bought the ticket with northwest airline today to fly out on 12.07.06

taiwan adventure 2006/7 is about to start.

i got a couple projects in mind, like documentiong theatre activities in taipei, or HOT SPRINGS (geothermal activities rules!!) , or food, or whatever. will see if i will actually keep up. i have a terrible history with diary-keeping or blogging...

but this is it.