Xiao Wulai

The Taiwanese are known for their efficiency and economy. This is probably the reason why the country is so successful. However, this has also probably created some of the ugliest buildings known to man. I like to call them Feats of Architectural Ugliness. I will refer to them as FAUs from now on. Visit any city in Taiwan and your eyes will be assaulted with block after block of the same dirty concrete buildings with wires hanging everywhere, bars on the windows and air-conditioning units placed not-so-strategically on the sides.

Everything is made from concrete so the buildings can withstand typhoons. Same with the bars on the windows - this is not to keep out crime (it's pretty non-existant here), but to keep debris from crashing through them during typhoons. The wires...I don't know...maybe it's cheaper to have them on the outside vs. the inside. And, the air-conditioners are a necessity so why have central air when you can have the same amount of cooling for 1/3 of the price.

So, these FAUs are ugly...so what, the Taiwanese say. Are they efficient? Yes. Are they economic? Yes. Will they be able to withstand the test of time? Unfortunately, yes. And, actually the Taiwanese take great pride of ownership. I know that some of the most offensive FAUs have the most amazing apartments inside. So, here you really can't judge a book by its cover. Which brings me to the point I'm getting to. If Taiwan's cities are its cover and its mountains are the pages then you really have to venture inside to see the true beauty of Taiwan.

Last Saturday, Luke and I decided to venture into the mountains to find a waterfall we had read about. So, we hopped on our scooter and we were off. Hsinchu is in a great location as you can ride on a scooter for less than an hour and be in the mountains. The drive itself is gorgeous as you can see the jagged, misty mountains in the distance and the view only gets more and more dramatic as you go and before you know it, you're in them. I took a bunch of pictures from the back of the scooter but they inevitably turned out as all sky, or all ground, or all power lines.

After about two hours of driving through some of the most beautiful scenery we've seen (it reminded us of Kauai, just bigger mountains and more of them) we got to the turnout for the waterfall. We hop off the scooter, a bit stiff, take off our helmets and this is what we see in the distance:
We promptly headed down the trail to get a closer look and hopefully do some swimming. Here is a picture once we got towards the bottom of the trail.
It was pretty stunning and once again, so much better than we were expecting. We got down to the bottom and there were some locals sitting down with their feet in the water. Something funny about the Taiwanese is that they really don't like to swim (especially during Ghost Month which it is right now). I see something like this and I just have to be in it. So, of course we jump right in and swim around in the second pool you see in the picture above. Here's one more picture from the very bottom. There was this really old pagoda down there.
After hanging out at the waterfall for a while we decided to check out this other place nearby called Wind Rolling Stone. Our guidebook promised, "An amazing 3m-high rounded stone balanced on such a small surface it appears ready to topple at any time." I, of course, was picturing a huge boulder balanced on something the size of the tip of a needle. We cheerfully followed the trail until it turned into a series of incredibly steep stairs that winded up the side of the gorge we had just descended to get to the waterfall. It seemed there would be no end to these stairs. Finally, we reached a resting point which we thought was the end. This is Luke after we realized we were only about halfway there.
That's a pretty classic Luke picture. He's thinking, "I'm exhausted. Why are we doing this, again?" A quality that we both share is that we are incredibly stubborn. At this point we didn't care whether this Wind Rolling Stone would be worth it or not...we had come this far, we were going to make it to the top of these spiraling stairs if it was the last thing we did. Alas, we made it and it wasn't really worth it. Here is the amazing and much-anticipated Wind Rolling Stone.
Cool, but hardly balanced on the tip of a needle, thank-you-very-much. Haha....We finished the hike back to the scooter and headed back down. We stopped at a cafe that was perched on the edge of the mountain road for a milk tea. We watched as an ominous-looking storm moved in over the mountains.
We heard peals of thunder and saw some lightning in the distance but being the stubborn creatures that we are decided that we were tired and would just head back anyways instead of wait out the storm. Luke found a poncho in the scooter and I found a garbage bag which I ripped a hole for my head and two arms and we were off. We hadn't gone more than a kilometer when the rain came down. I'm begining to think that the best way to see Taiwan's mountains is on the back of a scooter if you don't mind a sore bum and the inevitable torrential mountain downpour. We were of course, soaked and got some pretty funny looks from bikers taking cover in shelters along the road. But, after a while the rain let up and we were dried out before we got back to town.
Unfortunately, we both woke up exhausted and with colds that are still with us a week later. All well, it was totally worth it.

Guqifeng = Guqi fun!

After some searching through our newly inherited Taiwan tour book we made the decision to head south into the mountains to a temple called "Guqifeng." According to the map it looked simple enough just head through Hsinchu until you see Shida road then head into the mountains and there it is. Yeah well...for those of you planning to visit us in Taiwan you will see that what is on the map is not necessarily the way it is in real life.

We drove "Duke," our newly purchased 125 cc scooter, into downtown Hsinchu with our eyes pealed for any romanized variation of Shida Rd. (i.e. Sida Rd, Xida Rd, Hsida Rd...you get the idea), naturally we passed through the city without seeing anything resembling the road we wanted. In fact we found ourselves wanting to turn right on a road of only left turns. After some searching and backtracking we found that certain sections of Hsinchu require the use of alleys and or scooter lanes. These consist of a small space (both in height and width) between two large buildings that lead through, over and under other major roads emptying into a different section of town. This might seem ridiculous, but we lived in Seattle and we know what true terrible city planning is, so we managed just fine.

We made our way out of the city looking for our turn into the mountains. After a good long drive we felt like we must have missed it. I pulled the scooter over at a gated community and decided to talk to the gate guards the where abouts of this temple. There were three men "guarding" the gate, and by guarding I mean sitting in the shade drinking beer and chewing beetle nut. When we walked toward them, they did what most Taiwanese do when they see a foreigner and immediately pulled a chair up for us to join them. We gave one of them the copy of our guidebook (which contained the name of the temple in Chinese) and he gave us a huge toothless smile then ran to the gate to get his glasses. He explained to me that I needed to go right for 3-4 kilometers and then there would be a HUGE sign. They all discussed the matter amongst themselves then agreed that he was in fact correct.

So we went right and drove almost a kilometer when we knew we were going the wrong way. We made another U-turn and stopped at the first convenient store we saw. After showing the clerk the same characters, we waited while she discussed the matter with another woman in the store. We waited, enjoying the blast of AC when a young man approached us and in very solid English told us to go the way we came and to turn at the hotel--from there it would be a straight shot.

Long story short...that is what we did. We made our way up the mountain to a little town that surrounded a very large temple. On top of the temple was the statue of "Guan Yi" being restored--he must have been 75 feet tall.


After some reading we discovered to our amazement that this temple contained artifacts that rivals the collection at the renowned Taipei National Palace Museum. If you enjoy Asian art, particularly Buddhist art...this place would be your dream. Unlike a museum, this is an active temple--that is to say that all the art in the pictures below is set out either in a garden, or in the temple itself to be worshiped.

These carvings were about 5ft tall and each carved from a single piece of wood








Of course after seeing all these priceless works of art we have...
A display case full of random musical instruments circa 1970?!





Honestly we could only post a fraction of what we saw in the gardens and the temples of Guqifeng. If you come and visit, we will take you here so you can see the huge (6-7ft tall) Chinese war boats carved from solid jade and ivory, or the life-sized chariot made of jade...or the city of a thousand people carved out of wood with a huge seven level temple in the center. Honestly this was one of the most incredible places (in terms of art) that Katie and I have ever been.

This guy is my favorite...

Awakening the Ghosties

First of all I would like to begin this post by saying we officially have internet in our home! YAY!
So, that being said, we will be updating this much more frequently...

August 15th was the first day of Ghost Month in Taiwan (what?! the 15th...they go by the lunar calendar so things are a little different, plus, technically it is 1997 in Taiwan right now...but that is a different story). What is Ghost Month you ask? Well, a brief definition is that on August 15th, the door leading to and from Hell is opened for 30 days. What does this mean? That would be difficult to summarize here, but basically it is a deeply spiritual (and to some troubling) time when the people practice very specific religious activities.

We began the day walking from school during lunch to buy some tea. We noticed several large tables in front of local restaurant covered in food and a large bin full of burning paper--that is money that is specially made to burn for these occasions. This was something I had witnessed before (during my prior time in Taiwan), but as I was older this time things started to solidify a bit more. The food is an offering to the wandering spirits to bring that place fortune, and/or to protect them from evil spirits. The money is burned so it can be spent by those in the afterlife who need it.

We heard rumors of a parade of some sort in Hsinchu that night and decided to go see what was happening. I can truly tell you we had no idea what we were about to witness. We found out later that Hsinchu is home to some of the oldest temples in Taiwan and these sacred places hum with activity during holidays. This one was no exception.

We found ourselves in the middle of a main street that had been shut down. Police were keeping vehicles off it and so we had to make our way on foot.

It was slow going as the street was literally packed with people. We pushed our way through to the lighted temple above. There was loud music, firecrackers and a parade of some sort. We pushed our way forward and caught glimpses (but sadly no pictures) of men painted in black and white dancing in front of the temple. They were followed by an entourage of people carrying wreaths, signs and one truck full of people playing instruments.

We saw various presentations before the temple ranging from a group of men playing some incredible drum routine, to a large idol (Note: the term idol is being used loosely. We're not exactly sure what it was) being carried and bowed to the temple.
The picture is dark but you get the idea.

We were getting antsy from all the people so we decided to leave when suddenly the people began to yell something that sounded like, "Guan-Yi!" and began to press toward the temple. There was a strange feel in the air like something big was going to happen so we followed them. We managed to be pushed toward the front where I caught a glimpse of some men pouring out boxes and boxes of firecrackers on the ground in front of the temple. It was honestly frightening at how many they stacked on the ground. It was at least 2 feet tall by 3 feet wide. Next came the men with the trumpets who blew them as others brought the idol (again, this term is being used loosely) and placed it over the pile of explosives. With the people crowding around and the six men hoisting the huge idol they lit the fuse to the pile of firecrackers and, well...it was loud.

We were covered with ash, debris and whatever else that went flying. Here is a picture of one down the street:
We had to cover our eyes, ears and mouths from the explosion so I didn't get a picture until right after...
That is the ash on my camera and the smoke in the air.

But the people began to chant again and this time we were pushed to the very front. The men began pouring the firecrackers, again. Katie and I watched in fascination mixed with fear as it was nearly 3 feet high.

Several men came in carrying a large idol covered in wood. They proceeded to light the wood on fire and then all the firecrackers. We were at best 20 feet away. You knew it was going to be crazy when every one backed away and ducked. We heard the trumpets blast and we ducked...

The firecrackers exploded sending, ash, debris and fire everywhere. The men held their ground and then offered the burnt idol to the temple:



They had to run off quick because the ground was on fire.

Katie and I left that night with our ears ringing, covered in ash, soot and amazed at what we had experienced.

First Days in JuBei

If you’re ever in Taiwan, you must must go to KTV. What does KTV stand for, you ask? KTV. Or, maybe Karaoke TV? Who knows…either way, it’s awesome. The Taiwanese have a thing for performing and there is no better example than KTV. Well, isn’t it just like karaoke? No, the difference is that you get your very own sound-proofed (hopefully) room with a huge screen behind you showing images that are in no way related to the song. Example: “Born to Be Wild” with a girl walking on a beach.

On our last night in Taipei our entire training group decided to sample this revered Taiwanese tradition. With Luke performing a heart-wrenching rendition of “Highway to the Danger Zone,” the party was started. It quickly dissolved from individual performances to the entire group singing and dancing. And some of our trainers showed up, too! There’s Gavin rockin the mike…

And here’s me, doing the traditional photo pose…

Much too soon our time was up. The next day we said goodbye to our friends from training and boarded a bus to Hsinchu. After about an hour we started seeing signs and knew we were getting closer. We were more than a little bit apprehensive as all we were seeing were big ugly buildings and sprawling industrial areas. The bus dropped us off at the school we would be working at and we were pleased to see that it was on a wide street with modern-looking buildings. Our school is actually in Ju Bei which is a suburb of Hsinchu. Ju Bei is much smaller and more laid-back than Taipei and we’re both thinking that it will feel more like home.

The first couple of days were spent finding an apartment and getting settled in. But once we were done with that, the boredom started to set in. Ju Bei is small and relaxed, but the downside of that is that you can’t really get anywhere unless you take a taxi or have a scooter. And as we are cheap and weren’t able to get a scooter yet we were forced to wander haplessly around Ju Bei in the 100 degree heat and sweltering humidity looking for something to do.

Thankfully, two teachers at our school invited us to go up in to the mountains the next day to a waterfall and swimming hole they knew about. So, we hopped on the backs of their scooters and within an hour we were up in the mountains that surround Hsinchu.

After all the heat and humidity of the past couple of days that water was looking really good. It was refreshing, albeit a bone-numbing refreshing.

After a while we heard thunder and within minutes were in the middle of a torrential downpour. Riding on the back of a scooter, of course you get completely pelted and soaked with rain. But, the rain was warm and I really didn’t mind as I felt I was having a pretty authentic Taiwan experience. Especially when cars were backed up for miles on the mountain and we just zipped around them and were back in to town in no time. Yup, even though I was soaked I was feeling pretty smug weaving around all those cars.

A Day Off in Taipei

We have been training for the past ten days or so.

Our second day ended up being canceled due to a typhoon which was basically a non-event. We waited anxiously, watching the Chinese news, deciphering what we could from the broadcast, googled "taiwan typhoon" and garnered what information we could until we finally got the call that the typhoon was indeed headed toward us and that the city would basically close down the next day. The following day, we watched and waited and waited for the wind and rain that would wreak havoc on the city, but alas, there was not much havoc wreaked.

I tell you all of this because since our training for that day was canceled we ended up making up the material during the rest of the week which made for some very very loong days. Finally, it was time for a day off...

With a full 36 hours of freedom at our eager fingertips we decided to head out to one of the larger night markets in Taipei. Now, what is a night market you ask? Pretty much like a normal market, just on like massive loads of steroids. Not to mention the 10,000 people and about 1,000 scooters that are trying to make their merry way through the middle of it all.

Oh, so you want to buy a puppy? You can find that here. So, you want to buy good luck charms? You can find those here, too. Oh, how about some Calven (no, I did not misspell it) Klein underwear? Yup, that too.

The next day we decided to head up to the top of Taipei 101, the tallest (completed) building in the world. As a quick side note, if you don't know anything about Taipei 101 I suggest looking it up. It really is an architectural and engineering wonder. So, we paid our $15 (the same price to get to the top of the Space Needle...rip-off) and headed in to the fastest elevator in the world. In a quick 30 seconds we were zipped from the 1st floor to the 89th floor observation deck.

The view from the top was seriously dizzying as well as a bit unnerving. The first time you look down, you can't believe how high you are. But, the sky was blue and there were clouds all around the mountains in the distance and all-in-all, it was pretty amazing.

Another side note…when we got out of the elevator we were assaulted with signs that read, “I’m a damper baby!” What is a damper baby, you ask? We wondered the same thing and upon a little bit of investigation, found out what it is.

Apparently, it’s Taipei 101’s mascot…or, er, something?! Here is a picture of me with it. I think I’m holding its, er, hand…?

Anyways, we failed to see the connection until we learned that the building has an enormous wind damper that weighs over 600 metric tons. Apparently it cuts the building’s swaying by about 40%. I guess all you engineering folks (dad) will find this interesting as it’s never been done before.

We were then ushered down one floor to an exhibit of the damper. I thought it was the real one until Luke laughed at me and pointed out that it was made from Styrofoam and covered in glitter. There’s another Rabie-ism for you, brothers. ; )

We still had about 16 hours left before we had to report back for training so we decided to hop on the MRT (Taipei’s subway) and go to this place we had heard about called Danshui.

Now, one of the great things about Taiwan is that when they say they’re going to do something, they do it. And fast. They said, “Hmm…we’d like to have the tallest building in the world.” Done. “We’d like to build an entire subway system in two years.” Done. And everything is done well. The MRT is wonderful. Quiet, efficient, clean and most importantly, air conditioned!

Danshui is a good ways out of town, the last stop on the subway. I was basically picturing Taipei on a river. We got off the MRT and it was so much better than that. The place actually felt like a beach town. There was a park and a whole boardwalk along the river with vendors and shops. The whole place had such a laid-back feel which was so refreshing after the hustle and bustle of Taipei. We definitely got a few more stares as there weren’t nearly as many foreigners here as in Taipei.

We wandered through a night market and got stuck in a traffic jam. There was an enormous truck blocking the intersection and people and cars and scooters were backed up for blocks.

But, the surprising thing was that nobody honked their horn furiously, nobody yelled, everyone just waited patiently for the truck to start moving again. All the Taiwanese people we’ve met and encountered walking down the street have all been extremely friendly. And people just deal patiently with the traffic. I haven’t seen one case of road rage whereas if these were the driving conditions in Seattle or anywhere in the states for that matter, brawls would probably break out in the streets daily.

After that we made our way back to the riverfront, took in a nice sunset and got back on the MRT to go home. To sum it all up, it was a pretty nice day off.

No internet!

Hi all,

Thanks to all who have been checking regularly...I know you've probably noticed a lack of new posts. We have some ready to go but alas, do not have internet at our place yet so things are kind of on hold. Not to worry, we've been having plenty of fun and have some good stories to share once we get back up and running. Thanks again, and keep checking back. : )

-Katie and Luke