Taiwan Trip Log, March 2006

The Arrival


Waiting patiently at the gate; no small potato for a little kid.

Calvin slept most of the way so the flight wasn't too bad. There was a group of monks returning to Taiwan after having performed a ceremony to bless the opening of a new temple in the bay area. One of the monks was really interested in Calvin and kept asking to hold him and stuffing him with food. I noticed another monk playing with a multi-functional cell phone. Monks nowadays are so high-tech they put me to shame.

Happy reunion with Puo-puo.


Yai-yai and Calvin sharing a giggle.

Day of Fun at the Mall

We spent the first few days adjusting to the time zone and new environment. It rained for several days in a roll so we spent our time at the malls and having dinners with my aunts and cousins (and their kids). Calvin was a little gentleman for most of the time, and loved all the fun toys at the malls.

Big slide at one of the several fancy malls nearby.


Test driving a beemer...


...and a helicopter...


...and even more fancy cars!

Taipei 101, Sun Yet-Sen Memorial Hall and Lungshan Temple


Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world hovering at 1670 feet.


For interesting information about Taipei 101, see

Danshui


Danshui is an oceanfront and tourist area in northwestern Taipei. It took about an hour on the MRT (subway system) to get there.





Danshui has several unique products, including the tallest ice cream cone in the world.


Russell enjoying his foot and a half long ice cream cone.


The ice cream is surprisingly light and non-fatty, which made it alot easier to stomach more of it.


The man minding the corner shop is a foreigner, and has made news on TV for yelling out his products the way locals do (in Chinese no less).


Even here we can't escape from 7-Eleven and Starbucks.


Taking a little break from the sun to enjoy the scenary and play with a new toy (flying spinning thingy).





Fishing boats.


At a park by the water, a sign prohibits kite flying, remote airplane flying and skylight flying.

More Fun at the Mall





There were several teenagers who thought Calvin was incredibly cute. They kept taking photos of him from their cell phones and sending them to friends.

Lazying around the House











Three generations in one room.


Sticking with Daddy.


Zzzzzzzz....

Since we had the luxury of having my parents and my aunt Shou-Chin watch Calvin, we decided to take a two-day trip to Sun Moon Lake in central Taiwan near Nantou. The last time we were both in Taiwan we used the public transportation to tour the island and ended up in a bus crash. This time around we decided that we would rent a car and drive ourselves. This is no small endeavor as driving in Taiwan is so intimidating that most tour books recommend against it. As a matter of fact I could not find any well-known car rental agency (Budget, Hertz, Avis) anywhere in the vicinity of Taipei.

Since I couldn't find any reputable car rental agency I decided to look for one that's operated by locals. I ended up contacting one that was about 20-min drive away within the city limit of Taipei. Since Russell did not have an international driver's license, the woman (who owns the establishment with her brother) was reluctant to lease us a car. After some discussion she said that we could rent the car in my mother's name (who has a Taiwan driver's license) and they would turn a blind eye. If we were to be pulled over by a cop we would have to lie and say that the agency wasn't aware that Russell not my mom was the one who would be driving the car.

Feeling uneasy but determined to see it through, we went to pick up the car at the agency. While we were there going over the contract the woman told me a story about a customer who rented a car from them and held it for ransom (apparently this happens alot in Taiwan). Unfortunately for the customer he had left his real address at the agency, so the woman's brother went over with some friends and beat the crap out of him. She told me this story with some pride in her voice and all I could do was bite my tongue and smile. My mom later told me that most small businesses like that have some (friendly) connection with the mafia to help them out in situations like this.

We ended up with a car that was registered to a private party and not to the car agency because they had rented out our car before we got there. The woman told me that there's nothing to worry about, the insurance coverage stays the same, but if we're pulled over by a cop we must say the car was a loaner from a friend and not from an agency. *!!!!*

And that is how our mini-vacation got started.

Day One


One of several rest stops on the way to Sun Moon Lake. It's like a mall.


A shark tank display at the rest stop.


Sun Moon Lake on a foggy afternoon.


We discovered later that Sun Moon Lake tends to be clear in the morning and turns foggy in the afternoon.


Hsuan Tsang Temple, One of three temples on the parameter of the lake.














A small donation is requested to ring the bell.


Tsen Pagoda, built in 1971 by former president Chiang Kai-Shek in honor of his mother. Reached after a sweaty climb of a 700-meter long stone stairs.


Interesting details on the architecture and location of the pagoda.


Literal translation: Pagoda of Mercy and Graciousness.


The ground is covered in tiny white stones.


Looking down from the top of the pagoda.





Unfortunately the fog meant we weren't able to see much of a view from the top of the pagoda. We would return later when it's clear.


This building houses memorabilias of Chiang Kai-Shek's life; including his (rather old and probably smelly) slippers.


Another bell to ring.








Back on solid ground.


Walking down the long stairs back to the main road.


This is next to another temple, the Hsuan Kuang Temple which is the smallest of all. In the distance is Lalu Island.








Odd combination.


This is the original temple built in honor of a Buddhist monk (Master Hsuan Tsang 605-664AD) who led a pilgrimage to India to fetch scriptures. When the larger Hsuan Tsang Temple was built, most of his relics were moved over.


The ground had many stone stools each of a different animal. I suspect they are of the twelve animals in the Chinese Zodiac.

Day Two


The Peacock Garden.


There was a peacock with white feathers. I wondered if it's albino.





The lake on a clear morning.


The back of the Wen Wu Temple where we entered by accident.


Comfy.


As the name implied (literal translation: literature and martial art temple), Wen Wu temple honors the representations of literary and martial arts perfections - Confucious god of letters, and Guangong and Yuehfei gods of martial arts.


Guangong and Yuehfei, gods of martial arts.


In ancient China, money is exchanged in the form of gold or silver pieces. Here we have a boat filled with gold blocks (made with gold-colored papers).


Confucious. The person who advocated an unofficial cast system that became rooted in the Chinese society; not a favorite person of mine.


Looking out to the main gate and the lake from the temple.


The front of Wen Wu Temple, largest of all three.


The banner says something along the line of happy new year, lots of fortune and peace to everyone.


The front of the temple is guarded by two large stone lions who seemed fond of big balls.


Display of several dragons emerging from water to play with a golden ball.

On our second day we decided to drive to one of the highest peaks in central Taiwan. This turned out to be quite a challenge as the road was extremely narrow and winding yet most drivers had no intention of slowing down. Cars were passing each other on the left of the double yellow lines even when just a few feet of the road were visible. We saw quite a number of near misses and wonder how people manage to survive here like this.

After an exhausting two hours of drive we finally reached the peak but the view was underwhelming. If you ask me it was a complete waste of time, but Russ would probably say he had fun driving among the maniacs.

Wu Lin, 3275 meters in elevation.

When we got back to the hotel we discovered that the hostess has switched our room! We had a room with two beds because they had ran out of rooms with single beds. Somebody came in the afternoon and asked for a double room so they decided to move all our stuff out of our room to give this individual the room. I was extremely upset but decided not to retaliate since it really made no difference. Just like last time, once again Taiwan has proved itself to me that it's still light-years behind the US when it comes to ethics in small business dealings.

View of the harbor from our hotel room.

Day Three

Today is the day we return to Taipei. But since it's a clear morning, we decided to go back up the Tsen Pagoda to see if we can get a better view of the lake this time.

Bamboo bush?


Tsen Pagoda on a clear day, nice!

It also happened to be the Ching Ming holiday, which is the day that Chinese go to the grave sites of loved ones and ancesters and pay their respects. This often means bringing tons of incense, fake paper money to burn (to help their dead ancesters prosper in the afterlife) and food to the grave sites. It gets very smokey all over Taiwan during this holiday.

After we got home we decided to return the rental car and take Calvin to the 228 Memorial Park in the city of Taipei. My mom and Aunt Shou-Chin also came along.

At the park with Puo-puo and Grand-aunt Shou-Chin