#6 Time for two wheels

When I got off the plane 12 months ago I remember seeing a sign, "Taiwan: Time for two wheels." They sure were right. I've spent the last year scooting almost everywhere I've gone. Scooters give you a freedom few other vehicles can match. Driving through a crowded night market in a car would be impossible, it's a breeze with a scooter. Parking nearly anywhere in Taiwan with a car is a huge hassle. Not with a scooter. If you are out of the way of traffic and your scooter fits, you've found yourself a parking spot. A trip to Taiwan isn't complete without a ride around town on a scooter.

My scooter (named Sasha after J.D.'s scooter on Scrubs) wasn't the prettiest scooter on the streets. Actually it was one of the ugliest. It had Mizzou ducktape holding the front casing on and scratches everywhere else. She also wasn't the most legal as she was in a past teachers name (past as in 4 years ago), with no paperwork or insurance. But she always started, never broke down, and got me to anywhere I needed to go whether it was high in the mountains or a trip to the beach.

A drive through the streets of Taiwan can be sensory overload. But there is no better seat to watch the world go by than a scooter seat.

Less than 2 weeks left. Ill try to post #5 in the next couple of days.

Random picture out the window of our apartment

I'm so cool!

I took the Mizzou ducktape off to sell it.

 Below are random videos of scooting and a typhoon. The first two are near a night market. The third video is down the busiest road in Taichung...altho it was nearly empty during the video. The 4th and 5th are near the coast on our way home from the beach. The last video is Typhoon Soulik. Sorry if the videos make you nauseous.

#7

Traveling within Taiwan

From modern cities with enormous skyscrapers to mountain villages. To the alpine top of Yushan Mountain overlooking the vast jungles that leads to the coastal plains and beaches. You can surround yourself by millions of people or find a mountain trail and be utterly alone. A hot and muggy day in the city can turn to a chill, crisp day with a 2 hour bus ride. Save a ski resort, Taiwan has just about everything. And as discovered this island is by its 23,000,000 people, it has been relatively untouched by the Southeast Asian backpacking circuit.

Beaches

            My favorite beach experience was with Mike, Jodie, and Greg on Penghu Island. I don’t know if it was just being with family that made it better. Or it could have been the perfect water temperature on that late November day. Or the golden sand. Or maybe it was because there were no other people. (Taiwanese people hate being out in the sun) Or maybe it was because there were no beach chairs or umbrellas or restaurants or resorts or anything. Taiwan doesn’t do tourism very well, but that makes it better for once you actually get there. There are better beaches in the world, no doubt, but something about having an abandoned beach with no trash makes this rank near the top of my favorite Taiwan beaches.

Mountains

            The mountains are as rugged as they come. Having mostly soil and jungle rather than exposed rock making the stability of the mountains questionable during heavy rains. The American Rockies are large gradual mountains in comparison. Taiwan is only 80 miles across, yet the tallest mountain nearly reaches the height of the tallest mountain in Colorado. They are incredibly steep.

            My favorite memory has to be my trip across these mountains to Taroko Gorge with my mom, Sarah F. and her family. This was a crazy, uncomfortable and dangerous 10 hour drive that I really didn’t enjoy until months after it was over. But it is definitely a memory I will have for a long time.

Cities and villages

            Each city and village has its own identity and vibe. I liked the southern cities vibe much better than Taichung or Taipei. The mountain villages are all cool in their own way, my favorite is Pingxi where the lantern festival is held. But Taichung was my home and I that always makes a place a little more special.

Lakes and rivers

            Sun Moon Lake is really the only lake I have been too and it is very pretty. The only river I am partial to is the one we whitewater rafted down. There wasn’t anything special about the river, but the experience was pretty epic.

I didnt attach photos because I have posted them all on here before.....and I am lazy!

28 days until I leave and growing sadder by the day.

Get the El Rancho nachos and Flatbranch beer ready. I’m coming BAAAAAACCCKKK!!!!! I will being teaching 3^rd grade in Columbia, Missouri next year. M-I-Z!!!

Night Markets

#8 Night Markets

Night Markets are a microcosm of Taiwan. Everything great about Taiwan can be seen and experienced at a night market. The sights, smells, tastes, feel, people, and prices are all what make Taiwan great.

If it’s food you’re after, there is no better place. My last meal in Taiwan will undoubtedly be at a night market. The options and prices cannot be beaten. Now it may not always be the healthiest food, but who really cares about that. You can go from starving to stuffed for around $120nt which is $4usd. The variety of food to be purchased at any night market is outstanding. You want dumplings, sausage, fruit, sushi, fried….anything, stinky tofu, and just about every other type of food in Taiwan, you have come to the right place. (Ask Cousin Jodie about the things that are available on sticks) I would name all of the food that you can get at a night market but that would be boring. Pictures are better for that. What you cannot experience by reading this blog is the tastes and smells. The smell of stinky tofu is enough to make any green traveler gag….but I have grown to appreciate it. (notice I didn’t say like) It has a special place in my heart.

Now on to the shopping. Some of the girls I work with can blow a lotttttt of money and time at the night market. They love it. For me, it’s what’s keeping Night markets from being higher on the list. Waiting around for the girls to shop is about as exciting as a ku football game. Only there are more people at night markets than at ku football games. However I do enjoy being able to buy a new pair of prescription glasses or sunglasses with eye exam for $15-$20. I also enjoy the amount of random stuff at unreal cheap prices, most notably the t shirts with incorrect English or ChEnglish as we call it. I can handle watching them shop as long as I have food and banana milk with me, once those run out I get antsy to leave.

There are many different types of night markets. Some focus on local food and fruit, some on entertainment, and others on shopping. Here are some random pictures from a few night markets. I focused mostly on food. 

No clue what it is, but it smelled good.

Oyster Omelet

Alcohol ring toss

We won 2 beers

Snails anyone?

Sausage

Fried duck neck

Not joking, chicken feet are good.

Fried squid

Always crowded

Night market sushi

Fried pork belly. Need I say more?

Add caption

#9 The Unexpected

Really, this should be in my top 3. This is my favorite part about traveling. It's hard to put this into words. Its just a fun feeling I get when being in new places. Predictable trips, predictable vacations are what some people look for. Not me. I love exploring. I love not knowing what you will find around the next corner. And in Taiwan, you can find some pretty crazy things.

Random night market, temples, people "shrimpin" out of swimming pools(yeah I did that), scantily clad girls selling betel nut, parades through the street for some reason I don't know, people burning money to keep the ghosts away, elderly people beating the shit out of themselves. All things you might come across on a short scoot across town.

Taiwan's weather is very predictable compared to Missouri. Typhoon season is pretty fun. But one thing that always catches me off guard is earthquakes. On Sunday we got hit by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake. I was up in my apartment on the 19th floor. It was pretty freaky. The quake lasted for a minute, according to my students, and I believe them. I really wanted to feel an earthquake when I came here. That appetite is satisfied. I'm okay with stable ground for the rest of my time here.

Sooooooo I havent exactly been keeping up with this every week. And I know my effort wasn't the greatest this time. Ill do better next time, I promise.

52 days until I fly home.

Number 10

Shuiguo, otherwise known as fruit. This may seem like an uninspiring topic for a countdown. Especially for a post that cracks my top 10. But it’s not. The fruit here is seriously good. Fruit is one of Taiwan’s largest exports. People travel to Taiwan just to eat the fruit. This aint the stuff they sell at Wal-Mart.

First step: Find the fruit

This is fun in itself. Sure you can buy fruit at the grocery store, but why would you? On street corners throughout Taiwan are fruit stands that vary in size and variety. But one thing is for sure, it’s fresh. None of that spray ripened fruit. Most fruits you buy last only a few days before going bad. But who cares, the stands are so convenient and cheap that stopping by once or twice a week is no big deal. You literally just park your scooter anywhere you want on the side of the road and there you are.

Second step: Decide what to buy

This is the hard part. How can you possibly make a decision? It’s all so good. (Well most of it) Opportunity cost comes into play here big time. What can I live without? Ill let you decide. Here are just some of the fruits I can remember right now.

-Pineapple, much sweeter than the stuff in America

-Apples

-Watermelon, both red and yellow. The yellow would be perfect for a Mizzou Tailgate.

-Oranges

-Mini-bananas, a quarter the size of a real banana, double the flavor.

-Kiwi, both green and gold. Gold is much sweeter than the green.

-Honeydew

-Passion fruit. Grows all year. We actually have an enormous passion fruit vine right outside our school that we can munch on.

-Lychee

-Guava. A Taiwan favorite that I only kind of like compared to the other fruit on the list.

-Star fruit

-Dragon fruit. Big fan!

- Wax apple. Many of the teachers at school love this. It’s just okay to me.

-Custard apple. Called Buddha head fruit and isn’t awesome

-Papaya. Best in papaya milk

-Pomegranate. Best in tea

-Grapes

-Nectarines

-Peaches

-Taiwanese plum. So yucky!

-Strawberries

-Durian. Oh Durian. Loved by few. Repulsive to most. This stinky fruit isn’t allowed on subways, or in most hotels. It literally smells awful. I triple bagged it and it still reeked. But surprisingly I kind of like it. It is a custardy texture and is mildly sweet. Any trip to Southeast Asia isn’t complete without eating Durian.

-Many others I am forgetting

But none of those compare to this next fruit. It tends to give me a slight allergic reaction when I eat too many, but that doesn’t stop me. In fact I am eating one right now. This fruit is good anytime, anyplace, in anyway. My particular favorite is on Shaved Ice. (A wonderful dessert that deserves it’s own blog post) The fruit that I am talking about is of course the Taiwanese Mango. So sweet and succulent that your mouth wants to explode when you eat it. Freaking good! I wasn't a fan of mango's when I left home. Now they are my favorite fruit. They are just so good here. Lucky for me, it’s mango season right now.

What’s even better is that all of this fruit is good for you…well, maybe not Durian. Chicks don’t dig it.

A mid-sized roadside fruit stand. 

MIZ!

Mango's on the left, Wax apple on the right.

Starfruit

Nighttime shot of the city

Clearest day I can remember in Taiwan. Not a bad view

My 4th Graders

Number 11

Tea

To think of a Taiwan without tea is like thinking of Kansas City without BBQ, maybe worse. Tea is as essential to the identity of Taiwan as anything else. It beats out temples, it beats out night markets, it beats out lanterns, and it even beats out rice. To me, Taiwan is tea.

 Am I overstating the importance of tea to a culture? No, I don’t believe I am. Kids drink tea from the time they are able to walk. Every morning and afternoon working people drink tea. You go for a haircut, you are offered a tea. You go out to eat, tea obviously comes with the meal for free. Drive down any street for more than a minute and you are likely to pass a tea shop or 10. At 7-11 there are maybe 6 different options for pop compared to the 100+ options for tea. It’s not an obsession. It’s a way of life.

Okay, so what’s the big deal about tea? It’s just tea. America has tea, and it didn’t change my life. Well, let me tell ya. American tea is like kansas football when compared to Taiwan. It’s no good and nobody cares. Taiwan has perfect conditions for growing all different varieties of tea. High mountains, a humid and sunny climate, and soil that will grow anything. Some varieties of tea only grow here such as oolong green tea. Bubble milk tea originated minutes from my apartment.

Original Bubble Tea. It's yummy milk tea with  chewy Tapioca type balls in it

That brings me to my next point. Milk tea. Oh! It’s what rain is made of in Heaven. Every sip is a little bit love entering your body. It tastes like happiness. When I leave Taiwan, my life with be empty. I will have a void. A void that can only be filled by Milk tea.

I have a tea at least 6 days a week. Nearly all of them were purchased at The Tea Shop by my school. The tea girls have not only provided me with a delicious boost of caffeine but have also taught me most of the Chinese that I know. I’m basically fluent in Chinese at a tea stand. I can order 20 or more different types of tea. The level of sugar and ice you want. All in Chinese, no English needed.

So how long will it be before I miss Taiwan tea? About noon of my first day back. That’s why Tea is number 11 on my countdown.

The Tea Shop

Oh the options

Me and a couple of the tea girls

Check back next week to find out number 10.

(Also, I went to Alishan national scenic area over the weekend. Check Facebook for pictures.)

Top 12 Things I will miss about living in Taiwan

Well, I have entered the homestretch for my time here in Taiwan. With around 12 weeks left in the country  I am starting to realize just how much I will miss this place. Everyday there seems to be at least one moment where I just can't imagine leaving. Naturally that got me thinking about what I will miss most about my life over this past year. So I decided to do a countdown/ranking list.(Everyone likes countdowns and rankings, right?) This will serve many purposes, it will; help everyone countdown the weeks until I come home, summarize the highlights of my year, and help me cope with the realization that I have to leave.

So here it is. With 12 weeks left, I present you with my Top 12 things I will miss about Taiwan.

#12 The Language

I know many of you wont understand this. How could I miss living in a country where I can't read or write hardly anything. Language barrier is probably one of the biggest reasons Americans ignore Asia as a travel destination. At first, I definitely agreed. I constantly avoided certain situations just because I could not communicate with people. I ate the same things over and over just because I couldn't read menus or ask any questions. There were times when traveling was very overwhelming because of the language. I am not sure when things changed for me, but they did.

Now I can handle at least 75% (or more) of daily situations by speaking and understanding Chinese. I can't have a conversation in Chinese, but I know all of the essentials. I can not remember the last time not knowing Chinese prevented me from doing something. It takes time to learn to live this way, but it is actually a lot of fun once you get it. Besides the rush of speaking another(and very difficult) language, there are other benefits.
-being able to talk about people without fear of them knowing what you are saying.
-having everyone come up to you and try to speak whatever English they know.
-getting out of tickets just because the police officer can't speak English.
-Lets be real, in America I suck at talking to girls. Here, no one notices because they only understand half of what I say. For some this would be a negative, but not for this guy.

Will it be a relief when I return to The States and am able to say whatever I want to whoever I want? Sure. But not knowing everything that is said around me makes life much more interesting.

I will post #11 sometime next weekend. I will try to get pictures to go along with my posts from now on.

Go Royals!