The Good Brothers

By the lunar calendar, today is the middle of Ghost Month (the month where ghosts get to take a break from hell, stretch their legs, eat something, and what not). During Ghost Month you aren't supposed to say "ghost," instead people say "Hao Shong Di," or "good brothers."

Lots of storefronts have little altars piled with food - instant noodles, litre sodas, fruit, crackers - and incense burning, all for the ghosts to eat. Some people don't eat the food after it has been on the altar because they believe the ghosts having eaten it takes away all the flavor. Praying and making an offering today is supposed to bring your household peace for the year.

Last night people were setting off fireworks all over Nankan and there was a big "Hua Che" (literally "flower car," means parade float) procession through town, replete with traditional horn music that always sounds exactly the same and consistently awful to my ears.

I don't have a problem with feeding ghosts. But it's really windy today. And people are burning gobs of ghost money in small altars on busy sidewalks ... seems like a recipe for disaster.

Adventures in I-Ching

Aren't they cute?!

On Friday night I took the boys to Snake Alley. A fortune teller called us over and in perfect English offered to answer questions for $100NT a pop. Is this "eye-ching?" I asked, using my best gringo pronunciation, as I've forgotten how the Chinese say it.

Curiosity outweighed shyness, and the boys lined up. Always the more adventurous, Ricky went first. The lady had him write down a bunch of information - his address, phone number, age, parents names, etc.

Then she asked him what he wanted to know. Ricky shrugged his shoulders and with a goofy grin said, "My wife?"

From I-Ching

Okay, that's a long ways out, but I'll see what the I-Ching tells me, the woman said, and she set to tapping away on the circular board.

tap tap tap

These guys gathered around to watch my goofy brothers

She told Ricky he would meet a woman of "marriage potential" when he is 25. They'll meet in an academic setting, she said. But they'll both be very career-focused at that time, Ricky more so than the lucky lady. The woman will be athletic and smart. Then the woman said he could ask again in 15 years whether or not she was the one.

Billy asked about the future of his band.

From I-Ching

The teller said it is a "practice band" and not to worry too much about the future. Her assistant had a premonition about Billy in a movie.

From I-Ching

And that was that.

Morakot Relief

EDIT: Michael Turton and Forumosa have information on donating locally.

We had it easy up here in Nankan, but down South there was terrible devastation: The death count is in the hundreds, and thousands of people are trapped in rural areas without supplies. Hundreds of people have lost their homes.

If you're moved to do so, this is what I've found about giving:

The Tapei Economic and Cultural Office (Taiwan's equivalent of an embassy) in Los Angeles has set up a fund:

1.For checks

Please make check payable to: TECOLA 88

Send check to:TECOLA 88 3731 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 700,Los Angeles, CA 90010

2.For wiring

Receiving Bank: Mega International Commercial Bank, Los Angeles Branch
ABA No.: 122040922
Address: 445 S. Figueroa St., Suite 1900,Los Angeles, CA 90071
Swift Code: ICBCUS6L
Beneficiary Account No.: 1004564
Beneficiary Account Name: TECOLA88

World Vision is also raising funds.

I'm still scratching around trying to figure out where to donate locally here in Taiwan. So if you read my blog and you live here - let me know!!

Morakot Watch Pt. 2

We woke up this morning to drizzly and patches of blue sky, not exactly storm-of-the-century weather here in Nankan. However, some areas of Taiwan got up to 2 meters of water and several people died. So we weren't about to embark on any major Saturday adventures either.

Instead we drove to the mall to watch Bruno. There were a few really funny jokes, but I thought for the most part it was gross-out and lame. Then I came home and watched the entire season of MTV's 16 and pregnant. Shameless, I know.

I have got to get out tomorrow.

Morakot Watch

James made spaghetti for dinner and we opened a bottle of Yellow Tail cabernet. Then we plugged his laptop into our new TV (thanks, James' parents!!) and rocked out to Spoon and The National. I found if you sing loud enough you can't hear the wind scream.

It's getting on around 11 p.m. now. We're watching Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, which is miserably self-referential and boring. But I'm happy we haven't lost power, or yet at least.

I keep checking the news, but I'm not sure whether Morakot has landed yet or not. Some news sites are saying it could last into tomorrow. So stay safe everybody.

Typhoon Season

sideways rain > umbrella

I had a lunch date at a friend's house today. I lingered over cardamom tea in her living room watching the rain over the Xindian river until it became obvious it wasn't going to let up. Despite my umbrella, the space between the top of my head and my nose was all that was still dry when I made it to the subway station. Then the bus was stop and go on the ride home. It took so long I'd passed from dripping to lightly damp before we got back to Nankan - only to get drenched again walking to the apartment.

Typhoon Morakot may hit us tomorrow. We'll find out tonight. I wouldn't mind a day of holing up and watching movies. On the other hand, tomorrow is pay day... le'sigh.

Edit: Typhoon. No work tomorrow!

Annoying

People do depraved things in bathrooms the world over, I need only ask my old coworkers from the restroom crew at Honeyman State Park to know that.

But never have I been to a place where women so frequently peed on the seat and floor of public restrooms as they do in Taiwan!

AGGGGAH!

I think the problem stems from the fact toilets are half and half here: Half are Western-style, and half are squats (read: oblong ceramic depression in floor).

For whatever reason, a much-too-large percentage of women like to treat sitters like squatters and then fail to clean up their misfired pee!

Thankfully, the subway restroom crews are quick and frequent. But it's bad enough that if I have a choice, I'll pick the squatter first rather than deal with the possibility I'll be faced with a messy seat.

I suppose this counts as an overshare post.

Taiwanese seat sprinklers, you're on notice.

Their Thoughts on Colonialism

Today we went to Yingge - a little town in Taoyuan famous for ceramics. There was a festival going on at the museum, and as part of the events there was a goofy little skit in the amphitheater about the history of local pottery.

Part of the play chronicled the forced removal of the Dutch from Taiwan.

The Dutch colonist was played by a young Chinese man wearing a beaky white nose and a raggedy-ann style red wig. He spoke all his English lines with an exaggerated, whiny, stereotypical-gay accent.

The Chinese characters delighted in shooting him with foam darts.

Unfortunately, I wasn't carrying my camera.

Kinmen

Three days were not enough. Of everywhere I've been in Taiwan, Kinmen is the place I most want to revisit.

From Kinmen

I feel lucky to have gone now: Kinmen is like a storybook Chinese island. It's quiet and clean. There weren't many cars. 7-11 was the only chainstore we saw. The buildings are old, and not very tall because of military regulations.

a Kinmen cultural village

Little Kinmen Street

The old village in front of our guesthouse

As China and Taiwan's relationship improves, I suspect Kinmen will continue to grow - it already benefits from economic ties to Xiamen.

But for now it's still a ways off the beaten path. We didn't spot any other Westerners during the trip.

No boats on this beach

Lookout

We spent three days immersed in the testaments to an amazing part of Taiwan's history. We stayed in a refurbished 80-year-old guesthouse. The old man running the place showed us the blast scars in the home's inner courtyard from bombing. It was located just behind a six-hundred-year-old Fujianese village. We were told the village was designed to confuse pirates. That made James and I feel a little better when we got lost on our way home the first night.

The view from the second story of our guesthouse.

On our first night we sat outside sipping Kaoliang, a very strong liquor which I believe is only made in Kinmen and Matsu (another outlying Taiwanese island). To help wash down the kaoliang, we ate Kinmen peanuts and local clams marinated in oil and basil picked from our host's garden.

Our host serves James

Our first tourist stop was Maestro Wu's knife shop, where they make knives out of old PRC shells. Today most the knives are made out of propaganda shells - the PRC continued to send pro-communist messages to Kinmen long after the bombing stopped.

Maestro Wu knife shop

raw materials

making Kinmen knives

We spent most our time running around from monument, to museum, to observatory, to giant supply tunnel - trying to soak up all the history, but we definitely didn't get all of it.

Beishan, one of the first places to fall to the PRC in 1949.

The Nationalists later recovered it, and today Beishan is an important patriotic memorial for Taiwan.

supply tunnel for boats

We went through a lot of tunnels.

old underground barracks.

me + plane

Life was rough on Kinmen for a Commie in 1949, painting at Guningtou Museum

General Chiang Kai-Shek's Jeep

If you don't have a flame thrower handy, best find a flameth rower.

There is still military presence on Kinmen, though significantly reduced. However, James and I were given the mad-dog by an m.p. when we turned the car around in the wrong driveway. Also, there are still quite a few minefields on the island. We even saw this guy clearing one.

"He's playing the live-action version of minesweeper," James.

Poor fella, out there by himself, I thought. But then I saw an ambulance parked nearby just in case, so that's nice for him, I suppose.

On our second night, at our host's suggestion, we went clam digging. And let me tell you - little Taiwanese clams are SO much easier to catch than Oregon razor clams. We didn't even need shovels. You just dig in with your hands, paw around, and come up with some tasty treats.

So fun - everybody was doing it.

I think this little boy didn't know what to make of me.

Taken early on, we filled this bucket up.

jelly thing. jellyfish?

Besides terrific military history, Kinmen has many beautiful villages. Here are just a few pictures of the lovely places we went.

Lots of good James pictures on this trip

driver playing traditional Chinese fiddle

We took a boat to Little Kinmen and attempted a brief bike ride.

Sights along the way

Look closely, I have a sunscreen/sweat moustache. Too hot for bikes.

A caution to anyone thinking about a trip to Kinmen: We did all our business in Chinese. We couldn't find an English map of the island. I'm sure Kinmen can be done if you don't speak Chinese, but our trip was definitely made easier by the fact we do.

MJ Tribute, Taiwan-Style

Flash mob pays homage to Michael Jackson at intersection in Ximending, one of Taipei's hippest hangouts.

Thanks to Andre in Taiwan. I found the video on his blog and had to repost.

Satan's Buffet of Nankan

This place is new. James bought some pig feet there. He said they were good. Pig feet are a little greasy for me.

Six is considered an auspicious number here, and it has a pleasant sounding name in Chinese - "liu." Now and then I'll see business ads with lots of sixes. Awhile back I saw a truck with a "Call This Number to Order McDonalds" ad and the number was all sixes. It made me laugh because that would never fly in the States.

In other news, I was light on posts this week because I was spending all my time finishing a treatment for the producer we've been talking to. We met her and one of her directors in a McDonalds Tuesday night. It seemed like there was lots of nodding and positive energy, so we have our hopes up...

But this is the first time they've seen anything in writing from us, so we have our fingers crossed.

I rewarded myself for all that work by watching three movies today. Yeah, that's right: Witness, followed by Panic Room, and then Drag Me to Hell at the theater. I also squeezed in a nap and a run to Pizza Hut for a large supreme.

Before you chastise me for not getting outside to enjoy a summer Sunday, let me tell you: I tried that last weekend:

I only look shorter because they're standing on the sidewalk and I'm not.

James' family is in town. We drove North to visit Dharma Drum Mountain, a big modern Zen Buddhist temple. There was a shuttle from the parking lot, but James' uncle thought we should walk.

Despite drinking water, I got a nasty headache. It's just too hot these days.

In the photo you can see my umbrella - I take one everywhere now to keep the sun off. You Americans might think I've turned into a crazy old Asian lady - but it's YOU who are crazy!

Most women carry umbrellas here for the sun. It helps with the heat, and it keeps me from getting sunburned without slathering greasy sunscreen all over. I may even keep it up when I return!

As a kid, I resented my mom insisting I wear a t-shirt when I went swimming. I've since accepted the reality of my complexion, and I plan on not looking crispy when I hit 35 thank-you-very-much.

Aside from the heat - the temple was beautiful:

From Zen Temple and North Coast Beach

We couldn't take pictures inside

The monk who started this temple lived by himself praying/meditating for SIX YEARS! I don't think I could do six days, but James' uncle said six years isn't that long compared to others.

We ate lunch inside. There were separate dining tables for men and women. And since it's a Buddhist temple, there wasn't any meat - just rice, tofu and veggies, plus some fat mango slices. Also no ginger or garlic: monks and nuns can't eat anything too spicy.

James' uncle said when monks take their vows six holes are burned in their heads with a stick of incense. Now when I see monks, I look for scars. Sure enough, they're there.

After the temple we went to a beach. But it was really crowded and we could only swim within a small, shallow area - there was a boundary rope and the lifeguards would blow their whistles if anyone swam beyond it.

There were so many people, the place couldn't help but be dirty. There was lots of floaty plastic trash. Eeeew.

From Zen Temple and North Coast Beach

I hear there are nice beaches here, you just have to know where they are. That's all the news here. Now perhaps I shall go watch some TV to top off my day of lethargy.