Jiufen and Jinguashi

We woke up Sunday morning and decided to go to Jinguashi Gold Ecological Park, located up in the mountains north of Taipei (but still part of Taipei county).

The park is two bus rides, a jaunt on the subway and one train trip away from our front door. And we literally never waited more than five minutes for any of those things. I could sing the praises of Taiwanese mass transit for eternity. It's amazing.

When Taiwan was a colony, the Japanese operated a gold mine at Jinguashi. The picture above is me standing outside a renovated mining tunnel, complete with wax-figure miners.

Japanese-style chalet built for visiting crown prince

One of the park staff made me raise my right hand and take a Chinese oath not to remove my safety helmet on the underground excursion. Or at least that's what James told me the oath said.

I asked James to give me a push in one of these antique mining carts, but he said the sign said not to touch. Then I said if it's not in English it doesn't apply to me. Then James ignored me, so no free ride. Inside the actual museum, I got to touch the world's largest gold brick - valued at $5 million U.S. During World War Two the Japanese ran a POW camp at Jinguashi. There were 15 POW camps in Taiwan, which was news to me yesterday.

Japanese propaganda photo of prisoners

Prisoners were made to mine copper in abysmal conditions. James and I left the gold park and tromped down to Jinguashi to see the POW memorial. Unfortunately, I dropped my camera before we got there and the memory card popped out. Since it was raining and the card got wet, I couldn't take any more pictures (thankfully, there was no damage to my camera or the card).

Jinguashi village

After the Gold Park, we took another bus (which we only had to wait five minutes for) down the mountain a ways to Jiufen, which is a touristy olde town type of place - crowded little streets without cars, lots of teahouses and gift shops.

James and I were starving by this time, but we couldn't seem to find a dining option that wasn't either fried snack food or pricey teahouse fare. So finally we stumbled into a little restaurant selling translucent, gelatinous meat pockets. That's right - I ate a clear, jello-like pocket filled with red mystery meat. I wish I could've taken a picture, because these things looked just like something a mad scientist and/or alien mother would incubate in some dank, secret laboratory. And they sold them in four-packs to take home!

You'll just have to trust me, it was disgusting.

But Jiufen and Jinguashi on the whole was a great day trip!

Wedding in Taipei

From Wedding

Saturday morning James and I rolled out of bed, threw together presentable clothes and made for Taipei to see his co-worker get hitched.

Yes it was raining. Yes I knew there very possibly would be much standing and walking involved. And yes, I chose to wear my very favorite four-inch yellow vinyl high heels.

"But what if we want to go somewhere afterward?" James asked. That's James-speak for, "Bitch, are you crazy?!"

I tossed flats in my purse.

No superstitions about wearing the dress ahead of time, so people take photos in advance. Seems like a good way to save time on the big day to me.

The wedding was held at Chin-Chin Garden Restaurant, which wasn't a restaurant at all but a compound on the outskirts of Taipei devoted to weddings. There were five weddings going on there Saturday. Or at least that's how many I counted on my walk from our reception hall to the bathroom.

Different wedding, not the one we attended

The ceremony was short and sweet and had none of the solemnity I'm used to seeing at weddings in the States: Guests whispered through the ceremony, and a substantial fraction of the audience crowded the podium to play cameraman during the "I do"s. Of course, white weddings are not a Chinese tradition. The ceremony itself seemed more like of a photo opportunity.

Driving down the aisle to the tune of "Life is a Highway" by Rascal Flatts. So cute!!

Flower Kids

Their doggy got to walk down the aisle too

He's a big boy.

Beautiful Bride

Dress No. 1

The emotional part - at least for the bride and groom - came right after the ceremony when they thanked their parents. The bride was so overwrought she could hardly read what she'd written, and the groom looked emotional too. Reverence for one's elders is paramount to Confucianist tradition.

There was a bouquet toss. Much as the idea of bodychecking wispy Asian ladies for a bunch of flowers appealed to me, I didn't think unleashing 68 inches of all-American cornfed fury on a Taiwanese wedding party sounded very sporting. So I hung back.

Cake

place settings

Bubbles!

Beatrix Potter-themed chocolate pretzels

The lunch took a couple hours, which allowed the bride three costume changes. That's four dresses, folks - two whites, a gold and a pink. And you all thought Star Jones was being extravagant with two. But then, this is also part of how they do it Taiwan-style: Another of James' co-workers was recently married, she too had four dresses.

No. 2

No. 3

No. 4

The food was passable Asian-fusion fare. Lots of mollusks. One of the courses was orange soup with some sort of translucent, fishy meat substance. Awhile after I'd finished it, another one of James' co-workers informed me I had just eaten shark fin soup, and that Taiwanese fishermen harvest shark fin by catching sharks, cutting off their fins, and then tossing the live shark back in so that the blood attracts more sharks that can be cruelly de-finned.

The catering staff packed up the food our table didn't eat and sent it home with us, and the wedding favor was a traditional two-layered box of cookies. Not too shabby!

Wedding Gift

This weekend James and I are going to his coworker's wedding. This will be a first for James. It should be interesting to see a Chinese wedding, and to see how James fares in polite company.

We found out - through James' other coworkers - that wedding gift-giving is quite different here. Serving bowls and blenders are not the thing. There's no registry, people just give money.

But how much to give? I don't want to be cheap, but I had to pay school tuition this month, and the plumber is resealing my bathroom floor as I type...

James' friends said we should give something above $2000NT ($60 U.S.). However, the number must be divisible by three and it can't have any fours in it, because four means death in Chinese culture. A lot of people give $3600 because that's a lucky number.

We'll probably give $2100 or $2700, but certainly not $2400.

EDIT: Since I originally posted this blog, I was told by my Chinese teacher not to give 2700 because it has a 7 in it (odds are unlucky) even though 2700 is an even number. She said to save myself 100 and give 2600 because it's all even and "6" has a nice soothing sound ("liu"). James' mother and Chinese teacher said since we don't know them that well, 2200 is appropriate. Ageh.

L.A.M.P.: Invitation Only Promotion

I stumbled upon this elaborate stand up outside a movie theater in Ximending, Taipei's cool shopping district.

When I was living in L.A., the Arclight on Sunset Blvd. would usually have cool costumes or set pieces from new movies. But this is the first time I've seen an actual person take part in the promotion.

The actor/model did a good job. It could've been goofy - having a guy in a mask and a suit stand around, but I found him subtle and creepy.

Invitation Only is being billed online as Taiwan's first slasher horror. I don't know if I'll see it because, as you can see in the background there's some sort of dentist's chair, and that usually spells torture. But I did enjoy the advertising!

Souvenir of the Week

I picked this up at a candy store yesterday - a chocolate tin that doubles as a piece of anti-communist propaganda.

The comrades are brandishing tainted products that have come out of China the last few years: soy sauce, toothpaste, frozen dumplings. And Chairman Mao is saluting them with a glass of milk (presumably the tainted milk that killed six babies and sickened thousands last year). Notice Mao also has a SARS armband, may as well throw that in too, just so no one is confused on the point China is full of communists and other things harmful to one's health.

Comfort Food

Where do you want to go for dinner?

I want to go to America for dinner.

I know, I know, me too. But it's a little late in the day for that, so what's your second choice?

McDonalds or KFC.

Sheesh, didn't we eat McDonalds yesterday?

I don't think so ... No, we couldn't have: We had Pizza Hut.

Was it Friday then?

No, we didn't get home until late...

Thursday. It must've been Thursday.

(A moment of silent contemplation)

Let's go to McDonalds. It's farther away. And we could use the exercise.

Weekend in Pictures

Saturday I went back to the zoo so James could have a look. Sunday we strolled around the Ximending area of Taipei and Huashi street. This is what I saw:

I can't get enough of the gibbons!

nap time

weird Santa

Firecracker Remnants

Flowers in the Temple

We saw "Armed Forces Hero House" on the MRT map and thought maybe it was a museum, nope - it's an all-you-can eat vetrans' buffet.