Taiwan in a week
In November, the family took a trip back to the (sort of) motherland, Taiwan. My first time back since 1989, when I was 13. I wasn't particularly looking forward to the trip. I wasn't dreading it, but I was not happy with the 18 hour plane ride. It ended up being quite fantastic. Instead of staying in Taipei the whole time, we took a trip to the east coast, to the Taroko area, up in the mountains. According to my dad, who planned the whole trip, he thought it was the only other place worth visiting in all of Taiwan. That may or may not be true, but it was still spectacular. A lot of geography I'd never seen before. Just mountains, valleys, and rivers. Although a lot of time was spent playing Dance Dance Revolution in the rec room.
Anyway, overall it was just a good family vacation. A constant undercurrent of the whole trip was the fact that it was probably the last time the whole family would take a trip together, at least for the foreseeable future. Still, most of us had a good time. Many good meals were eaten, sights were seen, and fun was had. I would've stayed longer if I could've. I was just getting into the swing of speaking chinese. or trying to speak chinese.
I still think I could move there and be a successful pop star or game show host.
Naturally, there are pictures. They're very family-vacation-slideshow-y, but, you know, that's what they are.
Sights seen
Odd signage
Eats eaten
Random odd/amusing/embarrasments of the trip:
-Going through airport security, you have to take your shoes and belt off. I guess some sort of automatic response kicked in while I was taking off the shoes in belt, because when I walked through the metal detector, I was standing there with my hips on my hands, when the security woman looks at me funny. I look down, and of course my fly is wide open. I guess my mind thought it was taking-off-pants-time, and just kept going with the pants taking off. Very embarrassing, but also amusing to all.
-I was amazed at how long I could sit on the plane not doing anything. Not eating or sleeping or reading or watching a movie. I just sat there, perfectly content, for hours. I brought two books to read. I had to finish the last 50 pages of The Unberable Lightness of Being, and I had a very short novella. I barely finished the first book, which, by the way, I think I enjoyed.
-My mom is a fantastic ping-pong player. She complains that she can't hear very well these days, and her eyesight isn't what it used to be, and she was never the quickest on her feet. But man, the old reflexes are still there. I wasn't taking it easy on her, and I was making some ridiculous slams, and she'd just stick the paddle out and return it like nothing. And she'd hit pretty hard, and with accuracy. She had me litterally running around the table. we didn't play for points, and I'm pretty sure I could beat her, but I think it'd be close, and I think she'd beat any other family member. It's just that, you know, I'm awesome. But the mom's ability was quite surprising. Growing up, she would consistently beat us, but I just figured with her aging, it'd be no problem. I also learned that she was the ping-pong champion of her highschool. It shows.
-meals are a lot more pleasant when you don't have to calculate the tip at the end, or worry about who's not paying his or her share. Plus, in most of the restaurants, the wait staff actually took pride in their work and were very friendly and informative about the food. It was very confusing.
-Pushy salespeople are the same everywhere. Actually, they were worse in Taiwan. Walking through a department store was like walking through a zombie movie. You never know when or from where a salesperson will spring out, so you have to keep moving. The moment you come to a complete stop, they'll pounce. Even after they realize you don't have great command of the language, they won't let up. On the plus side, it helps you make up your mind about an item very quickly.
-My most amusing purchase was a bag I bought for Miss Charming Melodee. It was a Converse bag that i guess was supposed to read "For the love of the game." Instead, it read "For Love of the Came." I didn't really hesitate to buy it
-Taiwan- In general, not a very attractive population. They're ok for your standard asian-fetishists, but not a whole lot of lookers. Maybe that's why everyone knew my brothers and I weren't from Taiwan. That's what I like to think, at least. It might have also been the constant clueless look on our faces. Actually, most of the time people thought we were Japanese. I don't want to get into a whole race war thing, but we were not perplexed.
Anyway, overall it was just a good family vacation. A constant undercurrent of the whole trip was the fact that it was probably the last time the whole family would take a trip together, at least for the foreseeable future. Still, most of us had a good time. Many good meals were eaten, sights were seen, and fun was had. I would've stayed longer if I could've. I was just getting into the swing of speaking chinese. or trying to speak chinese.
I still think I could move there and be a successful pop star or game show host.
Naturally, there are pictures. They're very family-vacation-slideshow-y, but, you know, that's what they are.
Sights seen
Odd signage
Eats eaten
Random odd/amusing/embarrasments of the trip:
-Going through airport security, you have to take your shoes and belt off. I guess some sort of automatic response kicked in while I was taking off the shoes in belt, because when I walked through the metal detector, I was standing there with my hips on my hands, when the security woman looks at me funny. I look down, and of course my fly is wide open. I guess my mind thought it was taking-off-pants-time, and just kept going with the pants taking off. Very embarrassing, but also amusing to all.
-I was amazed at how long I could sit on the plane not doing anything. Not eating or sleeping or reading or watching a movie. I just sat there, perfectly content, for hours. I brought two books to read. I had to finish the last 50 pages of The Unberable Lightness of Being, and I had a very short novella. I barely finished the first book, which, by the way, I think I enjoyed.
-My mom is a fantastic ping-pong player. She complains that she can't hear very well these days, and her eyesight isn't what it used to be, and she was never the quickest on her feet. But man, the old reflexes are still there. I wasn't taking it easy on her, and I was making some ridiculous slams, and she'd just stick the paddle out and return it like nothing. And she'd hit pretty hard, and with accuracy. She had me litterally running around the table. we didn't play for points, and I'm pretty sure I could beat her, but I think it'd be close, and I think she'd beat any other family member. It's just that, you know, I'm awesome. But the mom's ability was quite surprising. Growing up, she would consistently beat us, but I just figured with her aging, it'd be no problem. I also learned that she was the ping-pong champion of her highschool. It shows.
-meals are a lot more pleasant when you don't have to calculate the tip at the end, or worry about who's not paying his or her share. Plus, in most of the restaurants, the wait staff actually took pride in their work and were very friendly and informative about the food. It was very confusing.
-Pushy salespeople are the same everywhere. Actually, they were worse in Taiwan. Walking through a department store was like walking through a zombie movie. You never know when or from where a salesperson will spring out, so you have to keep moving. The moment you come to a complete stop, they'll pounce. Even after they realize you don't have great command of the language, they won't let up. On the plus side, it helps you make up your mind about an item very quickly.
-My most amusing purchase was a bag I bought for Miss Charming Melodee. It was a Converse bag that i guess was supposed to read "For the love of the game." Instead, it read "For Love of the Came." I didn't really hesitate to buy it
-Taiwan- In general, not a very attractive population. They're ok for your standard asian-fetishists, but not a whole lot of lookers. Maybe that's why everyone knew my brothers and I weren't from Taiwan. That's what I like to think, at least. It might have also been the constant clueless look on our faces. Actually, most of the time people thought we were Japanese. I don't want to get into a whole race war thing, but we were not perplexed.
posted by Greg at 9:05 PM
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