Hualien
Oh, how I miss Taiwan.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
home
I am home. Back in the states. It feels so strange. I don't want to be here. I miss Taiwan already. Anyone who has lived abroad for at least a month knows this feeling of attachment. Because I've lived there for almost 2 months, and what felt like a long time, I adapted to the culture, food, traditions, and living in the city. Now it's back to greasy and expensive food (only if I eat out, which I promised myself won't be often) and life in boring suburbia. I told my family and friends there that I will return within the next two years. And, I will definitely make frequent stops to my homeland from now on and not wait another eight years to return. In fact, my grandaunt (mom's side) says she will try to arrange an internship for me at the National Palace Museum, where she worked for forty years and where I visited on Saturday.. I have about 400 pictures to upload and so much to update on. My mind is still in Taiwan, and my times are messed up since I slept during the bumpy 12-hour flight. I wonder how long this jet lag will last!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
beautiful Hualien, talking bird, ocean travel, indigenous cultures
Sunday: Jojo handmakes his special dumplings for breakfast...though mine are shrimp instead of pork. Cooking must be in our family because my mom cooks, he cooks, and one of my aunts is a famous cook and has published quite a few recipe books. We leave the house at 7:30am to get to Kunyang MRT Station by bus to connect at Taipei Main Station and take the train to Hualien. Hualien is a beautiful town at the east coast of Taiwan and the most beautiful place I've ever visited (other than Lake Louise).
While on the train we went through mountains (tunnels). One tunnel was very long, it was pitch black. And then all of sudden people ooh and ahh, and there it was--the ocean right outside our window. People are snapping pictures every second, as I am of course.
after the long tunnel
When we get to Hualien train station, my mom's friend of 40 years from college (Yuanshan University, Taiwan) picks us up along with her husband. We eat lunch at this cute cafe near their house. I had the best fried rice ever. Definitely unique and not like the typical fried rice you'd find at a Chinese restaurant or your mom's cooking. All ingredients were fresh and organic--salmon, pine nuts, grape seed oil, and oregano cooked with purple grain rice. The owner of the restaurant comes by our table to chat with us. She seems like a free-spirit bohemian type and tells us she opened the restaurant because she wants everyone to be healthy, likes cooking for others, and another reason that's kind of hard to translate into English.
Mom's friend's house is right across the street from the ocean. The house looks like it belongs in Corona del Mar--American beach house style, and certainly does not look like a Taiwanese/Chinese house. She says when she and her husband traveled to Australia, they saw a house they fell in love with--took pictures of the house and designed their house after that model. I took a two hour, much needed nap and then we went to the beach. We drove there because the beach in front of their house is a harbor with no shore to walk along.
The view is breathtaking. I don't know what else to say about it, but it's prettier than all beaches in Cali...by far. No one is swimming in the ocean. Both Mom and I are shocked by that because the ocean is so clean here. But actually, it's because swimming is not allowed. It's extremely dangerous...just a few feet away from the shore is a 2000 feet drop into the deep end, like diving off a massive cliff. There is not really sand here, it's pebbles instead. I leave mom with her friends and sit alone by the shore. Breathe in, breathe out. The air is so fresh here. No smog, pollution, nasty people hacking their spit onto the ground, nowhere can compare to this place. I watch little kids jumping the waves, but they seem to know to not go any further. The dogs even know it. On my right is a lighthouse and a gazebo. On my left is Taroko and mountains. I end up taking about 300 or so pictures of just the ocean. The sky is turning orange and pink, and I'm wondering where the sunset is. Then I remember that the sun sets on the west...Hualien is on the east coast. But there are strange clouds in the sky, four cotton candy clouds that make the shape of the back of a sitting dog.
We leave up walk further down the shore. It's just as humid here, so I'm soaking in sweat...grrrrreat. So we sit down on the stairs, and beside us is a couple with their talking bird [in a cage]. This bird is called Ba ge--I don't think there is an English word for it. It's not a parrot, but a black bird kind of like a small crow but with a yellow beak. He nods when his owner asks him questions. He can say Wan An! (good morning!) and Baobie (sweetie, baby).
We eat another healthy meal at a small cafe called Lighthouse. Right when we stepped in, I could smell the aroma of coffee mmm. All their coffee is from South+Central America. The owner is half-Aboriginal. Purple soup was served first--made of purple sweet potatoes. Then I ate multigrain bread and a salad dressed with yogurt. Who would have thought that yogurt would taste good with salad. It's a yummy alternative to the boring olive oil + vinegar. I order an iced coffee, grounds from Jakarta, Indonesia.
After dinner we walk to the Tribal Harvest Festival. In case you don't know and a little history lesson, there are three ethnic groups residing in Taiwan: aboriginal, hakka/hoklo (my dad), and immigrant (my mom). Aboriginals (divided into about 13 tribes) are those who are native to Taiwan and were the first to migrate and settle in Taiwan. Hakkas are descendants from those who were "imported" to Taiwan by the Dutch (sometime in the 1600s the Dutch colonized Taiwan) from the Fujian province in China as laborers. They are primarily a mix of Fujianese and Aboriginal--and some are part Dutch [like me, I think, 1/16th or so].
It seems like the whole town of Hualien is here. There are crowds of people here, some tourists from other countries as well. We arrive a bit late as it started at 6:30pm so we unfortunately missed a lot of performances. The center stage is a light pastel green color, and one of the tribes wearing colorful costumes is performing a traditional ritual dance. For some reason, while watching the dance I got emotional and fought back tears. I don't know if it's because I find indigenous culture dances beautiful or maybe because at this moment I realized that I now want to have a career related to cultures/preserving indigenous cultures (+animals, fashion, art, food, marketing). Watching this makes me want to come back here, to Hualien or somewhere in Taiwan where I can study aboriginal culture, language, and history. And, there is still so much to learn about my own family history. After spending plenty of time with my family here, I still have many questions about my ancestors.
~~MORE PICTURES IN NEXT POST :)
While on the train we went through mountains (tunnels). One tunnel was very long, it was pitch black. And then all of sudden people ooh and ahh, and there it was--the ocean right outside our window. People are snapping pictures every second, as I am of course.
after the long tunnelWhen we get to Hualien train station, my mom's friend of 40 years from college (Yuanshan University, Taiwan) picks us up along with her husband. We eat lunch at this cute cafe near their house. I had the best fried rice ever. Definitely unique and not like the typical fried rice you'd find at a Chinese restaurant or your mom's cooking. All ingredients were fresh and organic--salmon, pine nuts, grape seed oil, and oregano cooked with purple grain rice. The owner of the restaurant comes by our table to chat with us. She seems like a free-spirit bohemian type and tells us she opened the restaurant because she wants everyone to be healthy, likes cooking for others, and another reason that's kind of hard to translate into English.
Mom's friend's house is right across the street from the ocean. The house looks like it belongs in Corona del Mar--American beach house style, and certainly does not look like a Taiwanese/Chinese house. She says when she and her husband traveled to Australia, they saw a house they fell in love with--took pictures of the house and designed their house after that model. I took a two hour, much needed nap and then we went to the beach. We drove there because the beach in front of their house is a harbor with no shore to walk along.
The view is breathtaking. I don't know what else to say about it, but it's prettier than all beaches in Cali...by far. No one is swimming in the ocean. Both Mom and I are shocked by that because the ocean is so clean here. But actually, it's because swimming is not allowed. It's extremely dangerous...just a few feet away from the shore is a 2000 feet drop into the deep end, like diving off a massive cliff. There is not really sand here, it's pebbles instead. I leave mom with her friends and sit alone by the shore. Breathe in, breathe out. The air is so fresh here. No smog, pollution, nasty people hacking their spit onto the ground, nowhere can compare to this place. I watch little kids jumping the waves, but they seem to know to not go any further. The dogs even know it. On my right is a lighthouse and a gazebo. On my left is Taroko and mountains. I end up taking about 300 or so pictures of just the ocean. The sky is turning orange and pink, and I'm wondering where the sunset is. Then I remember that the sun sets on the west...Hualien is on the east coast. But there are strange clouds in the sky, four cotton candy clouds that make the shape of the back of a sitting dog.
We leave up walk further down the shore. It's just as humid here, so I'm soaking in sweat...grrrrreat. So we sit down on the stairs, and beside us is a couple with their talking bird [in a cage]. This bird is called Ba ge--I don't think there is an English word for it. It's not a parrot, but a black bird kind of like a small crow but with a yellow beak. He nods when his owner asks him questions. He can say Wan An! (good morning!) and Baobie (sweetie, baby).
We eat another healthy meal at a small cafe called Lighthouse. Right when we stepped in, I could smell the aroma of coffee mmm. All their coffee is from South+Central America. The owner is half-Aboriginal. Purple soup was served first--made of purple sweet potatoes. Then I ate multigrain bread and a salad dressed with yogurt. Who would have thought that yogurt would taste good with salad. It's a yummy alternative to the boring olive oil + vinegar. I order an iced coffee, grounds from Jakarta, Indonesia.
After dinner we walk to the Tribal Harvest Festival. In case you don't know and a little history lesson, there are three ethnic groups residing in Taiwan: aboriginal, hakka/hoklo (my dad), and immigrant (my mom). Aboriginals (divided into about 13 tribes) are those who are native to Taiwan and were the first to migrate and settle in Taiwan. Hakkas are descendants from those who were "imported" to Taiwan by the Dutch (sometime in the 1600s the Dutch colonized Taiwan) from the Fujian province in China as laborers. They are primarily a mix of Fujianese and Aboriginal--and some are part Dutch [like me, I think, 1/16th or so].
It seems like the whole town of Hualien is here. There are crowds of people here, some tourists from other countries as well. We arrive a bit late as it started at 6:30pm so we unfortunately missed a lot of performances. The center stage is a light pastel green color, and one of the tribes wearing colorful costumes is performing a traditional ritual dance. For some reason, while watching the dance I got emotional and fought back tears. I don't know if it's because I find indigenous culture dances beautiful or maybe because at this moment I realized that I now want to have a career related to cultures/preserving indigenous cultures (+animals, fashion, art, food, marketing). Watching this makes me want to come back here, to Hualien or somewhere in Taiwan where I can study aboriginal culture, language, and history. And, there is still so much to learn about my own family history. After spending plenty of time with my family here, I still have many questions about my ancestors.
~~MORE PICTURES IN NEXT POST :)
Saturday, July 11, 2009
museums, move, thai
Saturday: Today I rode the subway to Jiantan to meet mom so we could go to National Palace Museum together. I think I always underestimate the time it takes to get to a certain place on the subway. When mom called me at 8:35am I was still getting ready. I'm supposed to meet her at 9. I tell her that it only takes 20-30 min from XInpu to Jiantan, which is in the northern part of Taipei. I get there at 9:15, and mom was angry because she says it takes almost an hour to get to NPM from there and the English tour starts at 10. But then again, she always overestimates the time it gets to somewhere in Taipei. So, at Jiantan station we wait for the bus that will take us directly to the museum. We board the tiny bus, which is smaller than the usual buses it's more like a private shuttle size, and we are literally all squeezed inside. Seriously, these people squeeze themselves in no matter how crowded it already is.
the entrance to Gu Gong National Palace Museum
Gugong is beautiful. I was here 8 years ago too, but don't remember anything because apparently Jeffrey and I were fighting the entire time according to Mom. Anyways, this museum was where I had intended to intern at. But because this museum is bigger, more
well-known than NMH it's more competitive to aqcuire an internship here. It's like the size of the Met Museum, if not bigger. My grandaunt worked there for 40 years. She says that she will help me get an internship there next summer. Hmmm come back to Taiwan for another summer? I dunno, it's waaaay too HOT here, but if I can fit enough credits this year I most likely will be back. We arrive at the museum just in time for the tour. It is so crowded. NPM is a museum that every tourist stops at when visiting Taiwan. They have an extensive collection of ancient Chinese art representing all dynasties plus special (most of the time contemporary) exhibitions that would be rare to find elsewhere. I spot a lot of tourists, most from Europe and Africa it seems like. And girls [who obviously ai piaoliang love to be pretty] wearing clubbing clothes with black stilettos...and a girl wearing the shortest shorts that I could see more than I'd like ew. Ugh, no manners these people. NPM has three "Mona Lisa's": jade cabbage (see photo, not mine because photography is prohibited), Mao gong ding (bronze vessel from Zhou Dynasty), and something else both Mom and I don't remember. All three are worth millions of dollars, or rather invaluable.
We eat a quick lunch at the museum's 4th floor dim sum restaurant. We order xiajiao (shrimp dumplings, and named different on the menu bc xiajiao is the mainland Chinese name for it), a dish of sticky rice with mush
room, and mom gets a dumpling soup. Afterwards, we begin our power workout through the massive museum. We're in a hurry because Tony, my cousin, is picking us up at 3pm to go to Yingge (it's already 12pm at this time). My favorite exhibits are the Ming Dynasty porcelains, which are so vibrant - some are even bright yellow and magenta as opposed to the typical blue and white designs what they're known for, very modern for that time and a special exhibition showcasing a contemporary Chinese artist, Chen Chi-kwan (no relations). His art style is very modern and unique. There is a recurring theme of suns appearing in his paintings. Finally, we see every gallery in the museum a huge accomplishment to finish the rest of the entire museum in 3 hours! We make our way down to the garden that is adjacent to the museum. It's very peaceful and a nice getaway from the city, although it is in Taipei it's hidden in the hills far away from the noisy downtown.
We meet Tony and A-yi in front of the museum and head towards Yingge - small town south of Banciao and still considered part of Taipei County--known for ceramics culture. It is International Ceramics Day, so the Ceramics Museum entrance fee is free if you donate your receipt (the receipts in Taiwan are basically lottery tickets each stamped with a string of numbers). We join a tour at the museum, which is in Chinese so I don't really understand most of it because my Chinese vocabulary of art-related words is not vast, but Tony and mom translate most of it for me. Tony buys me a croissant sandwich with lobster and mayonnaise and I eat it during the tour because I'm starving to the point that I'm shaking and sweating. He tells me that I'm allowed to eat in the museum, which I at first find very odd but I eat it anyways. Then 10 minutes later an old guy in the tour scolds me saying that eating is prohibited blah blah blah. Well, the tour guide saw me eating and didn't say a thing. Anyhow, after the tour we walk to Lao Jie, which is the old street of downtown Yingge. It is a cute pebbled street where no cars are allowed, and there various ceramics stores and slushie vendors...and a random German sausage stand, where the seller was a German guy.
in front of the Yingge Ceramics Museum
After Yingge we go to Ah-gou's to pick up my two heavy suitcases, lugg them down the four flights since there is no elevator in the building boooo, and bid our goodbyes to my aunt and cousin. We drop off the luggage at Da A-yi's house, pick up Judy--my adorable preggars cousin-in-law, and go to eat at a Thai place called Southern City that I ate at before with dad and Jiejie. We ate the 吃到飽 chi dao bao meal, which basically is you pay a fixed price 480NT (dinner) then order ANYTHING on the menu as many dishes as you want. Among the five of us, we ordered maybe 18 or so dishes. This was the best Thai food I've ever had. Not greasy as they make it in the States. Lemon fish (twice); soup with lime and rosemary (not but it tasted like it forgot the name) flavors; tofu in coconut milk (three times sooo delicious!); green curry beef (twice, and this is my only exception to eating beef); Taiwanese water spinach with little shrimp (twice); some kind of curry chicken in coconut milk (did not eat, but did try the sauce); shrimp pancake; fried shrimp balls slathered with mayonnaise; a pork intestine soup; cold seafood with fruits (twice); a papaya salad sooo incredibly spicy...and probably a couple more I don't remember. Oh yeah, and ice cream.
Then with my expanding stomach Tony drives us to pick up my suitcases and we move to Jojo's house for the night. He lives in XiZhi, which is a suburb of Taipei and quite far from downtown.
the entrance to Gu Gong National Palace MuseumGugong is beautiful. I was here 8 years ago too, but don't remember anything because apparently Jeffrey and I were fighting the entire time according to Mom. Anyways, this museum was where I had intended to intern at. But because this museum is bigger, more
well-known than NMH it's more competitive to aqcuire an internship here. It's like the size of the Met Museum, if not bigger. My grandaunt worked there for 40 years. She says that she will help me get an internship there next summer. Hmmm come back to Taiwan for another summer? I dunno, it's waaaay too HOT here, but if I can fit enough credits this year I most likely will be back. We arrive at the museum just in time for the tour. It is so crowded. NPM is a museum that every tourist stops at when visiting Taiwan. They have an extensive collection of ancient Chinese art representing all dynasties plus special (most of the time contemporary) exhibitions that would be rare to find elsewhere. I spot a lot of tourists, most from Europe and Africa it seems like. And girls [who obviously ai piaoliang love to be pretty] wearing clubbing clothes with black stilettos...and a girl wearing the shortest shorts that I could see more than I'd like ew. Ugh, no manners these people. NPM has three "Mona Lisa's": jade cabbage (see photo, not mine because photography is prohibited), Mao gong ding (bronze vessel from Zhou Dynasty), and something else both Mom and I don't remember. All three are worth millions of dollars, or rather invaluable.We eat a quick lunch at the museum's 4th floor dim sum restaurant. We order xiajiao (shrimp dumplings, and named different on the menu bc xiajiao is the mainland Chinese name for it), a dish of sticky rice with mush
room, and mom gets a dumpling soup. Afterwards, we begin our power workout through the massive museum. We're in a hurry because Tony, my cousin, is picking us up at 3pm to go to Yingge (it's already 12pm at this time). My favorite exhibits are the Ming Dynasty porcelains, which are so vibrant - some are even bright yellow and magenta as opposed to the typical blue and white designs what they're known for, very modern for that time and a special exhibition showcasing a contemporary Chinese artist, Chen Chi-kwan (no relations). His art style is very modern and unique. There is a recurring theme of suns appearing in his paintings. Finally, we see every gallery in the museum a huge accomplishment to finish the rest of the entire museum in 3 hours! We make our way down to the garden that is adjacent to the museum. It's very peaceful and a nice getaway from the city, although it is in Taipei it's hidden in the hills far away from the noisy downtown.
We meet Tony and A-yi in front of the museum and head towards Yingge - small town south of Banciao and still considered part of Taipei County--known for ceramics culture. It is International Ceramics Day, so the Ceramics Museum entrance fee is free if you donate your receipt (the receipts in Taiwan are basically lottery tickets each stamped with a string of numbers). We join a tour at the museum, which is in Chinese so I don't really understand most of it because my Chinese vocabulary of art-related words is not vast, but Tony and mom translate most of it for me. Tony buys me a croissant sandwich with lobster and mayonnaise and I eat it during the tour because I'm starving to the point that I'm shaking and sweating. He tells me that I'm allowed to eat in the museum, which I at first find very odd but I eat it anyways. Then 10 minutes later an old guy in the tour scolds me saying that eating is prohibited blah blah blah. Well, the tour guide saw me eating and didn't say a thing. Anyhow, after the tour we walk to Lao Jie, which is the old street of downtown Yingge. It is a cute pebbled street where no cars are allowed, and there various ceramics stores and slushie vendors...and a random German sausage stand, where the seller was a German guy.
in front of the Yingge Ceramics MuseumThen with my expanding stomach Tony drives us to pick up my suitcases and we move to Jojo's house for the night. He lives in XiZhi, which is a suburb of Taipei and quite far from downtown.
Friday, July 10, 2009
quattro, quatre, 四
I have four more days til I head back to the States. It kind of feels like a long time, but at the same time I know these next four days will quickly disappear in front of my eyes.. Today is my last day at the museum. I received my certificate of internship and took a few pictures with my "roommates", Cheng boshi, Mr. Tong Ba (head of research dept.), Zhao Laoshi, and another laoshi who was in fact the most welcoming out of everyone else in the office (besides my adviser and Zhao laoshi). On my way to work, the last time I ride the subway to Xiaonanmen, I have to admit that I got a bit teary-eyed. I survived these 7 weeks, hopping from country to country, being crammed in the subway every morning, walking under the blazing sun and arriving at work soaked in sweat from head to toe, food poisoning from eating night market foods, language barriers, ignoring what my relatives say when they comment on how fat I've become since the last time they saw me [which c'mon was 8 years ago], getting laughed at by a salesperson when I couldn't understand what she said in Chinese, writing extensive research papers at work, squinting my eyes when trying to read traditional Chinese characters, cleaning up poo and pee at an animal shelter, accidentally almost swallowing a piece of metal found in my ice cream.......ah, what an adventure this has been.
Zhao laoshi - who helped me arrange this internship
Coming here has made me realize how important it is to practice Chinese. Hearing others speak it makes me regret that I quit Chinese school and always spoke English with my parents. Of course my Chinese isn't at level one, but when I speak it people immediately know that I did not grow up here. When I go places with my friends or family, others always ask Ta shi cong na li lai de? "Where is she from?" Obviously my Chinese has an "American" accent. And apparently, I do not look Taiwanese. Quite a few people have commented that my facial expressions are not like other Taiwanese girls, and I have dark skin and freckles as opposed to the million other women in Taiwan who obsessively apply whitening creams to rid their tan and freckles. So, yeah, at times I've felt like an outcast, especially when people constantly stare at me. They would observe me, look at me from head to toe, and I dunno what in the hell they are thinking. Maybe She's definitely a foreigner because she's fat (they say that all foreigners are "overweight") or Hmm she looks interesting, certainly not a Taiwanese. I know I will never assimilate to the Taiwanese culture. There are many things within their society I can never accept and agree with. However, I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to come here and spend time with family, meet new friends, and absorb the culture and environment around me.
Zhao laoshi - who helped me arrange this internshipme and my hard-earned certificate
Cheng boshi/Dr. Kee in Sung - my adviser
Mr. Ba Tong - head of research department
Cheng boshi/Dr. Kee in Sung - my adviser
Mr. Ba Tong - head of research department
Thursday, July 9, 2009
good fusion food; racism; more shopping
Thursday: Shi-jia and I had planned earlier this week to celebrate the end of work at this restaurant that we found on a food blog. It's called Watami @ Zhongxiao Dun Hua. It's a chain restaurant from Japan. Normally, chain places in America don't have that great of quality foods and are known for their family/big group atmosphere and large portions. But, Asian chains are different. We were amused with how many things on the menu there were...sashimi platter, bibimbap (what I ordered, and only came in a stone bowl), steak, kebabs, ramen, sushi, pizza, huoguo, salad, etc etc. There were sooo many drinks too...cocktails, mocktails, wine, sake, sours, smoothies, "healthy" drink..... I had a hard time choosing what to drink. They were all relatively cheap too. 100NT for a cocktail (alcholic & non-alcholic). Thought about ordering a sour or cocktail since I am of age to drink in Taiwan (yay!), but decided not to when I thought how odd it'd be to drink one while eating bibimbap.
We ordered a Japanese niangao (sticky fried flour) for appetizer - too sticky and hard to chew but still yummy nonetheless. The bibimbap was good. Different from Koreana's and others I've had from Korean restaurants.
We ordered a Japanese niangao (sticky fried flour) for appetizer - too sticky and hard to chew but still yummy nonetheless. The bibimbap was good. Different from Koreana's and others I've had from Korean restaurants.After stuffing our face we rode the subway to Houshanpi third to last stop on the east end of the blue line and pretty deserted. We planned to go shopping at Wufenpu - shopping mecca called "wholesale clothing district". It's supposed to be crazy crowded so I was surprised to see such an empty station. But when we got outside near the district it was more crowded. There were store after store of clothes and cheap(y) shoes.
We went in one store where I spotted a linen blouse that I really liked, I held it up for a long time observing each seam making sure there were no hanging stitches (I do this with almost every piece of clothing that I'd potentially buy)...then the store owners talk to each other and say "Ugh, why does she take so long. It's so cheap (250NT), and made in Taiwan--I don't understand why they won't buy it immediately. Taiwanese people ought to only buy Taiwan-made clothing. They must hate Taiwan or are from Da Lu (China)... I might as well just go to America to sell these clothes #$*#$*W..." After I heard that, I threw the blouse on the floor and we left. So freaking rude and racist.
After going in many stores, I ended up only buying one top. We shopped til almost 11pm til my legs were too wobbly to walk.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)