miscellaneous rambling

Just watched this film. I heard about it from an inflight magazine on the way to Japan. I don't watch many Taiwanese films. Not many out there, not so popular, and from what I've seen, not so interesting either.

This film though, was pretty good. Half fiction, half documentary, and based on a chance encounter with a real student cycling around Taiwan by the director. This film is beautifully shot, and shows a big mix of the different types of people on the island, as well as some interesting music.

It can be a bit slow. I find alot of Taiwanese films are, but after watching it, I think it's a good intro to Taiwan type of movie. It gives a good feel of the places and the people. I"d recommend it to anyone who's been to Taiwan and wants to relive some Taiwanese moments.

My Japanese friend from Kyoto was supposed to visit this past weekend. He always takes care of us when we visit Japan. Even flying to meet us in other places other than Kyoto, so when he said he’s coming with some friends, I booked a flight to Taipei for the weekend to meet him.

After a few weeks of planning, there was no word from him, and I was worried that something had happened. On Friday he emails to say that he can’t make it, but his friends are still coming and if I could take care of them.

Right away, I was thinking, “Oh man, this is gonna be weird. I don’t know this people, and I don’t even know if they can speak English!”

I made a two day itinerary for them, researched some new restaurants, and clubs. My friend is a very sophisticated kinda guy, and I’m thinking his friends are as well. No noodle stands for these people.

Well, I did hear from my friend. He said the schedule doesn’t work. They don’t want to sightsee. They want to eat, shop, and hit the spa everyday for massages and facial treatments.

So, deciding to wing it, I flew up to Taipei on Sunday. Knowing it’s gonna be an expensive weekend, I found a hostel to stay in and got myself a bed for $12 CAD/night. ( no bath ). kinda strange. Felt like student days. Here I am traveling all over, and buying expensive pottery in Japan, and I’m saving a few bucks at a hostel. Heck, I just bought a paperback book in Taipei before I checked in that cost me more money than that! I had hours to kill in Taipei, but rather than run around visiting some old haunts, I decided to just chill. I was very nervous about this upcoming meeting. Couldn’t lose face. In the hostel I met a Japanese guy and practiced my Japanese with him. Coincidentally, he spent 4 months in Edmonton last year! We talked about home, and his home is in Kyushu, which I was there just earlier this month. It was a big coincidence. Later, another Japanese traveler walks into the hostel holding a phrasebook, and begins asking me the room rates, etc. I begin translating with him and the owner of the hostel. Looks like I’m not getting away without using my Japanese this weekend.

At 5pm, they were supposed to meet me at the lobby of their hotel. The Ambassador ( at $200 CAD/night it’s a Bit more expensive than my room ) They were late, and I was getting worried. Japanese people are never late. Eventually, one calls. He speaks English. They are in a cab, and got delayed because their spa treatment was longer than expected…

At 5:45pm, 5 very well dressed Japanese come in. One is only 18 years old, the son of one of the group, but he’s even better dressed than I am. I feel like an old, crumpled school teacher. Perhaps I am.

Two of them speak very good English ( Ayumi, and Kosuke ) And I am embarrassed to say that I got lazier and lazier as time progressed, relying on them to translate for me, rather than speaking Japanese.

I took them to a very well known Hunan Chinese restaurant, which they liked. Followed by a tour of Lung Shan Temple, which is also having their lantern festival at the time. We took 2 taxi’s wherever we went. Me telling the drivers and coordinating. From the temple, we took the MRT to the Taipei 101. I suggested that over taxi as it would be faster, and we were pressed for time to make the last lift up to the observation deck of the world’s tallest building. They took photos everywhere, and liked the novelty of taking the MRT.

After the 101, they were getting very tired. Most of them hadn’t slept well in weeks they said, and some didn’t even sleep at all the night before their flight. They are fashion designers for movie stars. They do the sets for TV commercials and movies. Living the jet setting life, meeting celebrities, etc. they told me a bit about their work, and I was thinking if I’m in the wrong industry or not.

Anyways, it was good they were tired, cos I sure as hell was. Still, a nightcap was in order. ( “Excuse me Jason-San, do you like to drink alcohol?” )Out of sheer luck, I found the “Taipei House”, which was the ex-US ambassadors residence in Taipei. It’s now a café, bookstore, and movie theater, as well as a wine bar in the evening. Swanky enough for them, they were very happy with it. After a bottle of wine though, they wanted more drinks and I was worried that I wasn’t gonna get any sleep at all. After they told me about their work, I didn’t dare to complain that I was “tired” I just smiled, and nursed my wine.

When I returned to my tiny room ( it was about 4m x 6m ) , I remember turning on the lights, taking off my boots, and calling Dallas to say good night. and I was out until morning. Didn’t change clothes, brush my teeth or anything.

Today, I woke up, re-planned my itinerary a bit. I took them to Ding Tai Fung, a world famous dumpling house. They were ecstatic. AT $180NT per order of dumplings, its about 2.5 times the normal price of any other place. But man, they are good dumplings. The area it’s in is also full of boutique shops, and we shopped around for an hour. I was impressed. These places in Taipei cater to a lot of tourists, and a lot are from Japan, so the sales staff, waitresses, and menus are in English, Chinese, and Japanese. I don’t know how good their Japanese is, but it’s sure a lot better than mine. I was wondering how useful I was being at that point in time.

On this second day, I’m wearing the same jeans, boots, jacket, but just changed my shirt. These new friends have totally different looks ~ even changing their jackets, handbags, and shoes. Even the high school kid. I’m definitely out of my element.

Since they had a spa appointment, and I had to get back to work, I left them at the hotel. I gave them a 2 page list of places, restaurants etc. I had researched and recommended for them to go to.

They paid for the taxi’s and my meals, despite my protests. Although I didn’t know them, they are guests and I wanted to treat them, but they wouldn’t let me. They even gave me a small gift of Japanese snacks as a thank you for spending time with them. I had already paid for hotel, airfare, and took a class off, but I was thinking of taking the rest of the day off to spend it in Taipei. But I thought, no, the rest of the week is even busier, so I better leave on a high note.

Without them, I was back to saving my pennies. Rather than take the taxi, I took the bus to the airport. I had to transfer buses, and even got on the wrong bus, and lost some time. It took me an hour to get to the airport. A taxi would have only taken 15 min. I got back home, and then after a 20 min. break, went straight into my evening classes.

It was one of those whirlwind weekends. Bizarre meetings and coincidences. Good food and drink, and met some new friends. In addition to all this, my exploring found some new places in Taipei that I want to go to next time I’m there too. I found a new tea house, restaurant, a sake bar, and a special chocolaterie. all places to blow some more dough and gain weight.. But if I stay in $12/night places it won’t be so bad.

A few years ago there was a very popular movie released in Japan, and it became a hit it Taiwan as well. it was a true story of geek love. I only recently saw this movie, but thought it was quite funny, and as the english website states , " for the geek in all of us", because there is a geeky part in us all.

Growing up as a fan of Japanese animation, I also couldn't help but laugh and be envious at the same time of the main characters toy collection in the movie. :)

It's been released in North America, and there is an English version of the comic book too. Check it out.

http://www.trainman-movie.com/news.htm

Not going to give this post the time it deserves, because i need some serious sleep right now..
This is the mouth of Mt. Aso. It is an active volcano, and the caldera is the largest in the world.
Getting here wasn't so bad. It was getting out of the mountains around Aso that got us into trouble. ( see previous post )
Being here was quite exciting. There are volcano staff around with gas masks, constantly monitoring visitors in case anyone feels ill. There are warning lights at the mouth of the volcano indicating the level of sulfur dioxide in the air at any given time. There are even "bunkers" in case of emergency. Personally I think you'd be screwed if the volcano erupted and you were standing there.
Anyways, the trip was exciting, although there was too much SO2 at the time we were there. This caused us to cancel any short day hike since the trails around the volcano were closed. Probably just as well, because after an hour of exposure at the top, I could feel a bit of burning sensation in my lungs which probably wasn't good for my health.

it's late, and I'm very tired. The new school semester has just started, and there is alot to do. I wrote these notes down last week during the beginning of the Chinese new year. Well, it's still considered the new year right now. Celebrations will continue for another week or so.

I'm out of energy right now, so I'll just put these notes up now, and continue another day:
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Today is the first day of the lunar new year, the year of the rat. A cold front has hit Taiwan, and its about 15 degrees down here in the South, and about 8 degrees in Taipei. Cold for this part of the world.

We went out for a coffee and to two different temples that we usually go to on this day. The number of people at the temples have dwindles a lot, and the one temple that usually gives out token red envelopes did not do so this year.

Yesterday night the family finished the year end dinner early and the streets were much quieter than usual. We always stay up to midnight and light a large box of firecrackers in front of the school. ( We can’t light any in our condo this year )

The amount of people lighting the large firecrackers has gone down as well. There are still kids on the streets lighting firecrackers though, but the general feel was very quiet this year.

I didn’t want to leave Japan. Thinking that I still have several days of holiday left, I’d have liked to stay abroad. However, the last night there, I was ready to head back. It’s still good to keep some traditions alive, and being with family during Chinese New year is of course one of them.

So last night and this morning the quietness around made me feel a bit sad. The business place was the department store. People had lined up early in the morning and were waiting to get “fortune bags”, which are mystery bags of goods. You pay $1000NTD, but what you get in the bag could be of a much greater value than what you paid. Sad. Waiting in line for something like that. Dollar for dollar you win I suppose, but a sad way to start the new year. Also, what you get isn’t exactly going to be what you “want” or “need”.

I’m feeling very tired today. The effects of travel catching up. I used a lot of my Japanese skills. Pushed it to the limit and then some, so my brain is fried. Also, we didn’t get a chance to relax for a few days, but kept going to see different places. I could have just chilled out in Kumomoto for a few days. Sat in a tea house, and admired the castle through the window. Go for some sushi in the evening. Read another book.

The key to travel like this is, in my opinion, the ability to be in the moment while you are there, and to enjoy things for what it is. Even being stranded in the snow was quite “exciting” looking back at it now, and also a good learning experience.

Technology is a good thing, but one must never forget that intuition and common sense is still very important in any decision process. Never give in fully to the technology.

All rental cars in Japan have GPS units at no extra charge. Our rental car was no exception. The first 2 hours using it was a nightmare. Getting used to driving on the opposite side of the road. Tiny roadways, and the GPS telling you to make turns at roads so small, you are sure that the directions are wrong ( but they weren’t ). Also, the GPS is only in Japanese, and we haven’t used it before. Don’t want to spend too much time looking at it, and not on the road.

After I got used to it, our second destination to Mt. Aso was a good drive. We got there, saw the volcano and then made it to our hotel for the night and all was fine.

The next morning we should have left early to return the car. Or at the very most, drove around for a few hours, and get back to Kumomoto at noon.

Dallas decided to rent the car for the whole day, and return it in the evening. That’s when we began to drive to Hida.

We crossed over another mountain on the way to Hida and the town is nestled in a valley on the edge of Mt. Aso national park.

It’s considered a little Kyoto for it’s Meji and Showa era old houses and streets. It was raining the whole time we were there, but we enjoyed walking around. We went to have tea at a 150 year old teahouse. Did a bit of shopping, and just strolled around.

I knew that to get back to Kumomoto we should take a longer route around the mountains. It would begin to snow in the mountains and we didn’t want to get caught in them. We entered our hotel phone number into the GPS and it began to map a route and estimate our ETA for the trip. However, it plans the most direct route which meant going through some small roads through the mountains. The GPS doesn’t take into account the geography topography of the area. It doesn’t know where there is road construction either. Something felt wrong, but I dismissed it and followed the computer. That’s when we got into trouble.

The sun began to set, and the rain turned into snow. The entire country was getting hit with an unusual amount of cold weather and precipitation and we were in the middle of it.

Around 5pm our car got stuck on an incline. We couldn’t go up or down, and the snow began to freeze. I began to get very worried and had not so nice images of us being stuck in the middle of nowhere for the night, and/or driving off a cliff if we made it out of there, and continued on a treacherous road.

Eventually I got the car out, and managed to turn it around 180 degrees on the angled, narrow, mountain road.

We drove back about 15 min. and got to a small village. I stopped and got help from a woman at a convenience store. She and I talked for about 15 min. using my poor Japanese and a tattered map and we weren’t really getting anywhere. Some people came to her shop and they knew of places to stay nearby. Thankfully the last person knew of one small Minshuku ( guesthouse) not far away. She called someone to get the number, and then called the minshuku to inform them that we were coming. We bought some provisions for the night and the next day from the shop and left.

The minshuku was run by an elderly couple in their 60’s. They are retired school teahers. We were their only guests. The place has 2 rooms which can sleep 4 people per room. They had only been open for 3 months, and we are their first foreign customers. Thankful that we had a place to stay for the night, we were still not in the clear. How will we make it down the mountain the next day? What about the car? And our hotel in Kumomoto? We had to be on a train tomorrow afternoon to meet our friend in Karatsu. Plus, how much is this night going to cost us? Do we have enough food and water in case it is too costly to eat there?

All these thoughts ran through my head. The couple were, however, very nice. They called all of the above to explain our situation in Japanese. ( they did bill us for the long distance calls later though..)

The charged us a regular guesthouse rate for the stay and breakfast. ( $100 USD)

We were tired, and stressed, and my final consideration was getting chains for the car tires. We had trouble getting them earlier, and when we finally got a hold of a place, they wanted to charge us $180USD for the chains, PLUS $650USD to come to the guesthouse and put them on.

That’s when my brain almost burst. The hotel owner was talking to me in Japanese, but my brain could no longer process anything. The whole cost of the chains would cost more than my flight over there. However, we could die on the road, ( or “just” crash ). OR we could stay holed up in the mountains. My brain was just spinning around thinking insane thoughts. The minshuku owner brought us some snacks, fruit, and beer for us all on the house. He felt bad for our situation.

It was a long long night. We woke up the next morning and lucked out. The sun was shining and the snow was expected to begin melting closer to noontime. After a great homemade breakfast, we chatted and then was clear to take off around 11am. The owner took us out on the road and led us to a main provincial road in which we were able to get our way out safely.

These are the owners of the minshuku. They are retired school teachers. They place has been opened for only 3 months, and we are their first foreign guests.

Miyamoto Musashi was one of the most famous samurai ever. He was well known for his 2 sword fighting style, and for the authorship of “The Book of 5 Rings”. This is Reigando cave where he mediated for 90 days and wrote the book.

In the tourist brochures this is listed as an attraction that is only a short 12km trip just outside of town. A short day trip. 1/2 a day in fact.

What they don’t tell you is that in fact, this place is in the mountains around Kumamoto, and that there is no public transport. Even some locals I asked, hadn’t heard of it. We had just rented our little Nissan, and it was suggested that we go there before we headed further to Mt. Aso. It took us double the calculated time due to :

1. Driving with a right hand drive

2. Narrow Japanese roads

3. GPS speaking Japanese and all instructions in Japanese

4. Mountainous roads

But we made it. We were the only ones there… It was peaceful, and very scenic. I could see why Musashi loved to go there.

When I was younger and practiced martial arts, I read his books and the novel about his life. It was very inspiring, and affected the way I thought about things. To think that all these years later I would go to this cave is very amazing to me. And to be able to visit it with Dallas and not have other tourists about made it more special. like it ( the cave ) was still existing for us to come one day.

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Horsemeat is a local specialty in Kumomoto. You can have it in different ways. We tried it deep fried “katsu” style ( refer to other post ), and had it raw ( sashimi ) as in this picture. Raw was better. It melts in your mouth. Tastes like beef.

Sometimes when you focus on the fact that it’s horse, you gag a little, but when you let go of that and just eat it, it’s tasty.

The glass is sake, not water. It's served chilled. I know alot of people know that Japan is expensive, so just to satisfy your curiosity, this plate of sashimi and the sake costs about $25 CAD.

This is one of the imperial sedan chairs that would have carried the lord in and out of the castle. It has beautiful gold inlay, and the inside of the sedan is painted as well. I’ve not seen one so intricate before, and the first time for me to see one that was decorated inside too.

Although it is behind glass, and there is the annoying blue frame in the middle of it, I was able to get a wide angle shot of it without anyone around. On full screen, you can see get a good sense of the grandeur of it, but I guess it doesn't work out quite so well here.

Kumomoto Castle is one of the “big 3” castles in Japan. The others are Himeji ( in Osaka), and Matsumoto ( in Matsumoto ). We’ve been to Matsumoto, which is the oldest, complete castle in Japan. Kumomoto castle is much larger, and has many buildings surrounding the proper castle. It was impressive in size, but unfortunately the castle was being repaired and so the tops of the towers were covered in scaffolding. On the inside, they also limited the visitor’s access areas, and so the visit was shortened.

For me, the most impressive part of the castle was how impregnable it felt. The castle stands on a hill overlooking the city. It has an outer moat and wall, and then there is a large ditch on the inside as well. The castle is on the inside of that with massive concave sloped walls.

One would come to the castle to storm it, and just look and turn around and go home and have a beer.

My photo doesn't do it justice. Sorry