My Corner for Education

We talked to a taxi driver at one time to enquire about the sword-makers around Taipei area. The driver told us there might be a sword shop close to a particular intersection by Chong Ch’ing Nan Road , and we should be able to spot it quickly if we were at the intersection. According to his instruction, this particular store should not be too far from the CKS’s Memorial Hall. So, I thought we might as well walk there since we were already at CKS Memorial Hall. Duh! Wrong! What was I thinking?
 
The two roads he gave us were not intersected at all, and they were very far apart. With the map in hands, we kept walking and walking to look for this shop that turned out to be non-existent at all. People might ask, “Why didn’t you take a taxi?” Well. If I had an address, I would! However, we did not really know where the shop was located! We could only walk and search the area.  
 
Did I mention that it was the hottest day since our arrival? We were so cooked! We finally stopped at Nan Yang Street , near the train station. By then, Da Pong got blisters on his feet. We had to take “cooling” shelter at the MacDonald’s in order for me to go look for Band-Aids and socks! Yes, socks! We had to ditch the sandals for shoes.  
 
On this hot day, we walked upstairs to the second floor of a MacDonald’s in search of a seat. All we saw was students with books on the table. One person often took up a table alone or sometimes with a drink on the table. Anyway, thank Goodness, we found a table with two seats on the second floor at this crowded MacDonald’s by Nan Yang Street ! What a miracle! I almost kneeled down to kiss the floor!  
 
Here is my complaint about all the fast food restaurants in Taiwan . Well, the complaint is not really about the restaurants per se, but about the “invaders”. Almost all the fast food restaurants we went to were “invaded” by people, mostly students, who just sat there and used the tables as their study room or lounge for a nap! Do you know how hard it is to find a table at a fast food restaurant in downtown Taipei ? It was extremely difficult for us and this happened so many times during our visit to Taiwan , to the point that one of us had to be a scout to look for a table first before we ordered any food. If there was no table, we left!  
 
I understand that kids need space to hang out and to study alone or as a group. (We were all students once!) So, what’s wrong with going to the library? I went to the library above a temple once, for Goodness sake. If we ever want the fast food industry to be able to survive in Taiwan ’s tough economy, we need to vacate these kids and provide enough sitting spaces to customers who actually paid to eat there! Unfortunately, if the paid customers could not find tables, they would eventually leave. I know that some of these students are customers as well, obviously with a cup of drink on their table. Sadly, the other customers, hungry and thirsty like us who had a tray of food in our hands, could not even find a spot to sit down!  
 
After the emergency supply of cold drinks and Band-Aids, we decided to give up the search for this unknown sword store. We would just take a taxi and go directly to another store that I had found online the night before. The store is called Non Zhou Tang, located behind the Taipei Train Station. It was a very small shop but almost all the sword stores that we visited were small anyway. The owner at the shop was a very nice man. We were very happy to meet all these helpful and knowledgeable people along the way.  
 
After we left the shop, we accidently discovered one of the underground shopping districts by the train station. While we were enjoying our three o’clock lunch down there at the underground, I suddenly got a phone call from an old classmate of mine. I somehow left my little black book at home before we left Canada . So, I had no contact information for any of my friends. Without my communication book, it was almost impossible to call anybody. I emailed this particular friend the day when I arrived in Taipei to ask him about the others’ contact information. My friend and I decided to meet up later in the evening at a friend’s shop at Si Men Ding. 
 
Since we had some time to kill, Da Pong and I took a bus to Si Men Ding. We sat on the overhang of a subway steps with a milk tea in our hand to watch the amazing scene of Taipei traffic during rush-hours. (If we put a bowl in front of us, we probably would collect some money on the street that day for our trip. ) It was so amazing to sit by the main road and watch hundreds of motorcycles to spill out at the intersections and charge ahead. The zooming force that exploded at the change of light was so powerful and breath-taking. Right there and the, we knew we made a good decision not to drive in Taiwan . By the way, Da Pong made a comment about the air quality in Taipei . The air pollution was so bad that he could “taste” the air in Taipei .  
 
While we were sitting on the overhang of the steps, Da Pong saw some students walk by with guitars. We later asked a girl at a tea house about the location of the guitar store and then paid a visit.  After reading four days of my trip journals, you probably can understand by now that we were really casual travelers, maybe with a mission in mind to visit guitar stores and sword-makers. Other than the big tourist traps, we often enjoy visiting little places that suit our interests. This was pretty much our travelling pattern and how we filled the gaps of our time during our visit in Taiwan . The only person who was under tremendous stress would be the tour operator, ME, who had to search and plan for our days in Taiwan . 
 

It is not easy to be a tour operator, especially one who does not get paid!   While I was planning for the day trip each day, I would collect information from taxi drivers and bus drivers. I talked to family, relatives, blog friends, friends and neighbours just to organize a route that would cover every stop that we would like to visit. Every night, I would search online on the special places or interesting destinations to visit. Since Da Pong suddenly had this special mission for Chinese and Japanese swords, I had been researching on the sword-makers in Taiwan .  
 
I must be out of my mind to pick the hottest day to visit Chiang Kai Shek’s Memorial Hall. (See, I forgot to research on the weather!) The day to CKS Memorial Hall was a bit uneventful because we had been there many times. Plus, it was the hottest day ever since our arrival. The heat obviously started to get to us and our pace had been slowed down substantially.  
 
We changed from a bus to subway at Si Men Ding. Since I had lived in Si Men Ding for many years, we decided to swing by the old streets and the temple to pay a visit. We were so hot that we ended up going into the temple to cool down for a bit. The following trip to the CKS Memorial Hall was like snail pace. We dragged our feet for every step we took. (Who decided to build a hall with so many steps anyway?) 
 
At CKS Memorial Hall, we wanted to see the changing of guards. While we were hanging around downstairs, cooling and waiting, we forgot the time and spent too much time going through the display of CKS’s life history. There was also a special Tibet exhibit which was very interesting. I always have a great respect for Tibetans and certainly did not want to miss the display.  
 
Spending too much time at the lower-levelled exhibition halls, we missed the changing of guards! Interestingly enough, while we were looking around at the gift shop, the guards came down and actually passed by us at the lower hall. It was fantastic for us! Da Pong got to snap a few photos of them, which was better than nothing. 
 
While we were sitting at the cafeteria inside CKS Memorial Hall, I was going through all the pamphlets, brochures, programs and flyers, anything available on the display case for tourists. Suddenly, Kaohsiung popped out and seemed to be an interesting destination for us to visit later because I had not been to Kaohsiung for years. Plus, this would be a good reason for us to take the High Speed Rail to go south, which was of great interest to both of us! Little did we know that we ended up taking HSR three times during our month of stay in Taiwan ! 

To be continued...

After three days in Taipei, we were beginning to get used to the persistent heat. When I said “get used to”, I basically meant that we simply accepted the facts that; One, there was no use to keep our shirts dry because it was not going to happen; Two, there was no point wiping our sweat because they would keep dripping down like going through a car wash. Three showers a day would not be enough for us. We were simply perspiring profusively, literally like pigs throughout the day.

After the day trip to Taipei 101 and Dr. Sun Y.S.’s Memorial Hall, we decided to visit the Guang Hua Shopping Centre to get a few memory cards for the cameras. In my old memories, I still had this impression of a dark old shopping area with many used book stores in the dingy basement under the bridge. On the contrary, I was surprised to find this new building of this electronics shopping centre quite nice, bright and airy.

We got to the shopping centre too early, one hour before the opening time. It was not fun to hang around an empty place. We were like two hungry kids outside a closed candy shop; we could only look in but couldn’t touch. No fun at all! Finally we found a shop that opened early and they did sell memory cards for the camera. Da Pong went for a card with 16 Mg., but little did we know that our camera would not read a card that big; anyway, that would be another story for another time.

Since only a handful of stores were open early, we hung around for a short while and left for the museum. While we were at the Centre, I made a quick phone call to Carlito to wish him a Happy Birthday. The phone call was short and I guessed I just caught him off guard. Anyway, it was good to talk to a real blog friend on the phone and we set a time to meet in person. Man, his Chinese is good!

We like to walk a lot, but it is a completely different story when walking in the sun, in the heat and looking for street names and bus stops. Two overweight people strolled on the street in Taipei with hats, shorts, running shoes, backpacks, hand towels and bottles of liquid in our hands. We somehow just didn’t fit into the 9 to 5 office crowds on the street. Yeah, we sure looked like two odd tourists with the word “tourist” stenciled all over our foreheads. Wherever we went, we had to ask people for directions to get to the subway or bus stops. I thought I was pretty good with reading maps, but I guessed we were direction-challenged in Taipei. Anyway, we walked all the way to the closest subway station from Guang Hua Shopping Centre and then on our way to the National Palace Museum.

Did I mention that I love the subway in Taipei? The subway system is very efficient and the stations are very clean. I wish all transportation means could be as convenient as the subway in Taipei. The only problem we had with the public transportation in Taipei would be a “cultural difference” problem-- the issue of “personal space”. You see, people in the city are used to crowded buses and trains, especially during the rush-hours. Da Pong, however, grew up in an environment that personal space has always been respected. His rule of thumb for the personal space is to keep the arm-length distance between him and the persons around him.

When Da Pong was on the bus or the subway, he would move away respectfully from others to keep that personal space. However, when other people see “more space” on the jam-packed bus, they automatically move towards that direction. Da Pong was surprised to discover that people would move into his “personal space” whenever he tried to move away from a crowded area. In the end, he would often be cornered into a tiny spot on the crowded bus which, of course, drove him nuts. He later declared to me that he would never get on a crowded subway cart or an over-crowded bus.

After the visit to Guan Hua Shopping Centre and a few bus rides later, we finally got to the National Palace Museum. The first thing that I saw when I got off the bus was the big residential condos across from the museum. There seems to be more and more developments every time when I visit the museum. The museum used to be so far out of town that only trees and hills adorned the museum, but now all those condos, which I assume are very expensive ones, are towering over the museum. Honestly, I was kind of sad. I think I just like my old memory about this place better.

Da Pong remembered the museum well, especially, the trees in the museum park. He always said that the evergreen trees there look so “Chinese”; i.e., the branches pointing up in clumps, which is very different from the evergreen trees we have in Canada. He thinks everything in Taiwan looks Chinese; the stray dogs’ faces look Chinese and even the fire hydrant looks Chinese. Duh!

In the heat of the sun, the steps leading to the museum seemed to be so long and high. We were really overheated and dehydrated when we got inside the building. You wouldn’t believe the “cool” feelings we got when we sat down on the bench inside the museum. Ah! What a relief! We love the National Palace Museum!

We would never get tired of the museum. In fact, we always enjoy the visit immensely. However, Da Pong had a mission this time. He wanted to study more on Chinese weapons. Unfortunately, the weapons on display, especially the swords, were quite limited this time. I guess the display is on rotation and changes every three months. His obsession with Chinese weapons would later dominate our trip in Taiwan.

After our visit to the museum, we originally planned to see a bu dai si, a hand puppet show by the Long San Temple in Wan Hua. We were quite excited about the Bu Dai Si Festival in Wan Hua. However, we were just too exhausted and ended up changing the plan and going home instead. We had to take it easy because we certainly did not want to get sick after just a few days in Taiwan.

Our flight landed at 5:30AM! Days before my departure, I already told the family not to bother to come pick us up at the airport. (For God’s sake, it was 5:30 in the morning!) Anyway, we really took our time walking through the corridors, waiting in line for the immigration and claiming our luggage since we figured that no one would be waiting for us at the gate. By the time we stepped out the custom, it was about 7:30AM. Suddenly, I heard, “Julia!”

No way!

My brother and my sister-in-law had been waiting for a long time for us to come out. (Some people just don’t listen, especially the loved ones! ) My brother was supposed to fly out to Vietnam later on the same day, but he delayed his departure just for us. Luckily, he and I got to spend a whole day together with the whole family. I really appreciate their efforts for us.

My number one travelling rule to beat the jet lag: Always stay up when the sun is up!

Shortly after we had arrived and freshened up, the family decided to go to Jin Shan to visit the mausoleum where the ashes of my father and all the ancestors are kept. It was a good decision for us to be out for the day just to keep ourselves awake. On the way back to Taipei from the mausoleum, we drove along the coast to visit a few scenic places. WOW! There are lots of coffee shops along the coast!

We were just trying to kill time to stay awake for the day but honestly, it was not easy to move around like zombies. We had not slept for more than 20 hours! By four o’clock in the afternoon, we were nodding and dozing in the car. My brother ordered two large pizzas for take-out because we were too tired to go to Shi Lin night market for dinner.

The pizza was something worth talking about! Those were probably the most interesting pizza that I have ever had in Taiwan so far. Believe it or not, one was a hot dog pizza and the other was a seafood pizza! Yes! The hot dog one had hot dog, relish and beef toppings. Honestly, the pizza was awful but the family seemed to enjoy it very much! Gee! Nothing would surprise me anymore.

Dear All,

I guess some of you didn't get the clue. Yes, I am coming back to Taiwan again. This time I will be travelling quite a bit. Hopefully, I will be able to see some of you. My flight will arrive on July 5 and depart on July 29. See you all later.

Mama I'm Coming Home!
Ozzy Osbourne

It is Father's Day tomorrow. Here is a song that I personally love very much. On this special day, I would like to dedicate the song to my father (and in-laws) who is in Heaven looking down on us. I didn't tell my dad often enough that I loved him very much before he passed away. I guess the traditional culture we were brought up didn’t encourage us to openly disclose our love towards one another in the family.

My father and I didn't quite see eye to eye after my mother almost died from a surgical operation. I also resented him for many of his failed business attempts that affected our life for so many years. It was unbearable for me to see my mother worry about him over the years. He was the one who made me rethink about the definition and the purpose of a traditional marriage.

My father, however, was the drive that made me the way I am. I learned to be independent from the very young age. He was the one who encouraged me to be a leader and to love life passionately. He was the one who brought laughter and fun to my family. We all got his good sense of humour. If my mother was the one who instilled in me the virtues of self-discipline and diligent work ethics, my father would be the one who inspired me to be adventurous and ambitious.

The truth is, as much as I loathed my father’s faults, I love him dearly. He was a charming man and a loyal friend to many of his acquaintances. He was the listener that I shared my glory and sorrow with when I was growing up. I have the image of my father. I am exactly like my father!

For years, I have carried this guilt that I did not stay in Taiwan long enough to care for him and I did not stay with him by his death bed. I couldn’t forgive myself that I didn’t get to the hospital in time to say farewell. Every year on this day, it is like my therapy session. This song is merely my redemption for my guilt. For my father in Heaven, I love you and I miss you.

For all the fathers out there, Happy Father’s Day to you!

Ps, To whoever is reading this article, call your dad as soon as possible to tell him that you love him! Don’t wait until it is too late. Trust me!