scootermania!!!

As many of you now know, Nick and I have acquired a scooter. It’s an expressionless black, old, and has a meager 50cc engine. But to me, its beautiful. To me, it means a wider circumference of living, and thus, eating. It means wind in my (helmeted) hair, the sun on my (visored) face. It means having the time and ease to explore Nan Kan, find amazing pieces of architecture tucked away, and discover new places to spend money.

Unfortunately, because of the old girl’s age, it also means a 15 minute wait while the engine warms up before we can drive more than 35 feet.

Just yesterday I drove the 8 km to the hospital to have my stitches removed! In the rain. I was wearing an ultra-crappy poncho I bought at 7-11, and half-way through the journey it split so completely, the only thing still attached to me was the hood, which I had tucked under my helmet.

On Sunday we took the scooter to a town called Yingge (pronounced Ingkuh) that is famous for pottery shops and factories. We didn’t get to see the museum, but we did explore the old ceramic shopping street. There, we got to see some beautiful art, and we even got to throw our own pieces on a wheel! The shop will glaze it, fire it, and send it to your home, all for only 250NT, or about 8 bucks! Wonderful : ) I hope we go back!

Some remarkable scooter model names in Taiwan (not in any particular order):

1. Dew Dew

2. Man Boy 90

3. Urban Fuzzy

4. Heroism

5. Jog (Is Fascinating to You)

6. Herself

7.  Duke

8. The Epochal Scooter

9. Attila

10. Cutie Horse

11. ChaCha 90

(Nick may edit this list later, pending further discoveries)

Our scooter model name? Cabin. I wish it was more exciting. I’m thinking of painting our scooter gold, which is the color of spray paint that I have in the apartment. I also bought a leopard print helmet to jazz things up.

Pictures to come!

Wisdom Tooth #1

Warning: This entry is graphic. Turn back oh ye of weak constitutions.
I had my first wisdom tooth take out yesterday. I took a taxi to the hospital, sat for about 20 minutes, and was beckoned into the dentist’s office. I told him I was a nervous patient and would probably require more anesthetic than he usually gave. He told me I had nothing to worry about and asked me which of the four I wanted removed. We debated a little and settled on the top right, which seemed to be causing me more trouble with my ear than the other side. He disinfected my mouth inside and out with some gross and smelly brown stuff. (Must have been iodine.) And then covered my face with a heavy cloth, with just a hole in it for my mouth. After I spied the scalpel being passed across my face I kept my eyes shut.
He anesthetized the area like any doctor would do before working on a cavity and then cut into my gums. The sound was like rubber being cut and I tasted a little blood on my tongue. Next he chipped away at some bone, which I hardly felt. The following, however, I felt very sincerely.
In the states my dentist told me they would be cutting the tooth into sections to minimize strain on the jawbone, but this doctor had no such finesse. He got a hold on that tooth and dug it out whole, at one point using a free hand (??) to hold my head steady. I felt it loosen gradually and then abruptly and then it landed against my bottom teeth.
I asked him if I could see the tooth and he said, “Sure! You can keep it. It’s cute.”
I didn’t know about cute, but it did look strangely huge. I sat up and felt a little light-headed, but nothing else. I thanked the doc, asked some follow-up questions, got my prescription and headed upstairs to pay.
It was 150NT, which is about 5USD.
Although I would gladly have paid 10 times more to get some decent pain medication. The stuff they gave me is called Ponstal, which is typically given to women with menstrual cramps and others with arthritis. Not exactly adequate for the pain I was in for. They also gave me some amoxicillin, which is always nice.
I got home feeling well enough to finish my day at school, testing the older kids. I couldn’t believe just how “fine” I felt. two-thirds of the way through the testing my right eye started watering. I thought: What is this? And then I realized I was almost crying. I finished and booked it home, icing my face and getting all emotional when Nick got home. He got me some noodles at a place around the corner that I love, and I did some angry research on this “Ponstal” medication. Good and mad, I took an acetaminophen and was fine in half an hour, as long as I didn’t move my mouth or touch my cheek.

I slept pretty well, all considered. But I woke up needing to pee and saw my puffy face in the bathroom mirror. Hilarious!

Big right?

Today I’ve had very little pain, but I can’t open my mouth much and talking and chewing can be dangerous with the stitches and all. I missed school today as a result, but I got lots of work done around the apartment. I aired the clothes out on the deck since the sun was out and shining and got some more laundry done. I cleaned the bathroom and swept everywhere, and I’m leaving the dishes for Nick.

hate/love shopping in taiwan

I don’t shop very often here. Mostly because somehow it’s become fun to save money. When I do shop, however, there are things about shopping in Taiwan to both love & hate.

Hate:

1. Nothing is in my size. Stores rarely carry more than one size in anything. People who had been shopping in Asia told me this was the case but I didn’t believe them. The pants here look like they’re for 10 year-olds …it’s bizarre and regrettable.

2. No dressing rooms have mirrors inside, so you must come OUT of the dressing room to see what you look like. ugh.

3. Many stores don’t allow you to try the clothes on before you buy. WTF. Am I going to take this shirt into the dressing room and take a shit on it?

4. The girls who work in the stores follow you around constantly. If you’re used to shopping in the US, this is REALLY uncomfortable.

5. Any amount of cleavage is too much. But short.. short……..very short skirts are no problem. Where are the goods, REALLY??

5. Most everything is quality poor.

Love:

1. Unless you’re in Zhongxiao Fuxing everything is $Cheap$ $Cheap$ $Cheap$.

2. More flexibility in manufacturing means more flexibility in design. Super.

3. Fashion here changes REAL fast. You can get anything you want, in any color.

What I Hate after I’ve made my purchase:

1. The realization that what I’ve bought was probably made my 14 year olds in a factory in China who could have been in school.

Future Plans:

Shop even less.

Pixar in Kaohsiung

Woody

While we were in Kenting, Reggie told me the Pixar exhibit that I had missed in Taipei was now at the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Art. So Nick and I left Kenting early Sunday and headed straight to the exhibit.

Well, first we stopped to eat, at a restaurant near the museum where we happened to meet a very nice woman who is in charge of restoration and preservation of all the art at the museum. She invited us to sit with her and was so kind and warm….like many many people in Taiwan.

The museum is in a beautiful park full of sculpture and temporary projects. On the way to the ticket office we passed an older man playing a flute with his hands, a small harp with one foot and keyboard with another. Very impressive!

The exhibit was fantastic – original artwork, character concepts, color scripts, story boarding…it was especially interesting to see the switch from oil, marker and charcoal drawings to digital painting, almost entirely from Ratatouille on. Also interesting and a little discouraging, there were no female artists represented. One of my favorite parts of the show was the section on the development of the charcter Edna Mode aka “E” in The Incredibles. Lots of work, a lot of the art was done by collage, which was so perfect and really came out in the final movie.

Of course camera’s weren’t allowed inside, so here’s what little I could take with me:

"E" from The Incredibles. I almost tipped her over.

Photo op with Monsters, Inc.

….and that’s it. I really wish I could have bought some of the art I saw here, it was so exciting!

Next we explored the park.

Poodle vs. RC

Other signs included: Beware the Museum Director and No Warming of Butt Beside the Fire

An accurate likeness of most dogs in Taiwan, owned or not.

A gorgeous bamboo swirl.

The Love River walkway.

Kaohsiung is so nice, I miss it already.

Paradise Taiwanese-Style

For our New Years Weekend Nick and I watched fireworks from  the rooftop of our apartment building. 26 stories gave us a great view of shows in Nan Kan, Taoyuan, and Danshui. Happy New Year!

We caught the High Speed Rail to Kaoshiung (pronounced Gao-shung) at 6:52 Friday morning, and then a bus down the coast to Kenting (Kunding). We got in just before noon, walked into a respectable-looking hotel and settled a room for two nights. (The HSR is amazing, it got us to Kaohsiung in an hour and 40 minutes!!)

Now, Kenting is special for many reasons, while the weather wasn’t Hawaiian-perfect, it was still real nice, especially compared to the temperatures we were escaping from in Taoyuan. It was a comfortable 73 degrees, partly cloudy. Kenting is a beautiful beach-front community popular with the Taiwanese for holidays. There are several big resorts, surfing and diving centers, a great lighthouse, and a fantastic national park. But first: Mojitos.

Directly across the two-lane main road in front of our hotel was the weekend’s first highlight: Casa de Margarita, a pseudo-Mexican/American restaurant serving the most successfully western dishes we’ve had since coming to Taiwan. The bartender made us some super-strong mojitos and we had pizza and enchiladas. Heaven, I tell you.

Mojitos! Good ones!

Then we were off to explore the two neighboring towns, Erluanbi and Sail Rock. We walked to Sail Rock, which ended up being further than we expected. Grumpy, I demanded we go back and rent a scooter before going anywhere else. I had a little trouble at first, as most places ask for an international license. Right before we caught a bus, it occurred to me to show my ARC (alien resident certificate) and voila! I found my new love: Eunice the Green Dragon.

I named her after the character from What's Up Doc.

We went to the lighthouse after that, but forgot to bring the camera. That night, we joined the insane mob of people walking the main strip night market. The police were there to keep motor traffic moving in one direction at a time.

Asia Style!

Mini-Pinball

You can find anything here: Japanese food, Korean food, “Italian Hot Dogs” aka giant corn dogs, bubble tea, stinky tofu, fresh fruit, candied fruit, bbq’ed squid, deep-fried everything-on-a-stick, sesame candy, big snails, little snail, icy ice cream, sausages in mushy “rice-buns” (yum), thick slabs of pork belly, etc. I love Taiwan at night.

Food Vendor #35,678,634

With all the traveling that day, we went to bed a little early. That night I dreamed of hitting the open road with Eunice and Nick’s dead weight on the back.

I don’t think this blog entry would be complete without an honest confession of just how incredibly awesome a scooter is. When I stood before the vendor on the main street, looking down the row of scooters to choose from, I pushed my nervousness down deep. If Nick had ridden a scooter, I could too.  The woman gestured for me to pick, and I couldn’t resist that bright green one on the end. She brought it over to me, explained how things worked, and told me to bring it back with gas, which I decided I wouldn’t do, considering she had only enough in her to get us to the gas station. I got on, with Nick behind me, and tried to ignore the dramatic, frightened looks of the locals who scattered around us as I played with the gas and the breaks. Pretty soon, we were off, jaggedly, wobbly, but my joy eclipsed any feelings of trepidation. During the weekend, I would periodically ask Nick if he wanted to drive, but the truth is he would probably have had to fight me for it.

In the morning we drove up to Kenting National Park, paid the 150NT ($4) entrance fee, and spent the next few hours walking the trails. The mountain is really gorgeous, a pyramid shape, and is actually prehistoric coral, pushed up by plate movements. You can see the coral everywhere, and it’s amazing and beautiful.

Kenting National Park sign post

A greenhouse full of orchids, poinsettias, winter cactus and ferns

Giant Maple

Ryan, Molly, any thoughts?

YES!! Bri's First Wild Monkey Sighting

There were six of seven of them, all high above our heads, watching and hooting a little. All of a sudden they started getting upset, hooting louder and louder. I realized then that someone’s brown lab had wandered into the area and was watching them intently. I knew the monkeys were debating whether to mount an attack, and decided to exit the vicinity.

Next was the Valley of Hanging Banyon (I think I’ll be replacing this picture with a less-blurry one soon):

Valley of the Hanging Banyons

I'd been sick for 2 weeks at this point.

Way to adapt my little land crab friend!

Poor picture, awesome stalagmites!

Next we rocketed back to Kenting town to meet up with my good friend Reggie, who was visiting with her friend Betty. We returned to Margaritas’s for drinks and french fries.

fun fun fun

That's the southernmost point in Taiwan

And then we went to dinner at Mambo, a good Thai place near the hotel. And after that: More night market!

busy busy busy

Mini-snails. Good, but probably still alive.

Here is Nick chowing down on some mini-snails. I had some too, until Reggie answered my question about them being alive or dead. They were yummy though, I’ll admit…gingery and spicy and garlicy.

Well, I guess I was devouring the candy.

Betty, Reggie and I devouring the delicious candy-coated strawberries +1 tomato at the bottom. This traditional street food has been ruining Chinese teeth for thousands of years.

After that, Reggie and Betty left Kenting and Nick and I went back to the apartment to watch No Country for Old Men on HBO.

NEXT! I will be uploading pictures from our 7 Hours in Kaohsiung the next day. Just not now, because its time for bed.

Love you to you all, especially Carla, Fred, Gracie and John, who I miss very much.

It’s Cold in Taoyuan

We don’t know how it happened. One day I was wearing a tank top to work and the next I had to wear a jacket and long johns. Buy a space heater or just spend our free-time under the comforter?

In other news, we had an earthquake last night. I’ve become accustomed to feeling small earthquakes all the time, usually so small I’m not sure it was real. But this one was real, and it was LOONG. Again, it took our building time to sway out the quake, and an alarm went off briefly in the lobby by the elevator. Our friends in Taipei had bottles fall off their shelves. The epicenter was south of here and off the east coast, where they usually hit hardest. There, in Hualien, they felt a 6.8. We only felt a magnitude of 4 or so. Still quite unnerving.

Last, I strongly recommend you see: AVATAR

It was totally awesome. The special effects made it an absolute pleasure to watch, the story was good, all-around great entertainment. SOO much better than that P.O.S. 2012.

Go see it!

Nick’s Fortune-Telling Class

Hilarious!

Trip to Taimall

Welcome to Taimall, once biggest mall in Taiwan, now just the closest mall to our apartment. It’s under construction right now, but I think you can still tell it’s a place that causes children to shriek.

Inside the decor is a little less fairy tale, but still impressive. Bri takes in the expanse.

That red jacket and hat on the right is part of a Ferrari boutique. I don’t see many of the cars, but the shirts, jackets and, yes, bicycles are everywhere. Playboy also has a good business selling its logo around here. Playboy clothes, shoes and glasses are everywhere. Seeing the culture as I do, through my slightly opaque, distorted, American window, I can’t comment on the brand’s message with much certainty, but Playboy clothes seem have nothing to do with nude co-eds beyond the bunny profile. Funny how these logos travel. Delving deeper into Taimall will unearth more examples.

This cute, bewildered little Che is more a lovable scamp than a symbol of Marxist revolution. The store dedicated to him features images of little Che spilling paint all over himself, dropping ice cream scoops from their cones and trying on many pairs of funky sunglasses. Unfortunately, they were a little sensitive about my camera and I could only manage a surreptitious shot of this bag on my way out. I’m surprised I haven’t seen this brand in the states yet.

Upstairs is the carnival with all the arcade games, air hockey tables, crappy rides, flashing lights, buzzers, and general stimuli a kid could ask for.  There was also a nifty mini casino for mom and dad, post dumping of offspring. There was a roulette wheel, electronic poker, some sort of horse racing game and a few other tables I didn’t understand. Gambling is very popular here. Most any densely populated place, a night market, for example, will have a string of ancient electronic poker machines fired up.

Sorry this picture is so blurry. This puffy pink princess, all of seven, was mutilating zombies with such simultaneous concentrated skill and ruthless abandon that we had to take her picture and post it to the blog, despite the low light in this corner of the arcade. We could have turned on the flash, but we didn’t want to distract her.

Let’s take a stroll

The following is from my most recent 2-hour-long Web-cation.

While visiting one of my favorite websites, Failblog, I stumbled upon this video of a movie-tv-mashup-song:

In the comments section someone mentioned another guy (Alias Pogo) doing it better, and while I think the aim was a little different, his youtube channel is definitely worth roaming. Many of the films he uses were intensely nostalgic for me. Nice work dude!

And, as always, I end up perusing the archives of my all-time favorite motion graphic masters at Digital Kitchen…

Behold but one example of their fine work (Sorry, embedding doesn’t seem to be working):

Dexter Main Titles

(give it a few to fully load before playing it or you won’t get the intended effect)

If this kind of thing is interesting to you, please also check out:

Superfad

and Imaginary Forces

Nick update: he’s sick

The Doc says it’s not H1N1. Our principal, Bonita, took Nick to the doctor this afternoon because he woke up with a fever and was feeling horrible this morning. I got him some delicious noodle soup for lunch…and now he has LOADS of drugs to take, what are generally referred to by all as “fever reducers.” All the teachers are worried…it doesn’t take much to push the H1N1 Panic Button.

Here he is in bed:

catching up with his "to see" movie list

 

And here are the proper accoutrements of the invalid:

aloha facemask, pills pills and more pills (stylishly wrapped in Hello Kitty paper)