Taiwan Part 1

Starting this blog, recently got back from Taiwan, so I will post a few of my journal entries:

1/23/09, 5:30pm
Sitting here in my hostel bed - thin pillow against the bed-board, back against the pillow - and thinking of a relatively intense level of comfort. Yes, you have some typical hostel discomforts to encounter and conquer: wet bathroom floors, lack of personal space, looking for toilet paper, etc. But then out for a day of exploring with Mom and Dan - a wonderful afternoon: coffee, snacks at 7-11 (they are everywhere here), wandering the exciting green city with trees everywhere and cool buildings supplanted here and there between mini-marts, markets, and banks; and then the fantastic Da'an Park, modern art mingling with exotic flowers, funny signs, open-air bathrooms, beauty everywhere; more wandering, more trees, more snacks; and back to the hostel to sit around our room over sushi and beer, discussing the customs and culture of a city really quite different from anything we've experienced before.

1/25/09, 7:20pm
I just saw three adults piled onto a scooter and could not stop laughing. Bikes aren't meant for three, and it's comical. We're in Taoyuan, had a wonderful meal of hot pot and kung pao chicken and shrimp fried rice at a coffee house (meals just keep getting better), and now there are fireworks going off everywhere and I feel at home (like Ocean Park, Maine on the 4th of July). After a near-scare earlier when our bags got locked in the trunk of a taxi (Aaron and the driver drove around and eventually found a locksmith), things are feeling pretty good. Had a great simple breakfast (baozi on the walk) and a long conversation at Dante Coffee. At ease.

1/26/09, 1:55am
We drank beer and watched To Hell With It, which was fun. Then the train ride to the Lehwa night market, which was great. Dong Mountain Duck Head, and other fried foods, fireworks going off everywhere, people of all ages all over, scooters (and cars) motoring through the narrow walkways, and everyone in good spirits and without worries. In Taipei, versus a U.S. city, the streets are cleaner, there's less violence and theft, people are friendlier, and there are less cops around. Perhaps there is a direct correlation between these conditions and the fact that people don't worry about fireworks blowing their fingers off or scooters running them over on the sidewalks. I don't know. But I also think it's great that you don't say "excuse me" when you bump into someone or try to get through. You don't have to say anything.