Bit o' history

So, this week we have some Taiwanese history. I won't inundate you with the details here, but it was interesting that we'd talked with my uncle Max just a week or so before we came here and he remembered flying supplies here for the Navy just after World war II, so he knew it as Formosa; I can tell you that Formosa is Portuguese for "beautiful (in this case, island)" not that I needed to come here to find that out. But it was interesting to find that people here still call the island Formosa once in a while without speaking a bit of Portuguese.

I was also interested to find out that Taipei, at about 25 degrees north, is actually farther south than tropical cities like Miami, Florida and Nassau in the Bahamas. And the rest of the island is in the range of much of Mexico and Saudia Arabia, and it's only a couple of degrees north of Honolulu. I was interested because it explained the heat and humidity that is still continuing. Wait, not interested, what's the word... ahhh... horrified. I was horrified to learn we were in such a tropical locale. Mostly, I'm just really ready for less heat or less humidity. We're still getting mid-eighties and the occasional low ninety, and sticky. It's not as bad as when we arrived, but it's still sweat-through-shorts-and-t-shirt weather. So if we don't have as many adventures just yet, we're waiting until it's not Washington D.C. in August.

But we did have a fun and photogenic history lesson last week. We went to the museum and memorial of Chiang Kai Shek (apologies for the spelling, I'm having a hard time getting consistent English on some names), a dominant figure in Chinese history in the late 30s and early 40s and the first President of Taiwan.















This is the avenue that leads to the memorial. This photo also illustrates the adage about how it's better to have a bush in your hat than two in a bird.


The size of the memorial is impressive. It's on the scale of the monuments in D.C. A third of the way up we agreed, no more outdoor adventures until the weather really cools.































Obviously, it brings to mind the Lincoln memorial. But there are aspects, like the intricately carved ceiling, that make it as much Chinese and Taiwanese as western. I was also impressed to notice that the sculpture is in bronze. That seems more difficult to mold than marble.
















This's looking back out of the memorial. In the first photo, I was standing just this side of the large white archway in the distance. The two massive buildings on either side are the National Theater and the National Concert Hall. We've looked into seeing something here, but we haven't seen anything upcoming that really grabs our interest.

We almost left after seeing the monument, not really thinking there was anything else. But Marie noticed there was a museum under the memorial level. Which brings us to the next installment in our parade of inflatable animals!















The woolly mammoth! There's an exhibit there for the next couple of months on the mammoth. We tried to find the entrance, but we'd spent a couple of hours roaming through the life of Chiang Kai Shek, so we weren't up to seeing a mammoth display... of mammoth, I guess. But I think we'll go back. The history of Chiang Kai Shek was well done, almost too thorough, though I was surprised that there was little mention of the government's move to Taiwan. I can understand the emotion behind it, but it's history, y'know? Especially considering the success the Taiwanese have here, it doesn't seem terrible to acknowledge coming here. But, that's just what they decided. It was a good crash course in some near-recent Chinese and Taiwanese history.















And these are some of the gardens surrounding the memorial. You can just see the edges of this in the wider photos. The incredible thing about this is, when you experience the compactness of Taipei, the urban compression, and then come here, it's almost a physical shock to see and have so much space and greenery.















This's on a bridge over a Koi pond. The views around here are in such demand by painters that we saw several almost in stadium seating. I was wondering if they have a reservation system, or if they should get one.
















This's the other side of the bridge. I wanted a shot of this bird, because there aren't many birds in the city. There seems to be so little space and vegetation, that we don't hear or see many birds at all.


















So the sudden appearance of this amazing stork-heron-crane thing, that it was about as big a shock as the memorial itself.

Now, before you go running to the next photo, a word on walking around this city: this is a pedestrian heaven or nightmare, depending on how many people you like to see in your pedestrian heaven. There are always people on the sidewalks. There are always people walking. People use scooters in huge numbers, but there are buses and the metro, so this's like the core of Seattle, but damn near all the time, and everywhere in the city. Sometimes it's impossible not to bump into people, though most of the time there's enough space, you just have to accomodate each other. But there are places called Night Markets that make it almost impossible to explain in terms of U.S. crowds. Maybe sports events, like a Huskers football game (not just volleyball), or some pro-team that's actually winning.















The amazing thing is, they do this every night. This's only the main, call it a concourse. It goes for two blocks. Little shops squished next to each other and the occasional restaurant. The really astounding thing, there's a street behind me, and off to each side are just like this.















There must be six blocks of people just wandering around, looking at the stuff on sale, looking for deals, getting food that ranges from a sit down multi-course meal to something you get in a bag and snack on as you walk. This is something tourists are supposed to see. Probably 'cause the locals come here. This's like the Taiwanese thing to do instead of watching TV. You come out here, get dinner cheap, and look around at the things and people.















This's for friends in Seattle who know Matt and Jenn. Normally I don't care about seeing somebody's name, even mine, on a store or anything, but seeing it here was seriously unexpected. And on a coffee shop, that just made it insane. Marie noticed that the characters next to the name do not mean coffee in Chinese, so we're not sure how Chinese readers know this shop.

And now, a word from our sponsor. Coming here, I was thinking that Taiwanese would be better about packaging, or somehow more enviornmentally friendly. They do the transportation thing light-years better than the U.S., but their packaging is massive overkill and I will say I'm disappointed.















This's a package of tiny cream sandwich cookies. You can see how small. And each one is individually wrapped. Then the entire batch is wrapped in another bag. I suspect there's a couple of cultural habits at work. One is preventing food from spoiling in the humidity, then there's a habit of not eating an entire bag of oreos at once, and I think there's a little paranoia about disease. Just to point out the interesting food habits, there are no family-sized bags of Doritoes. The largest bag I can find is about as big as one of those Grab bags from the kwikie mart. A can of Pringles is about the largest single container of chips I can find. Crackers are wrapped four or five to a pack, and then wrapped a couple more times. I have repeatedly reached for a box of cookies or crackers, and picked up an apparently empty box there is so much packaging. I'm sure it's healthier, to get treats in much smaller portions than I'm used to, but my guilt over the wrapping is kinda at odds with health.

Finally, I'll mention several food discoveries.















One is the Pocari Sweat. It's like a sweet Gatorade (and if anyone wants to send something, I can't find Gatorade here, and the powder is a lifeline after running in this humidity). I have tried it. I didn't think to take a photo of Marie actually drinking it. Sorry Michelle, we'll have to try again for better proof. But I have discovered what tea eggs are!















When last we saw our intrepid traveler he was contemplating the egg things on the right. They are in fact eggs that have been hard boiled in tea, so they have some of the taste of the tea and are meant to be eaten. Apparently Marie knew this all along. What's strange is how available these things are, but I've never seen anyone eating one. It's almost like they're supposed to be an on-the-go snack, but they aren't.















And I still don't have a name for these but they are indeed a fruit. You pluck them off the branch like a grape, then you have to peel the tough skin, but you only need to take off a small section, 'cause then you can just squeeze the thing outta the husk into your mouth. It feels like a peeled grape but tastes like sweet coconut. They aren't easy to eat (there's also a pit you have to spit out), not like grapes or an apple, you have to work on 'em, but they are fun, and pretty good.

And that's all the time we have, boys and girls. Come back next time when we'll talk about our visit to the beach and the complete absence of dumpsters. See ya real soon!