It's really funny to see movies here, tho'. Even tho' they have the translations, the cultural stuff just doesn't cooperate, like all the old lines: "Damnit Jim! I'm a doctor, not a physicist!" and the reversal when McCoy claims to like Spock 'cause he yelled at Kirk, and the classic Scotty line, "I'm giving her all she's got, Captain!" got no reaction. Nothing. Marie and I were giggling like idiots, but not a peep from the rest of the crowd.
A few weeks ago we took a trip to Danshui, up north, to tool around and see some history. Turns out, it was one of our last cool days.
This was breakfast. I just couldn't do it, Marie dug in tho'. I was glad I'd had some cereal. We aren't sure what it was. Noodles and sauce, definitely, but the mushy shell is either tofu or fish paste. I was trying to try it, but after hearing what it even might've been, I was done.
We spent a couple hours wandering along the boardwalk along the river. The Danshui River is a huge artery that used to bring ships into Taiwan. Now it's just a touristy thing, but it's very pretty, even when it's overcast.
And we saw this traditional looking performance, even if he was using a sound system. It was very Chinese, to me. He sounded ethereal, with what sounded like quarter tones and the language I couldn't make heads or tails of if he was speaking. Singing makes it sound like you're in a dream and you're watching a Twin Peaks episode. Weird, is my point.
This was the main destination for the day. These cannons were a part of a historical fort-house that overlooks the Danshui River. I should remember better if the Dutch built it first or who, then the British took it over, and the Chinese too, somewhere in there. Taiwan seems to change hands every couple of months a hundred years ago. But it was neat in a historical sorta way. Probably 'cause it had a colonial feel to it, it was like visiting Williamsburg or Mount Vernon, but with more Chinese descriptions.
We found this shop of kinda curioes, kinda classical, kinda kitschy stuff. Tho' I think there's plenty of stores that sell stuff like this. Some looks tasteful and interesting, some looks like the worst stereotype come to life. But it was interesting and kinda funny 'cause tho' we've seen things similar to this in other places...
we've never seen anything like this. These little guys are Chinese representations of the animals of each lunar year, like it's the year of the ox right now. You can have your birth-year animals heat-sealed to a rock for a hundred NT or so. You can get a bigger rock if you plan to have kids.
Yes, Marie bought one with two tigers on it. Even tho' she was born the year before I was on the solar-Christian calender, we were both born before the lunar new year, so we're both tigers. I have to admit, these things are simple enough, yet culturally specific enough that I want to get them for everyone I know, I just don't wanna pay the cost of shipping rocks.
And last weekend we met up with some acquaintances we met in D.C.
This's Rachel and Werner. Rachel was the one who suggested to Neil, when they were in class together for the State Department, that we should look at traveling to Taiwan when our P.C. plans disintegrated.
When we met them yesterday, they were on their way through to China for her job with State. By now, she's in Chengdu (at least I think she said Chengdu) for two years.
They took us to the National Palace Museum. We'd been once before, but it's so overwhelming, it was good to have people who had an idea of what to see.
This ivory piece is one of the prizes of this massive collection.
I can't really blow it up much. They were a little picky about photos. I was only taking video, no flash, but I think they just don't want you to take your own souvenirs. Go to the giftshop for postcards.
But the ball in the middle of the chain was made from a single piece of ivory and it has at least 17 globes carved one inside the other. Apparently they don't even know for sure how many pieces are in there. Part of the mystery, maybe. They're all free floating and can spin (if they'd let you touch it) in any direction.
And this piece is the prize of the collection. It's a piece of cabbage, carved from jade. I'm not kidding and I spelled it right: cabbage. Food carved out of rock. It's on postcards and posters. I suppose it's not so far from carving dragons and stylized lions from granite or ivory, but I'm still trying to get my head around it being so important, 'cause the Corn Palace is a little closer to being a joke than the center piece of an art collection describing 3,000 years of history behind a fifth of the world's population.
But it's hard not to be impressed by something so old.
But who cares! On with the parade of inflatable animals!
I didn't get a good head-on shot of this caterpillar. Who knew balloons could move so fast. Oh, it's hot here, now. Only about 80-85 but the humidity is over 50 percent. It's officially summer and icky.
Mr. Frog here was much more cooperative. He's part of the Deaflympics ad campaign and was joined by kids in frog suits. Did I mention it's hard to be a kid with a job here, and have your dignity? At least you couldn't see who they were under the masks.
On the up side, my parents are coming in a couple of weeks, so we should have some more photos and touristy stuff to show soon. On the down side, it's uncomfortable now, and it's only gonna get miserable. Tis' the season to be indoors, so we'll probably have less in the way of touristy stuff after that, but maybe I'll work the next few adventures out in installments.
