Chinese Proverb: He who returns from a journey is not the same as he who left.
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My Taiwan Adventure
Sunday, February 20, 2005
A different kind of cold
I know - it's 10 above and I can't complain, right?
Wrong. I can complain about anything! *l* Of course it doesn't mean you have to read it... but I know you love me and will read it anyway. It's cold here... with central heating being somewhat of a hard thing to find around here I'm being extra careful not to get too wet in the rain. There has been a cold front influencing the north coast, and of course, I've travelled right into it. Okay - I'm all done.
To make up for the whining enjoy some spectacular pictures of Taiwan:
http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/av/ophoto/photo02.htm
I left Hualien this morning with the thought of maybe going to Keelung to visit my cousin. However, I think he still might be on holidays and I took a chance on a city called Iilan. It is north west of Hualien. There is nothing written about Iilan in the Lonely Planet book, but I'm feeling secure enough that I can get around town with just my wits and some good luck. Besides, there are more than a few jobs listed for the area proclaiming how beautiful it is and that there is clean air too. And I can always hop back on a train or a bus and go somewhere else if it doesn't pan out. Taxis are also plentiful in the cities.
At the train station I picked up an English Copy of the China Post and there are jobs listed for Ilan. While standing at the station I met a nice girl who could barely speak English but was eager to help me. She got me the number of a hotel in Ilan that would give me a discount. I'm a little leary of this kind of help, most often when I get phone numbers the person on the other end doesn't understand a word I'm saying.
Always eager to show you where I am another Taiwan map:
http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/2-visitor/map/map/002.htm
I wasn't sure I was going to stay in Ilan so I checked my baggage at the train station for a small fee and took a quick wander around. It was cold, wet and I couldn't really see far because of the clouds. How can you tell if the air is clean when it is raining? None of the street signs here are in Pinyin - which is the Roman writing Chinese -so I relied on landmarks to find my way about. I'm glad that I have a good memory for directions. I was getting pretty chilled and my feet were starting to get damp but I didn't want to get back on the train for some reason. My solution - eat.
I had one of the best meals of my time in Taiwan at a busy street restaurant. Open air markets and eating places don't close here because of a little rain. Everybody rolls out their canvas umbrellas and awnings and continues with business as usual. The meal was a simple bowl of soup loaded with meat and vegetables and 10 of the wonderful little dumplings they make here. It was a HUGE meal for me and very delicious. It felt good to warm my hands on the soup bowl and it was even better to have such a delicious meal filled with vegetables in my stomach!
I'm not loosing weight by the way. I'm doing fine and always manage to find something edible, no matter where I am. Some of the food is pretty plain... but then there are days like today where you find a street stall that sells the most delicious food and a big meal like the one I had today was only 50NT ($2) which is a good price. I can tell you there have been street vendors which have taken advantage of me being a tourist. I good naturedly refer to it as the "white person tax." I figure if overcharging me somehow makes their lives better than I've done something good. Besides, mostly it's $30-50 NT and that's not too much money to be shelling out for charity every now and then.
If you're bored, check out more pictures of Taiwan: http://tiscsvr.tbroc.gov.tw/en/
I wandered about for more time than I had planned on. I wasn't certain what to do, so I prayed and found a nice hotel. They wanted $900 and the rooms regularly go for $1500. I thought that I didn't want to spend that much, but I'm sure moving on to Taipei, which is just a hop from here, wouldn't get me to cheaper hotels that I want to stay at. After 3 days in a clean middle class hotel, I'm addicted to clean hotels. *laughing* I can tell I'm running out of steam for the travel when all I want is a perfect room. It also has to do with the rain. There isn't much to do when you can't read the tourist guides or talk to anyone because of language barriers and you can't explore becuause it is wet and cold. Therefore, I want a clean comfortable room that I can spend some time in. Still with the intention of leaving I went to the train station. The small still voice in my head told me to stay rather than going to the city. So, I checked into the nice hotel and I'm staying the night. Tomorrow, I'll give the jobs in the paper a shot. The forecast for the area is rain, and more rain - but my gut is telling me it's time to go see if Jeremy will let me crash and start interviewing schools for a job.
((Hugs to all))
More later.
Wrong. I can complain about anything! *l* Of course it doesn't mean you have to read it... but I know you love me and will read it anyway. It's cold here... with central heating being somewhat of a hard thing to find around here I'm being extra careful not to get too wet in the rain. There has been a cold front influencing the north coast, and of course, I've travelled right into it. Okay - I'm all done.
To make up for the whining enjoy some spectacular pictures of Taiwan:
http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/av/ophoto/photo02.htm
I left Hualien this morning with the thought of maybe going to Keelung to visit my cousin. However, I think he still might be on holidays and I took a chance on a city called Iilan. It is north west of Hualien. There is nothing written about Iilan in the Lonely Planet book, but I'm feeling secure enough that I can get around town with just my wits and some good luck. Besides, there are more than a few jobs listed for the area proclaiming how beautiful it is and that there is clean air too. And I can always hop back on a train or a bus and go somewhere else if it doesn't pan out. Taxis are also plentiful in the cities.
At the train station I picked up an English Copy of the China Post and there are jobs listed for Ilan. While standing at the station I met a nice girl who could barely speak English but was eager to help me. She got me the number of a hotel in Ilan that would give me a discount. I'm a little leary of this kind of help, most often when I get phone numbers the person on the other end doesn't understand a word I'm saying.
Always eager to show you where I am another Taiwan map:
http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/2-visitor/map/map/002.htm
I wasn't sure I was going to stay in Ilan so I checked my baggage at the train station for a small fee and took a quick wander around. It was cold, wet and I couldn't really see far because of the clouds. How can you tell if the air is clean when it is raining? None of the street signs here are in Pinyin - which is the Roman writing Chinese -so I relied on landmarks to find my way about. I'm glad that I have a good memory for directions. I was getting pretty chilled and my feet were starting to get damp but I didn't want to get back on the train for some reason. My solution - eat.
I had one of the best meals of my time in Taiwan at a busy street restaurant. Open air markets and eating places don't close here because of a little rain. Everybody rolls out their canvas umbrellas and awnings and continues with business as usual. The meal was a simple bowl of soup loaded with meat and vegetables and 10 of the wonderful little dumplings they make here. It was a HUGE meal for me and very delicious. It felt good to warm my hands on the soup bowl and it was even better to have such a delicious meal filled with vegetables in my stomach!
I'm not loosing weight by the way. I'm doing fine and always manage to find something edible, no matter where I am. Some of the food is pretty plain... but then there are days like today where you find a street stall that sells the most delicious food and a big meal like the one I had today was only 50NT ($2) which is a good price. I can tell you there have been street vendors which have taken advantage of me being a tourist. I good naturedly refer to it as the "white person tax." I figure if overcharging me somehow makes their lives better than I've done something good. Besides, mostly it's $30-50 NT and that's not too much money to be shelling out for charity every now and then.
If you're bored, check out more pictures of Taiwan: http://tiscsvr.tbroc.gov.tw/en/
I wandered about for more time than I had planned on. I wasn't certain what to do, so I prayed and found a nice hotel. They wanted $900 and the rooms regularly go for $1500. I thought that I didn't want to spend that much, but I'm sure moving on to Taipei, which is just a hop from here, wouldn't get me to cheaper hotels that I want to stay at. After 3 days in a clean middle class hotel, I'm addicted to clean hotels. *laughing* I can tell I'm running out of steam for the travel when all I want is a perfect room. It also has to do with the rain. There isn't much to do when you can't read the tourist guides or talk to anyone because of language barriers and you can't explore becuause it is wet and cold. Therefore, I want a clean comfortable room that I can spend some time in. Still with the intention of leaving I went to the train station. The small still voice in my head told me to stay rather than going to the city. So, I checked into the nice hotel and I'm staying the night. Tomorrow, I'll give the jobs in the paper a shot. The forecast for the area is rain, and more rain - but my gut is telling me it's time to go see if Jeremy will let me crash and start interviewing schools for a job.
((Hugs to all))
More later.
Posted by T. Destiny in Taiwan at 9:47 PM 
