Patrick Cowsill

Vietnamese Beer

2012-02-01T21:51:00.013+08:00

Vietnamese Beer, originally uploaded by Patrick Cowsill.

I have 333 or Saigon Beer in the background and Bia Ha Noi in the foreground. The latter is from northern Vietnam, up Hanoi way. This is the first time I've seen it in Wanhua (萬華), Taiwan or anywhere else for that matter. Wanhua, of all places, is starting to show an Asian-cosmopolitan side. I bought all three of these cans (for NT$35 = US$1 apiece) from a Vietnamese sub sandwich shop I frequent in Nanjichang (南機場) Market, which is operated by a friendly and cool looking Taiwanese man married to Vietnamese woman. The slice of white in the lower-right corner is the piece of paper he kindly slid under my iPhone when I took this shot upon buying the cans.

BTW, Nanjichang (南機場), which means South Airport Market, was the site of Taipei's airport during the Japanese colonial era, hence the name. I've been planning to write about this for some time. I'll follow up pretty soon.

Bogavilla Trail, Mindoro

2012-01-28T04:12:00.019+08:00

We decided to leave the beach for a few moments on our last trip to the Philippines. Our destination: the Bogavilla Trail, Aninuan on the island of Mindora. From our hotel, it was a 20-minute walk.

Along the way, we picked up Mila. I'm guessing now she'd been following us since we left the hotel. She told us she wanted to be our guide. We didn't need a guide, as the way was clearly marked, but I asked her what the going rates were. She said: "How much will you pay?"

"100 pesos?" I answered. She rolled her eyes, so I doubled the rate and she was on board.

Along the way, we came to Lucy's Bridge. Historical and beautiful, it was the only bridge over the stream running adjacent the Bogavilla Trail. We soon learned to appreciate it, as we were required to cross the stream at least a dozen times. I was wearing flip-flops, not the wisest decision for a two-hour hike. Mila fished them out of the stream on more than one occasion.

Mila also bundled my child over the water several times. She's brought 11 offspring into this world, so it was second nature to her. She easily earned the 200 pesos we paid her, plus the tip.

Housing along the Bogavilla Trail. Life is pleasant in paradise.

Bogavilla Road, before becoming a trail: I've talked to other Western friends and we're roundly impressed by the upkeep of neighborhoods in the Philippines. Coming from Taiwan, I find this pride striking to say the least. Just to clarify, I was diving into my travel guide the first time I arrived in Taiwan as I had been educated to view Taiwan as a prosperous country. Looking at the surroundings coming in from the airport in Taoyuan my very first time, I couldn't believe my eyes. I didn't understand how rich people could live in such dilapidated buildings or let the landscape fall to such disrepair. When I asked the locals what was going on, the typical answer was as follows: we're going to retake the mainland - there's no need to waste our time or money on Taiwan. More recently, I've been told there's a concept that the home is a castle and anything outside it sucks. In all fairness, Taiwanese people are shaking the dust off this legacy and starting to reclaim their heritage, see lots of restoration of historical sites, park construction and what have you.

Fork in the path along the Bogavilla Trail.

A home and possibly business along the Bogavilla Trail in Mindoro, Philippines.

Here we are at the head of the Bogavilla Trail once again, at the Lucky Store.

There is a connection between Taiwan (and China) and Mindoro. Mindoro, the first major island due south of Luzon, has been on the Chinese compass since the 9th century. This is when trading between people of southern China and this island entered the books. There is museum in Puerto Galera, the major town on the northern part of the island, with vases from China dating back five centuries: http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick_cowsill/6709732175/

On a more personal note, my grandfather was stationed in Mindoro during the Second World War. This is his record:

On June 8 [1945] we flew to Biak again, from Biak to Moratai, from Moratai to Zamboanga, from Zamboanga to Tacloban, and from Taclaban to Mindoro in the Philippines, about 200 miles SW from Manila. This was to be our permanent base for a while. We arrived at the beginning of the rainy season, and for the next couple of months, the rain fell in torrents. Our first tent had no floors, and the ground was usually muddy and [wet]. Everyone was trying hard to find some wood to make floors, but lumber just doesn't exist on that island. However, a couple of weeks later, another crew shipped out and we got their tent, and it had floors in it much to our satisfaction.

Our crew was assigned to the Jolly Rogers outfit, of the Fifth Airforce. Being assigned to the Jolly Rogers was considered a break. This outfit was well-known as it had done some spectacular flying. On June 20 we were formally initiated to the group. We stood around our plane, with skull and crossbones, the Jolly Rogers symbol, hung around our necks, while a colonel administered the oath. The oath was to the effect that we promised to fly every fourth day and lay in the sack at all other times. Anything for a little joke!

When we weren't flying, we could do just about as we wanted. There was a small town about 15 miles away, consisting of approximately 25 houses. This town also boasted a big sugar factory, which had been out of operation for some time, a small railroad and about four engines, a school-house, a jail, and a justice of the peace. Every thing was very primitive, and since there was less to do in town than at the field, I seldom left the field.

My grandpa did leave the field on missions though. I'm pretty sure that since he wrote this in late June, 1945, when he hit the Gang Shan (岡山) Airport in southern Taiwan on July 9, 1945, he did so from Mindoro, Philippines.

To get to the Bogaville Trail, grab a tricycle at White Beach and head west along the main road. You're looking at about 20 minutes and 50 pesos.

Hot Pot

2012-01-28T01:54:00.001+08:00

I grabbed this film on my iPhone. With hot pot, you have to cook your own food. You're given a pot with a broth, in this case it was two in a divided pot (mild and spicy); then you are required to boil the ingredients yourself; my daughter was focusing on clams, shrimp and beef.

A lot of people say the best part is the dipping sauce. The key component is sand tea sauce (沙茶醬). Both my wife and I use it. My sauce is usually jazzed up with vinegar, cilantro, chives and fresh onion. My wife hates vinegar. She goes for chilis, chives, fresh onion and garlic. Taiwanese people normally opt for hot pot dinners in the winter. They say it warms the bones.

Fishing in Taiwan

2012-01-06T00:49:00.004+08:00

This is a video my friend at Taiwan Angler http://www.taiwanangler.com/ put together last summer. He hasn't posted for a month and a half, but it's the cold season in Taiwan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgtwP_XPlTk&feature=player_embedded

The Bridges of Banka

2012-01-01T19:15:00.025+08:00

The Hsin Tien (新店) River in Wanhua during the 1800s

I was digging around in the British Consular reports for information on Li Chunshung (李春生), the 19th century (1838-1924) Taiwanese comprador who worked with John Dodd to export oolong tea out of, I think, Danshui. Together, they put Formosan tea on the map. I haven't come up with much, but I did stumble across this 1881 account of Banka, the Shapichu (Shapaochu) aboriginal word meaning "place where canoes meet," from which Monga (Wanhua 萬華) gets its name. I call my blog "Wanhua Taiwan" so I want to throw it up. The following was submitted by Thomas Watters, the British Consul in Danshui at the time:

Sir,

I have the honour to submit an Intelligence Report for the period from August 6th up to this date [November 9, 1881].

1. Political Summary. On the 12th September the Governor of Fuhkien, the well known Chen Yu-ying arrived at Kelung on a tour of inspection. It seems that by an Imperial decree the coast defenses of this island have been put under his sole control. Before crossing over he sent three officials on ahead to herald his arrival and collect information...

One of the first acts of the Governor was to inspect the Kelung Fort. This he condemned as worse than useless, and he gave orders for the immediate construction of certain outworks for the fort. He did not visit the Government Coal mine, but it is supposed that one of his subordinates went to it in disguise and made numerous inquires. From Kelung the Governor went to Banka [Monga AKA Wanhua] where, it is said he made strict investigation [used as a non-count noun, I guess] into the state of public business in each yamen. On the 15th he visited this place [Danshui], and minutely inspected the now-abandoned Camp behind the Consulate and the site for the proposed new fort. This fort is to be built on the north bank and near the mouth of the [Danshui] river... From Banka he went to Hsin-chu where he beheaded one man and from that he went to Changhua where he beheaded another...

While at Banka the Governor gave orders for the erection of a bridge over the Ya-chia [大甲溪] river. This is said to be an enormous undertaking. The Ya-chia river runs into the sea about 30 miles, I am told, south of Tamsui, at the place where Hsin-chu Hsien borders on Chuan-hua Hsien. During the rainy season it is a vast torrent rushing with irresistible force and carrying with it large quantities of earth and stone. All the Hsien in the North of the island are to contribute men and money and the Governor assigned three months as the limit within which the bridge is to be constructed. But he afterwards extended the limit when he found what difficulties were in the way of the undertaking. The construction of the bridge will cost the people an immense amount of money, and those who know the nature of the river say that the bridge cannot last long. The Governor has given orders to have the bed of the torrent deepened and stone embankments made.

The report veers off now:

The relations between the Chinese and aborigines have been very bad lately. The savages are much exasperated at the inroads which are made on their territory by Chinese woodcutters. Some of these latter were last week engaged in felling a tree when savages attacked them and killed two. This occurred within two days' journey from Tamsui.

An English engineer named Malsch is at present engaged in making experiments at the Petroleum wells in the interior. He is employed, I believe, by the Chinese Merchants Co., but I have not heard whether his operations have been successful. The savages in the neighbourhood of the wells are said to be in almost open warfare with the Chinese...

Watters comes back to Banka at the end, under the heading of General:

On the morning of the 25th September [1881] we had a very sharp shock from an earthquake which lasted a few seconds. It caused much damage among the Chinese houses at Banka, but it only shook the foreign houses. It is said to have been the greatest earthquake experienced here since 1864.

*****

There are loose ends here. First off, was the bridge over the Ya-chia River (大甲溪) ever built? "But he afterwards extended the limit." I'm not aware of any bridges spanning Banka's waterways until the Japanese era. As far as I know, the first was Firefly Bridge (螢橋) http://ow.ly/8f1CE, which went up in the early 20th century, so I'm guessing a few more limits were extended and then he quietly stopped with the extensions. Although many great public works were imagined at the end of the 19th century, nothing really got built or established until the Japanese took over in 1895. The Ching (清朝) was not only incompetent but also despised by the locals (aborigines and Chinese alike). Neither group wanted to assist the mandarins and the planners they occasionally brought in. They just wanted them to go away. Watters touches on the mood with the murders of the woodcutters and resistance to the petroleum wells.

Were any of the rivers or harbors dredged by the Ching? Again, I know this was a point of focus during the Japanese era. The Ching however let the harbor in Tainan silt up. That's one of the reasons the capital was shifted north toward the end of the 1880s. Ships and boats could no longer navigate the southern port. I've never heard about any important pre-Japanese dredge projects up north either. Banka (Wanhua 萬華), once the third most important dock in Taiwan, fell out of favor in the 19th century because it became so silted vessels could not move up the Danshui River to its shores. When the Sino-French War broke out in 1884, the Ching actually dumped junk in the mouth to impede warships.

I don't mean to completely rag on the Ching. It seems this fellow Chen Yu-ying had some progressive ideas when he wasn't lopping off heads. The resources, will and vision simply could not at the end of the day been there because the poor fellow was in the employ of the Ching Dynasty (清朝), recognized as a laughingstock by this time in every manner and way.

Report in the easily recognizable hand of British Consul
Thomas Watters

Monga (艋舺), Taiwan

2011-12-24T22:03:00.006+08:00

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Monga (艋舺), Taiwan, originally uploaded by Patrick Cowsill.

The above pic forms the back side of a parking lot a couple of blocks south of Lungshan (龍山) Temple, Taipei's second oldest standing temple (1737). I pass by this spot regularly on the first leg of my commute to work. Wanhua (萬華) is composed of these kinds of building complexes; they add to the appeal and make for an interesting stroll.

Madou's (麻豆) Most Famous Restaurant

2011-12-20T01:51:00.014+08:00

Madou's (麻豆) Most Famous Restaurant, originally uploaded by Patrick Cowsill.

Just off the Chungshan (中山) Freeway out of Tainan, you'll find Allen's Wa Gui (阿籣碗粿), a joint specializing in traditional dishes that is packed no matter what time of day you arrive. In Taiwan, crowded restaurants don't scare people away; in fact, they're often seen as a testament to the cooking. Favorites at Allen's Wa Gui include wa gui porridge and pig intestine soup. Allen's is also said to be a favorite of former Taiwan President, Chen Shui-bien, and his family. I have written about this popular restaurant, and Madou (麻豆), Taiwan before: http://patrick-cowsill.blogspot.com/2010/02/madou-taiwan-coming-home.html

Wa gui

2011-12-13T10:52:00.001+08:00

Wa gui, originally uploaded by Patrick Cowsill.

Wa gui is what this traditional rice porridge is called in Taiwanese (碗糕 in Chinese). It tastes like hard cream of wheat with garlic sauce and hard-boiled egg. I ordered this in Madou (麻豆), just outside of Tainan, Taiwan.

National Museum of Taiwan History Opens

2011-12-12T02:10:00.018+08:00

The National Museum of Taiwan History in Tainan (國立台灣歷史博物館), the size of a small airport, is finally on board. After years in the works, those who are in charge got the doors open last month. As I've been going past the construction site for years, I decided to not to tarry. Last night, the wife, daughter and self hopped on the high speed train in Taipei and sped down to Tainan. We spent this afternoon going through the various exhibits, spanning from about 7,000 years ago through recent years. I'm not going to go into great depth. I'm simply going to throw up a load of pics with a few comments to separate them. If you want to know more, you're gonna have to head there yourself.

The wait to get in (on a Sunday) is about 30 minutes. Every 15 minutes, they let another 100 people in. As mentioned, the museum is huge; it absorbs the crowds easily. They're also waving the entrance fee for the time being.

This is a replica of one of the boats that brought Chinese people to Taiwan during the early 17th century. Actually, most of the first Chinese settlers came on Dutch ships, but I still found this one interesting.

A replica of a 17th century junk, the kind that delivered a small proportion of the original Chinese settlers to Taiwan during the late Ming Dynasty era.

The placard shows that for most of 18th century, immigration of women to Taiwan was impossible. I appreciated this particular exhibit as it's a theme I've been banging away at for ages on Patrick Cowsill Wanhua Taiwan. The question that naturally should be asked is this: how then was Taiwan's population expanded during this era? If you answered Chinese males normally married aboriginal women, and that is why most Taiwanese people contain aboriginal genes, you deserve a bonus point or two. There is lots of stuff here on the meshing of Chinese and aboriginal culture to create the Taiwan we know today: land ownership issues, tenant-landlord relationships (aborigines actually owned a lot of Taiwan's property) and so on. The development of agriculture in Taiwan is also covered in detail. Taiwan's original prosperity was built on its high productivity in this sector. Some interesting anecdotes on the irrigation wars of the 18th century, when neighbors battled each other to protect their water sources, are finely presented in the museum.

The first 11 non-aboriginal governors of Taiwan were as follows:

Maarten G. SNOCK 1624-5, Gerard Frederiksz RONG DE WITH 1625-7, Pieter NUYTS 1627-9, Hans PUTSMAN 1629-36, Johan VAN DER BURGH 1636-40, Paulus TRAUDENIUSRONG 1640-3, Maximiliaan LEMAIRE 1643-4, Francis CARON 1644-6, Nicolaas G. VERBURGG 1649-53, Cornelius CAESAR 1653-6 and Frederick COYETT 1656-62

None of these individuals are mentioned in the museum (at least so I could see). The language is problematic regarding early colonization. According to the National Museum of Taiwan History, the Japanese "coveted" Taiwan in 1593. Meanwhile, the Dutch "occupied" Taiwan in 1624. But the Chinese "settled down" here during these years, hoping to establish a Han-Chinese "foundation." Notice when the individuals invading Taiwan are non-Chinese, their actions are described in negative terms.

Japanese colonial era (1895-1945)

Main Street, Japanese colonial era

*****

There is also a narrative on the KMT colonial era, including the 2-28 massacre in 1947 and Kaohsiung Incident of 1979, one of the KMT's final attempts to stifle the democratization movement in Taiwan. In the non-permanent section on the third floor, someone has managed to sneak this comment in: "After 1949, the elites and entrepreneurs who retreated from the mainland to Taiwan not only transferred capital and technology to the island, but also further implemented land reforms and developed an economic development strategy. This finally enabled Taiwan to move from being a developing country into being a fully developed, modern society." Nice try. The Taiwan they found was already the second most developed country in Asia -- the China they came from was a backwater by comparison. The initial reaction of the "elites and entrepreneurs" was to cart off what was left of Taiwan's infrastructure after World War II to China and to snuff out any reaction to their presence with 38 years of martial law. Taiwan's economic success was built on the backs of small and medium enterprises, operated primarily by Taiwanese individuals. These companies, and Taiwan's democracy, eventually prospered in spite of the presence of the so-called "elites and entrepreneurs" who "retreated here," or so I've been told.

My wife figures this museum is the better than the National Palace Museum for various reasons. I got a kick out of it too. I'll follow up with tidbits about Wanhua (萬華), where I live, in the coming days and anything else that comes to mind.

Education Goes Mental in Taiwan

2011-12-04T22:36:00.001+08:00

"Children's First School For Brain-based Learning?" Somehow I doubt the information on this sign is completely correct. I took the shot on my iPhone out front of the Hakka Culture Center near the corner of Fuxing (復興) and Ren-ai (仁愛) in Taipei. BTW, is the kid taking a fart? I don't get it.

Taiwanese Guards at POW Camps

2011-11-27T21:09:00.020+08:00

Lin De-hua (林德華), World War Two vet and keeper of war records at

Taichung's War Shrine (台中寶學寺)

In literature regarding the topic, much has been made about the brutality of Taiwanese guards at the POW camps located in Taiwan and other places across Southeast Asia during World War II. The camps in Taiwan mainly held British and Commonwealth troops captured with the fall of Singapore in February 1942. A handful of Americans also ended up here, shipped in from the Philippines after they went down in April 1942. I'll put up a few accounts of what was happening to the POWs:

"We christened [the Taiwanese guards] the 'Runabouts' or 'Goons.' They seemed to be the lowest type in the army. Very young, they jumped at the commands of the lowliest [of] Japanese privates, who did not hesitate to slap them in the face. Face slapping seemed to be allowed from officer down through NCOs to privates in the Japanese Army. The Formosans were below privates and as we soon learnt, we were at the end of the line . . . These young 'Runabouts' reveled in their power, and they loved to rush into the hut, trying to catch prisoners too slow in bowing and coming to attention." - Jack Edwards, British POW at the Kinkaseki (金瓜石) and Hsintien (新店) camps

"They certainly went to great lengths to please their masters; one way in which this manifested itself was their treatment of us, the prisoners. They had the right to beat us, and this they did at the least provocation. They were like dangerous children attempting to ape their dangerous parents." - Arthur Titherington, British POW at the Kinkaseki (金瓜石) and Hsintien (新店) camps

"The 'Runabouts' were also given nicknames: 'The Christian" . . . Rampu or 'Lampu,' because one day he bashed all of us while pointing to a lamp, Rampu (he was an ugly vicious character who seemed to grunt instead of talk) and 'Scarface' or 'The Mad Carpenter,' because he had an old scar on his face, and was in charge of the prisoners assigned to carpentry repairs (he had a violent temper and a vicious punch, as I found to my cost in the first days)." - Jack Edwards

"[Taiwanese guards] were just as cruel. They emulated the Japs very well. The guards would strike you for the most trivial things. You had to stand at attention while they hit your head with their fist. If you didn't, trying to dodge it, then you'd end up with a rifle butt on your head or on the ground while getting kicked. I saw them murder a man, hit [him] on the head with a sword scabbard -- he died that night from the wounds." - Jack Butterworth, British POW at the Kinkaseki (金瓜石) and Hsintien (新店) camps

"In April, 1943 that changed [at the POW camp in Sandakan, Borneo] with the arrival of Formosan (now Taiwan) guards. The Formosans, like the Koreans in other camps, were brutal . . . My gang would be working and then would be suddenly told to stop. The men would then be stood with their arms outstretched horizontally, shoulder high, facing the sun without hats. The guards would be formed into two sections, one standing back with rifles and the others doing the actual beating. They would walk along . . . and smack us underneath the arms, across the ribs and back. They would give each man a couple of bashes -- if they whimpered or flinched they would get more." - POW, name not recorded

It seems officers interned in the various camps also suffered. Major General Jonathan Wainwright of the US, who was left behind by a fleeing Douglas MacArthur to surrender the Philippines, was for a while at a camp in Pingtung. Dealing with diarrhea one day, he tried to make a dash for the latrine. Almost there, a Taiwanese guard called him to attention and scolded him for not bowing. As a member of the cavalry, Wainwright had become bow-legged, so much so that his legs "looked like warped bamboo" (Daws, Gavan. Prisoners of the Japanese: POWs of World War II in the Pacific. 97). Taking note, the guard jabbed at them with his bayonet and began to laugh. When Wainwright tried to hold his knees together, his feet splayed out. Amused, the guard jammed his legs together and let go. With a scrunched up face, the American general was forced to bear these antics, all the while struggling not to dirty his pants.

Were these acts simply the expected consequences of war? War-atrocity investigators did not seem to think so. In 1945-46, many of the Runabouts were themselves incarcerated at the very POW camps where the shenanigans occurred while evidence was being collected to unknot the story. All told, 173 Taiwanese individuals, including many of the POW-camp guards, were charged with war crimes. Of the 173, 26 were executed for their conduct.

In trying to figure out why Taiwanese guards behaved as they did (as part of my master's thesis), I talked to Lin De-hua (pictured above), a World War II veteran himself and keeper of records at Taichung's war shrine. The following is what I came away with:

1. Taiwanese conscripts, as Edwards points out, were at the bottom of the food chain. The pressure of their situation on occasion brought out the worst in them. Beating up on POWs served as a kind of release.

2. Take this job and shove it: Taiwanese conscripts serving in Taiwan did not receive pay. The guards blamed the POWs. Simply put, no POWs meant "bye bye, crummy job."

3. The guards saw the POWs as an obstacle. They were the reason the guards could not return to their homes.

4. Taiwanese guards were also bullied. Since they experienced violence on a regular basis (face slapping and so on), they assumed it was normal or even okay. To play the devil's advocate, I think I'll point out that this order, given by the Chief of Prisoner of War Camps in Tokyo to the Chief of Staff of the Taiwan Army in a letter dated August 20, 1945 (or six days after the Japanese surrender) was used as evidence by the International Prosecution Section of the British Division 2011 (labeled Exhibit J): "Personnel who mistreat soldiers of war and internees or who are held in extremely bad sentiment by them are permitted to take care of it by transferring or by fleeing without a trace." Many of the guards took this advice. The guards, and the Japanese military for that matter, had to have known their behavior was wrong and this detail seems to support just that.

5. The worst of the Taiwanese recruits became guards. The best were sent out into Asia to fight. According to Lin, Taiwanese boys were typically drafted at 16 or 17 years of age. Before receiving official conscription notices, called pink slips, which came from the local police station via their bao jia (保甲) head, all male adolescents underwent three physicals. In addition to having their health checked, administrators subjected the youngsters to various fitness exams to test strength and endurance. Upon being conscripted, Taiwanese males were sorted for combat or homeland defense based on these tests as well as their school grades. Lin says kids actually competed to be chosen for the front lines. Why? While combat was obviously considered more dangerous, it was not without its perks. Combat soldiers were the only conscripts that were paid. Soldiers sent off to the front could in certain instances (such as pilots) achieve rank while those who remained, as already mentioned, could not. Making the grade translated into prestige. As a result, the strongest and the brightest served abroad. The dregs went on to distinction as 'Runabouts' and what have you.

6. From October 1944 until August 1945, Taiwan was bombed almost daily. Around 75 percent of the colony's infrastructure was destroyed and many innocent civilians died. This had to have been annoying.

7. Some people are just sadistic. Every country has its fair share of Runabouts and Goons.

Solar Library and Energy-Optimized House, Wanhua (萬華)

2011-11-19T17:23:00.012+08:00

With the Solar Library and Energy-Optimized House (太陽圖書館暨竭能展示館), Youth Park (青年公園) is adding to its collection. This impressive destination in southern in Wanhua (萬華), Taipei already includes a baseball stadium, swimming pool, spate of playgrounds, driving range for practicing golf, cross country jogging track, tennis courts, badminton courts, handball courts, basketball courts, amphitheater, greenhouses, KMT guardhouse replete with watch towers and statue of Chiang Kai-shek on top of a monstrous stallion. There's probably even room for more. During the Japanese colonial era (1895-1945), or so I am told, this was the city's airport. To their credit, Taiwan's new colonial masters have put the space to good use.

The new library (pictured below) seems alright. There's a decent amount of magazines and vast selection of children's books. There's also a big toadstool for the kids to crawl on. I went over the political section and it turned up a few books on Chiang Kai-shek and son, plus one with Ma Ing-jeou hugging Vincent Siew on the cover -- nothing too risque. There's next to nothing on Taiwanese history, but if you are interested in what may have gone down in China the last 3,000 years, you're in luck. To borrow one of these publications, you must first apply for a library card. It's a pretty easy process. Fill out a half-page application form and provide a single piece of ID, give it to the overseer and Bob's your uncle. With your library card, you are entitled to take out five items. You sign them out and demagnetize them yourself via a computer near the exit.

As an interesting aside, at least to me, I will point out a Chinese tour group was headed in as I was leaving the Solar Library and Energy-Optimized House (太陽圖書館暨竭能展示館). They were posing in front of the sign indicating the new library (above), so I decided to take a shot too. I was saying in a post or two back that certain places in Taipei are targeted on the itineraries of such groups. I think I should amend that: any place in Taipei appears to be fair game. Chinese tourism in Taiwan has got to be on the upswing. I'm guessing Taipei is absorbing most of their NT (though I am lacking stats to back this up).

I'll put a link up to where the Solar Library and Energy-Optimized House (太陽圖書館暨竭能展示館) is roughly. Note: it won't show up on Google Maps because it's new: http://g.co/maps/y85wn. It's close to the corner of Qingnien (青年) Road and Gaoxing (國興) Road.

Solar Library and Energy-Optimized House (太陽圖書館暨竭能展示館), Wanhua (萬華), Taiwan

KMT Soldier Housing in Taiwan

2011-11-13T20:48:00.008+08:00

Soldier Housing, originally uploaded by Patrick Cowsill.

My wife says this is a lane in Wanhua (萬華) that contains the homes of many soldiers who escaped China in 1949. Luckily for them, Taiwan has been generous in taking them in. Some have prospered while all have been measured stability and a decent quality of life. In Taiwan, there is something close 100,000 KMT soldiers still receiving pensions for their service in China during the 1930s and 40s right now.

Black Matsu (媽祖)

2011-11-13T16:26:00.016+08:00

北極神宮: The Spirit of the North Star

I took this shot from the grounds of my apartment complex facing south in Wanhua (萬華), Taiwan this rainy Sunday afternoon. I guess I have looked at this spot countless times, but it never registered there was a gate with Chinese characters rich in religious content. This comes from leaving in the opposite direction for the office in morning every day, I suppose. I pass by the lane only at night.

The characters read 北極神宮, or the Spirit of the North Star. They are advertising a temple inside the lane and inviting people to come. I went to have a closer look and one of the proprietors told me the temple (below) mostly focuses on Matsu (媽祖), Taiwan's Goddess of Fishing (though obviously the Spirit of the North Star would also be relevant to this topic). When I asked her why their Matsu was black, she said: "There are three versions of Matsu," she told me. "One is how She was in life. [Matsu lived in China and after Her death was deified.] The second is gold while the third is black."

"Why?" I asked.

"There's no why," the woman at the temple said. "This Matsu is black. It is as it is."

Actually, an explanation exists. According to Internet sources, all Matsu statues once started out as the color She was in real life. Later, when the temples gained wealthy benefactors, it was possible to see more snazzy, gold-faced Matsu statues. Black Matsu statues originally meant the temple had a lot of patrons in general, not necessarily rich. Over time, the statues were smoked black because many incense sticks had been burned in worshipping Her.

We need to be wary though. Recently, Matsu statues have often been made with black wood. Repeated burning by countless and appreciative worshippers have thus done little to bring this about.

Gaining worshippers is it seems a competitive business in Taiwan, as it is for religions and their institutes all over the world.

Black Matsu (媽祖), 2.5 centimeters from the right, back row

*****

My colleague has a new blog called The Cycling Canadian up. It looks interesting and well-written: http://www.thecyclingcanadian.com/ Doug is a pretty expressive individual. This should be worth following.

Taiwanese Banks Against Minorities

2011-11-12T02:17:00.029+08:00

I continue to receive emails off this old post (below in italics, with translation) asking me follow up. The main point I've been getting at is this: Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託) isn't putting in the effort to include all of the people located in Taiwan in the process of receiving credit cards or, for that matter, a complete portfolio of banking services. In fact, it seems Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託) is entrenched in a concept that requires discriminating against out-group individuals who are simply looking to receive a modicum of service. Taiwan's banks, generally speaking, seem to be rejecting anyone who doesn't look right in terms of race. In other words, if you don't look Taiwanese or Chinese, you're not likely to receive the full range of services afforded to people who are able to measure up. This comment is not easy for me to make, but I have to make it nonetheless.

One (actually several, but I'll bring up my favorite for the time being) of the many responses I received on my last related post underlined some of the negativity that persists somehow in our Taiwan: http://patrick-cowsill.blogspot.com/2009/11/foreigners-getting-credit-card-in.html. Naturally, I feel the need to focus in and point out his or her misguided comment right now:

"You are using words in ways that are not normal. Foreigner in Taiwan means non-citizens. You are not a Taiwanese citizen. What are you railing against? Just because foreigners are a diverse group of individuals doesn't mean you aren't one. Maybe Taiwanese should be careful of their stereotypes of foreigners and foreigners should be careful of their stereotypes of Taiwanese. Sure, but doesn't mean you aren't a foreigner. Nothing in your story indicated that you were discriminated against due to the color of your skin. They rejected you because you are not a citizen. If you think it was racist, prove it. Someone say, of Japanese ethnicity and not a Taiwanese citizen is able to get a credit card and you aren't? And then the really weird usage--why do you appear to mean Minnan by Taiwanese and classify Hakka or waishengren as non-Taiwanese (or conversely that Taiwanese don't include Hakka and waisheng)? That is the only prejudicial/racist thing I can find in your whole story and comments. (That you're informing foreigners that they can get a credit card if they make a lot of noise about it is a good service to the community, but again, it has nothing to do with racism)."

******

Well, I think it is time to respond. At the end of the day, I received a credit card. All it turned out I had to do was write to the American company Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託) was cooperating with and explain their tactics.... A day or two later, one of Chinatrust Commercial Bank's VPs was in my office and presenting a credit card. All I had to do was write my name down. My salary and assets were neither here nor there as I did not have to account for either.

I have it on good authority that Americans of Taiwanese descent who do not have Taiwanese passports can still receive credit cards based simply on basis of them looking like they are of the Chinese or Taiwanese race. This seems to be enough for Chinatrust Commercial Bank.

Here was my last post on on Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託):

Banks in Taiwan generally refuse "foreigners" credit cards. I guess they're afraid they won't be able to recoup money (I would think this line of doubt should be extended to any customer, regardless of his or her skin color). Taiwan's constitution states in Chapter I, General Provisions, Article 5: "There shall be equality among the various racial groups in the Republic of China (Taiwan)." But it doesn't seem to have had much bearing on this issue. The card hawkers who set their tables up at the doors of Taiwan's department stores, outside theaters or even on sidewalks seem to shiver with fear when they see a "foreigner" approaching. I've discussed the absurdity of this with a local friend who works for a bank in Taiwan, a bank that also denies people access based on their skin color. He told me: "We really don't have any way to make locals pay us back any more than we do 'foreigners.' Credit cards should be issued on salary, whether people have collateral, appear normal, etc. But I just don't want to rock the boat."

About a month ago, I was leaving Costco (Cheng Ho branch) in Taiwan. Chinatrust Commercial Bank (Chinatrust Commercial Bank 中國信託) had set up a booth at the door. Their sales rep., seeing my Taiwanese wife out in the lead, immediately came up to her with an application in hand. My wife, who hates credit cards, turned him down flat. When I had caught up, I said: "I'll apply. What's the process?" These words sent the Chinatrust Bank rep. into a stuttering state of confusion. Aghast, he told me:

"You're a 'foreigner'! It's not possible". Actually, I figured this kind of response was on the way. Several of my friends have been turned down at Chinatrust Commercial Bank Chinatrust Commercial Bank 中國信託) on their credit card applications based on race. One friend, who speaks Chinese, was even offered a card. After he'd finished the application, the teller informed him, upon conferring with her superiors:

"We can't give you a credit card because you're a 'foreigner.'"

Naturally, the whole "you're a foreigner" stuck in my craw. After considering my options, I decided to write to Costco and explain the situation - namely, they were cooperating with a bank that discriminates against out-groups. I asked: "Do you really want this attached to your brand?"

The next day, and for a week following, I received a flurry of email replies from Chinatrust Commercial Bank, who assured me that their bank didn't discriminate. They told me: "It was just a big misunderstanding. We'd like to process your application pronto". They were even willing to send a rep. over to my office at my convenience. When their rep. did show up, a VP no less, he explained: "It was just a big misunderstanding. They're afraid to speak English!"

"But I was speaking Chinese," I countered, "just the same as I am speaking Chinese to you. Plus I can name people who have been told they couldn't apply at your bank because of the color of their skin."

"It's just ignorance," was the reply. "BTW, let me have the name of the rep. so he can be punished."

"That's not necessary [especially if he's following company policy]." I liked the guy and didn't want to get into it. I could see he was trying, and that he didn't agree with what had transpired.

My application was passed seamlessly. I didn't even have to, oddly, submit information about my salary, assets or what have you. Some of my friends have pointed out that I was just being bought off. I can't really verify this. When I emailed Chinatrust back about statistics, in particular, how many "foreigners" have credit cards at the bank, I received no reply whatsoever. In fairness, I suppose it would be violating the bank's confidentiality code and undercutting security. I do, however, now have another credit card, my first Taiwan-based credit card. Did I receive it to shut the f*&^ up? Maybe. I still believe that it could mean that Chinatrust has had to rethink how it deals with its customers. If so, this is great news.

Let me know if you've had problems with Chinatrust Commercial Bank in getting a credit card. They have stepped out into the light to clarify their position. This post, or an email to the bank, might speed things along.

在臺灣的銀行，一般來說，會拒绝發給「外國人」信用卡。我猜測他們害怕他們無法收回金錢(我認為應該延伸疑慮這一行到所有顧客，無關他們的膚色)。臺灣的憲法宣示，在第I章裡的總條款下第 5條款：「在中華民國(臺灣)裡，所有不同的種族，一律享有平等的待遇」。但是情況不見得如此。辦卡人員會在百貨公司劇院的門口甚至在路邊，設置他们的桌子，來進行申請手續，當他們看見「外國人」接近時，充滿恐懼。我和一位在臺灣一家銀行工作的朋友談論過，基本上，銀行也否認發卡與否，是根據他們的膚色。他告訴了我：「我們真正地，沒有任何方式，可以使當地人償還多過於『外國人』。發行信用卡應該取決於薪資上及人們是否有擔保品，看上去正常等等。但我就是不想要晃動小船"打草驚蛇。

一個月前，我正要離開在臺灣Costco(中和區)。中國信託商業銀行，設立一個攤位在門口。他們的銷售人員，看見我的臺灣老婆，走在前頭領路，立刻地伸出手中的申請表來。我老婆討厭信用卡，斷然的拒绝。當我往前去，我說：「我要申請，辦卡過程是什麼？「中國信託銀行人員，聽了這些話，馬上陷入一個混亂地口吃狀態。嚇呆，他告訴了我：

「您是『外國人』! 它是不可能的"。事實上，我已預料到這種反應。我的幾個朋友，在中國信託商業銀行裡，去申請他們的信用卡，都因為種族的原因被刷下來。一個朋友會講中文，甚而提供了一張個人明片。在他完成了申請表之後，承辦人員通知了他，經與她的主管商談：

因為您是『外國人』」，「我們不可能給您信用卡。
自然地，整個「您是外國人」的話揪住我的胃。在考慮我的選擇以後，我決定寫信給Costco和解釋情況-那就是，他們與歧視外籍團體的銀行合作。我問：「您是否真正地想要此附在您的商標上」？

次日，和接著一個星期，我收到了大量的電子郵件回覆，從中國信託商業銀行寄的，向我保證，他們的銀行沒有歧視。他們告訴我：「它是一種大誤解。我們希望僅快地處理您的申請"。為了我的方便，他們甚至是願意派辦卡人員到我的辦公室，來辦理信用卡申請。當他們的辦卡人員出現， VP沒有，他解釋了：「它是一種大誤解。他們害怕講英語!

我反駁的說，「但是我講中文」，「同樣地我與您用中文交談的。加上我可以說出是那些人的名字，他們被告知無法在您的銀行申請，由於他們的皮膚的顏色"。

回應是「它是一種忽視」，。「BTW，讓我有辦卡人員的名字。如此他可以被懲罰"。

「[不必要如此，特別是如果他遵照著公司的政策]」。我喜歡這人，並且沒有想要他牽涉進去。我看的出來他想設法解決，並且他沒有認同這樣的事件發生。

無聲無息地我的申請通過了。奇怪地，我甚至不需要交出有關我的薪資單，財產或您有什麼的文件。我的一些朋友指出我是被收買了。我無法真正地確定如此。當我回覆電子郵件給中國信託，對於統計來說，特別是，到底有多少「外國人」在銀行辦到信用卡，我沒有收到回應。在公正上，我假設它將違犯銀行的機密代碼並且暗中破壞安全性。然而，我現在有另一信用卡，從臺灣發出的第一張信用卡。是否我接受它閉上我的嘴f*&^ ？也許是，我仍然相信它可能意味中國信託必須重新考慮怎麼處理它的顧客。如果那樣，這是了不起的新聞。

讓我知道，如果您與中國信託辦理信用卡有發生問題。他們須站出來說明他們的情況。對銀行來說，這個發表或者電子郵件，也許會加速事情完成。

注：登廣告者在2011年2月與我聯繫。他們希望我加入這個鏈接。我沒有任何問題對於多年來我是在我自己的口袋(部落格)來投稿發表。加上，我至少沒找到他們的公司有任何麻煩。如果您對這個理念持相反意見，請告訴我。無論如何，這裡去：它是為修復信用(credit repair)的公司。

2011 OEC Taipei Ladies Open

2011-11-06T21:01:00.039+08:00

The final of the 2011 OEC Taipei Ladies Open (2011 臺北海碩國際女子網球公開賽) in tennis was staged this afternoon at the Taipei Arena, Taipei, Taiwan. The family went to watch, but we only stayed for a couple of games. My four-year-old daughter had a sore throat and incurred the stink-eyed wrath of the aisle monitor for coughing a couple of times.

The finalists this year were Kimiko Date-Krumm (Japan), a former top-ten player, and Ayumi Morita (Japan), the 2009 winner. Actually, I really can't talk about this match much because I was only able to see about 15 minutes of play. I'm just out to post a couple of pictures and then get on to my segue. Here are my observations: The crowd for this year's final was bigger than last year's. The bottom section of the arena, minus the end zones, was packed. There was a long line of people waiting to come in on every changeover. Matches for the Taipei Ladies Open were, as in previous years, free with the same deal for the final: donate a receipt (in Taiwan, receipts have lottery numbers on them) in exchange for an entrance ticket. Today I witnessed bad serving and long rallies. Morita was stronger while Krumm had more finesse, though she was having trouble getting the slice backhand to work. The former's strength advantage shouldn't be that surprising: I just googled and she is Krumm's junior by 20 years! Morita is currently ranked 54th in the world. Krumm checks in at 114.

Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan returns service at the 2011 Taipei Ladies Open

******

On a non-related note, let's get on to what's going on outside my apartment. It's now 8:35 p.m. and a performance is taking place on stage erected in the middle of the street below. I live on the eighth floor and still the walls are vibrating. The concert seems to have three cycles. First, an obnoxious host shouts into a mic. Then we get to the dance stage: a couple of female dancers in bikinis trying to pull off a synchronized dance set of some sort. I think they're attempting hip hop, but I can't be sure. It doesn't take long to realize doing this crappy dance routine on a hot Sunday night in the middle of my street in Wanhua (萬華) isn't exactly the girls' idea of fun. Both dancers stare off into space. Their movements are rigid yet sluggish and uninspired. As they sleepwalk through the steps, it's like they're trying to touch marks on the stage. Every now and then, one of them, to the delight of the crowd, punctuates the show with a lackadaisical shoulder wiggle. When they're done, it's on to the Taiwanese ballads. There isn't a band or anything like that. Instead, it's an old croner backed up by stereo-fed KTV music. And the guy is pretty much eating the mic. There isn't clarity at any moment in his pieces.

I recorded the following on my iPhone at 7:20. It's close to nine and the host is still going on. Why the cops haven't shut this thing down is beyond me. I've been to parties with 15 people and they've shown up. There is even a police station at the end of the street.

*****

Victoria Linchong's documentary on Taiwan post-WWII is coming out. I'll throw up some links: www.almosthometaiwan.com. If you want to RSVP, please go to http://almosthometaiwan.eventbrite.com/

Old Warehouse

2011-11-04T14:22:00.004+08:00

Old Warehouse, originally uploaded by Patrick Cowsill.

I took this shot on the grounds of the Chiang Kai-shek's Shilin Residence (士林官邸) for a story I did for Culture Taiwan: http://www.culture.tw/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2152&Itemid=156

Getting Off the Bus

2011-10-30T11:33:00.006+08:00

In Taiwan, scooterists from the right routinely pass stopped buses. This is a hazard for disembarking passengers, and they are often hit or brushed back by the bikes. There are warnings on buses to look out for these nuts. Here's a sign (above) on the Taipei MRT also alerting commuters to simply look out: "Getting off the bus? Please pay attention to the right-hand side for coming traffic!"

*****

Taipei Police are cracking down on scooterists driving on sidewalks. Yes, it is illegal to drive your scooter on a sidewalk in this city as the sidewalks are meant for pedestrians, not traffic. If you're one of those inclined to parking on a sidewalk, the rule of thumb is to get off and push your scooter (motorcycle). This seems to be catching on, though yesterday someone on a scooter cruising down a stretch of sidewalk near the Fushing and Chungshiao MRT Station did still honk at me from behind to clear aside.

It's Taipei Signs, I Think

2011-09-26T17:21:00.026+08:00

I received this message from an annoyed Twitter pal, responding to one of the signs of Taipei I had posted: "No, I can't handle the heat. Now leave me alone. Stupid adverts. Let me get to work!" I didn't realize I was causing so much grief with my iPhone Tweet-photos, nor do I intend to leave off with them. The signs of Taiwan bring joy, confusion and thought to many. Filled with the spirit of this knowledge, I grabbed the above sign coming out of the Longshan (龍山) Temple MRT today. It is language chaos at its finest. The character 艋舺 is the Taiwanese name for the neighborhood I live in -- 萬華 (Wanhua). The Romanization Bangka means canoe in one of Taiwan's aboriginal languages.

*****

I showed the two shots directly above to a friend (I took them on the Yuan-shan MRT platform a while back) and he said I should follow up. You see, Taiwan is normally tolerant when it comes to religion. I didn't really know how to follow up though. If I were to go over and ask the security guard, my questions would surely vex him. Or, he would avoid getting in trouble and not tell me anything.

I am no expert on Taiwan's various religions. The main religion here is, from what I can make out, a combination of Taoism and Buddhism. Instead of being resistant, this religion seems to incorporate a range of possibilities. I've also heard that Taiwanese Catholics have special permission from the Vatican to worship their ancestors. The Catholic clergy has adjusted and gone from there.

*****

Let me reiterate: Taiwanese people in general are tolerant. I'm married to a local and her Taiwanese family has definitely taken me in. They are the nicest people I know. I am now going to segue into a facet that probably doesn't reflect the population as a whole. Still, this blog does exist for the blog author, so I think I'll touch upon an incident that disturbs me. I'm going to write it down before I forget. Someday, I'll look back at this head-shaker to know where I was at this moment.

A couple of weeks ago, someone I know posted a picture of herself with an African-American friend of mine. The first comment was as follows (here is the rough translation): "Funny! The reason you put that picture up is to highlight your own pale skin!" The African-American friend was a.) tagged in the photo b.) able to read the Chinese quite easily. To her credit, she responded:

"I think his skin color is beautiful." It was clearly time to chime in and I directed my point of view at the first speaker:

"That is the most retarded [bad choice of diction, I admit] thing I've heard all week." To my surprise, I was informed I think too much. Huh? Think too much? It's not like I had written a paper on it. The line I wrote took me about 10 seconds.

I was also told the reason I didn't like the comment was I didn't know how to assimilate into Taiwanese culture. Is this actually Taiwanese culture though? I know lots of Taiwanese people who would find this line of labeling disturbing, starting with my wife. They would say: "No, it is not us." Ironically, what had started out as an attack on (aversion to) my friend's skin color had come around to focus on my skin color. The groundwork for the conversation became "I was white;" thus, I had no right to an opinion. Let's just say it came down to rights; more specifically, it was one person telling another they did not have rights.

My wife is adamant: That is them, just a small minority, not Taiwan. I am inclined to believe her. The optimist inside says most people are not like this. It's just a few giving everyone a bruised eye.

Can I Have Another Bowl of Soup?

2011-09-22T21:32:00.004+08:00

Taiwan’s President (upper and lower) showed up at my apartment complex last night. I missed his speech, but I did manage to get a few photographs. This is the second time the KMT has used our home for a political rally since I moved in. They were also here for Hau Long-bin’s (郝龍斌的) last mayoral run.

I’ve taken some flak for allowing my daughter to have her picture taken with Ma Ing-jeou (馬英九). One guy even told me he’d never let his daughter be exploited like that. That seems like a bit much. I will say this though: I didn’t plan on going to the speech. I just wanted to hang out in the courtyard and people-watch. I love a good spectacle and am not overly serious about politics.

This is how it went down: My daughter asked at the front door if she could go in. She was then gruffly brushed aside by a dullish bodyguard. One of Ma’s advisors took offense at his attitude and said: “Of course you can go in. And you can sit in a reserved seat at the front too.” Once inside, Ma noticed my daughter and waved for her to come over. I wanted to get some shots to amuse my friends, in-laws and self, and so I encouraged her to do just that. A nice conclusion for all involved.

I think I will have to go to the next tenant’s meeting and voice concern about the following though: When I asked the building supervisor how much Ma’s team was paying for the use of our multi-purpose room, he did an “ah” and hand sweep to indicate it was silly to worry about such trivial matters. Meanwhile, I’m paying NT$2000 a month in building fees. We don’t have a swimming pool. We don’t have a library. We don’t have a rec. room. We don’t have an indoor playground / play land. No Friday night movies. In other words, our money is just going into a black hole. Building management is so cheap when it comes to the tenants that when the lock was replaced on my building, only one key was issued to my family. When I said I’d like two or three, I was told, with much hyperbole, it was quite impossible (沒辦法) because of the budget. Under such circumstances, let’s hope an individual representing one of the richest political parties in the world doesn’t get to use our multi-purpose room for free.

Another Wanhua Business Bites the Dust

2011-09-03T15:59:00.014+08:00

I grabbed the shadowy picture above on my iPhone coming home today. This place was, until last Thursday, our neighborhood's most popular Shabu Shabu restaurant. It's right around the corner from where I live in Wanhua (萬華), Taiwan.

Shabu Shabu is from Japanese and means, I think, swish swish. It's an onomatopoeia for how the food is (should be) cooked at this kind of establishment. The process for getting your meal is as follows: Customers are seated at tables with individual pots. They then choose what broth they would like and it is poured into the pots by the server. Once the broth comes to a simmer, they add vegetables, meat and other. The meat should be held in chopsticks and swished back and forth until cooked. In Taiwan, however, the meat is simply dumped in the pot and cooked until well-done. When the ingredients appear to be cooked or over-cooked (every man to his own), they are fished out and seasoned for eating. New ingredients are continuously added by the customer, who is also the cook. Seasonings include green onions, garlic, chili, cilantro parsley, soy sauce and sand-tea sauce (沙茶醬), which is a clumpy peanut butter and fish sauce. I usually throw a little white vinegar in as well. Here's a link for the run-down on how to proceed at a Shabu Shabu: http://www.squidoo.com/hotpot

The reason I took this shot was my family just ate dinner there 12 days ago. It was a Monday night and still the place was packed. The restaurant was popular because they had all-you-can eat vegetables, shrimp and clams, ice cream and cakes. There was also a soda pop machine, coffee brewer and half a dozen varieties of tea. To top it off, these creative restauranteurs kicked in a multi-tiered chocolate fountain for marshmellow and cookie dipping. Who would have known the restaurant was on its last legs? I guess there were signs though, see the outrageous bill we paid -- almost NT$1,000 which included new goodies (a ten-percent service charge even though you retrieve the food yourself and do your own cooking and a NT$140 surcharge for infants).

When a restaurant that can fill its tables on a Monday suddenly closes down in Taipei, it's a probably a matter of paying the rent. This is how it seems to go here: If you can't bring in customers, you shutter because you're not able to make ends meet. If you are successful, the owner of the property recognizes you are in the black and raises the rent to a rate that you can no longer be profitable at. Two McDonalds and a Wellcome Supermarket have also left our community in the last couple of years. Not that I am lamenting these facts. I was curious about McDonalds vacating the corner of Wanda Road (萬大路) and Dong Yuan Street (東園街) though. After they left, the landlord wasn't able to find a tenant for this extremely high-activity spot for over a year, and I'm guessing it came down to a staggeringly high rent proposal. (Cafe 85 has since moved in and is packed into the wee hours.)

My family has a lot of memories from this Shabu Shabu spot. In a previous life, it was the banquet hall in which my brother and sister-in-law were married. I'll never forget being left with a bag containing around US$10,000 full of red envelops after all of the festive relatives, friends and associates had staggered off. That'll teach me not to go off for a last-minute leak. Anyway, I did the negotiating for their wedding dinner. I am proud to say I held my own too; I even pretended to count empty beer bottles.

I wonder how long it is before another business establishment settles here, how long it lasts and what it is. Hopefully, the new owners will take into account the high turnover of previous businesses when they enter into negotiations.

Wouldn't You Know It but It's Derrick Rose in Taipei

2011-08-28T16:45:00.014+08:00

Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls

This afternoon, my family was taking refuge from Typhoon Nanadol in the Alley Cats Pizza Parlor across from Taipei Main Station. This particular Alley Cats is in the northeast corner of K-Mall AKA the Taipei Digital Mart, a scuzzy labyrinth of cell phone shops and booths. We had originally planned to feed all of our old bread to the ducks in 2-28 Park (my daughter's idea), but were, like pretty much anyone in Taiwan with outdoor plans, rained out.

I was in the midst of tweet photo-ing a pic of the papery pizza being passed off as a meal (for NT$480 a plate too) http://lockerz.com/s/133592055 in this establishment to Doug, a Canadian food connoisseur I have the pleasure of knowing, when my wife started pointing at a commotion going on behind my back. "It's so exaggerated," she complained. "Why does that guy need all those bodyguards to buy a cell phone?"

"It's a media stunt," I guessed, putting the final touches on my tweet photo comment to Doug. "Watch. The evening news will be making a big deal out of this too. It's probably a buy-two-get-one-free deal that the 'media' deems newsworthy."

"He's got four or five security guards. I think he must be a diplomat," she said, ignoring my observation.

"That's funny. Since when do diplomats in Taiwan have bodyguards?" I asked, turning. The first thing I noticed was indeed four or five men with earpieces. They were all in suits, hands thrust in pockets, heads down, brows furrowed, trying to appear intimidating. Then I saw Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls, last year's MVP of the NBA, bargaining at a Far-East Telephone booth for a cell phone.

"That's not a diplomat," I exclaimed. "That's Derrick Rose, last year's MVP!"

"What's the MVP?" she wanted to know. "Is it comparable to the NBA?" My wife is actually pretty familiar with the NBA. We used to go to NBA games when we lived in Cleveland. She knows names such as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki. I wasn't explaining anymore though. I was already over at the phone booth, taking pictures on my iPhone and picking the bodyguard I was standing next to's brain. He told me that Rose doesn't like people getting too close; that's why he was personally getting the security-guard overtime bucks. Then my wife brought my camera over and I took the shots above and below.

I've seen American athletes on show in Taiwan before -- Dwight Howard and Frank Thomas, to be precise. Neither seemed to have need of bodyguards. I ran into Dwight Howard playing on the basketball court inside the Eslite (誠品) Bookstore Mall in Ximending (西門町). He was not only bodyguard free, but even mingled in the crowd, hugging people for photo-ops and yucking it up. Howard is a pretty big boy though. Plus this kind of affable hands-on approach suited his larger-than-life personality. I saw The Big Hurt in Kiss Disco. Seated at a table across the room, he was introduced to the crowd by Huang Xiao-hu (黃小虎), the singer performing that night.

I guess it shouldn't strike me as too weird that Derrick Rose had bodyguards in tow. Sponsors and handlers have been pulling their hair out ever since he entered the NBA as he regularly ducks interviews and has trouble performing in advertisements. His shyness has been making it hard for them to cash in. He's only 22 though. He'll probably come around and become every bit the shill for big corporations that the last great Chicago Bull, Michael Jordan, was. And I'm sure he isn't in Taiwan strictly as a tourist right now, during Typhoon Nanadol.

British Consul Reports at the Hand Over

2011-08-22T02:13:00.007+08:00

I've been reading through the reports of the British consuls Perkins, Hopkins, Layard and Bonar covering 1895 and 1896. As you probably already know, 1895 was the year the Chinese government washed its hands of Taiwan, abandoning the island to Japan as one of the conditions of the Treaty of Shimoneseki.

I'm going to put up a few points that amused me. No argument is being developed here; the items are random.

1. Japan pretty much introduced beer to Taiwan. Considering how ingrained beer is in Taiwanese culture (I guarantee it's the most consumed alcoholic beverage in Taiwan), you'd think it would have had a longer history. Writes B. Layard, the acting British Consul of 1895, to the Marquis of Salisbury: "The amount of beer imported reaches the value of 2,023 l., and that of wine and spirits, which may properly be mentioned here, to 2,921 l. [One hundred] l. of the former, and 226 l. worth of the latter only having been imported before June, 1895."

Henry Bonar, who took over for Layard, brings up beer again in a statistical run-down of shipping for the following year: "Taking the articles alphabetically, the import of beer has quadrupled itself, and is a large item at 9,597 l. Nearly all of it is German brewed beer. Japanese brewed-beers find no favor in this climate, and the light beers of German manufacture evidently are quite harmless."

To this day, light or yellow-colored beers are the most popular beer in Taiwan. Taiwan Beer, easily the top-selling beer in Taiwan, used to have an ale. Nobody bought it though. I've been told the reason for this was it reminded consumers of medicine. To me, Bonar's explanation seems more likely. BTW, the spike in beer sales in 1895 and 1896 can be attributed to the large influx of Japanese immigrants and not a sudden demand amongst Taiwanese people. Writes Layard:

"The Japanese population, whether from insufficiency of good spring water, or as a supposed antidote to the ill effects of the malarial climate, is consuming great quantities of alcoholic beverages, the average per head being, I am informed, three times as much as Japan proper."

Layard also talks about the connection of beer to the weather: "The favorite beers are of the lighter kinds, chiefly German, Lager, and Pilsener, imported from Hong Kong, the beer of Japanese manufacture, although cheaper to import, commanding little sale, as it will not keep in this climate."

2. A lot has been made of how European powers used opium to gain control in China. Layard's 1896 report seems to suggest it was Chinese traders, not Europeans, who facilitated wide-scale abuse in Taiwan:

"The import of Persian opium [by European traders] has fallen from 1,880 cwts. in 1894 to 860 cwts. in 1895. It is not possible to give an estimate of the Chinese opium which has reached this island in junks, as it does not appear in the customs returns, but great quantities have without doubt been landed all along the coast.

Of late years the consumption of the foreign drug has been considerably curtailed [halved within a year of take over if we are to believe Japanese statistics], owing largely to the increased import of the native drug, which is much cheaper and is largely used for mixing with the foreign article. This trade has been steadily passing into the hands of the Chinese, and sales by foreign houses of late years have been of a much smaller extent than formerly."

To their credit, the Japanese did not criminalize drugs. Instead, they took a more practical approach, issuing licenses to the addicts they inherited but not to new applicants. They also created a monopoly which was, as monopolies tend to be, highly restrictive and yes, profitable.

3. Getting away from merry-making, here's N. Perkins on the Paiwan, one of Taiwan's 23 aboriginal groups: "The former of these groups is scattered in small villages along the east coast of Formosa [the old name for Taiwan] from Pailam to South Cape [I'm guessing Pailam is Puli while South Cape could be Kenting]. Tradition describes them as descended from a ship-wrecked crew of white men who were allowed to intermarry with the tribe on the condition of their descendants becoming 'hewers of wood and drawers of water' for ever."

This doesn't sound so outrageous to me. First of all, the coast of Taiwan was notorious for shipwrecks. There were few good harbors and the weather was stormy. Second, the Paiwan were (are?) a highly stratified society, with royalty, commoners and even, I think, slaves. Archeological discoveries in recent years are lending credence to aboriginal myths. Thus, many of us are less likely to roll our eyes when we hear something like this.

New 228 Museum in Taipei

2011-08-14T17:57:00.034+08:00

Taiwan Culture Hall, Japanese Colonial Era

White Terror Era (1949 -1987)

228 Museum, August 14, 2011

I finally found time to check out the new 228 museum, which is about a 15-minute walk from my place in Wanhua (萬華), Taiwan. The building it is in previously housed AIT offices, so I have actually been there many times. I used to make use of the library when I lived in Yonghe (永和), just over Chung Cheng (中正) Bridge. The door to library was in the back and fed right into the stacks. Thus, I never really appreciated the beauty of the building's interior. They've also pulled down the fence in the rear. Now that it's an open space, more of the exterior is visible from the street.

The museum has been roundly criticized for providing scant information on 228, for doing a gloss over. I think this will be evident to anyone who enters the main gallery on the ground floor. It dons paintings of fish, bamboo and the like. There is a mock vintage theater. The film playing on a loop highlights a Western-looking female circa the sixties spinning a couple of hula hoops whilst playing the trumpet. There is also a warning in the documents' room that cameras won't be tolerated. When I went upstairs, a volunteer usher dipped and weaved through the viewers to single me out and tell me, for some reason (like I couldn't figure out a "no cameras" sign as well as anyone else), that I could not take shots. I still don't really get why I, of all the people in the museum, suddenly became the focus of her attention.

There are some pretty cheesy hands-on exhibits too. You can sign your name on a ribbon and say something like "Go Taiwan!" (加油台彎!), and hang it up on a pole if you like, for example. The information on the history of the building is interesting though. During the Japanese era, it was the Taiwan Culture Hall, a place people could take in displays of local art. After the Japanese surrendered to the Americans to close out World War Two, the building became home to Taiwan's first provincial senate. This is the English take on what occurred, which I did photograph. The bracketed words are my comments:

"On May 1, 1946, the First Senate of the Taiwan Province [no insight into how Taiwan came about to be a province or the legality of the process is brought forth] held its inauguration ceremony in this building. The chamber was located in the 2nd floor auditorium in the right (North) wing; it was a significant palace of democracy [oxymoron] in postwar Taiwan.

Shouldering the expectations of six million Taiwanese people, the Provincial Senators responded to the many problems that arose after the National Government's take over of Taiwan in a way that not only pointed to the core of the issues, but in a way that always [probably an overstatement -- let's go with "usually" here] accurately reflected public opinion and rigorously criticized the government. The eagerness reflected in their political reform touched the people's hearts [ a.) I wonder what this political reform entailed because I have never heard of it b.) I bet there were a lot of people simply asking, "what the f*&^ is going on?"]. After the 228 Incident [do you mean "massacre"], most of the Provincial Senators stood on the front line of reform [source?]. Consequently, they were arrested or killed, and this left the impression that Taiwan's talent was being destroyed by governmental violence. That was why the building was chosen as the 228 Incident National Memorial Hall."

I think the last sentiment is pretty much accepted by anyone who has looked into 228. It was a power grab. The incoming KMT bureaucracy needed Taiwanese professors, doctors and politicians whacked so they could fill these positions. Calling the killing of some 30,000 people an "Incident" is a downplaying of what happened. It reads like an act of whitewashing something horrific and a dereliction of a proper accounting of history.

The Most Famous Restaurant in Monga

2011-07-31T17:45:00.006+08:00

周記肉粥店面 Restaurant, Monga

I've finally done it. I've located the best red fried meat (紅燒肉) joint in Taipei. And get this: it's just down the street from where I live. According to diners, this place is so good that Japanese people fly in just to sample their wares. The prices aren't even that outrageous; we had four bowls of congee (NT$60) and two plates of red fried meat (NT$160), for a grand total of NT$220. I guess I shouldn't be overly impressed with myself. It is after all famous. Plus my wife eats there pretty regularly when I am at work.

For me, you judge a restaurant by its food, not service or decor. When was the last time you went to a restaurant because you heard the service was good? It's the food that matters. Actually, whenever I do go into a place that seems kind of fancy, I wonder what they're compensating for and how much extra I'm going to have to pay for the paint job and pictures on the wall. At 周記肉粥店面, I wasn't worrying about the service either. We had to ask about five times to get a second plate of red fried meat: http://lockerz.com/s/125272532. Check out the chipped plate it came on. This place is a dump, a wonderful dump.

Two o'clock and the place is choked with customers

My 7 Links Project

2011-07-28T18:17:00.080+08:00

My friend Carrie Kellenberger has been promoting a 6 links meme. First you write down posts that you liked from your own blog, for various reasons. Then you link to six blogs you enjoy. I have decided to up six, giving a couple of honorary mentions.

1. My Most Beautiful Post
I'm a lazy photographer. That is why I often post without putting up a picture. I like this old Spanish canon though. I took the shot earlier this year in Manila: http://patrick-cowsill.blogspot.com/2011/01/imagine-taiwan-without-philippines.html

2. My Most Popular Post
My first post on out-group members being discriminated against in Taiwan when applying for a credit card was fairly popular. A lot of people have asked me about this: http://patrick-cowsill.blogspot.com/2009/11/foreigners-getting-credit-card-in.html

3. My Most Controversial Post
Whenever I do a post about the Japanese colonial era in Taiwan, I get a fair deal of negative feedback. From my posts, I have come to understand there are still people out there who do not want to consider that Japan may have helped to bring Taiwan stability, infrastructure and, on the whole, a better way of life. Here's my latest Japanese colonial era post: http://patrick-cowsill.blogspot.com/2011/05/mixing-up-taipeis-history.html.

4. My Most Helpful Post
I'm going with the credit card one again: http://patrick-cowsill.blogspot.com/2009/11/foreigners-getting-credit-card-in.html

5. A Post Whose Success Surprised Me
And I thought mei-ban fa (沒辦法) only bugged me / that I was the only one whingeing about it. I was wrong: http://patrick-cowsill.blogspot.com/2010/12/do-consumers-need-to-accept-mei-ban-fa.html

6. A Post I Feel Didn't Get the Attention It Deserved
I care about the Taiwanese soldiers from World War II who got screwed by the KMT. So did Hsu Chao-jung (許昭榮). He felt so passionate about this topic that he committed suicide after he wrote about this process in 動盪時代的無奈台籍老兵血淚故事. To the best of my knowledge, Hsu's account still is not available in English: http://patrick-cowsill.blogspot.com/2010/03/hsu-chao-jungs-lost-soldiers.html

7. The Post I Am Most Proud Of
I don't know. If I thought it was a crappy post, I wouldn't post it. I stand by all of my posts.

*****
Here are seven bloggers that I read regularly, in no particular order. I've chosen Taiwan-based blogs:
http://danshuihistory.blogspot.com/
http://www.taiwanangler.com/
http://kaminoge.livejournal.com/
http://www.myseveralworlds.com/
http://www.thenhbushman.com/
http://thewritingbaron.com/
http://www.michaelturton.blogspot.com/

I also like these two guys very much:
http://dreintaiwan.blogspot.com/
http://gotmahmojo.livejournal.com/, for example:
http://gotmahmojo.livejournal.com/161864.html

Sea Fishing in Taiwan

2011-07-24T15:39:00.011+08:00

Our boat (right)

I just came back from an overnight fishing trip off the coast of Keelung, Taiwan. I thought I'd throw up a quickie because I had so much fun. Chris Jackson, over at Taiwan Angler, http://ow.ly/5Nmeb, will undoubtedly put a more detailed account up on his Web site some time in the next couple of days. He's the guy that keeps dragging me out to fish. It goes without saying that I had my reservations about this trip. Taiwan is in the middle of typhoon season. The Perfect Storm scenarios of being lost at sea had played through my head ever since I committed. We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather than what we got last night though. The water wasn't choppy. A cool breeze settled in and gusted across the deck all night. It didn't even rain.

The expedition was set up by Edward Lee, who works for Jigging Master Taiwan. Edward organizes these kinds of trips on a regular basis. In fact, he's going out again tonight. He told me last month, he organized a two-day, one-night trip to Okinawa. Fluent in English (he went to high school in Texas as his dad owns a Chinese restaurant in a small town near Dallas), Edward has been using social media sites such as Facebook to reach out to people from different countries and get them signed up for trips. I'd say he does a good job. This guy can really fish too; he must have hauled in 40-plus fish last night.

As with anything I do in Taiwan, there is usually a side-story and a couple of head-scratchers thrown in for good measure. After arriving at the boat in Keelung (see above pic), we were told to produce our ID. Forty-five minutes later, a couple of officers from the coast guard, dressed in bright orange, pulled up on a scooter. The leader had the group's ID stacked in his hand, and I noticed he was shifting Chris and my ARCs from the top of the pile to the bottom. Oh man, I thought. Are we going to have to fill out forms? No, it wasn't like that. The officer simply started calling out names, to which the people on the boat would raise their hands and reclaim their card. Nothing really came of the ominous shifting of our ARCs either. I'm guessing he was just trying to get his nerve up for a go at our names in English. I will say this: there could have been an extra ten people onboard for all he knew, but the officers weren't about to dwell on this point. They simply remounted and sped off.

Cracking open a cold one and breathing a sigh of relief, I said to Chris, "Seems we're not the only one who will be having a few tonight." On the other side of the boat, a group of girls, one in high heels no less, was getting into the mood, listening to Depeche Mode, drinking beer and taking shots at each other. "I bet they don't make it to eleven o'clock," I said, nodding. And, uh, I nailed that one. By eleven, all had crashed below. But credit to them -- not before doing a lot of fishing. We could hear a constant chorus of:

"Very beautiful!" and "How great you are!" Their men fished right up to the end this morning, which was much longer than the yuppie office types operating out of the stern or myself. Anyway, my final tally was seven sabre fish, two mackerel and two puffer fish. Chris was up in the high teens or maybe past 20. He also reeled in lots of sabre and makerel, three puffer (on the same line) and several bonita. It seems he saved his biggest catch for the end, a monster of a bonita that he hooked in the gills. I missed it on account of sleep. I'll leave off there.

Sunset Seen from the Taiwan Strait

A Report from the British Consul in Formosa, August 6th, 1881

2011-07-09T22:51:00.014+08:00

The British Consul's signature

I often write about Japan's colonization (1895-1945) of Taiwan on this blog. I did my M.A. thesis on a governmental process that took place during this era, so naturally an interest lingers. The idea that gets my attention is hardly an original one. It goes like this: Japan's arrival in 1895 was a good thing for Taiwan. Why? Well, Japan built up Taiwan's infrastructure. This included the establishment of useful railroads, roads, banks and hospitals. Japan modernized our agricultural practices and brought about a modern and systematic education system. Japan eradicated deadly diseases, such as malaria and cholera. Japan brought social order and democracy to this country. Finally, Japan stamped out much of the bureaucratic corruption plaguing Taiwan throughout its time under the Ching Dynasty (清朝).

Of course the naysayers will say Japan built up Taiwan's infrastructure to more easily access and then rape the island of its resources. A Japanese education system was step one in indoctrinating the masses, deserted by China and thus left defenseless, to this cause. Sure, Taiwan produced a lot of food, but something like 90 percent of our agricultural exports went into Japanese bellies during the Japanese colonial era. The eradication of disease was a necessary course of action in maintaining a Japanese population on the island. And oh yeah, Taiwan had already tasted democracy (albeit for only ten days) before Japan put a halt to such shenanigans, installing one brutal governor after another for two and a half decades. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Taiwan basically got its first non-military governor in 1919 (there could have been a sole civilian in that time up for a cup of coffee -- I can't remember). For the first 24 years, notions such as crackdown and summary execution were not that unusual. We shouldn't forget that Japan led Taiwan into the Second World War. Over 200,000 men and women signed up or were conscripted / dragged into this fiasco. 30,000-plus of these individuals died, plus many more civilians in the nine months of air raids that ensued.

A few years back, I came across a ten set volume of books in the National Chengchi (政治) University Library called Taiwan: Political and Economic Reports: 1861 to 1960. For my money, this set of books is the best source of history for Taiwan for the late Ching Dynasty (清朝) and the following Japanese years. Taiwan: Political and Economic Reports: 1861 to 1960 is a collection of the letters written by the many British consuls posted in Danshui over this period of time. In the letters, we can find statistics on everything from the yearly sugar crops to how much coal was being dug out of the mines in Keelung. Then there are the reports on the daily goings-on around the country: current events, gossip and scandal, the weather, the price of food in the local market and so on. As all of this was confidential, the consuls didn't worry about whether they were going to get in trouble for speaking their minds. In other words, their letters were candid and often quite scathing, especially of their peers in Taiwan's bureaucracy.

I'm going to post part of one the letters below because I think it is an excellent example of why the Japanese were good for Taiwan / the Ching Dynasty needed to go. I can't put it up in full because, even though this letter was written 130 years ago, it is still somehow under copyright. Penned on August 6th, 1881 by the British consul (I can't give you his name because I am unable to make out his signature), it underlines the incompetence of the Ching Dynasty (清朝) government when it came to dealing with crime. The consul's letter also brings to light corruption. I'm using word in a special way because I came away from my reading with the feeling officials in Taiwan in 1881 simply did not care if the island could be improved or not. It is as if these officials were completely indifferent to Taiwan. Is that not also a form of corruption if you are an official?

This is the report, written by the British consul from his perch high above the Danshui Harbor on August 6th, 1881. BTW, I'll put my own comments in brackets:

Intelligence Report. Her Majesty's Consulate. Sir, [Sir Thomas Francis Wade, K.C.B., Her Majesty's Minister, Peking] Since the date of the last Intelligence Report from this place [Danshui (淡水), Taiwan], May 7th, 1881, very little has occurred of sufficient importance to be recorded.

1. Political Summary. The Government Coal mines have been put under the management of a special official deputed by the Arsenal authorities at Foochow. This official came over to Kelung [old spelling] on the 16th May and took over charge of the mines on the 28th of that month. Since his arrival I have not had any complaint from British merchants of refusal on the part of the Mines' Authorities [now a capital a] to sell coals or obstruction from them in the way of buying from the private mines. The Chinese Government vessels, however, still have the monopoly of all the best coal from the Government mines. This coal is heaped up for them in the open air at Kelung, and no precaution is taken against accidents. What is amassed at the Pescadores [Penghu] and other places will not be of any use, I am told, after a few months' exposure to the atmosphere and the authorities do not seem to be acting wisely in not selling this coal at Kelung, or using it up at once in the Arsenal [This kind of long paragraph, which I love, seems to have left English writing for the one or two sentence-ers of journalistic writing. No contractions either. I think they may not have been in use in English at this time.]

On the night of June 25th [1881] a serious robbery was committed from the premises of the Paymaster of the Government Coal mines. It seems that a large body of men, but accounts differ as to the number, armed and with their faces blackened made an attack on the paymaster's [small p] official residence for the purpose of securing a large amount of silver which had just been received from Foochow. The robbers apparently did not meet with much resistance, and they are reported to have succeeded in carrying off bout $3,000 in silver, and a quantity of miscellaneous articles. Two men have been arrested on suspicion, but the booty has not been recovered and the robbers are still at large. As the money was the property of the Government [will it be shared out equally among the officials that tipped off / arranged for the robbery?] the loss has to be made good, I am told, by the Paymaster [capitals again], the Kelung Ting [?] and the Tamsui Hsien [?].

2. Commercial. The Tea [capital t] market became very lively in the latter part of May and a steamer left the port for Amoy. This excitement, which lasted for about a month, was followed by a reaction, and for than a month past very little business has been done. The producers are holding out for large prices, the supply in Amoy has been very largely above the demand, and the Market in New York has not been good... [I'd like to put more up, but, like I said, these letters are still under copyright.]

3. Army and Navy. Copyright.

4. Relations with Chinese officials. I can only repeat the words of my last Report. Nothing has occurred to disturb the harmony which has hitherto existed between the Consul and the native [Taiwanese] officials.

5. Movements of Chinese officials. Concerned about the copyright: All rights reserved. Except for short passages used for criticism [plenty here], reviews or personal research and quotation, no part . . .

6. General. There's a pretty good description of a fire breaking out in Kelung: "It didn't extend very far, but did take out the property of a rich native, and accounted for $30,000 in damage [probably millions in today's reckoning]." There is also some sympathy for livestock on the part of the consul, who would just die on a whim: . . . "an epidemic like cholera has broken out among the geese, ducks, and fowl. These poor creatures seem in ordinary health one moment and in another they are dead . . . "

My friend eyedoc over at The Battle of Fisherman's Wharf http://danshuihistory.blogspot.com/ told me he wants to get these hand-written letters typed up and out for people to read. As is, these ten volumes are out of print and are going for about US$5,000 on Amazon. I don't understand how he is going to proceed, especially considering the big fat healthy copyright that miraculously landed on these 130-year old letters in 1997. But eyedoc is a smart guy. Suggestions?

North Face's Face

2011-06-12T05:23:00.018+08:00

The occasional person asks me why I blog. The main point is to put up posts about Taiwan's history, as I feel it is misrepresented at times as well as under-represented. There also seems to be an effort in the media to color Taiwan as something that is Chinese. I guess I am not the only person in Taiwan that finds this problematic. The reason I can't get on board is I come from the US, via Canada, and I don't see myself as Chinese in any way. There are a couple of other concepts that inspire me: 1.) I'm interested in writing about the local history of the places I visit in Taiwan. This could mean simply translating something a taxi driver has told me. Or maybe I'll hit the books to create something bigger. 2.) I'm deeply interested in amusing myself. The next tidbit falls into the latter category. I think I'll get my kicks running over something annoying with the hope of a personal resolution. I suppose I'm being petty, but here goes anyway. It's about the shitty customer service I received at a store called North Face. Ever heard of these guys?

My wife, daughter and I were killing time and working up an appetite for dinner this afternoon in Gongguan (公館). We wandered into the North Face store on Roosevelt and I saw a satchel that was me. After asking for, and getting, the customary 10 percent discount on the fixed price (NT$3800 = US$125ish), I asked the salesman where the garbage can was. I had my daughter's empty yogurt bottle in my left and an equally light Asahi can in the right. I wanted to inspect the cool pockets of the satchel, try it on, etc., but couldn't because my hands were full. This is where the b.s. started. The salesman said: "We don't have a garbage can. You'll have to go out to the street to find one."

"How do you throw things away if you don't have a garbage?" I asked, looking around.

"Oh? Well, we don't provide this service for our customers," was the reply.

A couple moments later, after his words had sunk in and I had realized what I was dealing with, I said, "And I was just about to buy a bag from you."

"I'm sorry. There is nothing I can do -- mei ban fa (沒辦法)!" Actually, the salesman just shrugged me off. He couldn't care less.

To make a long story short, I didn't get the bag. The salesman had made his point; he was King and we were pretty lucky to be admitted to his store. In Taipei, the store owner is quite often King.

Monkey Business

2011-06-06T02:16:00.004+08:00

I took this video on my iPhone near my office the other day, on the corner of Bade (八德) and Dunhua (敦化). There were some officials out directing traffic. When I asked them what was up, they ignored me. From what I can make of it, they were special forces practicing rappelling head-first down a Taipei building. The guy on the right (far side) was having a hard time of it too. He did a pretty mean face plant in going over the ledge. Then he froze for several moments before making his descent. Both guys made it in the end and seemed pretty exhilarated upon putting boots to solid ground.

*****
On a different note, I'm plugging a video made by a fantasy baseball compatriot. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/pcowsill#p/f/39/Y-IJkT5XCl0

Mixing Up Taipei's History

2011-05-21T15:41:00.008+08:00

This is how an individual, or group of individuals, obviously employed by the Taipei government, has chosen to sum up the history of Taipei concerning the Red House in Ximending (西門町). Unfortunately, the writer(s) of this account (above) is either politically motivated or foolish. I suppose I'm nonplused as well. I can't figure out if a.) he or she has no concept of historical recollection or b.) he or she is rewriting history following the misguided concept that we here in Taipei need an untrue sense of it. Either way, there's just more muck for us to wade through and sort out.

Have a look at the first sentence in the description: "From its completion in 1908 to today, Red House has witnessed the Qing Dynasty, the Japanese occupation of Taiwan, and the Republic of China." First of all, the Qing Dynasty sold Taiwan up the river in 1895 when they surrendered Taiwan to Japan as part of the Treaty of Shimonoseki. In 1908, they were already 13 years gone. I'll restate this point: the Red House wasn't around in 1895, when the Qing vacated Taiwan. How could the Red House witness the Qing Dynasty if it wasn't built when the Qing left? Even if the Red House had obtained a telescope and pointed it across the strait, it would have been looking at the Qing for a couple of years as the Qing fell in 1911. You think Red House would have remembered such a brief episode? Or how about this one: when the author(s) states the Red House "witnessed the Qing Dynasty," do you think he or she is trying to tell the truth?

The author(s) later claims the Red House was "a place of harmony between Japanese and Taiwanese during the occupation, as well as" some other stuff. This is a misleading statement. First of all, Taiwan was never "occupied" by the Japanese. (This word comes up again and again though -- what's up with that?) It was "governed" by the Japanese after China ceded Taiwan to Japan in order to get out of the the Sino-Japanese War (1894-5). In fact, Taiwan was not occupied until 1945, when Japan surrendered to the U.S. and KMT troops came to our island. Since the KMT had no treaty or official / legal agreement of any kind to arrive here, this party was undertaking the occupation. As this detail is not touched upon anywhere within the exhibit; I am inclined to believe a bit of disingenuousness and other shenanigans are underway.

There's one more piece of nonsense to clean up here. According to the author(s) of the Red House account, the Red House was "bombed, burned and plundered" by the U.S. during WW II. It is true U.S. planes hit Taipei and Taiwan from October 1944 until the end of the war. In doing so, they managed to take out 75 percent of the country's infrastructure. My wife's great-aunt also died during one of the raids. But American soldiers neither burned nor plundered. As America did not have ground forces in Taiwan, this simply could not happen. With the exception of POWs, American soldiers never set foot in Taipei or anywhere else during the war.

I was only kidding before. I think I can figure out what's going on here. The Taipei government leans toward China, even if most of the population is not on their side. They hope people'll change though and want to do their part. By putting a Chinese stamp all over Taiwan's history, and doing a little rewriting here and there, perhaps this end will be met.

Taipei's Red House

Taipei's Crosswalks

2011-05-05T23:21:00.012+08:00

Are the crosswalks of Taipei for pedestrians to cross the street when the light turns green and beckons to them to do so? Or are they purely decorative -- geometric patterns to break up the monotony of our city's abundant cement in its blue-gray?

I took this video tonight at the corner of Dunhua (敦化) and Civic Boulevard (市民大道) in Taipei. I cross the street every night on my way from the office to the MRT, so I'm pretty used to having to duck, dodge or flat-out stop to let cars pass. Here, a driver almost takes out a group of six or seven pedestrians, myself included, to make a right-hand turn. It seems the driver was in a hurry to make the red light going on 50 meters down the boulevard. He was also talking on the phone, but not so engrossed to miss me filming him on my iPhone. How do I know? Well, we made eye contact. Then he jumped up off his seat and almost swallowed his cell.

To change things, I'm starting to believe, it's up to Taipei's citizens to be vigilant. Here's my contribution. By the way, I managed to catch his tag (license plate number). Watch out for G49950 if you're out for a stroll. He's reckless in how he wields his vehicle.

I've decided to start filming this intersection every evening I pass over it. I'll throw the clips up YouTube from now on.

Department of Parks and Street Lights

2011-04-30T16:20:00.018+08:00

People in Taipei do dry their items in parks from time to time: http://patrick-cowsill.blogspot.com/2009/03/multipurpose-playground.html.

I took this shot at a park near the Taiwan Presidential Office. It's near to a White Terror Memorial I hadn't noticed before: http://plixi.com/p/91440631. If you want to visit, go to google maps and input 台灣臺北中正區介壽公園.

White Terror was a period of martial law that lasted in Taiwan from 1949 to 1987; I think it may be the longest official era of martial law in the modern era. During this time, some 150,000 Taiwanese people were either imprisoned or murdered, or both, by the ruling KMT. Their government, which was not elected, described White Terror as an action necessary to suppress communism and root out traitors. Of course, many were (and are) skeptical, seeing it as simply a license to secure power. The back story was KMT arrived in Taiwan after being defeated militarily in China by Mao and his communist forces in the late forties. As the positions of power, meaning those held by bureaucrats, professors, doctors, politicians and what have you, were already occupied by Taiwanese individuals, martial law became a means to remove them. Once they were out, unemployed KMT followers found employment.

But I'm afraid I'm meandering off topic. I wanted to say drying your clothes and setting up your own living room in one of Taipei's parks are, according to the above sign, fineable offenses. A couple of weeks ago, we faced a similar issue on the grounds of my apartment complex in Wanhua (萬華), which are, as far as I can make out, also public grounds.

In the middle of the night, somebody dumped two good-sized wooden couches outside the doors to my building. Where the security guards were during this time is of course a mystery, especially considering if you park your bike outside for 10 minutes, they're on the scene. Instead of apprehending the culprits and getting rid of the couches, the security company affixed this sign to one of them: Please do not leave your furniture here. Then someone got the bright idea to add them to our playground for extra seating. That the couches were not secured to the ground and would, after a few downpours, be serving up slivers of wood for kids mucking around on them obviously did not figure in the equation. In fact, it wasn't until I showed the above pic to our building superintendent that the clutter was removed.

My only question now is this: did the cost for removing the furniture come out of our building fees or off the lazy bugger who was sleeping at his post's (or, at the very least, not doing his job) salary? I think I already know the answer. To tell the truth, I like our security guards. They're just a bunch of friendly old guys who wave at me every morning and ask questions about how my fatherhood is going. If it has to be that the residents of my building provide them with their pensions, they should provide meaningful service occasionally is all.

Sidewalk Parking in Taipei

2011-04-20T23:27:00.010+08:00

The last time I checked, it was illegal to take your vehicle and park it like this, in a non-parking zone, on a sidewalk. In my opinion, this "citizen" is screwing the good folk of Taipei times two by parking on the sidewalk. First, these scooters won't be able to get out; they are seriously hemmed in. Second, no pedestrian can slide through the three centimeters his (her?) car has left from bumper to scooter taillight. This parking job forces every pedestrian that comes this way out into the street. I took this shot at around 6:45 p.m. So the street was, it goes without saying, bulging with evening traffic.

I showed some of my colleagues this shot today. A couple of them, in unison, said: "Whoa! That guy will get a fine! Or maybe he'll (she'll) be fast enough to avoid a fine." I don't think getting a fine is what this driver should be concerned about. He (She) should be concerned that he (she) is inconveniencing other people. Actually, enough of the gender neutral. I'm pretty sure it was a guy, because some lunkhead came out of a dry cleaner's and stared at me when I was taking the shot on my phone; he had a "What the f%$#? That's my car" vibe.

*****

On a different note, I think I'll do a Weekly Links:
1. http://gotmahmojo.livejournal.com/161864.html

2. This article is almost five years old. It's still worth a read. Warning: it's disturbing: http://dissidentvoice.org/Mar06/OBrien23.htm
3. The Writing Baron has a great piece on the bullying of out-groups in Taiwan: http://thewritingbaron.com/train-to-nowhere.

Woman Pretends to Sleep in Priority Seat on Taipei's MRT

2011-04-09T17:03:00.004+08:00

I'll preface this comment by saying Taipei has one of the best public transit systems in the world. Besides having a state-of-the-art MRT, which is clean, efficient and expanding, there is an extensive public bus system reaching to all parts of the suburbs and tourist destinations in the outlying mountains beyond. Indeed, there's pretty much no reason to drive to work or school if you live in Taipei. It's a cheap trip too; for example, I pay NT$31 (around a buck U.S.) to catch a bus and then the MRT to work every morning. Unfortunately, there are still some mean souls, as you will witness in the above clip, who insist upon giving the system a black eye. Anyone who commutes in Taipei has seen this type of unfortunate episode more times than he or she cares to remember. Here's a rundown on what I witnessed this morning. I'll follow it up with a suggestion or two:

I got on the MRT in Taipei this morning at the Longshan Station stop. It was already pretty crowded as it was Saturday morning and people were out to enjoy the weekend. A woman with two small children followed me into the carriage and made their way up to the priority seats. Everyone on the MRT knows what these are as they're dark blue, as opposed to the light blue of the regular seats. Priority seats are set aside for the elderly, disabled, parents with small children (like the woman behind me) and impregnated. One of the priority seats was empty, so the mother plunked her older child into it. I'm guessing he was around four. The other seat was occupied by a woman of about 40 to 50 years of age. I believe she knew she should give the seat up for the mother and her other child (around a year to year and a half). I noticed she was looking at the small family and pondering her next move. Instead of doing the right thing and getting her lazy butt out of the seat, she opted for another course of action and promptly pretended she was asleep.

As the MRT rattled out of the station, the mother put her seat-less child down and wrapped his tiny fingers around a nearby pole so he wouldn't fall down. Needless to say, he wasn't standing in the most stable way. Seeing this wasn't going to work, the mother was forced to pick him up and try to balance him in her arms while holding on to the strap. She also had to keep an eye on the second son, who was wiggling around and plotting mischief. Meanwhile, the woman with the lazy butt occupying the number two priority seat blinked open a couple of times before continuing with her pretended sleep. Low in sympathy and high in selfishness, she would have played out the charade if I hadn't gone over and tapped her on the hand.

"You need to let that mother sit down," I informed her. "Why don't you have a look at what's going on?"

"Why?" she asked me. "Why?"

"Because you are occupying a priority seat," I explained. Then I pointed at a sign indicating it was a seat reserved for the elderly, disabled, parents with small children and impregnated. The 40 something-ish woman had no choice but to stand up; everyone was looking at us. This is where things took an odd and disingenuous turn. Lazy butt actually wanted to explain:

"I was sleeping," she said.

Like I said before, Taipei has a great transit system. For the most part, the people here are rule followers. They usually line up. They don't litter that much. And they show patience when it's crowded. But there should be more compassion for people, such as the elderly, disabled, parents with small children and impregnated who are also trying to navigate the system. Really, I don't know why, but there remains a sect among us who are way too stingy with their seats. During the Monday to Friday commute, it seems many of this sect are well-dressed, like they're office workers. The way I see it is they're going to sit on their butts all day; what harm would there be in standing for 10 or 15 minutes to surrender their seats to someone in need, even when they are in a non-priority seat? They must have their reasons, no matter how lame and unfathomable they may be.

The next time you see this sort of thing, call them out (if you're not already doing so). Give them a gentle tap or shake, or toe-to-toe kick to "wake" them up and whittle them out of their ill-begotten nest. There's nothing like a small public shaming to bring them around. Chances are everyone around you will give you a supportive nod. Who knows? When you're old, busted up and / or plied with offspring, somebody will do you a good turn too. Or, if we're lucky, this problem will be rooted out and resolved long before that happens. Please get involved and do your part.

Patchy History

2011-04-07T17:40:00.008+08:00

I received an email from Mark, who lives in the United States and is currently sorting through his father's World War II memorabilia. He's trying to piece together a time line. Mark wrote: "My father is a Veteran of WW2. He served for the US Navy in the Pacific Fleet during the War. He has some patches that he got during his service. One patch is written in Chinese . . ."

"The other patch says 'WANT FREE' 'BACK TO TAIWAN OR DIE.'

Both have blue, white and red insignia with the Taiwan's flag's star in the middle. My father can't remember who or how he got them but he thinks he traded some of his insignia for them. I would appreciate any info or advice you could give me about the origin of these patches."

I don't think either of the patches date back to World War II. First of all, Taiwan wasn't called Taiwan at that time. It was Formosa. Second, the Formosan (Taiwanese) people served in the Japanese Imperial Army and Navy up until September of 1945. Formosa's (Taiwan's) flag was the Japanese Rising Sun. After World War II, Taiwan was occupied by the KMT / R.O.C. (Republic of China) soldiers. The white sun on the top patch comes from their flag.

The first patch reads: "Fight the Soviet (Russian) Communists" and gives the soldier's ID number, 2906 (there might be a record for this man somewhere) across the bottom. By the way, soldier 2906 served in the Love Battalion. During World War II, the KMT's R.O.C. and the Soviet Union were allies. The Soviet Union didn't even declare war on Japan, hence Formosa (Taiwan), until August 9th, 1945. Three weeks later, Japanese officials were sitting down on the USS Missouri to sign the terms of Japan's unconditional surrender to the United States.

I've mentioned it before on this blog: From October 1945 to February 1947, thousands of Taiwanese men returning from WW II were recruited and redeployed to fight in China against the Chinese communists. The latter were supplied and financed, though probably not as much as they would have liked, by the Soviet Union. That's when the Soviets came to be viewed by the KMT as enemies (see upper patch once again). We should also keep in mind the redirected Taiwanese men were promised NT$2,000 a month. When they arrived in China, they were annoyed to discover they would be paid in the lower Chinese currency. Promised future government jobs, they later returned to Taiwan only to find the positions already filled by recent immigrants from China. Needless to say, the number of volunteers dried up after the 2/28 Massacre in Taiwan, as locals learned to distrust what they were being told. Then, in 1949, the communists defeated the KMT and drove their military out of China completely. The soldiers who had patches like the ones above retreated to Taiwan at this time. And Taiwanese soldiers no longer went to China.

I think, Mark, that your father came in contact with Taiwanese fighting in China during the late forties. You say he served on a submarine that refueled in Shanghai. That is where he probably got these patches. You also think his sub refueled in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. OK. But why would a Taiwanese soldier have a "back to Taiwan or die patch" in Taiwan? On second thought, this makes sense to me. Perhaps he didn't need the patches because he was already home, making them redundant.

I don't know anything about the trading of patches and insignias. I don't know on what level it took place, whether or not it was frowned upon and so forth. The possessions of POWs, on the other hand, were often stolen by their captors, but that's another story.

There are a few things to look into still:

1. Any records about your dad's submarine. Do you know the name of the sub, Mark?

2. I'd be curious to know who 2906 was. Can we look him up in the records here in Taiwan? I wonder how we do that.

CKS Airport Gets Culture

2011-04-06T00:59:00.021+08:00

CKS Airport Exhibit

I grabbed this shot in the CKS Airport in Taoyuan, Taiwan on the weekend. It's pretty new; I hadn't noticed it before. The exhibit does okay in referencing the 13 recognized aboriginal groups in Taiwan (although there is nothing on the other dozen or so still working to gain some sort of status). Let me run down the 13 on the books, according to the information given here:

1. Truku tribe: "Distributed among Siulin, Wanrong and Zosi townships in the mountainous of Hualien County [and of course across the rest of Taiwan these days], the Truku have a population of 'about' 20,711." This number would depend upon how you see things. Aboriginal groups tend to be matriarchal. Taiwan's census, however, is based upon a patriarchal system, meaning offspring take the father's "racial" status / surname. Therefore, groups such as the Truku would probably see a child born of an aboriginal mother and Taiwanese father as Truku. The census would have it another way.

2. Bunan tribe: "Bunan music was particularly admired when 'when' it was presented to the world in 1953 at the International Society of Ethnomusicology by T. Kurosawa from Japan [you don't say!]. Bunan music has since become a treasure in the ethnomusicology circle." It wasn't a treasure before 1953, and it hasn't been a treasure among the non-ethnomusicology circle of Taiwanese people since then?

3. Puyuma tribe: The paragraph closes, mentioning a rahan for the first time: "The rahan, or priest, is in charge of all rituals to please the gods and goddesses with beautiful harmony and to judge the millet yields of the year." A priest who pleases the gods and goddesses? Tell that to a Catholic; I'm sure they would not view a priest in such terms.

4. Thao tribe: The last sentence mentions the ulalaluan for the first time: "The ulalaluan is the representation of the ancestral memorial tablet [whatever that is] in the Thao culture."

5. Ami tribe: The last sentence again mentions something out of the blue: "Today military training has been largely reduced, and only an athletic meet, sea fishing, and celebrations with singing and dancing survive." Are you talking about Ami' traditions? Do you actually have the gall to suggest only these parts of Ami culture survive?

6. Atayal tribe: "The Atayal males are great warriors [we'd better watch out then], and the women are 'skilful' weavers." If that means "skillful," good. The tourists are gonna love it.

7. Paiwan tribe

8. Tao (Yami) tribe: "[A]bout 2,712" of them.

9. Tsou tribe: "The Tsou with a population of 'about' [and not exactly] 6,149 live in high mountain areas . . . . Today, the Tsou hold the heaven ritual, the evil spirit driving ritual and benediction, and the puberty ritual together at a regular time every year [end of explanation]."

10.Sakzaya [no space between number and name] tribe: "Since 2001, the Sakizaya have been aggressively promoting a cultural restoration [before that, they didn't care] movement in order to recover their traditional rituals, singing, dancing, and dancing of the Sakizaya [you'd think they'd be more interested in stressing they have certain rights; but hey!, what's an aboriginal gonna do if he or she doesn't know which dance to dance?!].

11.Rukai [no space between number and name] tribe: "Chaste women can wear lilies."

12.Kevalan tribe: "'Priests' are all women. [A female priest? Fancy that.]" Population is about 911.

13.Saisiyat tribe: Pretty condescending understanding here too, sprinkled with more of the same whimsical impossible to comprehend.

Comment: Somewhere, some charlatan academic or group of charlatan academics is making money to spew this junk. Chances are he, she or they is being paid with our tax dollars. I don't know what is more aggravating:

a.) He, she or they is making the people of our Taiwan look insensitive to the world as it comes and goes from the country's largest international airport.

b.) He, she or they is an educator, and is also busy feeding this kind of stupidity to younger people.

If you take a look at the picture at the top of the post, you'll see it's a beach house. An ocean spreads out from the front door beyond a white, sandy beach, and there is a palm tree for shade. I counted three palm trees in the exhibit. I didn't see a single yew, cedar or pine tree, or any other tree that normally grows in northern Taiwan.

To me, this image exactly speaks to a troubling kind of revisionism that is going on here in Taiwan. Simply said, aborigines only come from the south. So, they are like Hawaiians and are different from us. In this idea, the people of the north aren't required to think or feel about what is happening in this discussion because palm trees don't normally grow in Taipei or other locations north of the Tropic of Cancer.

Of course, this is not true as aborigines come from all over Taiwan. They come from apartments in Taipei, houses in Ilan and dormitories in Hsinchu. Most of them do not live in beach houses. I don't know of any that dance and sing around palm trees.

What Do You Do in Your Free Time? I Own a Caterpillar and I . . .

2011-03-12T16:13:00.006+08:00

I don't think I'll ever tire of Taiwan's sign culture. I photograph signs around Taiwan all the time. Some of them are amusing. Others are eye-catching and brilliant examples of advertising. A lot of the time, Taiwan's signs can be downright baffling. I ask locals and they don't know what they mean either.

I asked a local about the one below and she thinks it's related to mountain-top deforestation, which is carried out for the purposes of construction and betel nut farming. As anyone living here can tell you, the scraping away of trees from Taiwan's slopes has been met with disaster time and time again. Tree roots hold soil and rock in place. Once they're gone, there's not much left to prevent landslides, which seem to happen every time we have a typhoon or heavy rain. It's true that betel nuts grow on trees. The roots of betel nut trees, however, are shallow, making them a poor replacement for the cypress, yew, etc. that belong at medium to high altitudes.

I have some serious doubts about this sign, taken at up in Baoshan (Bao Mountain), nonetheless:

1. Taiwanese people don't normally own Cat excavators. They have cars, scooters and bicycles instead

2. If the operator goes ahead and actually digs into that slope, he or she is taking a plunge

3. I think you'd have to have some kind of official permission, even if you were doing it on your own property, to proceed; hence, there's no need for a sign

Of course, we can play the devil's advocate and say: "There must be a precedent, or there wouldn't be a sign." Whenever I see something goofy like this, I ask myself: "How is the company that makes these signs connected to the government? Is he or she related to an official?" Simply put, I look for the corruption angle.

Buying Train Tickets Online to Hualien, Taiwan

2011-02-07T17:04:00.001+08:00

I get some emails from time-to-time from "foreigners" asking how to book train tickets online to Hualien (花蓮), Taiwan. As far as I know, you can't using a credit card, unless you have a local card, which is incredibly hard to obtain if you're not a Taiwanese national (if you are, though, they're handing them out like candy). This probably means you can't buy a train ticket to Hualien (花蓮) online for yourself if you're a "foreigner." I'll digress some more to say people could buy tickets online to Hualien with "foreign" credit cards up until 2008. Coincidentally, a week or so after the Taiwanese government dumped some US$30 million into promoting tourism in the West in the spring of that year, the policy was changed and credit cards from the West were no longer accepted.

Anyway, back to the point. If you want to order train tickets online to Hualien and are already in Taiwan, these are the steps you can follow:

1. Go to this Web site: http://163.29.3.96/TWRail_EN/index.aspx

2. Click on Guided Query (on the left)

3. Imput Taipei (or the city you're coming from) as well as the station. Then hit Next Step

4. Imput Hualien

5. Click on Hua-lien and then Hualien below, and hit Next Step

6. Click on the date and time

7. Choose the train type (I recommend the fast train - the Tze Chiang). Hit Query

8. Choose the train you want. Remember the train number

9. Then click on http://www.railway.gov.tw/en/ticket/ticket-1.aspx

10. Click on Internet Ticketing (it's in the column on the left-hand side)

11. Click on Order Tickets Using Train No. (it's the first option)

12. Put in your passport no., ARC no. or local ID no., the station of departure and arrival and the Train No. (From no. 8 above)

13. When the successful booking memo comes up, copy the page (I usually cut and paste it in Word)

14. Print it and take it, along with ID, to either the post office or train station

15. You'll have about a day or so to do this. If you go to the post office, you'll have to pay an additional NT$10 (30 cents US) as a handling fee

Wanhua's Qingshui Temple

2011-02-06T21:16:00.005+08:00

A recent shot of Qingshui Temple

Qingshui Temple as it once looked

I've already blogged about Qingshui Temple (清水祖師廟): http://patrick-cowsill.blogspot.com/2009/09/qingshui-temple-in-wanhua.html, but I returned yesterday for another look. Here's the address: 台北市萬華區康定路81號. I should start off by saying it's easy to miss if you're walking down Kangding Street. Qingshui isn't on the street, but rather at the end of a lane. The people out eating and drinking at the shops (they set up tables in the lane) can easily distract your view.

Here's a rundown of important dates:
1787 Qingshui Temple was first established in Taiwan, to house items commemorating Chao-ying Chen, the guardian spirit of immigrants from Anxi (安溪) County of the Quanzhou area in Fujian, China
1853 Qingshui Temple was destroyed during a clan-like feud between immigrants claiming to be from Anxi and immigrants claiming to be from Tongan (同安) County, an area near Xiamen
1867 Qingshui Temple was rebuilt
1922-25 Qingshui Temple was used as a school and was called the Taihoku Prefectural Second High School, which is now known as Cheng Keng (成功) Senior High

According to the blog The Battle for Fisherman's Wharf, Qingshui Temple also briefly housed an important wooden plaque (功資拯濟) from Danshui, which commemorated China's success during the Sino-French War (1885). Interestingly, the people of Monga (Wanhua) refused to return it. This led to ll sorts of new feuding lawsuits, etc. that continued well into the Japanese era. It's possible the plaque is still in Qingshui Temple right now: http://danshuihistory.blogspot.com/2011/01/clear-water-zu-shi-temple-in-danshui.html#comments

Regaining Monga

2011-02-05T03:45:00.009+08:00

Wanhua Plaza 406

I spent the afternoon wandering around Monga (艋舺), otherwise known as Wanhua. My wife was at her maternal grandma's and was free to do as I pleased. I took all of the shots on this post at Wanhua Plaza 406, which is directly south of Ximending. The park is a work in progress, and seems to be part of bigger effort to restore the district of Monga, seen by many as the ghetto of Taipei. I've blogged about the area before. Resting between Ximending, around ten blocks south of the Taipei Train Station, and the Hsin Tien River, Monga is one of Taipei's most historic areas. During the 18th and 19th centuries, it was known as a vibrant center of commerce and activity. Ships from all over the world called at her ports. Taiwan's important companies normally had a stake here. Centers of culture, such as Longshan and Qingshui (清水巖) Temples, were located near her banks.

Unfortunately, the Hsin Tien River started to silt up. By the time the Japanese colonists arrived in 1895, big ships could no longer navigate her waters. The Japanese, realizing they would be fighting a losing battle against erosion (Taiwan has the highest mountains in Southeast Asia) and a meandering river, decided to let the Hsin Tien at this juncture go. Now if you read about Monga, it is often suggested that after the multinationals left, brothels and the organized crime that fed off them filled the void. With all the traders, sailors and bureaucrats coming and going, the industry already had a firm foundation and thus officials either encouraged it or turned a blind eye. I'm not so sure that this is how an entire community gets by though. Monga does have a long history of prostitution, but can this sustain the economy for an entire district, or let's say town as Taipei a couple hundred years ago wasn't really a unified city but rather a collection of independent places? One thing is for certain. Monga's glory days are behind us. Household income is 25 percent below the city average. Only one in five people living here has a university degree (as opposed to one in three for the rest of the city). Property values are two thirds what they are in the rest of Taipei. And oh yeah, we have twice the population density and then some.

The optimist in me tells me projects such as Wanhua Plaza 406 are good for the neighborhood. Not only do they remind us of Monga's history, but they also attract visitors or, in other words, people who spend money. I'm not exaggerating. Today, this park had lots of people obviously not from Monga; I had to wait again and again to take my shots as they were posing in front of these excavation works. I grabbed a cab home and we were immediately in a traffic jam, on account of all the people coming to see another popular tourist destination, the 300-year-old Bo Pi Liao (剝皮寮) Street. The driver, a Yong Ho resident, immediately started to complain about what he saw as chaos. When I said: "Look at all these people checking out the neighborhood," he spat:

"Bah. It's even worse where I live. I can't stand it." I still think the focus is healthy and I certainly don't mind the people every now and then. We'll have to see how it goes.

Note: The inflatable pink bird and transformer Mayday were also part of Wanhua Plaza 406. This is a part of Taiwanese culture I don't really get. To me, pop culture is repetitive if not completely boring. Mixing these two monstrosities in with the old buildings (at the top of this post) seems weird.

One Man's Junk

2011-02-03T02:30:00.003+08:00

After 3.9 years, hundreds of kilometers, most of Taiwan's major (and many smaller but also important) cities and several countries in Southeast Asia, my daughter Ahleena's stroller was laid to rest tonight. Notice the garbage heap. During the Lunar New Year holiday, such dumping on the streets of Taipei and other places in Taiwan is usually condoned. Traditionally, the Lunar New Year holiday has been seen as a time to clean house in Taiwan. And if you don't get rid of your big stuff, you'll probably be stuck with it for another year.

I have a recap of the circumstances leading up to our abandoning of Ahleena's trusty stroller below: http://patrick-cowsill.blogspot.com/2011/02/tis-season.html. If you'd have asked me just yesterday if I was going to dump it, I would have said "you're crazy."

Note: I folded the stroller up after the shot so it would be easier to toss on the garbage truck.

*****

On a different note completely, I came across this post on An Expatriate in Taiwan. It covers the WWII POW camp that was at Douliu (斗六), Taiwan. I've been to Douliu before, but I didn't think to look into this. I wonder how one goes about confirming whether or not the facade in the picture was a part of the camp. I guess there must be some old pictures out there: http://www.expatintaiwan.net/2010/10/19/world-war-ii-history-goba-elementary-school/#more-565

'Tis the Season?

2011-02-02T15:56:00.023+08:00

When you want to see how deep the river is, don't use both feet.

If you are patient in a moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.

Fix the pen only after the sheep are gone.

If you've never done evil, you need not worry about what or who's knocking at your door.

It is easy to dodge a spear that comes from in front of you. Just try to get out of the way of an arrow shot from behind.

Today is Lunar New Year's Eve and I've been looking at Taiwanese sayings. I threw up a few that I agree with or am amused by above. Speaking of the Lunar New Year, which is Asia's version of Christmas, meaning a holiday when families come together, people forget grievances and everyone is full of cheer and goodwill toward his or her fellow man and woman, we had an interesting visit to start the day. This is how it went down.

There was a knocking outside as our doorbell is broken (we've been asking the security company that looks over our building and to which we pay NT$1700 a month to fix such things to fix for the last eight months). Getting the door, I was greeted by an old woman I didn't recognize. Actually, I wasn't greeted. I was simply told to remove my shoe rack from the hallway and to stop leaving our garbage and recycling in the fire exit. The old woman didn't complain about the stroller, however. That was weird. After three and a half years, and hundreds of kilometers, the thing is a battered and filthy eyesore.

When I went back inside, my wife asked what it was about. "Oh, just the security company. It was the usual nagging about keeping the landing outside neat. She says the fine for not complying is NT$40,000 to NT$200,000."

"If they want it neat, they should try mopping the floor and cleaning the windows once in a while, like we pay them to do."

"Yeah. And by the way, they were the ones who told us to put our garbage in the emergency exit." You see, after we complained to the city that we were paying NT$1700 a month in building fees but didn't have garbage removal services, the security company came up with this solution: I would pay an old woman that they knew NT$300 a month. She would come and take our stuff away every day. This was their idea. "Let's go talk to them," I said.

When we arrived at the main lobby, my wife, as usual, explained how we were unhappy with paying so much money and receiving very little service in return. She talked about the broken security system and the eight months' time we'd waited to get it fixed. Then things escalated, so much so that I twice had to tell the security guard not to raise his voice to my wife. He was shouting and my wife was cutting him off repeatedly, saying, "I don't want your excuses!" Then something funny happened. He said:

"We are a new security company. We took over October 1st. So, we need time to sort things out." He escorted me to a sign on the wall, with information about the company as well as the chain of command. "See, this is how it is," he said. "And yes, we can't have you putting your garbage and recyclables in the emergency exit." The reason this is funny is the new security company has hired all of the old security guards. The only thing that has changed is the color of their uniforms. They used to be a dull orange. Now, they're white. The same old men remain.

"What is this guy smoking?" I asked my wife.

"No, he's serious. It's an excuse to start again," she said. "Now we have to complain to the city a second time about how the security company isn't taking out our garbage. Then the city has to call them. Then they have to find the old woman and get her to accept NT$300 to take out our stuff. Plus, they can stall another eight months on fixing the bell and camera. He thinks everything has been reset."

We decided our best course of action was to call the building rep. Ten minutes later, he was on the scene, smiling the usual reasonable and friendly smile. My wife started to explain, but he had the perfect answer: "Let's go over to the building so you can walk me through your grievances. Let's see what's what."

When we showed him how our buzzer, camera and doorbell weren't working, he was just as annoyed as my wife. "This is impossible," he said. "Why don't they fix it? OK, they'll fix it, I promise. Let's go up to the eighth floor to get a better lay of the land." While we were out in the elevator landing, something unexpected happened. The old woman representing the security company, the one that had knocked at my door to complain about the shoe rack, garbage bags and recycling on the emergency exit for a few hours every day until they were picked up, got off the elevator.

"This is the woman who came to complain this morning," I said, wiping the dust off my fingers from the dirty windows. I'd been showing the building rep how the security company had not been keeping up its part of the deal.

"I'm not from security company," she said. "I'm visiting my son, who is your neighbor."

"Then what's your problem?" asked the building rep.

"I don't like the shoe rack. Plus when I open the emergency exit, I sometimes see a garbage bag or recyclables." Never mind that it never blocks the stairs. Never mind that there is a second emergency exit about a foot away.

"How about this stroller," I asked, pointing at my daughter Ahleena's worn out stroller. "Why don't you care about it?" The answer was quite simple. My neighbors normally leave their bikes and stroller in the landing, so they were going for the status quo on that count. Unfortunately, none of their stuff was out today. I guess they'd pulled them in before complaining.

"If you can't understand what I'm getting at, I'll show you," she said. "Nobody else in the building leaves things out." This was dubious. I know because I often go up to look at the scenery from the roof. We're close to the Hsin Tien (新店) River, and I enjoy seeing the sunset as it unfolds across it. There is a bike locked to the railing between the eighth and ninth floor. There's a ghost money burner between the tenth and the roof. I don't know what there is going the other way, as I always take the elevator, but it's unlikely to be completely clear. There's just too much good storage room to be had.

"No need," explained the building rep. "You don't live here, so it doesn't concern you." But I was already worked up. After moving the shoe rack and stroller inside, I said:

"If I ever see your stuff out here, I'll photograph it and file a complaint. Get rid of that doormat too," I demanded, pointing at a red plastic thing they have in front of their door." To kind of comply, the woman moved it about ten centimeters.

"No, get rid of it," said the building rep.

The outcome is that we'll be chucking out the stroller. Sorry, Ahleena. But you're a big girl. And we can ditch it on a city-sanctioned garbage pile during the holiday. If we keep it, it's for another year. As the shoe rack was a gift from my mother-in-law, we'll be keeping it, to clutter up our entrance hall.

I shouldn't be surprised by my neighbors. I'm sure that it just doesn't occur to them that they should be neighborly, especially during the holiday season. My wife and I already had a pretty good feel on the kind of people they are, namely, a tired man and his tired wife, plodding through the steps of a life they imagine has to be exhausting and bland. The old woman is an extension of that feeling. We tolerated the endless noise coming from their apartment when they were renovating, including jackhammers late into the evenings and on weekends, because we figured they were our neighbors and we'd have to face them. More importantly, it seemed like the neighborly thing to do. When they didn't come over to apologize for the inconvenience, or clean up the mounds of dust this left in the landing, we excused them, thinking they were busy people. I have on numerous times tried to reach out to them. But they simply avoid me. They are the kind of people who, upon coming out and seeing me (or the neighbors, I suppose) waiting for the elevator, will pretend they have forgotten something and flee back into their apartment. They are the kind of people who, upon seeing another neighbor, a kind elderly lady for example who has fallen and broken open her forehead and a hip bone, will simply bang on my door and say, "Look at that," before scurrying off for work. They obviously want to be anonymous, to grind it out alone and expect Taipei will serve this purpose and leave them alone. Okay, that's their right. Nonetheless, I will be bringing the community that is our building to their attention, and them to it, the moment they leave a thing, even a pair of shoes.

Or, hopefully, things won't have to be this way. We'll see.

Imagine Taiwan without the Philippines

2011-01-22T17:54:00.011+08:00

I took this shot in the Philippines a couple of weeks ago. It's a part in the structure surrounding the once Spanish-run settlement of Intramuros, which grew into Manila. Construction on what is seen above began in 1571, after the Spanish came to terms with the locals. This makes the walls and what they contain the second oldest European-based operation in the Far East (after Macau under the Portuguese). Intramuros is one of the reasons the Dutch came to be in Taiwan. As thousands of Chinese settlers arrived in Taiwan on Dutch ships, Intramuros should be included in the story of Taiwan.

The historical account as I've heard it goes as follows. After Holland was able to free herself from the grip of Spain in Europe in the 16th century, she started to assert herself internationally. In the Far East, Spain and Portugal were still the main players from Europe. Holland first established an Asian presence in Indonesia at Batavia (in 1619), which is now Jakarta. The Dutch were for the most part interested in spices, such as cloves and nutmeg. Naturally, they had an eye on the bigger prize, namely Japan. I suppose they also wanted to antagonize the Spanish, who had Intramuros up and running, and the Portuguese in Macau. The plan was to procure goods from China and trade them with Japan. There were two problems with this. First, Chinese law forbade Chinese people from allowing outsiders into China. Second, the Dutch didn't have anything the Chinese wanted. (The Spanish at least had the sense to bring high quality silver from Mexico, something the Chinese did want while the Portuguese were well positioned in Macau.) This did not stop the Dutch.

In 1622, the Dutch landed in the Pescadores, otherwise known as Penghu, and built a fort called Sea-cape. Lying between Intramuros and Amoy, and just 30 kilometers from Macau, the Dutch figured they could press their point. Over the next two years, they pestered the coastal settlements of southern China and shipping in the region so much that a group of annoyed Chinese merchants petitioned their government to allow trade. The mandarins were swayed and the Dutch were told if they moved further away from China, to say Taiwan, their terms could be met. I should point out that I've heard two stories on why the Dutch vacated the Pescadores and moved to Taoyuan (which is underwater in Tainan's harbor today). First, they heard a Chinese armada was gathering to drive them out. Second, the government simply listened to the petitioners, who were powerful and said they would be ruined if they couldn't trade with the Dutch. Dutch ships had also been blockading several ports. It had become next to impossible to trade with the Spanish in Manila, the guys with the fine Mexican silver that everybody wanted.

We need to remember that Dutch were not the first people to come to Taiwan. The country was already populated by 100,000 Aboriginal people of various cultures. In the Tainan region, there were also 1,000 Chinese and Japanese traders. The Dutch radically changed things though. In particular, they laid the groundwork for mass Chinese immigration to this country. They had the transport. They could provide government and protection for the Chinese settlers once they landed. I'm not saying they were benevolent. Taiwan would go on to become the their second most profitable colony, after Batavia. The Dutch were stunningly cruel as well. In establishing their first fort on Taiwan, it is said they kidnapped 1,500 Chinese people. They then roped them together in pairs and worked them so hard that all but 31 died. The survivors were, after the construction was complete, shipped off to Indonesia and sold into slavery. In the following years, the Dutch ruled with a brutal hand, often using Aboriginal headhunters to put down social unrest when their own soldiers could not.

I can't help but think the history of Taiwan would have been different had the Dutch never shown up. When they left, the Chinese population was 150,000-ish. Their influence on Taiwan's agriculture is undeniable. The Dutch introduced breadfruit, parsley, tomatoes, watermelon, mangoes, peppers, lemons and custard apples to Taiwan. Plus, 17th century rule of law and taxation existed. These policies were so successful that when Koxinga (鄭成功) defeated the Dutch in 1661, he demanded they turn over the books as one of the terms of surrender.

I also believe Intramuros, in the Philippines, had a role in the Dutch, and consequently the Chinese, coming to be in Taiwan. Simply put, had the Spanish set up shop somewhere else, the Dutch would have followed them there.

Chinky Bucks, Manila

2011-01-14T10:36:00.009+08:00

IMG_1744, originally uploaded by Patrick Cowsill.

I came across this restaurant at the Taft Station LRT (Light Rail Transit) Station in Manila. I wanted to take a picture because I was amazed by how offensive it is. In their defense, I'm pretty certain the Filipinos/nas who put it up and who are tolerating it don't get how offensive it is as their history is unique from other countries.

In America, we wouldn't call a Chinese restaurant either "Chinky" or "Bucks." The former is a racial slur. The latter touches on a negative stereotype, namely that Asians are bucktoothed. If you think Bucks is just a coincidence, look at the teeth on the happy face.

When I was taking the picture, the people working at Chinky Bucks got defensive. I assured them that I wasn't trying to steal secrets but rather taking photographs of places that interested me, so I wouldn't forget them.

Note: I googled "chinky." According to Wikipedia, a chinky is what many people in England call Chinese takeout restaurants. I don't know if the connotation is negative or not in that country.

Taiwan Angler

2010-12-22T20:48:00.002+08:00

My friend Chris has started a blog called Taiwan Angler. Chris is rediscovering his passion for this sport. He's already put in a lot of effort to come up with an interesting site. I think it might be the first in English on this topic too. In the future, look for lots of information on angling around the beautiful country of Taiwan. You'll find his Web site at this address: http://www.taiwanangler.com/

Chris is a smart guy, so expect insight on how concepts of marine biology can and have affected our economy, what tackle to get to attract the big ones or even what beer to chug whilst chasing a lazy Sunday away on one of Taiwan's streams, lakes or ponds.

Do Consumers Need to Accept Mei Ban Fa (沒辦法)?

2010-12-20T01:19:00.012+08:00

Pretty much nothing gets my back up like being told "mei ban fa (沒辦法)." If you translate mei ban fa, you'll come up with something like "this problem cannot be solved." Spend some time in Taiwan and see how mei ban fa (沒辦法) is used. Eventually, you'll discover mei ban fa (沒辦法) is something closer to:

a. I don't feel like helping you

b. I won't help you because if I take initiative, I could get in trouble

c. Get lost, because you can't win this pissing contest

I've been mei ban fa-ed three times in the last 20 hours, two times when I went to pick up pizza at Pizza Hut last night and a third at Costco this morning. In all three cases, the individuals doing the mei ban fa-ing worked in customer service. Before I give a rundown, I'll offer a few suggestions for those out there facing a mei ban fa (沒辦法) of their own. First, explain to the customer non-service rep. there is no such thing as a problem too impossible to solve. Then offer to help them come up with a solution. If that doesn't do the trick, ask to speak to a manager. Remember that you could be getting screwed when being mei ban fa-ed.

My mei ban fa (沒辦法) grief began when I ordered Mexican and American double salami pizzas last night. The bill came to NT$720 (US$23), so I pulled out my wallet to pay. While doing so, I asked about my points (I have a VIP card, which I paid for, so I can get free side dishes from time to time). "The card is under my wife's name," I told the guy at the cash register, just like I have every time for the past couple of years. "Here's her phone number."

"Ah. Ms. Cheng," the guy at the till smiled, after keying in the information. "Do you have your card on you?"

"I don't think I have it anymore," I answered. "No worries. You can see her name on the screen. I normally just give the phone number," I said, starting to feel a bit weird. I hadn't paid yet for the pizza. My wallet was out though; the order had been placed. Who in their right mind would jeopardize a sale with this kind of pettiness?

"I'm sorry sir," said the clerk. "If you don't give me your VIP card, mei ban fa (沒辦法)!" he declared, like he had just uttered something decisive.

"There's no such thing as mei ban fa [沒辦法]," I explained. "By the way, I can't accept this kind of service, so get it sorted. This street has lots of pizza places."

"Uh, okay. No, I mean mei ban fa."

A couple minutes later, the assistant manager, Mr. Hsieh, appeared. After filling him in, I said: "I want to complain about this clerk. He's providing poor customer service and wasting my time. I don't agree with this kind of attitude."

"I'm so sorry about that," said the assistant manager, reviewing the computer screen and not listening at all to me. Then, still not listening, he picked up the phone and called my wife.

"Give me that," I said, taking the phone. Then to my wife, "The pizza place is being silly. I'll be home in a while." All of this was over a few points on a VIP card. I mean I was ready to pay. What on earth was their problem?

"Sir, sorry. You can place your order, but you can't accrue any points on your VIP card," said the assistant manager.

"Okay. Okay. Let me speak to your manager," I said. I knew it had crossed the line of "it's not worth it," but the pissing contest was now on. I pulled out my iPhone and hit the film button on the camera function.

I don't know if the manager was more reasonable or it was the camera. Or, it could have very well been that she's the only one with license to authorize anything, even when it's just a few crummy points on a VIP pizza card. "Do you know what these guys are putting me through?" I asked her. "My VIP card is recorded in your system. I have cash in my hand."

Here's the answer she gave me, before giving me some points and side order of bacon bread: "There has been a lot of pizza card fraud recently."

I'm not going to get too much into the Costco mei ban fa (沒辦法) tale because this is giving me a headache. I will say the nonsense was about the same. My time was wasted. I was offered silly excuses. Then I received the external drive that I had purchased earlier -- the external drive that already belonged to me.

I have worked in lots of customer service jobs. I tended bar in university. I have also worked the front desk at The Holiday Inn. When customers had a problem, I simply asked them what it was. Then I tried to make them feel less unhappy. I didn't bother to bother the manager. As a bartender, I usually refixed the drink if they didn't like it, adding more soda, an extra olive or lime, or what have. Sometimes I gave the customer a second drink for free. It never occurred to me to be stubborn or give them flak. At the hotel, I just upgraded their room. When that didn't work, I gave a discount. I didn't say things couldn't be done and problems couldn't get solved because that would have been disingenuous.

Monga Traffic

2010-12-11T16:34:00.003+08:00

Banged Up Crosswalk Light in Monga (艋舺), originally uploaded by Patrick Cowsill.

I took this picture today in front of the 85 Degree Cafe on Wanda (萬大) Road in Monga (艋舺), Taiwan. It looks like a right-turning bus or truck gave it a good scrape. I hope the district has some cameras in place so we'll know who to bill.

The proposed Wanda MRT Line might help to alleviate some of the traffic in Monga; it'll also cut back on the buses we need.

Taipei, Taiwan

2010-11-28T05:07:00.002+08:00

Taipei, Taiwan, originally uploaded by Patrick Cowsill.

Lots of urban farming going on right now in Taipei, Taiwan. I took this shot just east of Warner Village, in the Hsin-yi Distict (信義區). A friend told me today that it's the most expensive real estate in Taiwan. It's going for NT$6,000,000 a ping (meaning close to US$200,000 per tatami mat of space).

I think I should follow up on urban farming, seeing that I've taken hundreds of shots of how it has occurred around Taipei over the years. One of the reasons that property in this district has shot up in price is related to the MRT line, going down its main vein, that is going in as I write. The MRT line'll be up within the next couple of years. This land was once zoned as "agricultural." It's value obviously went up once it was relabeled as residential.

Taiwan Has Spoken?

2010-11-28T03:14:00.007+08:00

Today the people of Taiwan voted. To me, it seemed like a referendum on our President, Ma Ing-jeou, and his China leaning policies (some have even called them appeasement). I am not very politically minded. I will say I'm glad it's over. The loudness of the extravaganza has been unbearable. Here in Monga, we've been putting up with loud speakers that intrude into our homes deep into the night, smarmy palm-pressing politicians at every MRT station (in the mornings, no less) and all kinds of annoying chest beating. Last week, I had to, get this, listen to how Taipei IS Hau Lung-pin (郝龍斌) and that Chen Shui-bien is still corrupt. The rally actually took place on the common grounds of my apartment building, and lasted until around eleven o'clock. (Hau Lung is the son of 郝柏村, Taiwan's premier 20 years ago who fought tooth and nail against democratic reform.) Later that night, when my wife sent me out on a beer run, I couldn't help but notice all the garbage left behind. This garbage was cleaned up by janitors employed on my, and other occupants of my apartment complex, dime the next morning.

Anyway, my wife was simmering tonight because Taipei, where she and her ancestors going back 300 years have lived, is still KMT-land. I rented "Formosa Betrayed," an interesting new film about how Taiwan and its inhabitants have been colonized and controlled by invaders from China the last 60 years. After watching "Formosa Betrayed," she was on low boil. She told me that she was once educated to revere the KMT, that she had been taught to see the Japanese, who built Taiwan into Asia's second most economically powerful place, as scoundrels. She had even gotten into arguments as a young girl with her grandma. According to Grandma, the KMT were not saviors but rather "beggars and thieves." Later, when my wife learned about the 2-28 Massacre, when the KMT murdered 30,000 Taiwanese intellectuals in an early power grab and the 38 years of martial law that ensued, she came around to a new way of thinking.

I don't think all is lost. There are some interesting statistics emerging from tonight's election. The most telling is that the DPP, the pro-Taiwan party here, has actually won the popular vote. Here are the latest tallies:

Taibei
中國國民黨:795,403 (55.65%)

民主進步黨:626,075 (43.81%)

Xin Taibei

中國國民黨:1,115,536 (52.61%)

民主進步黨:1,004,900 (47.39%)

Taichung

中國國民黨:730,284 (51.12%)

民主進步黨:698,358 (48.88%)

But, in Gaoxiong/Tainan DDP pulled ahead:

Gaoxiong

民主進步黨:821,089 (52.8%)

中國國民黨:319,171 (20.52%)

Tainan

民主進步黨:619,897 (60.41%)

中國國民黨:406,196 (39.59%)

I pulled these totals off Michael Turton's comment section. Michael also has some interesting insight into the KMT-related gangster shenanigans that led to the shooting in Yong-he last night of a KMT official's son: http://michaelturton.blogspot.com/2010/11/sean-lien-shot.html

On a different note, David on Formosa is promoting blogs for a "Best Blog of Taiwan" contest. I think it's cool to promote Taiwan related blogs. I should probably read up more on this subject. If I were to vote, I think I'd give the nod to http://danshuihistory.blogspot.com/. Eyedoc, the curator, runs a terrific history-based site. David put up his mentions here; I'll give the link: http://blog.taiwan-guide.org/2010/11/some-great-taiwan-blogs-in-2010/

Historical Cheng De (承德) Road

2010-11-10T01:23:00.013+08:00

I took the above shot today on Cheng De (承德) Road in Taipei's historic Dadaocheng (大稻埕) District. I strolled the length of the street, from the Keelung River (基隆河) in the north down to Taipei Main Station, and this was the only place I saw that seemed to predate the 1960s. These days, Cheng De is lined with gaudy, glassy, grimy 1960 and 70-ish architecture.

If you take the stroll, you will of course come across Cheng Yuan (成淵) High School. Established in 1898, just three years after the Japanese colonial possession of Taiwan began, Cheng Yuan was once a rustic double-story, A-frame schoolhouse, much like you might have seen in the American Mid-west at the turn of the 20th century. I think the school was in fact funded by an American Christian group from thereabouts, but I'll have to follow up. Cheng Yuan was blown up on May 31st, 1945 by the US Army (the Air Force didn't exist in those days) on probably the single most devastating day of bombing Taiwan saw during the Second World War, and that is saying something as 75 percent of her infrastructure was wrecked in around a year's time. For those of you that are familiar with Taiwanese history, you'll recognize this date. Both the Presidential Building and Lungshan Temple (龍山寺) were also hit on May 31st, 1945.

As Cheng De used to be the eastern-most thoroughfare in Dadaocheng before, and after, the city was walled, it once was an energetic center of commerce and culture. In the 1860s, Formosa was internationally renowned for its tea. And Dadaocheng was her foremost packaging and shipping center. Hundreds of companies, many of them located on Cheng De, operated out of the neighborhood to serve this purpose. Times have changed. Technology and finance are now Taiwan's bread and butter. Most of its small, though still renowned tea industry, is based elsewhere. No shipping takes place from the wharf of Dadaocheng anymore, as it is now too silted up for ships to arrive anywhere in her vicinity.

This is the mailbox of the place mentioned above, which I am guessing is the oldest remains of a store or business along Cheng De Road. Notice how the mailbox is taped up.

When I dipped into an alley running off Cheng De (承德), near Ming Chuan (民權) MRT Station, I found lots of quaint buildings. In this structure, a tree had taken root in the roof.

An old building in an alley off Cheng De.

Righteous Temple in Monga, Taiwan

2010-11-07T12:46:00.004+08:00

A picture of Righteous (集義) Temple in Monga, Taiwan

I live in Monga, one of the three oldest neighborhoods in Taipei. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that we have many places of historical note in our midst. Having said that, I should point out that we really don't have much in the way of classical architecture. Until the 1990s, there was no emphasis on historical or heritage preservation in Taiwan. It was all development, with lots of speculation sprinkled on top. Thus a lot of Monga's, and Taiwan's for that matter, most precious streets and buildings were scraped off the landscape. I will say this though: there is no shortage of old and beautiful temples in Monga. Off the top of my head, I count half a dozen within walking distance of my home, like the Righteous Temple (pictured above), which my daughter and I pass almost every night on our way home from school and work respectively. Righteous Temple was built 110 years ago.

Inside Righteous Temple, you'll find the statues of three Tao figures, the righteous men from which the temple draws its name: Messrs. 朱, 池 and 李, who lived during the Tang Dynasty (607-917) in China. According to my wife, our daughter likes to "make wishes" at the alter when she and my mother-in-law go by, something she doesn't do when she's with me. I don't really have a problem with this though. I do think it's an interesting way to describe praying. I'm pretty sure that Grandma is behind the "wishing," as she's tried to make me do it a time or two (which I don't as it makes me feel self-conscious). Nevertheless, if my daughter wants to "wish," I'm cool with it -- that is, if she enjoys doing so. My daughter can make up her mind own about religion, whether that happens to be now, 10 years from now or whenever.

I'm afraid I digress: If you want to visit Righteous Temple, take the MRT to Longshan Temple. Leave the station from Exit Two. Go straight, passing the fire and police stations, for about a block. You'll see it at the first intersection.

Dan Jiang (淡江) Gym

2010-11-03T20:23:00.004+08:00

Dan Jiang (淡江) Gym, originally uploaded by Patrick Cowsill.

I put up another post at the Taiwan News' Web site, following the presence of Dan Jiang (淡江) High School here in Taiwan. I've been running out to Danshui (淡水) pretty regularly. A couple weeks ago, I took in a terrific re-enactment of the 1884-5 Sino-French War, which unfolded on Danshui's very banks. For more information, check out this blog: The Battle of Fisherman's Wharf. Eyedoc, the site's generous and informative curator, has posted on the goings-on of this conflict several times. Run over his posts and you'll be rewarded on this count, and other details of the community's development as well. Here's a sample, a post called The Execution of French POWs 1884: http://danshuihistory.blogspot.com/2010/08/execution-of-french-pows-1884.html

I've put up a picture of where the school's most famous alumus, Lee Tung-hui (李登輝), practiced martial arts in his youth. I promised it in the article; alas, it was not delivered.

Here is my article on Danshui's historical Dan Jiang (淡江) High: http://www.culture.tw/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1938&Itemid=156

Mid-Autumn in Danshui

2010-10-07T20:13:00.002+08:00

Boats, originally uploaded by Patrick Cowsill.

I wrote this for Culture Taiwan. As usual, I am mixing up Fort Santiago with Fort Domingo. For some reason, I can't get the two straight, a constant brain fart and I admit I still don't know the name. I'll have to google it once again: http://www.culture.tw/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1903&Itemid=156

1911 Has Meant Little to Taiwan

2010-10-03T02:58:00.018+08:00

I was surprised to come upon this bubble work today in Taipei, Taiwan. If you look inside, you'll see the words "90 days." There's also a collection of Taiwanese symbols, like Taipei 101 and some dolls. You might be asking yourself, "90 days to what?" Well, it's a countdown to 2011, to mark the 100th anniversary of the fall of the Ching Dynasty, and in Taiwan no less. So, does America or Canada, France or Denmark. have such bubbles? And, more to the point, why do we care here in Taiwan? Why are we counting down to another country's milestone? It doesn't make sense, especially if we look at the historical account. In 1911, or 100 years ago minus of course 90 days, Taiwan was a colony of Japan and her connection to China was finished. It would continue to be so for another 35 years in regards to Japan. We were liberated when the Japanese surrendered to the US August 14th, 1945. We've been on our own ever since. When 2011 rolls around, Taiwan will have been out of the Chinese yoke for 116 years.

Let's get back to 1911. To my mind, 1911 is a meaningless moment in time to the Taiwanese people. When the Ching Dynasty fell in 1911, Taiwan was already a colony of Japan, and had been so for 11 years (just to strongly reiterate the first paragraph and work the other way time-wise). Taiwan was handed to Japan on a platter by China as part of the terms of the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki.

To get a better read on what our indifference would have had to have been, we ought to revisit 1895, the year Fortune smiled on Taiwan. In 1895, after 212 years of colonization and 159 rebellions, the Chinese washed their hands of Taiwan. The incoming Japanese obviously expected resistance, so they had to be surprised when the leaders of Taipei were on hand when they landed in Keelung, to show them the way to Taipei. At that time, Taiwan was kind of backward, thanks in large part to the incompetence of Chinese rule. We didn't have an infrastructure to speak of, rule of law was a joke, and the people were in rough shape due to a lack of food and medicine stemming from poor organization. The Taiwanese leaders, like pretty much anyone else, were looking for stability, something the Ching proved incapable of providing. After learning the lay of the land, the Japanese colonizers set about to sort these problems out. In fact, they did such a good job of it that Taiwan became the second most prosperous place in Asia 50 years later, after Japan.

The Japanese started by offering an amnesty to all dissenters. If you didn't want to be here, they told the Taiwanese, go back to China, just get lost. Around a percent of the population, mostly wealthy and/or prominent, took them up on their offer. They came to be known as the "Half Mountain People," after a term in the Taiwanese (Hoklo) language. The other 99 percent settled in, and in many ways reaped the rewards. Not only did the Japanese build up Taiwan's monetary system, railroads, hospitals and education, but they also gradually included Taiwan in a nationalistic way. Taiwan's people would eventually become citizens in the Japanese empire, with a right to vote and place political representatives in Tokyo. The price we paid was being disconnected from China from the get-go.

A Taiwanese friend of mine once told my that his history teacher taught them the Taiwanese were indeed on the scene in 1911, that we sent a bands of people over to get involved. This is ludicrous, and this "teacher" should be ashamed. Why would the Japanese allow that? I wonder if the Taiwanese even knew if 1911 was going on, especially in terms of the Taiwan I have just described and as Taiwan was under martial law at the time. Where would have these people received the information? What would have the Japanese said when they gathered arms, procured arms and set sail? Etc.

This does not mean that Taiwan and China had no relations. They did, but under terms that would have not seen an intermingling. I've already mentioned the Half Mountain emigrants. They were able to hold on in China, and a few of them were even on the first boats back to Taiwan. They could speak Taiwanese (Hoklo), and are credited by some academics with being the authors of the 1947 2-28 kill sheets, when 30,000 Taiwanese people were murdered by KMT soldiers. They hardly saw themselves as Taiwanese.

Taiwanese and Chinese individuals mingled on other occasions too, but on seemingly the most superficial of grounds. According to the historian Bruce Jacobs, there were 8,223 Chinese people in Taiwan in 1905, mostly here as laborers, building bridges and roads, much like we have Thai or Filipinos here today to serve the same purpose. By 1936, the number was 59,015. This of course came to a head when Japan (and thus Taiwan) attacked China in 1937. The fate of these individuals was up in the air; if memory serves me, "foreign" ships returned them to China. This relationship was "us and them-ish," with the Taiwanese looking down on Chinese people. There were also 100,000 Taiwanese living in China. We were awarded a special status as Japanese colonists; that meant we were above Chinese authority. Enjoying privileges and immunity, we were said to have flaunted our non-Chinese status in China.

As anyone can see by perusing history for even five minutes, 1911 means zip to Taiwan. It is a KMT wet dream, one that has been forced down our throats for too long. My wife and I were looking at the pic I took (above). I suggested that August 14th, 1945, when the US liberated Taiwan from Japan, as the actual point of celebration. It's also a nice round number: 65 years. But my wife was having no part of this. She says American liberation of Taiwan simply opened the door to KMT bandits, 38 years of martial law, pilfering of Taiwan's infrastructure and general mayhem. But we did agree on one point: 1911 is irrelevant to Taiwan. We could only wonder at why somebody might want to promote 1911 as meaningful here in Taiwan, and to what end.

Erhu (二胡) on a Lazy Saturday in Taipei

2010-10-03T01:11:00.004+08:00

2010 Taipei International Flora Exhibition

2010-09-24T20:54:00.001+08:00

I took this dark picture last Tuesday just outside of the Yuanshan MRT station in Taipei on my iPhone. This construction zone will be a part of the grounds for the 2010 Taipei International Flora Exhibition. People are complaining about this because of the price tag: I’ve heard it's NT$10 billion. These individuals are dissatisfied because they don’t know what they’ll get back from it and there have been scandals. I’m guessing it’s the same lot as those who whined about last year’s Deaflympics: NT$9.5 billion. And many others.

I wonder how much has to be spent or wasted before one of these kinds of extravaganzas gets labeled a failure. Some pretty cool infrastructure was left behind for the Deaflympics, like a stadium and an almost Olympic-sized swimming pool (see my previous post – I’ve put a pic up there). The Flora Exhibition is going to leave behind the Eco Ark, a three-story building made out of recycled plastic bottles. That's about it.

There are also some aspects of the Flora Exhibition that confuse me. Look at the picture at the top of this post. We’re building a park, but right on top of a park. As the old park was perfectly fine, nothing’s getting improved here. Furthermore, the Eco Ark is placed over another park, one that was built just 15 years ago. Why do we have to put it on top of a park and how is that an improvement to Taipei? Why not on a gas station, an old ugly building, etc.? And do you notice the blue-fence corridor for pedestrians to walk through? That used to be a street. I asked the guards who were keeping people out of the park that we could once use freely if the city was going to reinstate the street after the Flora Exhibition. They told me they’d heard that this was likely. I’m betting that this happens. Streets and places for traffic do not trump parks.

I’m still going to say that I think if Taipei does tear up the west end of the park for cars after the Flora Exhibition, it’s a huge waste of time and money. Plus it’s kind of dishonest; we’ll be giving visitors an untrue picture of our city. My final points are for the mayor. You say we’ll make NT$16.8 billion in tourism off this NT$10 billion flower show? Where are you getting this amount? Are you simply counting any visitor that buys a ticket? If so, remember this: There are better reasons to visit Taiwan than to see some flowers, see Toroko Gorge, Hualien, the Pescadores, the National Palace Museum and Monga. See the night markets, shopping, Taipei 101. If you’re counting tickets bought by “foreigners,” you should remember that if they weren’t spending NT$3,000 on your flower show, they probably would’ve been dropping it eating in restaurants, getting out to see the country and putting that money somewhere else.

Infastructure Left Over from the 2009 Taipei Deaflympics

2010-09-24T16:25:00.005+08:00

Deaflympic 400 m Mens', originally uploaded by Patrick Cowsill.

Taipei built this stadium for the 2009 Deaflympics. The city and the country wrangled over who would pick up the tab, with, I think, the city losing. I took this shot from the roof of the building I work in. There is an almost Olympic-sized pool next to the stadium that was also built for the show.

BTW, this was the semis for one event, either the hurdles or 400 meter dash. I can't remember.

Chinatrust Commercial Bank Continues to Screw with Out-groups

2010-09-16T17:45:00.010+08:00

I've already written about the shenanigans I faced in getting a credit card from the Chinatrust Commercial Bank in Taiwan (中國信託商業銀行). I was told I couldn't apply because I was a "foreigner." As this happened just inside the doors of the Chung Ho (中和) Costco, the company Chinatrust was cooperating with on a particular credit card I wanted, I simply wrote to them in the US and asked them if they really wanted to have their brand associated with a bank that discriminates against out-groups. The full story is here: http://patrick-cowsill.blogspot.com/2009/11/foreigners-getting-credit-card-in.html. Obviously, Costco did not like the fact that the Chinatrust Commercial Bank was discriminating against out-groups in Taiwan and, a couple weeks later, I had a Chinatrust Commercial Bank / Costco credit card in hand.

Today, I experienced another hurdle with this silly bank. When I tried to purchase a Taiwan High Speed Rail ticket online, using my Chinatrust credit card, my transaction failed because I did not have a Chinese name on my credit card. Here's how it went down: After loading up the English Web site for the Taiwan High Speed, I input the required information: date, time, destination, name, ID and agreed to the terms. When I keyed in my credit card number and its expiration date however a Chinatrust verification box automatically sprung up, in Chinese. I found this a bit strange, especially since I was working on the English Web site for the Taiwan High Speed Rail, but I started to fill it out. The box called for my birthday, the expiration date of my card and my name, which I could not input. Why? Well, it told me to type in "all three characters of my name." This was impossible as the name on my credit card is in English. So, basically, this is it: the only Chinatrust cardholders allowed to purchase HSR tickets online are the ones with Chinese names on their cards.

I have already complained to Taiwan High Speed Rail about this. But the incident gets me thinking. After Costco forced Chinatrust to give me a credit card, the bank told me that it didn't discriminate against "foreigners." When I told them I could name lots of friends that had been turned down at their bank simply because they were "foreigners," the rep. handling my case informed me that I was imagining things. I'm still waiting for the statistics I requested on "foreign" credit card holders at Chinatrust Bank because I don't think I am. I don't understand this either: Chinatrust Commercial Bank says that it does not discriminate against "foreigners." If so, why doesn't their box, which automatically pops up on the Taiwan High Speed Rail's English Web site, allow for "foreigners" to input their "foreign" names? Why is it just in Chinese? Hint: it hasn't occurred to Chinatrust Commercial Bank in Taiwan (中國信託商業銀行) to have an English pop up because they do not have "foreign" customers. Cross out folks like me because we just don't count. We slipped through the cracks and are infinitesimal quirks in how they are rounding things out.

I'm going to check back with the Taiwan High Speed in a week to get this sorted out. The reason I don't bother complaining to Chinatrust is because I do not trust them. If you want results with this bank, you have to appeal to their partners, like I did when I wrote to Costco in the US. I'll just close by saying I've observed a trend:

1. If I point out that it is hard for "foreigners" to get credit cards in Taiwan to a "foreigner," the explanation I'll normally get is "that's because Taiwan's banks are racist, xenophobic, etc."

2.If I point out that it is hard for "foreigners" to get credit cards in Taiwan to a "Taiwanese person," the explanation I'll normally get is that the banks are absolutely not racist or xenophobic, but rather because "'foreigners' are a flight risk." I find this kind of reasoning disingenuous. Every single person who applies for a credit card is a flight risk. If you don't believe that Taiwanese people go bankrupt, run away from their debts, etc., then read the news. Or, talk to a local. Debt collection in Taiwan is just as big a headache as it is anywhere.

I also believe the flight risk explanation to be disingenuous for another reason. I think it's offered up because a majority of Taiwanese people want to categorically deny that racism exists in Taiwan.

Travel Grove's Cheap Airplane Tickets

2010-09-13T00:50:00.003+08:00

This will be a paid post is for the travel site Travel Grove and it's Cheap Airfares. Their Web site works as a meta-search engine to bring users offers on cheap offers. This is how they work: they save the best prices found by users and then display it for those searching for the same thing, so though. You will find offers like cheap flights to Chicago, Asia, cheap flights to Hong Kong and so forth If you want to read about these destinations, you can also do that. Travel Grove also provides travel guides in the top menu of their homepage.

You could see some more of these posts from time to time. I'm not against advertising something when it suits me. Once again, I don't have any issues with people seeing the world as inexpensively as they can. I have been providing content for Patrick Cowsill Wanhua Taiwan for three-plus years. If I can put away a few dollars every now and then, what's the problem with that? Do you have an issue with me supplementing my efforts like this? Let me know your thoughts below. I would never put an ad up that I found troublesome, and would kill this program if someone were to make a reasonable argument for doing so. Travel away, my friends.

村子口 = Entrance to the Village Restaurant

2010-08-24T23:18:00.001+08:00

This is actually a restaurant, an extremely popular lu-wei (滷味) restaurant near my office in the Songshan District of Taipei. Inside that door there are eight to ten tables, and they'll all be full any lunch hour of the week. For any of you that haven't had lu-wei (滷味), its tofu and other simple dishes marinated in soy sauce and spices. I met up with my friend today, Markus, for a lunch of dumplings, leeks, spiced seaweed, spicy shredded tofu over tea eggs and spicy dried noodles. Lunch cost NT$280 (US$8).

Markus and I have been meeting up for lunches going way back. We met in nineties at Anya Gym, a basement gym near Shita University. We used to shoot the breeze as we ran the treadmills and that's how we became friends. Since then, we've been taking turns choosing restaurants around Taipei and treating each other. We usually hook up every one to two months. This time, it was Markus' turn to choose / pay, and he did a mighty fine job. He found 村子口, or the Entrance to the Village Restaurant.

The Entrance to the Village Restaurant is second KMT restaurant Markus has taken me to in the Songshan area. When I say KMT, I mean places set up by 1949 refugees from China. 1.5 million Chinese people escaped to Taiwan after Chiang Kai-shek, in all of his incompetence and corruption, lost China to Mao Zedong. If you go inside, you'll immediately know what I'm talking about. There's KMT memorabilia on the walls and slogans as well. I've heard they sometimes play old "patriotic" songs, though notice the scare quotes. Those songs must have been a bitter pill for the local people to swallow, especially after how cruelly they were colonized by the 1949 refugees from China.

One thing I didn't care for at the Entrance to the Village Restaurant was the waitress' attitude when she greeted us. Instead of asking us what we would like to eat, she simply pointed at a menu and grunted. Now you might think this is just her way, but she didn't seem to have a problem speaking in full and polite sentences with the other customers. The reason I'm bringing this up is I am afraid that we were being singled out because of our skin color. You see, both Markus and myself are white. I think she must have judged that we couldn't speak Chinese, which is not the case. This is how long it took for us to get through to her. We had the following conversation, and it was in Chinese:

Me: Could we have some menus please?

Waitress: (holding menu and pointing) Grunt!

Me: Could we have a pen please?

Waitress: Grunt!

Me: You don't want to talk, right?

Waitress: Huh?

Me: My friend can speak Chinese. I can speak Chinese. You don't need to be so nervous. We don't feel good.

Waitress: Well, er... um... What would you like to eat?

Markus: Spicy noodles. 10 dumplings, and some tea eggs.

(Later)

Me: Could I please have some white vinegar?

Waitress: (chilling a fraction) Okay. Wait a minute.

(Later)

Me: Could we have some soy sauce?

Waitress: (still trying to relax) I'll bring some to your table.

(Seconds later, and yelling at us)

Waitress: HEY! GIVE ME THAT SOY SAUCE BACK! ANOTHER TABLE NEEDS IT!

Markus: Miss, you can have the soy sauce when you ask politely. How does that sound?

Waitress: (finally, a smile) Sir, could I please have the soy sauce?

Me: And I want some glasses.

Waitress: (taking me by the arm - Wow!) Here they are.

I think next time I go to the Entrance to the Village Restaurant, the service is going to be better. The food is already great. There's also a big cheery guy with betel-nut stained teeth at the door, wishing everyone well when they leave. He shouted "thank you" in English at us as we were leaving. Markus is actually German and Spanish. I'm a new Taiwanese, but the intent was right.

The MRT Will Be Joining Us for Dinner Tonight, Dear

2010-08-21T10:23:00.007+08:00

The Taipei MRT used to have a competition. If you could find three grammar mistakes or examples of Chinglish in their signage, they'd pay you NT$1500 (around US$50). I thought it would be easier to figure out who was responsible for the mistakes and then fire that person for incompetence. But who listens to me?

I took the above shot at the Chungshiao-Dunhua (忠孝-敦化) MRT Station yesterday. I think I know what's going on here. Someone with high-level position either signed off on the "It's so wonderful having Taipei Metro with us" slogan or coined it her/himself and the people working under her/him were too afraid or embarrassed to say it was Chinglish. You might be wondering how someone who doesn't speak English could be managing an advertising or PR company or department that makes English signs. Well, in Taiwan, there's a saying: "The dead wood floats to the top." Simply put, you get promoted for staying in a company for a long time, not because you're any good. Loyalty is valued over competence. In all my time in Taiwan, I can't remember seeing a single Taiwanese person fired for incompetence from a Taiwanese-run company. I have seen "foreigners" fired for sucking, but that's another topic. Taiwanese people get fired for the following: a.) Arguing with a superior b.) Making unwanted passes at a colleague c.) Being a good scapegoat when one is needed.

Getting back to the sign. I think what the ad or PR company or department is trying to express with the "it's so wonderful having Taipei Metro with us" is that the MRT has improved the quality of life in Taipei. I agree with that. If you think Taipei's streets are clogged with traffic, you should have seen them in the 1990s. A friend who lives out in Hsin Tien told me it used to take her up to two hours (on a bad day) to get to work. Now, thanks to the MRT, she can get there in 25 minutes. I remember walking to Chinese class when I lived in Yonghe (永和). It took around 45 minutes as I had to cross Zhong Cheng (中正) Bridge. The reason I walked was I knew how long it was going to take me. With the bus, it could be 20 minutes or it could be an hour and 20 minutes. The MRT allows us to time our commute. And it's cheap; riding to work costs me NT$20 (US$0.60).

BTW, there are some interesting stats for ridership at the Taipei Metro Web site. Ridership is up around 50 percent in the past five years: http://english.trtc.com.tw/ct.asp?xItem=1056489&ctNode=11767&mp=122032

Cycling in Taipei

2010-07-27T22:29:00.033+08:00

I took the following pictures on my iPhone walking to work up Dunhua North Road (敦化北路) today in Taipei. I grabbed my iPhone camera out of my satchel and two minutes later, I had them - pretty simple. The green lane that these cars are blocking is strictly for bikes. Unfortunately, the police in Taipei are not enforcing this point. For cyclists, it's uneasy going as usual. They might want to ride down or up this green lane that is reserved for them; alas they'll be forced out into Taipei traffic. Sad, very sad:

How Many People Can I Squeeze on a Scooter?

2010-07-25T23:40:00.005+08:00

Scooterists in Monga (艋舺), Taiwan. Note the driver of the one deeper in the pic has three kids on her scooter. They all have helmets on and she also has her chin strap fastened.

A long time ago I witnessed an accident in Yonghe (永和), Taiwan. A teenaged girl on a scooter mindlessly drifted across the lane and took out another driver. The driver and his passengers crashed to the street. Luckily, there weren't any cars behind them. The driver of the cut-off bike was naturally pissed off. He got up and, taking his helmet off and slamming it down on the pavement, let off a string of curses over top of the sound of his wife and two crying children. He was right. The girl was an idiot. But he was also wrong. Why? Well, he had had three passengers on his bike, making it extremely hard to maneuver. Had he only a single passenger, I think he would have been able to balance the bike. If it were just him, nothing would have happened.

One of the things that disturbs me the most living in Taiwan is seeing parents hauling around kids on scooters and motorcycles, like in the picture above. And that picture is a better-case scenario; I would have to say that more than 50 percent of the time, the children don't have helmets. When I look at their parents, who do have helmets, I don't think they are selfish, that they care only about their own safety. Instead, I believe they view the helmet law as something that has been designed to be a pain in the ass or a way for the government to gather money (there's an NT$500 fine) rather than to save lives. Often, these parents don't even bother to do up the chin straps on their own helmets. Then there's the problem of them taking babies along for the ride, like the one I saw strapped to a woman's back as she drove over Huazhong Bridge (華中橋) doing at least 50 kilometers an hour the other day. His wee arms and legs were flapping in the wind. If you fall off your bike, lady, what do you think is going to happen to the baby? Just a few bumps or a scrape on the shin? Or you don't think it'll happen to you, right? But there are thousands of traffic fatalities in Taiwan each year; in fact, Taiwan has had the highest traffic fatality rate in the world, with 60 percent of the deaths happening to motorcyclists or scooterists.

What I don't understand is this: is it illegal to put more than one passenger on a motorcycle or scooter? I saw this sign in the Ming Chuan MRT Station. It's good advice, but I'm afraid that's all it is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick_cowsill/4826808634/

Does anyone know the law? I'd be curious to find out.

How to Go to Court in Taiwan

2010-07-23T23:19:00.006+08:00

The distance from the curb, where the taxi dropped me off, to my front door in Monga (艋舺), Taiwan

It started a few months ago. I was coming home from a kiddie birthday party in Hongshulin (紅樹林) with my daughter. I got out of the cab at 11:00 p.m. and realized my wallet was still inside the car. So I did jumping jacks behind to get the driver to stop; alas, he drove on and away into the night. I immediately scurried up to my apartment and called the cab company. In Taiwan, you can phone for a cab instead of hailing one on the street. People prefer this for several reasons. First, it ensures safety. There's a record. If something happens, the taxi company and driver will be known, and held accountable. Cab companies advertise, stressing this point, constantly: "Just give us a call!" they claim. Strangely, the cab company I was involved with did not have the driver's cell number on hand: "We'll call you back in a few minutes," their operator promised. At 11:20, the cab company got back to me with a number.

When I called the driver, he sounded vexed: "I don't have your wallet. And your daughter left a candy wrapper on the floor. Shame on you!"

"Alright, sorry about that. I had my hands full," I explained. "Just bring my wallet back." It hadn't registered with me what was going on. "Start up your meter and then bring it back to me. I don't mind paying. It's only fair," I explained. I could hear the sound of traffic on the other end of the line; I concluded he was driving around now and was naturally worried he'd pick up another passenger while my wallet was still on the back seat or floor of his cab.

"I don't have your wallet!"

"Please have another look," I insisted. "I had it in your cab. I took it out to pay for the ride." It had been an NT$600 ride. I figured the taxi driver would have appreciated that.

"There's no wallet. And by the way, you're drunk." True. I had had some drinks at the party and was definitely over the legal limit. That's why I called for a cab - to avoid a long and tedious ride on the MRT. But I didn't figure I was drunk drunk. I was just tired. And, oh yeah, if I were truly drunk, I would not have been able to take care of this, in Chinese, which isn't my mother tongue. Or how would I have done what I did next, which was to go to the police station and spend three hours filing a report?

The police station was an experience. It didn't actually take them three hours to do the paper work. For the first hour, I sat in their lounge watching baseball, waiting my turn. Taiwan's Kuo was on the mound for the Los Angeles Dodgers, so I discussed his merits with the policemen that were watching, carefully laying out why he with his 96 mph fastball, and not Wang, was the best Taiwanese pitcher in the majors. Finally, I was called to a computer and asked to take a seat. The officer was humorous and thorough. "Kuo's my favorite player," he said. "He's great!" The officer started to take down relevant information. He photocopied my ID and patiently walked me through Taiwan's law, stopping to explain every question I'd ever had about it, stuff I've been curious about for ages. Then, wrapping it up at around 3:30-ish, he warned: "Taiwan's police are not like America's police. We don't have any power," he said, dangling his pinkie to represent their lack of power and respect they often feel they face in Taiwanese society.

I slapped the officer on the back anyway. I appreciated his effort and was sure he would do a good job. I didn't think that I'd ever see my wallet again. The idea of him talking to the cab driver gave me some comfort. I figured the case would cause the driver, if nothing else, a degree of anxiety. After the cops talked to him, he'd think twice about ripping off future customers. In total, I lost NT$8,000. That's roughly how much cash I had on me. Plus there was the inconvenience process and annoying fees of replacing plastic. Pictures of my family were inside it too; I felt my privacy had been invaded. The wallet had been a birthday present from my wife a few years back. But the police vowed to put the dukes to him just for me. Like I said: what bunch of nice fellows. I sincerely mean that.

Case closed? I thought so. I promptly forgot it and got on with my life. Then last Thursday I received in the mail a summons to be in court the next morning at 10:15. My wife looked worried, but I assured her: "What are you talking about? Surely the police have found something. That's why we're going to court."

"What am I talking about?" she answered, lifting an eyebrow. "The police in Taiwan don't investigate stuff like this. It's not even considered a criminal issue. They simply pass the paperwork on to the court! LOL!" When I showed up at the court the next morning, I found out that she was right. The cops hadn't done any legwork whatsoever.

The courtroom was a tiny room, consisting of a judge, record taker, police officer, the taxi driver and myself. The judge asked me if I could speak Chinese. Then the taxi driver took the floor. After establishing that I had been drinking, he claimed to have dropped me off at Youth Park, a couple of blocks from my home. Why I would be going to the park at 11:00 p.m. with a toddler who was totally spent from a kiddie party should have raised some doubt, and I suppose it did. He continued: "He crossed the street and that's where I saw him drop his wallet."

"What are you talking about?" I interrupted. "You dropped me off at my house. I didn't cross a single street. Even if you had let me off at the park, I still would not have crossed a street. There's no need to do that." The judge warned me not to butt in. But what was I supposed to do? In Taiwan, we get 15 minutes in court. This guy had talked non-stop for eight of them and was getting ready to polish off the other seven. Another thing I found interesting was that he had turned into a deaf person. In the cab, he could hear everything crystal clear. We had argued about the best route home and his hearing had not been an issue. Now, every time the judge spoke, he shouted: "What?" and then leaned his ear toward the court police officer to get her words relayed into his ear.

I was just starting to make my case: namely, I did not cross a street and the taxi drop-off point was some 15 paces from my front door when he interrupted, taking the judge to task about being called "a thief." He said I was slandering him. Actually, it hadn't occurred to me to call him anything. But I was about to say if the shoe fits when the judge cut me off, warning me that I could actually be guilty of slander if I proceeded. Then she explained to the driver that "foreigners" don't understand Taiwan's law.

At the end of the day, I didn't get a word in edgewise. The judge told me to leave. She kept the driver in the court, however. This is where it got interesting and strange. She asked me if I could return. She wanted to question my three-year-old daughter on whether we crossed a street. "Can she speak Chinese?" I was asked. "And when will you be free?"

"She goes to preschool in the afternoon. Any morning will be fine." We made a date and I was excused, wondering what on earth a judge would call an infant as a witness for. I didn't like that I was leaving the court with the guy I was suing still inside, free to say whatever without me calling him on it.

This is a long post and I'm tired. I'll do a "Day Two" later on. I did go out to take pictures, so the judge would understand how close the taxi drop-off place is for my home. I've put one above. As you can see, there's no street crossing involved.

My friend Steve, whose daughter's party went to, has had this cab company banned from his building.

Camping in Taiwan

2010-07-18T21:11:00.003+08:00

I noticed this line of trailers as I was coming home from Panchiao (板橋), Taiwan today, crossing Huazhong Bridge (華中橋). I'd seen the sign before, but couldn't figure it out. There didn't seem to be any camping in the vicinity: http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick_cowsill/4240264842/

While my wife and daughter were busy fishing this afternoon in a place nearby, I strolled over to have a closer look. I was immediately greeted by Keven, the friendly fellow who is trying to get this off the ground. To rent a trailer, it'll run you NT$2,500 a night. Keven assures me that you can barbecue right there where they're parked. And there's a bicycle rental place nearby, just in case you want to ride the extensive river path-network that runs almost right by the front door.

I asked him where the trailers came from. He says they're manufactured in Taiwan, in a factory just outside of Taipei. I was wondering if they were also being exported, but he wasn't sure. He let me look inside a few, which appeared comfortable, with a Taiwanese aesthetic. He asked me how they're different in the US, but I couldn't really think of something right off the bat to tell him, so I said, "some of the US models have a two floors." From what I remember, camping with my friend's family in the Rocky Mountains or going to Disneyland with my grandparents, the versions back home had a lot more fake wood paneling. The bathrooms in the Taiwan models are much bigger and more comfortable and, once again, are very local in their decor, from the cylindric door knobs to the frosted glass walls. I'll post a shot or two of the interiors later on with a link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick_cowsill/4804184289/. On a side note, I've decided not to put more than one picture on a post from now on.

I don't know if Keven can speak English. If you're interested and you don't speak Mandarin or Hoklo, I can find out. He had a friendly, intelligent face, so I am guessing he might be able to hold his own. As I am always interested in promoting my Wanhua (萬華), also known as Monga (艋舺), I'll give him a plug right now. He says it's been hard going; they've only been in business for three months and don't have enough advertising or media on their case. They're finding customers hard to come by. You can locate him right to the east of Huazhong Bridge (華中橋), up toward the river. Or you could even email him: kevenandrain@yahoo.com.tw

ERA TV (年代綜合台) Commentator Claims Everyone Hates America

2010-06-24T00:48:00.013+08:00

Is it true that everyone, as ERA Taiwan's commentator 丁元凱 (Ting Yuan-kai) claims, 大家都討厭美國, hates America? At the 20th minute and change of the Algeria versus the United States World Cup soccer match, after the US had a goal disallowed (an off-side goal was the call even though replays showed it to be clearly on side), 丁元凱 (Ting Yuan-kai) shouted over Taiwan's air waves several times the reason for this was "Everyone hates America! Everyone hates America! 大家都討厭美國!" This, I'm afraid, was the same 丁元凱 (Ting Yuan-kai) that exuberantly cheered on the South Koreans, for reasons unknown, against the Greeks: http://patrick-cowsill.blogspot.com/2010/06/era-taiwans-lousy-world-cup-soccer.html

Ting Yuan-kai (丁元凱), I take exception to your comments. First of all, I don't believe everyone in the world does indeed hate the US, like you claimed 20-plus minutes into the match, with 討厭美國! Why? Well, I (part of the "everyone" you claim) don't hate the American side at all. I think that instead of celebrating injustice, like an on-side goal being called off-side, you should take a less biased and more grave position.

I also know lots of people from a multitude of countries who do not 討厭美國, as you have expressed. There are even many people in Taiwan who like or even love the United States, or at least who wish there World Cup soccer players no such ill will. I believe they remember the 7th Fleet of the American Navy bailing out Taiwan in 1950 when it looked like China would attack this country. They also probably recognize that the US donated $44 billion in aid from 1949 to 1965, to help jump start the economy into a terrific recovery. Wasn't it American academics that came up with the successful land re-distribution policies of 1950, a comprehensive plan that saved this country from revolution? Even today, as we all know from looking at the Green Book, America donates around one million US dollars to Taiwan annually. There are many people of Taiwanese descent living in the United States. If they're 大家討厭美國, what are they doing there? I, for one, am not buying it. When will an honest accounting of history catch up with you?

丁元凱 (Ting Yuan-kai), it's time for you to step aside. The whole second half of the US versus Algeria game, you were gloating that Landon Donovan was nowhere to be seen, that you couldn't "realize his flavor." What say you to this, then? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XmRx-mMm94 We've had enough of your soccer, and political, humbuggery.

ERA TV 年代綜合台 Taiwan's Lousy World Cup Soccer Coverage

2010-06-12T20:39:00.015+08:00

Is it just me, or you also feeling that Taiwan's ERA TV's 年代綜合台 (Channel 45) coverage of the World Cup is a bit one sided?

I've just been watching the first half the Greece versus South Korea game and I'm speechless. Whenever South Korea attacks, the two commentators practically climb over each other in their excitement. Even a play from 30 meters out is "extremely beautiful"! The first half closed with a nifty Greek strike with the South Korean goalkeeper barely knocking it down. But now the two commentators changed their tune: it wasn't a terrific chance 好厲害, but instead 哎呦那麼糟糕! meaning "What the fuck?! My God! We're lucky to escape that."

Why on earth are our Taiwanese commentators so biased? Why are we pulling for South Korea? My wife figures we are pulling for Koreans because we're Asian, but I figure that is just plain racism.

What gives 年代綜合台? I pay my cable bills and watch your silly ads just as much as the next guy. Give us an honest account of the game. You can do better than this.

As I close this post, the two Taiwanese commentators on ERA TV 年代綜合台 are shrieking with joy because South Korea has "scored again - how wonderful!" In fact, they are chanting "Very beautiful! Very beautiful. What a great ball!"

LOL, I'm still here and the commentator on the right (the one, if you watched, wearing the pink polo shirt) keeps on bugging me. According to him, "South Korea is ranked 49th in the world. Greece is ranked 17th. It should be the opposite! Korea 好厲害!" Then the same commentator says this: "The Japanese have great energy! The Chinese have great energy! But why is it that the Koreans have such great energy?"