I was walking a friend to the bus stop after returning from our furniture shopping trip (read: left work, walked down and across Tunhua to the bus stop, rode the 906 20 minutes to IKEA, loaded up a shopping cart with – what else? – IKEA stuff, which was stuffed into a giant Costco bag, lugged up several flights of stairs to catch a cab home, and up five flights of stairs) and we took a short cut through the night market (read: a teeming mass of people buying, selling and moving VERY slowly through a quarter-mile long corridor of sights and sounds and smells) when we noticed many of the vendors covering their booths and pushing them (it was still prime selling time) quickly towards the street. It turns out, many of the vendors aren’t registered and the police were cracking down on them. Ouch!
Day 36 am
29 Jul 2011 Leave a comment
in Taiwan Tags: road construction; bank courier
I’ve been in-country for a little more than a month, in the apartment for just over a week…seems like time is flying by! Every day I notice little aspects of Taiwanese life that amuse and intrigue me.
Yesterday on the way to work, I came upon a construction site. Instead of using people as “flaggers” they had a mannequin (complete with face and arms) doing it! (If I can figure out how to upload the pic I took with my new phone, I’ll add it here.) Here ya go:
Traffic Dummy
Today, walking along Dunhua, three armed men (guns are not legal here for the general population) in black uniforms with flak jackets and helmets on, carrying bags, ran to a waiting vehicle. Say what? Are they robbing the place? They had official-looking insignia on their uniforms. Or maybe they were EOD, having just foiled some sort of bomb threat, taking the offending explosive back to be dismantled. I mean, it’s really HUMID out. Who would wear dark clothing with added padding and then exert themselves in this heat ? Then I figured it out! They were monetary couriers (like Brinks guards) transporting cash to/from financial institutions (and there LOTS of those here)! Yikes! Remind me never to get in their way. (Sorry, it happened so quickly that I didn’t get a photo but I fear the consequences had I whipped out my cell phone to take one.)
Ah, just another exciting morning in Taipei. 🙂
My status: I’m legal!
27 Jul 2011 6 Comments
in Housing, Taipei Tags: ARC card, status symbols
My ARC was delivered today! (That means I’m a legal resident of Taiwan now, as long I have a job, that is!) I also received my business cards (one side in English and the other in Chinese). Woohoo!
A few thoughts on status…the word conjures up images of jewels, yachts, palatial homes, designer clothing. Oh, I’m sure there are those in Taiwan who can afford and enjoy shopping for those items (Taipei 101 mall is chock full of shops you’d find on Rodeo Dr.) but it seems that it’s the little things we don’t think about that define the “haves” and “have nots” here. And oddly it really doesn’t seem like a great divide. We are, after all, sharing the same limited real estate.
It’s strange how something that is taken for granted in one country is elevated to a status symbol in another. In Taiwan, most everyone lives in an apartment, renting a space smaller than a college dorm room! The apartments don’t have kitchens; you’re lucky to get a sink, one burner, and a mini-fridge. No storage drawers, or microwave, no oven either – but they do have a dish dryer! I looked at some apartments I’d be scared to boil water in! And bathrooms…several of those I looked at had a showerhead attached to one wall and a drain on the other side of the room – and a sink and toilet in between. So those that have an apartment with an actual kitchen (2 burners, larger fridge, and possibly an oven – gasp!) are higher up the status ladder than those of us that don’t. Then there are those that OWN their apartment and finally, those that own a house! I don’t know anyone here who owns a house.
Most folks walk, use public transportation, or take a taxi. Next up the ladder is those that ride a bicycle, then a scooter, a motorcycle, and finally a car. I don’t know anyone here who owns a car.
Finally, pets. It’s a sign of status here to own one. I see a lot of folks with dogs. They bring them outside to do their business in whatever small patch of green is found close to where they live. The smaller, more common dogs are less of a status statement than the larger, furrier dogs (golden retrievers mostly and I’ve seen a few of those around). Since this is an island, space is at a premium, and spaces where dogs can roam – I haven’t seen any of those. But then I’ve only seen a small part of this lovely country!
Trash, trash, and more trash
26 Jul 2011 Leave a comment
in Daily Life, Taipei Tags: organic waste, recycling, trash collection
Well, I finally screwed up my courage and set to pre-sorting my trash in preparation for its disposal. Bright blue bags filled with recycling, organic waste, and just plain trash. I locked my door, walked down five flights of stairs, out three locked doors, turned right down the narrow hallway leading to the street and followed all the good little lemmings also taking their trash to the corner in front of Watsons. There is a 10 minute time window for disposal (2245 – 2255) and you can imagine people did a double-take seeing a tall foreigner holding the official blue bags! I was approached by the gal handling the recycling. I then dumped the gathered organics and ceremoniously dumped them in a big bin. Finally I placed two blue bags directly into the garbage truck while the driver nodded approvingly. Ah, a job well-done!
Laundry day
24 Jul 2011 Leave a comment
in Taipei, Travel Tags: doing laundry
Today’s the day I get acquainted with the washers two floors up!
Washing Machines
I load my laundry into a basket, carry it up four flights of stairs and hope I can remember the instructions for use (all the controls are in Chinese characters). Mistake 1: I did not empty the lint catchers prior to use. I load the dark colored items in one washer and light ones in the other. Mistake 2: I put the new towels in the with dark jeans. 43 minutes later, the washers have finished pumelling my clothes. Next up: figuring out how to hang everything up in order to dry it out. This is when I notice that my dark pants have lint all over them (darn those pesky mesh baskets). A few minutes later I have my stuff spread out all over one of the drying decks…wonder how long it’ll take to dry? Answer: three hours and four trips up and down – and still several towels aren’t dry yet. Plus, most of my clothing has lint on it and needs to be ironed. There has to be an easier way!! Laundromat?
Laundry drying
First month
22 Jul 2011 Leave a comment
in Taipei, Taiwan, Travel Tags: exhaustion, humidity, IKEA, MRT, night market, public transportation
I survived!! No wonder I’m exhausted: I visited my entire family, flew for 17 hours across the Pacific, and landed smack-dab in the middle of a cultural conundrum! In the past month I’ve started a new job assignment, travelled around parts of Taiwan, searched for (and found!) a place to live, purchased furnishings! When I say everything about Taiwan is different than anything I’m used to, I mean EVERYTHING. It’s not just a new country, it’s a country where I cannot read the signs or understand the words. For a directionally-challenged person who must now rely on public transportation, this is definitely an issue. I got an MRT map and have started figuring things out, but it’s slow going. A country where, thankfully, the people are very friendly; most do attempt to help when asked. I managed to get on the right bus down the street from work, bound for Nanjing E. Road, but almost got off on the wrong stop (hey, it said Civic center which is on Nanjing E. Road). The kind bus driver indicated I had two more stops to go when I started to get off the bus. It’s a country of ironies. For instance, there are clear signs saying “Pedestrians have the right of way.” but it really should read “Pedestrians must get out of the way (of any on-coming traffic, even in a cross walk, if they expect to live another day)!” The humidity here is INCREDIBLE, but on the upside, I’ve probably lost another size just from sweating, and I can save 5 minutes each morning by NOT drying my hair. (What’s the point? By the time I walk the 20 minutes to work, it’s wet again!) I will spend this weekend RESTING, maybe catch the latest Harry Potter movie, doing laundry (that’ll be an interesting experience which I’ll surely share with you), and checking out the night market (photo ops galore). Thanks for your encouraging words….the adventure continues!
First night/morning in new apartment!
21 Jul 2011 Leave a comment
in Culture, Taipei, Taiwan Tags: Moving into new apartment
View from my bedroom window
No internet or cable TV (Chunghwa is scheduled for Thursday morning). I also discovered that several outlets don’t work. No worries, my johnny-on-the-spot landlord arranged for the electrician to come over first thing (which he did). I made my first breakfast since being in Taiwan (oatmeal, yummy!) and cleaned the place. Ah, that feels good. Chunghwa arrived as scheduled (this never happens Stateside); I now have both internet and TV. Now I just need to lug the bedding I bought (too small) back to IKEA and exchange it, plus order a desk and chair. I’ll keep adding to the furnishings a little bit at a time…
Last day in the hotel!
19 Jul 2011 Leave a comment
in Taipei, Taiwan, Travel Tags: dish dryer, New apartment in Taipei
Just got back from lugging two (more) big suitcases, the world’s largest carry-all, and a loaded laundry basket downstairs into a cab waiting to take me to my new apartment. The cab driver didn’t speak a word of English and didn’t understand when I told him to turn into the alley leading to the building’s entrance. More lugging then through three doors and up several flights of stairs. (The broker was coming over so I left the suitcases in the lobby.) Some friends showed up to help me unpack. Sam (not his Chinese name), the broker showed up early and started showing me how to use the dish dryer (no clothes dryer in the building but each apartment has a DISH dryer! lol), the central AC (wow!), the bathroom ventilation system (not sure why it’s on a different system than the rest of the place), the TV (after plugging in the DVD player), and the washers (two stories up)! He plugged in the mini-fridge (typical for Taiwan) and leveled it (so it wouldn’t wobble when opened). He plugged in the one burner ceramic stove top, showed me how the stove’s eye guard works (for those days when I simply must fry up something tasty), how to let folks in when they “ring up” (like in NYC!), explained why it smells rather funky under the sinks (something about how the plumbing is new in the building), and finally, where to bring my trash and recycleables every evening (except Wednesday or Sundays) and how to sort everything! Let the cleaning and unpacking commence!
Day 26 pm
18 Jul 2011 Leave a comment
One day closer to moving! On the way back to the hotel after work, I stopped at a Taipei Dollar store equivalent: items in bins, nothing too expensive, made in Taiwan. I picked up trash bins, the blue bin liners required for trash disposal, and a laundry hamper – oh joy! Next, back to IKEA for bedding and flatware (sleeping and eating are kind of a necessity)! lol
Ya gotta smile seeing this!
Getting there is fairly simple: walk to the Daan metro station, up/down/up the escalator, take the MRT two stops to Nanjing Road East, down/down another escalator, walk 15 minutes to Nanjing and Dunhua, down a flight of stairs and, voila! I’m there! Travelling back with the world’s largest carry out bag stuffed with a duvet set, goose down comforter (not sure I’ll really need that in this heat!), a bathmat, some kitchen towels, a glass pitcher and a flatware set (yeah, those aren’t heavy), some clothespins, and even a shoji lamp and CFLs, wasn’t quite as easy – but I did it! Exhaustion….
Day 25 pm Everything Yingge
17 Jul 2011 Leave a comment
in Culture, Taiwan, Travel Tags: Yingge
Sunday morning at breakfast, the hotel’s restaurant was crowded. I was sitting alone in a 4-spot when a nice young woman asked politely if she and her companion could sit with me. Certainly I said. When I heard her companion speak, I asked if he was German (he is). We had the nicest conversation and I invited them to go to Yingge today and they agreed to go! While waiting at the Taipei main station to meet my co-worker and his girlfriend, I watched a group of “oldsters” in matching uniforms doing TaiChi in unison. Suddenly we could hear a raised voice: a man was upset, saying (in Chinese) that he’d waited too long in the ticket line. Talk about both ends of the “peaceful” spectrum! Next, we took a 30-minute TRA train ride to Yinnge. Total cost of trip: 14 + 31 = 45NT (1.50 US) one-way.
In Yingge, the section of town where most of the pottery shops are located is a 15 (steamy) minute walk from the railway station.
Walking to Yingge
On the way we passed little stores, fruit stands, and the ever-present parked scooters. Mostly we walked like locals (on the street vs. the sidewalk) mainly because there are no sidewalks! The pottery area is like a Disneyland for art lovers! Tea shops with pots and cups in every shape, size, and color, shops with all sorts of plants and the pots to put them in, pottery flutes, plates and bowls of every type, mass-produced items from Japan and items created by well-known local artists.
Yingge Pottery
Asia's best kept secret... 