Tag Hsinchu
The smell of fresh pork meat pervades the surprisingly lively street market. Despite the hour, very late, or very early depending on your perspective, vendors are setting up their stalls and preparing their wares for sale. To my right, men are cutting up freshly butchered pork, from which arises that special smell which we buyers of Styrofoam packed meat are not used to. To the left women are sorting various vegetables and putting them up for display. All around, men are unloading boxes of produce from delivery trucks, or zipping around on motorcycles. There are no customers yet, so far … Read the rest
We are on a bridge, an arrow straight length of asphalt stretching across the river. We are speeding towards a massive, slate grey wall of clouds in the distance. All around us, the incessant drone of the wind as it buffets our scooter. The young man in front of me is not the most experience scooter driver, neither does he have that solid build that would allow him to move unscathed through a storm, but I, with a few beers in my belly, am not particularly suited for driving either. Here we are, two men equally unfit for driving, heading … Read the rest
Now, I do not condone people pulling up their smartphones and filming the scene of an accident rather than helping the victim (this is a real problem, look it up). However, I do understand people engaging in disaster tourism, such as the people going to see the wreck of the Costa Concordia; destruction is exciting, like an action movie, the problem is that real disasters often entail real loss of life. When there are no people involved however (Mythbusters blowing something up, an abandoned house deteriorating and so on), I enjoy a bit of destruction as much as the net … Read the rest
My mom and dad came to visit me this week. Since I’ve spent a fair amount of time driving them around the island to show them different sights, I consider it to be true to the spirit of landtravel. It started the very day they arrived, as me and Yini picked them up at the airport, but instead of taking them straight back, we stopped by at the lantern festival to let them marvel at the myriad lights. The next day we drove down to Lugang in central Taiwan and spent some time walking around in the picturesque old streets. … Read the rest
I get out of the hot pool, run a few steps, and sink into the, to me, frigid waters of the the cool one. A wave of cold washes over me but I remain, sitting as still as possible, letting the water settle around me. After about a minute, the wavelets on the surfaces have died out and my body has recuperated from the initial shock. If I avoid moving my limbs, I don’t feel the acute cold, just a sort of chill that makes the hairs on my body rise. Gradually I start to feel the pumping of my … Read the rest
In my last post I mentioned some rather dramatic looking formations of mud. Today, I took my friend Kai back there. This time I brought a camera, hope you enjoy my pictures.
Downstream from the main fall 
Stepping across a dangerous crack 
Living on the edge 
Kai wondering how to get to the little bridge 
Jump? 
This looks like a sturdy cliff… 
…Nope!
A single plant has grown up through the mud 
Feet on dried mud 
A final photo of me doing a hero pose atop the mud cliff
After Chinese new year it felt good to be home and relax a bit but it felt even better to be able to ride my scooter again. So, the day after me and Yini got back to Hsinchu, we got on the scooter and went out for some random ridning in the city.
We started by going back to the closed off new road described here, and exploring the area it connects to.
We made one round at the end of that road and discovered another, almost empty stretch of asphalt. On the way back from there however, I … Read the rest
Even though we are well within the city limits, on a big road no less, the street lights suddenly end. As we pass the boundary between bright orange and near complete darkness, the head light on my scooter becomes our main light source. A couple of concrete barricades stop us from entering the main road surface but the bike path is free,so we move forward on that until we pass the barriers. As soon as we enter the wider lanes in the center of the road, I open up the throttle and yell with excitement as we accelerate down the … Read the rest
Doors and windows are slightly rounded, as if seen through a fish eye lens. Straight lines are scewed and the whole world sort of wobbles as I walk, a wave traversing through asphalt, concrete, glass and steel with every movement of my head. It is somewhat like being drunk but not that warm fuzzy state that gets you talking and dancing. No, its more like that cold, nauseous stage of drunkenness when you just want to get home and sleep. Yet I haven’t touched an intoxicating substance for two weeks. Instead it is my glasses that affect me thusly. I … Read the rest
All I can see is the ceiling, a corner of the air-condition and a wreath saying Merry Christmas, it smells rather much of mint and someone is rubbing what I can only assume is shampoo into my hair. On top of it all they have glued, or perhaps taped a piece of cardboard to my forehead, apparently as some sort of splash protection. Lying back in a recliner having my hair washed is an odd feeling, not bad, not particularly comfortable since the woman is rubbing my scalp with vigor, just… odd.… Read the rest