I spent the weekend at my grandparents in Keelung, and it occured to me to flip through the old family photo albums. Why this had never occured to me, I don't know.
The photographs were amazing. Amazing in quality. The prevalence of point-and-shoots have killed our expectations on cameras - if they can focus on what we want them to focus on that's all we care about. The average consumer doesn't care about how much control they have over the shot if the colors come out right and if the subject is in focus.
I'm guessing cause cameras were a lot more expensive in the early 1900's that most of the people who had them took them seriously, along with the klunky optics that each one came with.
It was a real headtrip to see my grandparents, and their own parents as kids, along with American cars from the 20's and 30's, always impeccably formally dressed (suits, ties, dresses).
It was also a headtrip to see my grandparents dressed in 50's/60's american style, with all the trappings (hair, fashion etc.) I can only shudder to think of how much they must have sweat in that weather with so much on. I get the vibe that they were very well-to-do in the early 1900's, with a lot of social mobility (owning property, cars, opening businesses in Singapore/HK/TW).
The sheer size of the clan-portraits baffle me, with each son having a several children of their own...and then they were scattered to the four winds.
Someday it'll be my turn too. I want to start it over. My children will probably grow up in the States, they probably won't think of themselves as Chinese, but I want to give them the strong family that I saw in those portraits.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Brown Sugar
So when I heard the name of this place I kind of chuckled, since the place I had last heard the expression was the Dave Chappelle show...and hardly anything is 'appropriate' on that show.
Phyllis took a group of folks to Brown Sugar, which is in the Taipei 101 area. Its Taipei's (only) jazz club. My pretty much only live-jazz experience coming from Zanzibar Blue in Philly, I was definitely interested in hearing more (it helps that I can appreciate jazz)
Prices were reasonable, although the nachos we ordered were amusing... I bite into it, expected warm gooey cheesey goodness.... and its cold. It tastes alright, so I take a closer look at whats going on. I don't see any melted cheese... Upon closer inspection, our 'nachos' are DORITOS with sour cream, salsa, and jalapenos on them. Good ol' nacho cheesier, the stuff you packed in your lunchbox when you were a kid.
Anyhow, the music was nice, and the acoustics in the bar/lounge area were definitely nice. Helped that the house band and the singer they were accompanying were pretty good, in my opinion. (percussion had a solo.. he wasn't so great...) Good place to hang out, soak up some jazz, and chill. Definitely recommended if you have 1000NT to blow and a few hours on your hands and good friends to do it with.
Phyllis took a group of folks to Brown Sugar, which is in the Taipei 101 area. Its Taipei's (only) jazz club. My pretty much only live-jazz experience coming from Zanzibar Blue in Philly, I was definitely interested in hearing more (it helps that I can appreciate jazz)
Prices were reasonable, although the nachos we ordered were amusing... I bite into it, expected warm gooey cheesey goodness.... and its cold. It tastes alright, so I take a closer look at whats going on. I don't see any melted cheese... Upon closer inspection, our 'nachos' are DORITOS with sour cream, salsa, and jalapenos on them. Good ol' nacho cheesier, the stuff you packed in your lunchbox when you were a kid.
Anyhow, the music was nice, and the acoustics in the bar/lounge area were definitely nice. Helped that the house band and the singer they were accompanying were pretty good, in my opinion. (percussion had a solo.. he wasn't so great...) Good place to hang out, soak up some jazz, and chill. Definitely recommended if you have 1000NT to blow and a few hours on your hands and good friends to do it with.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Good Times Weekends
Lobster Sashimi
Lobster Sashimi angle 2
Shark Fin Soup
Taro bird's nest and shrimp
Sparerib
MiniLobster
Female Crabs
Some sort of fish
Food is a good thing. My father's family came to Taipei this last weekend, and took me out for dinner in the Neihu area. To the right are the pictures, appropriately subtitled. I took them with my camera phone, since I conveniently managed to not take my actual camera, but they turned out alright.
Afterwords I went cycling with my aunt and uncle. It was a hell of a ride, we went from Zhishan to Danshui and back. I'm guessing it was a good 20-30km. I haven't ridden a bicycle in like 5 years or something, and maybe 10-years with any frequency.
My ass hurts like hell today.
XIMENDING
Last Friday and Saturday I went to Ximending with Phyllis and her pal Patrick, and then with Vivian and Phyllis. It was alright, although I'm not really a shopper. Ended up buying a shirt on Saturday for the equivalent of 3 USD. Its great! Don't get me wrong though, most shirts were roughly 10 USD. Saw some great engrish - have a looksee:
I saw superman as well - and is it just me... or does anyone disagree vehemently with Superman having a kid. Not only does superman have super-powers, no. He doesn't live through those awkwardly-mostly-platonic relationships like most men, no sir. He manages to have a kid, which implies he hooks up with Lois Lane. Its good cuz he cuckolds Cyclops, but even so... damn dude, where's his weakness? kryponites a joke, he just gets his ass kicked for a little bit and then its back to business.
The Door
That night I wanted to go out at night w/ some other pals around here, but I got owned by a door.
Not owned as in a door slamming on my head and K.O.-ing me, but rather, preemptively killing my plans.
So I get back home around 10pm, planning on getting changed and cleaning up. Tell my aunt and uncle, whereupon they realize that I'd be back after 12AM.
Turns out that the inner gate to the highrise apartments is locked after 12 AM. My aunt/uncle didn't get a set of keys because they're normally not out at those hours.
Owned.
On the upside, I checked with the doorman today, and he told me I could borrow the key and take it to the locksmith. So now I just need to get another outer gate key, since I managed to lose the swipe card a few weeks back.
Oops.
MRT-ness
Craziest thing happened on the MRT (Metro Taipei) the other day as well. On our way back from Ximending, Phyllis and I are talking in English right? so we're going about our way, and suddenly I look up and I see Charley Lu's (a DSP brother) girlfriend Cindy, who goes to Boston University.
We concurrently say eachother's names.
Didn't even know that each other were in Taiwan.
What are the chances of that? Running into somebody from the states that you know, randomly on the Metro, in the same light-rail train, in a city of almost 3 million? Crazy.
Friday, July 14, 2006
I Hate Politics.
Note: This post would've been way too long, so I dropped the background to the bottom, but its a worthwhile read if you don't know anything about Taiwan.
I am a product of a marriage between a Taiwanese and Taiwan-born Mainlander.
When I tell people this, sometimes they are surprised - their first remark is 'How could they fall in love?' or 'how could they get married?'
Perhaps this helps to illustrate the gap that exists between these peoples sharing an island.
My mother is the mainlander, and as such I was raised with Mandarin(國語 gouyu). I don't speak a word of Taiwanese (台語 taiyu), and I often joke about the words I understand - all 5 or 6 of them. Because of the language gap, I slowly feel like I'm becoming a complete foreigner in my home country. Its bad enough that my Mandarin is only so-so, and my reading is at like a 2nd or 3rd grade level, but as taiyu becomes more and more prevalent in the country (encouraged by official use by the DPP party), I find increasingly myself clueless.
I'm currently in Taipei, which has the highest concentration of Mainlanders and their descendants on the island (something around 25% I think), so Mandarin is still commonly heard and still lingua franca... but when I visit Keelung (my father's family's home) taiyu is the language of the day. Keelung is maybe 25 KM from Taipei, a coastal city, but almost everyone there speaks taiyu, rather than guoyu, in the home, in the workplace, everywhere.
My father's family is Taiwanese, and accordingly, they speak taiyu. Accordingly, I am a stranger in my father's father's home. Sometimes my relatives use taiyu to speak about me while I'm there. I can pick out the meaning occasionally due to inflection/body language, and taiyu's similarities to guoyu. I can only tell you how sad it makes me, it is something that you have to experience for youself.
At its current pace, Taiwanification is at a steady pace. I' suspect that within another 50 years, provided nothing drastic happens in the China sphere, Taiyu will increasingly gain in popularity, especially if Taiwan is ever to declare statehood.
When that happens, can my own children ever come here and feel at home? I don't even plan on marrying Chinese, much less Taiwanese-Chinese, much further less ever teaching my kids taiyu.
I'm scared that they can't.
Appendix.
Taiwan is a politically charged place. The last ~50 years of Taiwan have been linked with the Republic of China - R.O.C. While both indicate the same geographic region in the South China Sea, semantically they are very different.
When the KMT (at the time synonomous with the ROC) wasexpelled from Mainland China, it set up shop on Taiwan, planning to someday 'rightfully' return to China after a gigantic military show down. That showdown never happened.
The KMT's reign on Taiwan was authoritarian. While Taiwan benefitted from economic and land reforms, native Taiwanese (ethnically, the Hoklo sub-family of Han Chinese) were practically barred from participating in government and politics in general. Under the banner of martial law, political demonstrations for more civil rights were labled as subversive and 'dealt with as necessary', by military, secret police, and other governmental forces.
Under market pressures and other factors, the Republic modernized and awarded more and more rights to its citizens, slowly walking away from the dream of reconquering China. The KMT stopped 'meaning' R.O.C. and the Republic began to draw on Taiwanese locals since the Mainlanders were retiring/dying off.
the DPP, a 'Taiwanese Political Party' (as opposed to the KMT - a 'Mainlander Political Party') took the political reigns in 2000, by plurality (only took 40% of the vote) and won again in 2004 by less than 1% more than the KMT. The DPP is a liberal party, generally determined to gain self-determination for the Taiwanese people, although it is bound to practical considerations. (e.g. such as China getting mad)
The question is indepedence is a serious one - native taiwanese resent being held underfoot by the exiled mainlanders for 50 years, and see themselves as having a unique cultural heritage (China rarely convincely ruled Taiwan, even before the Japanese occupation 1895-1945) - further reinforced by language differences (Taiwanese speak Minnan, or S. Fujianese, whereas the exiled Mainlanders typically spoke Mandarin, and forced it upon their subjects)
In short, the Taiwanese and the Mainlanders are different people.
I am a product of a marriage between a Taiwanese and Taiwan-born Mainlander.
When I tell people this, sometimes they are surprised - their first remark is 'How could they fall in love?' or 'how could they get married?'
Perhaps this helps to illustrate the gap that exists between these peoples sharing an island.
My mother is the mainlander, and as such I was raised with Mandarin(國語 gouyu). I don't speak a word of Taiwanese (台語 taiyu), and I often joke about the words I understand - all 5 or 6 of them. Because of the language gap, I slowly feel like I'm becoming a complete foreigner in my home country. Its bad enough that my Mandarin is only so-so, and my reading is at like a 2nd or 3rd grade level, but as taiyu becomes more and more prevalent in the country (encouraged by official use by the DPP party), I find increasingly myself clueless.
I'm currently in Taipei, which has the highest concentration of Mainlanders and their descendants on the island (something around 25% I think), so Mandarin is still commonly heard and still lingua franca... but when I visit Keelung (my father's family's home) taiyu is the language of the day. Keelung is maybe 25 KM from Taipei, a coastal city, but almost everyone there speaks taiyu, rather than guoyu, in the home, in the workplace, everywhere.
My father's family is Taiwanese, and accordingly, they speak taiyu. Accordingly, I am a stranger in my father's father's home. Sometimes my relatives use taiyu to speak about me while I'm there. I can pick out the meaning occasionally due to inflection/body language, and taiyu's similarities to guoyu. I can only tell you how sad it makes me, it is something that you have to experience for youself.
At its current pace, Taiwanification is at a steady pace. I' suspect that within another 50 years, provided nothing drastic happens in the China sphere, Taiyu will increasingly gain in popularity, especially if Taiwan is ever to declare statehood.
When that happens, can my own children ever come here and feel at home? I don't even plan on marrying Chinese, much less Taiwanese-Chinese, much further less ever teaching my kids taiyu.
I'm scared that they can't.
Appendix.
Taiwan is a politically charged place. The last ~50 years of Taiwan have been linked with the Republic of China - R.O.C. While both indicate the same geographic region in the South China Sea, semantically they are very different.
When the KMT (at the time synonomous with the ROC) wasexpelled from Mainland China, it set up shop on Taiwan, planning to someday 'rightfully' return to China after a gigantic military show down. That showdown never happened.
The KMT's reign on Taiwan was authoritarian. While Taiwan benefitted from economic and land reforms, native Taiwanese (ethnically, the Hoklo sub-family of Han Chinese) were practically barred from participating in government and politics in general. Under the banner of martial law, political demonstrations for more civil rights were labled as subversive and 'dealt with as necessary', by military, secret police, and other governmental forces.
Under market pressures and other factors, the Republic modernized and awarded more and more rights to its citizens, slowly walking away from the dream of reconquering China. The KMT stopped 'meaning' R.O.C. and the Republic began to draw on Taiwanese locals since the Mainlanders were retiring/dying off.
the DPP, a 'Taiwanese Political Party' (as opposed to the KMT - a 'Mainlander Political Party') took the political reigns in 2000, by plurality (only took 40% of the vote) and won again in 2004 by less than 1% more than the KMT. The DPP is a liberal party, generally determined to gain self-determination for the Taiwanese people, although it is bound to practical considerations. (e.g. such as China getting mad)
The question is indepedence is a serious one - native taiwanese resent being held underfoot by the exiled mainlanders for 50 years, and see themselves as having a unique cultural heritage (China rarely convincely ruled Taiwan, even before the Japanese occupation 1895-1945) - further reinforced by language differences (Taiwanese speak Minnan, or S. Fujianese, whereas the exiled Mainlanders typically spoke Mandarin, and forced it upon their subjects)
In short, the Taiwanese and the Mainlanders are different people.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Din Tai Fung - delicious steamed pork dumplings. The meat and stuffing inside them itself wasn't special, but was was great was the tang (湯) that was inside. Definitely recommended if you ever get a chance to go! The desserts were great too. Between the 3 of us we ate 50 dumplings and then 10 dessert dumplings (taro 芋尼and red bean豆沙) and still could've handled more! 
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Thoughts
I was browsing through Xanga, and came upon this blog: www.xanga.com/alen ; a young professional (visiting?) Taipei with the occasional cool picture. Makes me want to:
I feel like I know a decent # of people, but none of them know eachother...yet.
- haul my point & shoot everywhere
- go home and claim the Canon S2 IS that's itching to be used...
- get out more. and take those pics!
- especially at night, when the neon lights get really interesting
I feel like I know a decent # of people, but none of them know eachother...yet.
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