Tuesday, May 31, 2011

back in Canada after a long trip

well my journey to Canada actually began Sunday morning in Korea where I woke up around 9 to start my move (or well, moving my stuff in to storage). I hopped on the overnight bus to Incheon and then headed to Narita airport in Tokyo for a seven hour layover, of which I spent most of the time pumping yen in to massage chairs and drinking Japanese micro-brew and eating teriyaki chicken in the airport pub. After that was nine hours to Vancouver to arrive at 1040am. I made it back to my dad's place and ate, now at about 48 hours without sleep.

I had about a 20 minute catnap before my Mom, sister and cousins arrived for visits and food. My cousin Graeme leaves tomorrow for Toronto and then Singapore and won't be back until after I am gone again, which is too bad. I was able to give him a few do's and don't's (don't go to Toronto, it's a shithole, do stay in Thailand, the weather is warm there and the food is cheap :P). Most was just a few places to get a cheap nights sleep and a few sights he hadn't heard of. I kinda feel that that is the sort of thing you have to do and explore for yourself though, as the blooper reel can often be the best stories in years to come.
I finally fell asleep around 11 after 55 hours awake. I woke up at 8 but didn't move til almost 11. On the plus side, it worked and my jetlag is minimal (anyone who tells you to sleep on the plane will also tell you about how much they suffer jetlag).

Anyway, time for some breakfast. I was thinking kimchi and rice.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Gearing up for some time in Canada

Well It's 940pm on Sat and I'm finally done. All I need to do tomorrow is put my stuff on the truck and unload it in my storage area and I'll be done. Tomorrow I still have my apartment, but after 1030 there won't be much in it so I'm not sure what I will do between that time and midnight when I head to DongDaegu, but I'm sure I'll come up with something :P

Anyway, with this being my first time in Vancouver in 2.5 years, I'm a bit excited. It's weird to think how long it's been and yet how it feels like no time has gone by at all. I was in Sangin on Thursday and thinking of when I went out to meet Geoff there when he first arrived. Seems like yesterday but it was over a year ago. Also I was chatting to Paul today, the entire time I've known him I've always been in Asia, dunno why but that seems weird to me as well.

Anyway, in my six weeks I plan to hit Qualicum beach, maybe do a camping trip, visit a few old friends and old haunts. Maybe go to Seattle for a weekend but we'll see how the finances hold out. I also don't want to rack up my visa card too much as I have a 4 day weekend in September and Tokyo is looking good (especially being that I have 7 hours there on Monday at the airport, I can't say that I went to Japan and just hung out at the airport, so now I'll have to go back :P).

If anyone is interested, I do have a working phone but it's a Korean number, so calling it will be long distance even though I'm in Canada (though it's actually cheaper for me to maintain a Korean phone in Canada than switch to a Canadian phone for six weeks.... you guys are gettin' ripped off). If you want it please message me and I'll send it to you.

what a week

well I should update whats been going on this week.

The ILS school could not transfer my visa, so that job fell through. Shame as they seem like really nice people there an dthey were offering me extra vacation time :P However I was able to get a job I had previously applied, but not interviewed for. It's not quite a good a contract but the location is ideal (right in front of Wolbae station). I start July 11th. This means that Monday I will fly home for a six week vacation in Vancouver, my first trip to Canada since 2008. I'm excited to get home an dsee how it's changed (or not) and relax there.

Before I go I must move my stuff in to storage (I will do that Sunday morning). My friend Ji Won has been wonderful and helped me organise the moving company. I need to buy her a nice present in Canada I think. Then I have a day to relax in Daegu before I get the overnight bus to Incheon (same one I took when I went to Taipei earlier this month). I'm flying Japan Airlines and I leave Incheon at 8am and arrive in Vancouver at 10am the same day (I love going east across the pacific :P). I'll then have to stay awake until at least 9pm or else I'll have epic jetlag, so with sleeping sun night out I'm looking at 48 hours with no sleep (my current record was set in 2003 flying Van-HongKong-Melbourne at 65 hours, I doubt I'll beat it but I may have a silver medal here).

Anyway, I must get back to packing bbali bbali.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

important post for people on Korean E2 Visas

So in my 1001 stops todat wrapping up before my vacation in Canada I learned several important facts for people on E2 visas. If you don't ave one or never intent to get one you can stop reading now.

Korean immigration has changed several rules, and for a change they are in our favour.

If you get a letter of release for your current job you no longer have to lacate the country within 15 days. Immigration told me that I could stay (though not work, he made that VERY clear) until my visa expires on July 15th. I had briefly considered reorganising my flights but frankly, I've been running around so much lately that I can't be bothered, but if I had planned ahead..... Also, if you finish your visa as planned you have 30 days to vacate the country. This means no more of that finish work on Friday and having your visa expire on Saturday stuff. It also gives you time to sightsee/pack up.

We no longer need multi-entry visas! Actually I learned this before I went to Taiwan, but now we can just up and visit a country without a hassle. I was told that the time out of Korea can not exceed 30 days or else they will just cancel your visa and it will look like you did a runner. I'm not 100% sure that it's 30 days, or if it's different for dinnerent nationalities, but otherwise it's tried and tested.

Third, for US and Canadian citizens only, if you are getting your pension back but planning a return to Korea you can have the money dropped in to a Korean account and thus avoid the extortionate Canadian/US taxes. All you need to do is bring proof that you are flying back to North America, your Korean bank account info and your passport and ID card. I'm sure to lose close to $1000 of my $4500 in Korean/Canadian taxes, and with a little over 70% of that being on the Canadian side you see how much money we can save if we just plan ahead a bit.

If only I'd known all this three weeks ago........

Well that's why I'm posting, so that others can have an easier time. Enjoy

Monday, May 23, 2011

I can't dig it

I read today that one of my childhood hero's, the "Macho Man" Randy Savage died in a car accident in Florida. For anyone about to laugh there was a time when pro-wrestling was not a white trash convention and people with a full set of teeth could still be fans. In the 1980's and 1990's pro-wrestling was really popular among kids/teenagers in North America. Hulk Hogan, Randy "Macho Man"Savage, Andre the Giant, "the Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase, Bret "The Hitman" Hart and the Undertaker were household names and kids all had the action figures and VHS tapes. It continued with the old WWF/WCW feuds of the 1990's, which ended with WWF going the route of white trash conventions and WCW folding with a mix of terrible script writing and outdated wrestlers (Hogan seemed less cool after he turned 50). By that time I had lost all interest in the "sport", as had most people I think (apparently it still runs on friday nights on cable sports channels, but I haven't seen it on TV in ten years) but in my childhood, these guys were awesome. I remember going to the Agrodome with my Dad to see Savage, Hogan and "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan taking on Dibiase, Andre the Giant and ... I think it was the One Man Gang but I can't remember.

Randy Savage was always my favourite. Even when he went bad guy I was still hoping he'd beat Hogan and keep the belt. I remember in 1988 watching Wrestlemania IV and having Savage win the tournament to become World Champion. Of course now I know it was all scripted, but in 1988 I was six years old and I had no idea. even after I figured out that throwing someone in to a rope should not guarantee them bouncing off of it and running back to you, I still loved the charaters and the story. Especially Savage as his character was usually the guy who wasn't at the level of Hogan/Andre physically, but knew how to get the job done. He also didn't tell you to say prayers and bless America after the fights (though he later told us to snap in to a slim jim) he just took his belt, did some showboating, and left. He was also a comic genious and twenty years later he can still crack you up.

Anyway, it may seem funny to blog about the death of a pro-wrestler (cause it is), but this man was a childhood hero, and even though I haven't thought about the WWF in more years than I'd like to admit, it's funny how his death has me thinking about watching the old tapes (remember VHS?) or playing the video games with my best friend of the time Kevin on a rainy Saturday afternoon. It takes me right back to being that age, when my world was in North Vancouver and my biggest problems were not wanting to go to soccer practice (I mean what a stupid sport that is) and trying to finish my book report before bedtime. So to that time in my life I'll just say "OOOOOOOH YEEEEAAAH!"

Japanese tourism takes a big hit

I was saddened to read that one of the longer term effects of the March earthquake in Japan is that its tourism industry has dropped off to practically nothing. Now I guess this makes sense in some ways, especially in cities like Tokyo or northern cities, but when I hear about tourists cancelling trips to Fukuoka or even Okinawa I have to laugh (especially when they are living in Korea, which is CLOSER to Daiichi that Okinawa is). It does, apparently, make for some excellent travel deals for those willing to brave such perils (roll eyes) and visit the country, especially in normally horrendously expensive Tokyo, where hotels are slashing prices by 50% or more in an effort to keep people coming in.

However, from these stats it's obvious that western visitors have been on the decline for years. Tourism is up (or was) in Japan, but the vast majority of these tourists are South Korean and Taiwanese tourists, nations that twenty years ago had no money for tourism and whose government routinely denied their citizens passports. The simple fact is that Japan, the only accessable Asian destination besides Thailand and Hong Kong for decades, now has competition from much much less expensive China, Korea, Taiwan, Philippines and Malaysia. Also, while traditional rivals Hong Kong and Thailand have kept costs down, Japan is as expensive as most European destinations and more expensive than most North American ones. This leaves Japanese tourism in a very unenviable position in many ways. I do wonder how Japanese tourism will respond to the opening up of most of Asia to western tourists and their many many dollars, or if it can. That being said, whether its Geisha and samurai or anime and nintendo Japan does seem to have caught the imagination of westerners, and I imagine that once radiation levels go down (or the next major disaster makes us all forget this one) tourists will return, though I wonder in what sort of numbers.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

AAARGH

well it looks like I can't transfer my visa without a new CRC, so I can'ts tart at ILS after all. This means that I am back to a return date of June 1st (give or take a day) and back in Korea July 15th or so (that Sangin job was still looking on Friday, so I'm hoping that they still are and I can get the go ahead). ILS are being great about it, and are paying the extra cost for my adjusted flight date. I'm just sorry that the job there won't work out, it seems like a great school.

Needless to say I'm a but stressed out by all of the changes, especially in return dates (June 24th then May 14th then July 12th and now May 31st). At this point all I'll say is that I'll be in Vancouver for 5-7 weeks at some point this summer. Though this May date is looking more and more final.

Well if my family would ever be on skype when they say they will be (hint hint) I'll be able to fill them in on all the changes. I still can't figure out if I'm excited, upset, depressed or happy. Probably all of them.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Taiwan Day 6

Day six started with breakfast at Starbucks and a decision to go to one last thing in Taipei before we hopped on the bus for Taoyuan Airport. We had wanted to see the museum, as it has the best collection of Chinese artefacts in the world, but it's a 1-2 day thing and we had just a few hours, so we opted for the Chiang Kai-shek monument the cabbie of saturday night had accidentally taken us to.

Now I'm not sure that Chiang Kai-shek is a man worthy of a monument, and it seems the Taiwanese agree. Virtually every statute of him, park named after him and even Taipei's International airport have been torn down or renamed and now only thins monument remains, the last site for those Taiwanese who still dream of a reconquest of the mainland. Even now there is talk of tearing down Chiang's statue and replacing it with a plaque commemorating the democracy movement and those who died under Chiang's marshal law years and renaming the place the Taiwan Democracy Movement Memorial. So who knows how long all of what I saw will even exist.

The monument itself is an amazing bit of architecture. Geoff said it reminded him a bit of Tiannamen Square in Beijing. There's the monument, the opera house and a smaller playhouse both dedicated to Chinese arts and music (though western opera's and plays run frequently). Actually it's an amazing place if you can get over the fact that it's dedicated to a man who was worse butcher and dictator than Mao was on his worst day.

In the main building is a huge statue to Chiang and inside is a small museum dedicated to him. Historical revisionism at its best. It celebrates his early life, his conquest of northern China and destruction of the warlords, his resistance to the Japanese (where western efforts go unreported except for a pic of Chiang with Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill with a caption that suggests equal importance between the three men). What I learned was that Chiang unified China, drove out the Japanese aggressors and then he was given some nice cars and nothing else happened. His subsequent defeat by the communists goes totally unreported and his decades as a vicious dictator who oversaw a state where people disappeared in the night goes totally undocumented. The fact that more of his soldiers died as a result of malnutrition and his brutal discipline than were killed by the Japanese also goes unreported. Overall, it was a surreal experience and I was happy to see this side of Taiwan before it disappears forever (though I am glad to see it is disappearing, and that the younger generation are smarter than their parents were...... or at least they have better access to education and freedom of expression, which their parents did not).

The momerial did have the greatest gift shop I have ever seen, with political bobble heads and parodies of the leaders. I was glad to see that even here, they take the piss out of Chiang a bit. We then headed back to Taipei  Main Station and got on a bus that took us to the airport. However, it was not the express bus so, 90 minutes later, we arrived at the airport. If I had to think of a low point of the trip it might, oddly enough, be the airport. It was more like Daegu's airport than Incheon or Hong Kong International. Many gift shops but no food or coffee. I was surprised that, in an age where airports seem to be a source of pride in cities, and transport to and from them and luxuries in them seem to be the norm (at least in Asia) Taoyuan still had a 1970's feel to it. It was a hassle free flight and I managed to grab the 940 bus to Daegu, getting in around 1 and asleep by 230 before starting my new job.

Good times.

We are Super Friends

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial

The Chiangmobile

the man himself

Taiwan Days 4-5

Taroko Gorge.

Don't even know what to say with this one. Picture Grand Canyon in a sub-tropical jungle, complete with monkeys, palm trees and star-filled nights. That's Taroko Gorge in a nutshell.

The morning started off early with a 7am wake up to get ready, check out and make it to the train heading to Hsincheng from Taipei. Taiwanese trains are fairly standard and it was a smooth ride. Upon arriving we went to the map to organise transportation to Bulowan, where we were staying. Me met a guy named Trevor there, who was also an esl teacher in Korea, living in Daejeon. The three of us decided to split a cab to Bulowan where we could check in to the place where we were staying and Trevor could organise a hike.

$500 and we were there. Geoff and I opted for a bit of luxury and stayed at Leader's Hotel. It's run entirely by Taiwanese aborigines. It was a bit less rustic and a bit more yuppy that we had planned, but it was a lot of fun. In fact, it was one of the nicest places I have ever stayed. First stop was a mandatory helmet rental (as roks and branches can fall from ridges higher up. The Park ranger had zero English but since I knew the Chinese character for "person" and "mountain" I was able to fill out the rental form (sort of :P). We then headed off to Tienshang, walking along the highway and cutting through a few trails. Trevor opted to join us for part of the journey, but since he had to get back to Taipei that night he only opted for a shorter trek.

What ensued was a 14km hike through some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever witnessed. Bright blue rivers cutting through a rock canyon covered with sub-tropical trees, plants and animals. My description will not do it justice, nor will my pictures. It's somewhere everyone should go in their lifetime. I'll let the pics, such as they are, tell the rest of the story.

After several hours we reached Tienshan and grabbed some much needed food and beer. Trevor had opted to grab a taxi back at about the 10km mark to get the last train so Geoff and I sat down next to a guy from Italy, named Maolo (I couldn't get my tongue around it so I opted for Marlowe as his name :P). He had been travellling from northern Italy since February, through Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria, Kuwait and now Taiwan. He said he had Japan, Korea, China, Mongolia, India and Pakistan still to do. When we asked him how long he was on the road for he said "oh, not too long, I have to be back for Christmas"...... it was May 9th. Anyway, really cool guy who had been everywhere. I gave him some useful stuff for Korea and if he drops in I'll take him out for Makkeoli.

Geoff and I then grabbed the bus for Bulowan. The driver kept insisting that he didn't go there, but since the road went right by we didn't understand how that could be. He eventually dropped us off at the base of the 2km hill to Bulowan. It was a paved road so it wasn't too bad, but still a slog after the 14k's we had already done. We finally made it to the top around 7 and, after a quick shower and change, went to get our complementary dinner.

Amazing food. Wlild hog, rice cooked in bamboo, the freshest vegetables imagineable. After we ate we watched a Taiwanese aboriginal show put on by locals and then opted to grab a pint and sit under the stars (something I haven't done since the last time I went camping). Living in so many big cities has it's advantages, but nothing man has ever made is as amazing as that sight and it's something you miss in a well lit city. About midnight we opted for sleep.

Next morning we got up for breakfast. There was aboriginal, Chinese and western food. There was real bacon (the magic of this will be lost in translation to my North American readers). We then walked around Bulowan for a bit before hopping the bus to Tienshan and picking up where we left off. This time it was real trails the whole way. So much so that we saw a family of Taiwanese macaques (unique to the island). The trail eventually became impassable due to rain and rocks so we opted to turn around and find more monkeys, which we did. Unfortunately they move so fast that I couldn't get a good photo. I have a whole new respect for Attenborough and his crew.

Once back at Tienshan we grabbed lunch and hopped the bus to Bulowan where we met an American girl and her parents. She was living in Hualien and they were out to visit. They were from small town Wisconsin and I got the impression that this was there first time doing something like this, though both their kids were travellers (their other daughter was in Australia) so they must have been doing something right as parents. We chatted with them for a while until their dinner was ready and our bus was readyto take us back to the train station.

We made it to Hsincheng with two hours to kill so we walked through the street of 1,000,000 moths to a small restaurant and ate more amazing Chinese food for $50. Then it was off to Taipei, where we got in around midnight and opted to head back to our old hotel for our last night in Taiwan.

Anyway, here are the pics:


view from above the river

Bridge over untroubled waters

light blue water

lizards that are everywhere in Taroko

Friday, May 13, 2011

Taiwan Day 3

On the Saturday we got up a bit late, but still before 10 :P We had decided to go north, up to the Confucian temple and to Danshui, a small town north of Taipei proper (though still on the subway line) that was right on the coast. I had the North Van of Taipei vibe going up, and that was about right.

First though, we needed to book our tickets for the train ride to Taroko the next day. We went to Taipei station and, being baffled, went to the info desk. After travelling in Korea and SE Asia I was expecting a challenge, but the two girls behind the counter spoke perfect English. Actually what I found in Taiwan was that, while the average Taiwanese spoke much less English than the average Korean or Thai, the ones in positions where English was needed speak it very well. Even at Seoul Station or Bangkok International you will get the "you want to go to there?" or "the next train runs until 9pm" English, but not in Taipei. They were great, writing down everything we needed in Chinese to show the guy selling tickets and explaining it all to us in flawless English. While there I also noticed a Chinese woman talking to another girl behind the counter. Neither were native English speakers and yet both were communicating in English. I guess on Taiwan there are people who only speak Mandarin or Taiwanese and so they communicate in English.... maybe that's why the girls English was so good.

Anyway, after that pleasant surprise we hopped on the MRT stopping at the Confucian temple. While it was impressive Geoff and I both noticed that we were a bit templed-out. Korean temples use much of the same designs as the Chinese ones and, after a couple of years of seeing them, it has lost it's exotic-ness. We stayed about 15 minutes then headed north.

Danshui was indeed the North Vancouver of Taipei, but with some Kits and Coal Harbour thrown in. Upscale, seawall promenade selling food, souvenirs and sunglasses. We began to walk around and ran in to Laura (bus girl from the first day). After a quick chat we opted to head north to see a bit of Taiwan's colonial past. Taiwan has been colonized by no less than four powers, though only the Chinese and Japanese got any further than Danshui. The Spanish built a fort here in the 16th century which was taken over by the Dutch shortly after and which remains today. They were later driven out by the Chinese who colonized the western half of the island. Only in the 20th century was the whole island colonized when Japan annexed it in 1905. More about that in the Taroko section but needless to say, it was unpleasant for all concerned. Danshui then, is the only place in Taiwan that you can see Spanish, Dutch and Chinese forts (and for good measure a huge British consulate built in the 19th century from the ruins of the old Dutch fort - Danshui was one of the ports China opened to the west in the 19th century after the Opium wars).

As usual, we decided to walk it. It took about an hour and th efirst place we hit was the Spanish/Dutch/British fort. It is in remarkable shape given the age, but most of what is there dates from the British era. The British actually maintained an embassy here until 1970, when full recognition was shiften to Beijing. Today it is a relic with amazing views of the Taiwan Strait. Pictures do it more justice that words. We then walked to the Chinese fort, which dates from the 19th century and was actually built by German colonists then in Qingdao (a German colony until WWI). Not surprisingly, it looks very European.

After a walk through European colonialism we opted to walk the last 2k to Fisherman's Wharf for some more street food and a mainland Chinese pint. Fisherman's Wharf is the northernmost point in Danshui and is right on the ocean. Apparently it can get quite unpleasant during typhoon season but on that day it was gorgeous. Tired from walking, we enjoyed the snacks and the ocean view for at least an hour.

We then hopped on the ferry back to Danshui proper and, in the process, we managed to sail on the Taiwan strait (however briefly). I'm a bit of a nerd when it comes to that sort of thing and putting my hand or foot, or just sailing on and getting spayed by, water from different oceans and seas is something I keep track of :P

Arriving back we decided to go back to Shilin for dinner and shopping. Our first stop was the spicy noodle house. I ordered the Super spicy (big spicy being Thursday nights choice) and it was spicy. I wish that the next time I am told in Korea that food is too spicy for me I could make the Korean saying that eat these noodles with me. After the noodles we opted for some skewers and, being in China, ended up with Ostrich and peppered chicken hearts to go ith our beef. It was really good :) At the market they have old Hong Kong Kung-fu movies on the big scren so we grabbed some fruit juice, meat and watched a bit of the movie. It was wall to wall people but I also managed to buy shirts and souvenirs, but by 9 you couldn't even move so we did our best to escape and grabbed a cab. This is where I missed Korea a lot. Our cabbie had zero English and it was hard to explain Taipei Main Station to him. He actually took us to Chiang Kai Shek memorial hall first (though after seeing it we decided to check it out properly later). He was nice enough to give us a discount so I'm sure he wasn't driving in circles to rack up the meter as happens elsewhere in Asia (when you can get them to turn the meter on).

Taiwan Strait

Flag of the ROC from atop the British Consulate/Dutch fort

Fisherman's Wharf

Danshui promenade






Being that we had a 9am early train ride to Taroko we opted for an early night.

Taiwan Day 2

After our long day we decided to sleep in a bit and then grab breakfast at Starbucks. We had talked about what we wanted to do and when I had mentioned Maokong Geoff was instantly excited. I had actually thought that if something could be left out of the trip it would be this, but seeing as Geoff was keen I decided to go for it. I'm glad we did it.

Maokong is the name of the tea growing area south of Taipei proper. You just take the MRT to the southern end (Taipei Zoo stop)  and hop a gondola out there. The ride itself is great, taking you through some parts of Taipei that have not yet been hit by Taiwan's rapid economic growth. The gondola's themselves are great as the gondola's (some of them) have see through bottoms. We took in panoramic views of Taipei and rode our way to the top of the mountain and were greeted with jungles and tea fields.

We walked around for a bit before deciding on a tea shop recommended by Lonely Planet. Very rustic but with great tea. How it works is you buy some tea leaves that are grown there, make tea with a few of them and drink it for hours. Hanging out up in the mountains and drinking tea was a great way to start day ywo, given how much we did on day one. The place itself was run by a Chinese family and I think I spotted four generations there.

We then decided to walk down one gondola stop to a Daoist temple. The sign had it pegged at 3k's but that must have been as a direct line because we ended up walking almost 8k before getting there, feeling very sweaty. The temple itself was a bit kitschy, sort of Chucky-cheese does Daoism, but there was a very nice Chinese family there, the daughter being bilingual and only slightly younger than us, was eager to tell us about the temple and where to visit in Maokong. Her parents seemed very nice but had virtually no English.

By the time we got down it was almost 6 so we headed back to the hotel to shower and change and then went to Xinmending, the downtown core where young Chinese go to show off their clothes and cars. We found a small patio that served beer and dumplings and sat back to enjoy the scenery and watch Taipei walk past us for a change. We also explored the area a bit but being that we were two backpackers on a budget a place advertised as "Taipei's Ginza" was a bit out of our price (and fashion) range. Still, it was neat to see. I was also surprised at the lack of pubs/bars in the area. Unlike Korea, where you must work hard to escape all the drinking establishment and drunken Koreans, the Taiwanese seem to be very moderate drinkers and pubs seem to be rather scarce. On that same note I loved the lack of smoking. No smoking in Taiwan means no smoking. In Korea you often see a group of men lighting up, often in a restaurant and under a no smoking sign. This does not happen in Taiwan, which I loved.

Anyway, by this time it was midnight and we had an early start the next day so we decided to make our way back to the hotel, grabbing a 7-11 brand beer along the way (though it was surprisingly good :P), watch another really bad Hong Kong film and sleep.

me enjoying some homebrewed Chinese green tea

7-11 beer :)

looking down on the gondola

Maokong means no cats, so there are dogs like this everywhere up there.

tea fields through the mist

Taiwan Day 1

Well this trip actually starts the Wednesday before I left. I left work for the last time a bit early (under the circumstances I wasn't comfortable with a big goodbye) and went home to pack. I had to get in a cab around 12:15 to get to DongDaegu by 1 for the ride up. Well 12:45 and the cab is stuck in gridlock as a car ahead on the turnoff has crashed his car. I had started to freak out but we did pull in with about a minute to spare and I got the bus. The plus side was my cabbie was great, a rarity at 1am in any country.

The ride up was uneventful except for my bus driver who would not shut up the whole way up, I'm not sure what part of sleeper bus he didn't understand but his noise made it hard to get much sleep. Suffice to say when we rolled in to Incheon at 445am I was tired. Geoff had gone to the airport the night before so I was to call him around 530, which I did. We then met, checked in with Cathay Pacific and cleared customs, and sat down with a much needed coffee.

The flight down was uneventful and our bus ride in was easy. On the way we met a girl from California named Laura who was also an esl teacher in Korea and who was down for three days to see Taipei. We jumped off at Taipei Main Station and headed north. Note - if you are ever in Taipei there are many hotels north of the main station, many have rooms for less than a single room at a hostel (though dorms are obviously cheaper). We got a room with two beds, no windows and an unused, but open condom on the bathroom floor for $1000 Taiwan dollars a night ($30 TND = $1USD. That's 3/5ths of class. :)

Even though we were both beat it was only noon and we were keen to see the sights. Our first stop was Longshan temple, which was amazing. Longshan, unlike many temples in SE Asia and Korea, is actually a functioning temple, and Geoff and I may have been the only tourists there. It's a Buddhist temple nominally, but there are altars to several of the gods is the Mahayana pantheon. Anyway a really neat temple.

Next stop was a hop on the MRT (Taipei's amazing subway network) to MRT City Hall to see Taipei 101. Note - if in Taipei invest the $500 Taiwan dollars in an easy card. It gets you on the subway, gondola's and ferries at a discount, and it's beyond convenient. Anyway, oddly enough,Taipei 101 was probably the only thing I wouldn't recommend doing, or at least would not get people too excited about it. While it is a cool building it is only really amazing on clear days (of which, admittedly, we didn't have), the excessive cost to go up, long lines both up and down and the constant noise of sales people trying to sell anything and everything the whole time really takes away from the vibe. On Kurt's recommendation, we tried the beer float up there (Geoff did, I chose to avoid the dairy). Beer and ice cream together at last.......... Kurt's other recommendations were all amazing so I won't hold that one against him :) However, Taipei 101 does have maybe the most extensive food court in Asia, so make sure to drop by the basement :P

After that we were tired but decided to go to Shilin Night Market, Taipei's biggest, anyway. This was possibly the highlight of Taipei, so much so that we spent more time there on the Saturday night as well (I'll write more about it on the day 3 blog). At the time I was too tired to shop so we just ate the spiciest noodles that have ever been made, fruit juice a New Zealand expat sold us (who'd been living in Taipei for six years - she was quite helpful as well) and walked around. By that time it was 9pm and I hadn't slept in 36 hours, so we decided to head back to the hotel.

Before bed we did manage to watch some fairly interesting Hong Kong horror film and an inning of Chinese Professional baseball. It was interesting to watch, and it reminded me a bit of the Korean League and the same rules and status of the league exists as the Korean one. Then I crashed.

Longshan Temple

Whatever it is, I want it

Taipei 101

Taiwan Lager. Not too bad

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

update before Taiwan

well it looks like my job is a go, so next Wednesday I'll start at a Canadian school in Korea for the coming year. It also means my return to Canada date is more than likely in July, a bit later than I had hoped, but what can you do?

Right now I'm at SEI with 15 minutes until I'm done. I'll then go home, have dinner and head out to DongDaegu for the 1am bus to Incheon International. I'll meet Geoff there tomorrow between 530 and 6 and we'll clear customs and get food. Needless to say I'll be a wreck that first day, and I've told Geoff he'll be doing most of my thinking for me. Although after 3 days of running around I might be tired enough to sleep on the bus :)

Anyway, I'm writing about this way too much, but this is my first time out of Korea since 2009, and I feel like I really need it.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Obama got Osama

I read today that US forces in Pakistan captured and killed Osama bin Laden, then buried him at sea. Well I'll hold off on the "when are Cheney, Bush, Blair and Howard getting their punishments for their mass murder?" speech for another post and just look at this.

First of all. He was killed in Pakistan, where he's been living for FIVE years. Pakistan? Well I guess Obama was right about that one. Second, the body was buried at sea the same day to respect Muslim tradition..... I can hear the conspiracy nuts already. That was dumb. A few photo's and an announcement were needed BEFORE the body was put to rest. I get respecting Muslim traditions, and I do want to be better than Osama was by respecting his beliefs when he was unwilling to tolerate any views that weren't his own, but  think in this case maybe putting closer on the situation and waiting a few days would have been better. Not least for the families that lost loved ones in Osama's various misadventures, not just in New York and Washington but in Somalia and the Gulf as well. Remember that more Muslims died as a result of Osama's ideology than Americans or other westerners. Now Osama will move on to that tropical island with Elvis, Hitler, Jim Morrison and the Big Bopper. Goody.

I know it isn't right to be happy that someone is dead, but in this case I can understand why so many people are rejoicing. Aside from former governments in Washington and Khartoum he is probably the man responsible for more death and violence than anyone else so far in the 21st century. However, his ideals, for whatever reason, are popular in much of the world and what he stood for is far from dead.

He's not a man worthy of an epitaph and I'm not about to write one for him, I'll just say that I hope that those who feel their ideals are actually so much better than other people's that they are willing to use violence and terror to force them on others remember how bin Laden lived and died (toilet paper was a novelty to this man). I'm all for expressing views (and I often do), but when people start thinking that what they have to say and what they think is so superior to what others say and think that violence to promote those ideals becomes acceptable, even ideal, we all lose.

Monday, May 2, 2011

another work related post (but with some good stuff at the end)

well I'm in to my last 3 days at SEI, but there's no classes for me. This means that I will spend the next 3 days reading, playing Travian, studying Korean and organizing for my new job..... sweet. However, with so much to do over the next two days I kinda wish that they'd just let me go to get it all done. Being here is actually very surreal. With the Daegok branch closed their director has been demoted to head teacher here. Our head teacher has been promoted to director and our current director is off to Siji branch to be their director (no idea what happened to their director). All this means that I now have a new boss, there's a new system going in to place and I am not affect one bit by any of it. It's strange but also kind of fun to see a hagwon from this perspective. Anyway, that aside there's a lot going on, so here's the news:

I've been offered a contract with a Canadian school (yes, I'll be working for Canadians again!). It officially starts August 1st but they want me to work from May 11th-July 31st as well, because one of the two teachers has to return home (no runner, I talked to the guy and it's a personal issue). I told them that not going home was out of the question so they threw me a counter offer. Work May, June and July and have August and half of September at home. Well that is close to my original plan anyway and they would count my first 10 weeks as time worked, meaning that my contract would end June 30th 2012, right in time to hit Indonesia and get in to full time school (or something like that). It puts a lot of stress on me over the next three days, but once it's done I should be set. I've also had an offer from a school in Seongseo. That would have me keeping my original May 17th departure date and coming back July 1st. Ahhhh the stresses of bureauocracy.

One nice note is that I no longer need a re-entry permit for my visa. After going to immigration and waiting 30 minutes I found out that I don't need to pay the 50000 won ($45) fee. While my Monday morning trek across town was pointless I was happy to hear that the Korean government has actually streamlined the process for travelling and working on Korea. I was also happy to save the money. I then went to DongDaegu station to get my bus ticket for Incheon airport for Wednesday (read below) and then I was off to the phone shop and I am now expecting delivery of a new phone. My new, high-tech cell phone with a 21st century touch screen doesn't work, so SK Telecom has agreed to swap it for a new one. I'll have a phone again :P

Finally, On Wednesday night I grab the overnight bus to Incheon to get a 9am flight to Taipei for a six day break. If I had know what work sh*t was going to hit me I probably would not have booked it, as it puts a lot of pressure on me for the next three days. However, it is a MUCH needed holiday and I feel that I'll enjoy it all the more for having had so much stress on my shoulders the last three weeks. Hiking in Taroko Gorge is exactly what I need right now. It will also give me fun and interesting things to blog about, rather than the collapse of a Korean academy chain.

Anyway, I hope others are having a more restful week.