The Baseball Fever

The Olympic games were over. Due to political reasons, Taiwan has been given a strange name "Chinese Taipei" while attending international sports games, but people in Taiwan are still enthusiastic. During the first week of the games I was overwhelmed by the baseball fever in Taiwan. The baseball is called “guo qiu (the national ball game)” of Taiwan, and everyone wants the Taiwanese team to win a medal. So during the games between the 8 teams I can see people sitting in front of TV cheering, but too bad the Taiwanese team didn’t play well this time. It was defeated by Cuba, Korea, Japan and China. I saw fans in Beijing crying “I’m so disappointed! But I’ll still be here to support our team!”

When the Taiwanese team lost the game against the U.S, it is not qualified to attend the semi-finals any more. Interestingly it looks like all the team members can finally get relaxed and then play a good game against Canada. I was eating dinner at a small restaurant while the game began, and everyone there was watching the TV screen. Of course the hosts both cheered for Taiwan (however, I felt like one part of mine fighting against the other, and honestly when Taiwan was gradually winning the game I totally became Canadian!) The result was 6 (Taiwan): 5 (Canada), and the two are both ranked top 5.

People watching the baseball game in front of the SOGO Department Store.

Going East: Yilan

Upon my friend Petty’s invitation, I visited Yilan last week. Yilan is located in eastern Taiwan, and originally the domain of indigenous people. Petty told me her father is from the Fujian side, her mother Hakka, and her grandmother is partly indigenous. Her family is a good demographic representation of Yilan.

This is the first time I’ve been to Yilan since coming to Taiwan. Yilan is a peaceful county, and people are nice and generous. In addition, the food is so good that I ate the most on the table. Petty guided us through mountains, sea, rivers and towns. I enjoyed the beautiful scene and believe firmly that Taiwan is an island full of geographic characters.

The Turtle Mountain Island outside Yilan

The dolphins in the Pacific Ocean

The Taiwanese hamburgers we had for dinner. The bread is green because it's made with tea.

The Lanyang River

On the top of the 2,000-meter Taiping Mountain

Korean Food in Taiwan

I’ve heard that Korean dramas are very interesting since long time ago, but didn’t have many opportunities to watch it. After arriving in Taiwan I turned on TV and found at least 5 Korean channels. Korean dramas are really well made! The stories are so good and with the intensive path I just can’t stop myself from watching them. At first I watched “the Golden Era of Daughter-in-Laws” and now I watch “the King and I” everyday. Two weeks ago when the queen was sentenced to death I kept tearing up all night long. Last week while visiting Yilan with a group of journalists, I asked my roommate “can I watch the Korean drama at ten?” She nicely switched the channel from the Olympic game to “the King and I”, and we watched it together.

I sometimes went to Korean restaurants with Mr. J in Montreal. Yesterday my friend, Thomas, brought me to a Korean restaurant in the neighbourhood of the Taiwan Normal University. Honestly I think the food is better in Montreal (especially the one on Sherbrooke close to NDG), but to enjoy Korean food in Taiwan is fun, too. I heard people talking in Korean loud, and many Taiwanese couples visited it together. Thomas told me the owner is one of his old friends, who is a Korean guy coming to Taiwan decades ago. He opened a small restaurant in this students’ area, and then it got more and more popular so he opened the new one recently.

The appetizers

Different kind of seafood cake

My seafood pot

Thoma's beef pot

Going North: Keelung

The City of Keelung

July in Chinese lunar calendar is the month of ghosts. To see the ritual “Opening the Underworld Door” I visited Keelung last week. I went to that city with a co-worker when I was still working in Taipei who is originally from Keelung. I still remember how delicious the food is during that trip.

Keelung is at the northern point of Taiwan. It’s located between a harbour and a mountain, so the land is small and got small size of population is small: 340,000. However, this city is working hard on tourism. The tourist center beside the train station is great. The staff enthusiastically introduced me interesting spots in Keelung, and to my surprise buses and ferries are always accessible and can bring the visitor to everywhere.

It takes only 50 min from Keelung to Taipei by train. When I watched the sea from the harbour, I think if I were working in Taipei I’d certainly choose this peaceful city as the city I live.

Street vendors in front of the temple.

The fresh seafood a street vendor serves, where I had my lunch.

The temple, Xiandongyan, inside a rock cave.

The quiet community beside the mountain.

Business Class: The Taiwan High Speed Rail

In order to arrive in my destination faster, I take the High Speed Rail in Taiwan quite often. It’s really fast- around 300 km/hour- and I like the comfortable and convenient train a lot. Normally I take “Non-Researved (ziyou)” seats, and since I’m alone it’s always not too hard to find a seat. But the other day when I went to Xinzhu for whatever reasons I took a “business class” seat, and I enjoyed the ride!

Bigger seats in the business class

Attendants serving tea, coffee and snack

The Hsinchu station at night

Staff waiting to clean the cars at the terminal at Taipei station

The Taiwan High Speed Rail

Costco in Taipei

I’ve been to Costco a couple of times in Montreal. My friend Vicky got a membership card and kindly drives me to the store close to Verdun and let me purchase a lot of body lotion, shampoo and food for my family, and of course cat’s litter for Akan. To me Cosco is the place for people who need a big amount of goods but wanna save money, and they won’t go there very often since they buy a lot each time.

However, in Taipei, my friend Randy told me Costco is seen as a “high-class (or at least above middle)” store here. People go there to get fresh food of good quality, and what sounds funny is, to get something American in order to feel like “American.” I was so driven by the curiosity and asked him to take me there. So last week we went to Neihu- a technology park where Costco is located- and had a “tour.”

Indeed, people in Costco are kind of different from what I saw in Montreal. First, a lot of people’s carts are almost empty. I even saw a woman leaving with only 2 boxes of cereals. Second, Costco in Taipei is a boutique at the same time because there is a section selling brand bags such as Burberry and Fendi, and one of each costs 20,000 NT (600 CDN) to 75,000 NT (2,500 CDN). Other than the boutique, it got a drug store, a photo studio, a glasses store which provides service of optometry. Third, it got a lot of nice ready-to-eats, including Chinese, Japanese and Korean dishes. Fourth, the most interesting to me, Costco in Taipei seems to be a spot of entertainment. I saw dressed-up girls strolling as groups, and numerous parents and their kids trying all kinds of food and goods excitedly. Randy told me Costco is like a supermarket: a place you can go everyday and enjoy the pleasure of shopping.

I had thought it’s stupid that Costco became “high-class” in Taipei. But while being there I realized that people in Taiwan are simply trying to transform an American input into their own output. I believe this kind of transformation of consumption due to the longing for exotic life style is everywhere in the world, including North America and Europe.

The Neihu Technology Park

Costco in Taipei

Inside Costco

Brand bags

"Food Trying" attendants are everywhere in the section of fresh food

Japanese Sushi

Korean Kimchi

The food court