Sitting here Saturday morning spell checking the below and we had a decent earthquake. Let's see how long takes to report its size. Happened at 6:26am. My prediction is 5.4 at a depth of 17.4kms...
The excellent Central Weather Bureau's website checked in 15 minutes later at 5.1 and 21.6kms deep. Read that they think earthquakes most coincide with full moons and there is a super moon coming up soon. Hang on Sloopy
As seen early morning last Sunday. The Boy sitting in the office wearing a banana costume. Told him I always considered him more of an egg than a banana. As a mixed Asian/Caucasian, he has heard the banana//Twinkie reference often...yellow on the outside but white on the inside. As his skin and appearance is more like mine, he isn't looked at as Chinese and to me, doesn't look Asian at all. His friends both in the States and here say he looks Mexican. Mom of course says he looks like her but please...c'mon man. Anyway, I said he is like an egg...white on the outside, with a gooey transparent gel-like middle and a deep yellow yolk at his core. Got no traction with that so...movin' on.
Quick follow ups from last week. Questioned the idiotic Tuesday voting date and Last Week with John Oliver had a funny/insightful bit about it that I though I'd share. This should absolutely be changed.
And did some more digging on the topic of daylight savings and while I still think it is ridiculous, am willing to give that one a pass for now.
I meant to put a note in last week about how Taiwan has direct voting for the President and not one determined by an electoral college. This article, which I read before the election, shows the inequity we have in our voices for President. For instance, 1 electoral vote in California equals 500,000+ people while in Wyoming, it is 143,000. How is that in any way fair. The Senate is there to preserve the rights of the smaller states, so how does this make sense. I put this link onto this space before the election and damn if we didn't get screwed by it for a second time in my life. Not going to go deep into that result here cause there is a lot of stuff already written and people are wigging out and want to change the subject for a few minutes. But very briefly, my feeling today is that as a straight white male, am not in any cross hairs, but my takeaway is that I need to watch out for and be prepared to fight with every breath and action for the rights of those not like me. The deck is stacked but the power is always with the people. Dust off the 60's protest playbooks. get a book of MLK quotations and count me in for whatever it takes.
My plan for this week was to talk about the neighborhood. Before we moved to Taiwan, Betty and I came for a week to look at the schools and apartment hunt. Now that we are 4+ years into this thing, I cannot believe how fortunate we were to choose the location we did. Most of the other expats also live close to the school, but up the hill. It is quieter there, but there is little shopping nearby and...you gotta walk up hill to get home. We picked a spot in the opposite direction from that in the flat direction. Our place is an easy15 minute or less walk from everything we could possibly need. Markets ranging from the western (re: expensive) to the "traditional" (more on them later). A 10 screen movie theatre, which I don't go to a lot but is there when must see films come out. Betty and I caught Inferno last Sunday. That is probably not a must see for you as it got deservedly terrible reviews, but its locales were places we have visited recently and they traced a lot of our footsteps, so that was cool. It had a lot less of the arcane religious and historical references than Angels and Demons or The DaVinci Code did, which were the parts I liked best, and they totally changed the ending from the book that was thought provoking on the future of mankind to one that was more wet t-shirt contest. Still, I liked it and Tom Hanks is just the best.
Walking everywhere has the benefit of running into people you know on the street. You become friendly with the peanut salesman on the corner or see one of the teachers and share a story or two. We sorta knew all of these benefits when we picked the place, but the biggest surprise and hidden gem for me is the TianMu Sports Park that is right across the street. I will be honest that my main motivation for our place selection was that the baseball stadium is there. That has been a bit of a disappointment, not that it isn't fun to go, but there are so few games annually and this year, they are repairing it for 2017's Summer Universiade Games., so no games at all.
What I didn't see in our initial visit was that behind the stadium was a huge sports park that has indoor pools, gymnasiums and massive outdoor track and green areas. It is associated with the attached sports college so all the grounds are kept immaculately clean. As there are no cars, I (try) to go there every day for a walk or exercise. One should exercise in some fashion every day and they say that you should vary the routine so you don't get bored and lazy. I have not had that problem as there is always something going on at the park that is fun to look at. During the weekdays, I see the ladies getting tennis lessons and the students from the college out getting lessons in sports ranging from baseball to track and field (I keep my head on a swivel when it is discus/javelin practice). If I go late in the afternoon, all the old folks like me are also walking their laps. On weekends, there is a bocce ball court that is always in use and has organized tournaments from time to time. If I go on Sunday, a local religion (still don't know who they are) have two services in the gymnasium and there are hundreds of worshippers out, all wearing the same purple t-shirts.
Regardless of the day or time, there are always kids playing sports on the big grass area, on the playgrounds or in the water feature. There are usually older people in wheelchairs hooked up to oxygen tanks that are brought there by their Filipina caregivers who park them in a shady spot so they can chat. The Filipina ladies also get to socialize and eat their good looking homemade snacks too.
And regardless of the time or day, there are always people, sometimes in groups and sometimes alone, doing that Tai chi/qi chong body self flagellation exercises. Kinda like this guy.
In addition to the regulars, as it is a big open space, there are occasional festivals happening. The week before was a Halloween thing, but I went to Pride instead and missed it but know there were a ton of young women wearing sexy devil outfits. Last weekend was an aboriginal cultural thing. Thought it was cool looking so ran home and grabbed my camera...
This is the Tiamnu Baseball stadium under repair/construction.
As you can tell from this photo, it must be good cause this lady was itching her ass out of anticipation something fierce.
Here is a bunch of shots of the "trays" of food. Other than the last photo, which is obviously hearts, I would hesitate a guess as to exactly what any of these body parts are or from what type of body they came from. I asked my coffee guy if he eats there and he smiled and nodded that he did. "Very chewy". Quite a recommendation.
I said I liked the Traditional Market as there is the good along with the haunted house stalls.
The fresh beans and spices people are useful.
Am also rethinking my disdain for massage chairs. Not a huge fan of massages in general and have never liked sitting in these kinds of chairs whenever the opportunity has presented itself, but this must be a huge industry here cause I see demos for them in the malls and stores selling them all over town. After watching this commercial, which came on during the election during the break on CNN just after they announced Florida, I could be all turned around on this cause this woman is so having an orgasm while enjoying her Osim uLove massage chair.
Thought I'd make a large post today as the travel calendar really starts to heat up for yours truly and the family soon so may not get to post as regularly. I hesitate to detail our incredible luck in this regard as it is so great and I really do not like to brag, but since I recount these trips in this space, you might as well hear it.
Thanksgiving long weekend in Malaysia. A couple days after we get back, I am going solo to Seoul for a night to see my absolute favorites Yo La Tengo play (they come here two nights later, so you know I am way pumped for that double header). Our Christmas break is going to be in Italy, starting in Naples and driving down to Sicily for two weeks. Chinese New Year week at the end of January in Sri Lanka and then Spring Break week in Australia. I was telling this to a guy here the other day and he looked at me and said, "damn you've got a good life". No argument.
One trip that just came up and am leaving for tonight is a week in the Bay Area. Don't think I mentioned it earlier, but about 6 weeks ago, my 90 year old mother was on an outing with her friends and she slipped on a stair and fell. Didn't break anything but banged her head pretty bad. She was shaken up, they did a bunch of tests but seemed to be OK. A couple of weeks ago, she starts getting headaches, goes to the doctor and gets the 'take some tylenol' advice. A week after that, she starts having these episodes where she is getting disoriented and doesn't know where she is. Doctor says they are busy and their earliest appointment is in December. Luckily, my sister works in conjunction with a hospital and gets her into see a doctor on Tuesday. Am not expecting any news cause tests take a while and as I'm sitting there agonizing about Trump, get a call from my sister saying that they found a subdural hematoma in her skull (I've watched a lot of MASH and know that is a blood clot on the brain) and they are headed to the ER. Quite the surreal day of watching the election unfold while waiting to hear what's what.
Get a call a few hours later after they met with the neurosurgeon and the choices were to cut a "big" chunk of her skull off and clean out the brain and then put the chunk back, drill a smaller hole and drain it out, or just to let it ride and hope it subsides. We're also told that if she were a younger person that she'd be dead, but since your brain shrinks as you get older, there was room for this clot to pool. Ear lobes get longer, brain gets smaller. My mom has said for decades, and is ironclad in her living will, that she does not want to be hooked up to a tube or machine to keep her alive, and says today that she has no intention of them drilling a hole in her head, so home she went that night. No one can say if it'll kill her tomorrow or it could dissipate and she'll live for another 5-10 years. Other than the times she gets disoriented, she seems totally fine and is in no pain whatsoever.
When we made the decision to move here, there were a lot of things to consider. Kids acclimation, my "career", missing friends...all the changes and challenges that anyone would face when uprooting a comfortable and organized life. I just reread that last sentence during editing and laughed at how much of a Virgo I am when an "organized" life is a trait I deem most important. There was absolutely no hesitation or fear of any of those changes or challenges as the prospect for growth and exposure to the world, culture, etc. would far outweigh any sadness or inconvenience. But the only thing that ever made me feel any angst about leaving, and have fretted and thought about a ton over the last 4+ years, was getting the call that mom is _______. I feel awful for my sister that has to deal with this...she's not alone as she has a massive support group, great husband, etc, but when it's family, you are sorta alone cause no one else has the same relationship. She has been good to keep me informed, making sure I am OK with the decisions they are making. but can tell it is weighing heavily. I couldn't talk on the phone this morning/their night when she called me and she sent an email saying that she just left my mom's place and was worried that if she left her alone that I would be mad cause she might die.
I don't relate this to elicit sympathy or condolences, mainly cause I am uncomfortable with both, but do so as this diary is to capture what's what as unfiltered as possible for friends and for future generations. I try to look at this scenario as an opportunity to celebrate her while she is here and to remember my 51 years (so far) with her. She has had an amazing run, has been a picture of health her whole life and think she has had a good one. That is certainly something to celebrate.
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