April 17th, 2022

Hey there,

Had a week off as it was Spring break and the boss and I took a little trip.  Went to the spot we like on the island and am always amazed that in chatting with folks that have been here as long or longer than us they say they have never been.  Better for us as it is so relaxed and the beaches are empty, but feel bad for the people trying to make a living off of tourism.  

The drive is a tad over 6 hours and we always stop 1/2 way for lunch at Salt Lick, which is a midwestern food restaurant in Hualien.  They have legitimately decent deep dish pizza, but as we had that a week before at our baseball tournament, we got the other food they do well there, which is BBQ.  The second half of the drive is the real attraction as it is a good two hours of hugging the coast...lovely water to the left and sheer mountains to the right.  Not as spectacular as the Pacific Coast Highway, but that vibe.  And you pass through the Shiti Fish Port

Our days in DouLan consist of waking up late, eat a breakfast the BnB prepares from stuff from their garden, go to the beach, nap, then go out for dinner.  We have been going to the same restaurants there for years and made reservations for two of them for our first two nights.  At both, we show up and they have decided that they are gonna be closed for the night and not tell us they were.  Fuck you guys...we found other places and we liked them better.  Good luck with that hippie aesthetic

The highlight of this time was the Sanxiantai Bridge.  We've been going to this area since the first month we were in Taiwan, so 2012, and we always target crossing this footbridge, but in the 6-7 times we've gone previously, we have never made it as it was closed due to weather or construction,  It reopened on New Year's this year and we finally made it across.

We don't retrace the lovely drive back to Taipei as there is an 11km tunnel that is always a traffic nightmare going north, so we loop around to the west coast and drive on the heavily populated side.  We now try to see something new on the way and this trip we decided to check out Kaohsiung (KHH).

Did some research and expectations were low, and KHH did not disappoint.  Visually a little nicer than Taipei as they have a mess of new buildings with some interesting architecture, but mostly the same nouveau bomb shelter style that is popular here.  The streets are wider as it appears to have been built later than Taipei and with a civic engineering model that incorporated cars.  The city has a river running through it called the Love River and they incorporate it into the town in a nice way.  It's not the Danube, but for Asia...pretty good.  They also have a lake in the center of town called the Lotus Pond.  It has a mess of temples around the shore and is a lovely wildlife refuge and we saw variety of migratory birds, turtles and fish.  All in all, a decent town, but not one I would go out of my way to see.

One area that is super and not to be missed is called Pier-2 Art Center..  They took an area of old port warehouses built in the 70's and turned them into a multiuse space for artists.  Some cool shops, performance venues and public art.  

That Devil Dog has a giant penis with a human head as the tip.  The Boss was told a restaurant in the Art Center was good so we made reservations.  Called Artco, it is billed as Italian, but think it leans more Spanish.  The Boss thought it was quite good and I thought it was OK...felt it could have had more flavor/spices and would not be the place in town I'd recommend.

What I would tell you not to miss is the place we went on our second night.  Looked around on the internet and determined that Croatian Kitchen was worth a try

By far the best Croatian food we've ever had.  Was the first Croatian food we've ever had, but still.  Very similar to Hungarian food in that they serve stews and use paprika liberally.  We enjoyed everything we had and were delighted we stumbled on the place.  The owner was from Croatia and was very nice...we talked to him for a while as he uses Costco a lot for his ingredients, so he and the boss had a lot to discuss. 

One of the sites we went to see was the Dome of Light.  It is located in a subway station and is said to be the largest public art installation of individual pieces of colored glass.  There is always a largest/biggest of something everywhere.  Designed by an Italian and made in Germany, it is like the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup of colored glass art installations.  It was pretty and colorful, and I tried to follow along with the themes of light and dark/birth/death rebirth, but gave it a "meh" on the excitement meter.  What was interesting was that underneath it is a covid vaccination center.

Business for the shot was booming.  Covid got loose here the last couple of weeks.  After being in the teens for weeks, it went to the 80's, then triple digits.  Last Monday the 11th, the authorities said that we might be at 1000 cases a day by the end of the month and I said we'd be there by the end of the week. The country recorded 1209 cases on Friday the 15th and I hate always being right.

So far, the place hasn't freaked out.  Vaccination rates are good and people aren't dying.  They haven't put many new restrictions on stuff and it feels like they are prepared for letting it wash through the society.  They are not being cavalier about it...masks are still required everywhere and there are some school closures (kids under 12 are not allowed to be vaccinated) including at our school.  We even made the newspaper. I, along with everyone, has had a gripe about some restrictions here, but when you look around the globe, hard to see a place that has managed it better.  I mean, we could have gone to Shanghai American School and have been locked in our apartment by the government for the last month.  The world has realized that we are vaccinated and to open up and live with the thing to various degrees, but these Chinese are still thinking they can go zero cases.  I keep wondering why and it has to be that they know their vaccine is shit and that if it gets out, the death rate would expose them for all their lies.  What else could it be?

In other local news, a bi-partisan Congressional delegation arrived in town today.  They love when American officials visit here and the mainland hates it, so I can still be happy even though the delegation includes douchebags like Lindsey Graham and Dr. Ronnie.  At least President Tsai tortured them a bit by welcoming them with local snacks.  Here is the description of what she provided...

The gua bao, known also as the Taiwanese hamburger or “tiger biting pig” due to its appearance, traditionally consists of a folded bun containing a slice of braised pork belly, picked mustard greens, cilantro, and ground peanuts. The dish signifies “making a fortune” due to its shape resembling a filled coin purse and “biting down on luck” as the phrase’s pronunciation is akin to “tiger biting pig.

Meanwhile, the snow fungus lotus seed soup is known to be a healthy type of sweet soup served both hot and cold. Snow fungus is high in dietary fiber and polycarbohydrates, while lotus seed contains abundant protein, dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

I hope Lindsey chokes on his snow fungus lotus seed soup.  With that out of the way, he said some decent stuff.  

“We have a strong military, not to take other people’s property but to protect our freedom and the freedom of the world. We’re here in this part of the world not to conquer but to be a good ally.” He added, “The last century taught us, when good people give in to evil, you live to regret it. If America abandons Taiwan, it will change the world fundamentally for the worse. Who would be our ally in the future“

To abandon Taiwan is to give in to the rule of gun versus the rule of law. To the [Chinese Communist Party] (CCP): we do not seek conflict, but we will fight for our values. Choose wisely.”

You never stop surprising me Lindsey.   

Finally for today, want to talk about friendship.  I feel pretty lucky to have a lot of friends and even more so in that I have them scattered all over the planet.  That we live in an age where I can stay connected with them so easily makes me feel like I am living in the greatest time to be alive.  But I do have some sadness in that I don't feel that I have that core group of friends that I would do anything with/for and they would do the same for me.  I felt this way after reading this article about four friends in India.  They were arrested for gang raping a monitor lizard.  I know that is so horrifically disgusting and beyond the pale, but those guys have to be so tight to not only do the act, but just that they could even talk about doing it shows a closeness that I can only dream about.

April 3rd, 2022

 Hey there,

Last weekend saw the end of our high school baseball season.  We went on a weekend trip to Hualien, about 4 hours southeast of Taipei, leaving Friday morning and coming home Sunday evening.  Fortunately, our rides there and back were uneventful...last year, we went on the day of an awful train wreck and the 4 hour drive took 10 hours.   We played 4 games and won one, but the teams we played were good and we held tough for the most part.   

We had a couple parents taking photos and they sent a link to them...there are literally thousands.  I took two.  One is from the breakfast buffet at the hotel.  They were serving salad, but the card describing it made it more than just that.

I am dying to know how the translation app came up with that and what comprehensive means in Mandarin.  Of course this prompted thoughts of comprehensive synonyms like Infinite Ice Cream, All-Inclusive Asparagus, Far-reaching Fava Beans and Extensive Eggs.

The other photo I took was a selfie.  After our Friday game, the boys washed their baseball pants at a laundromat across the street from the hotel.  In the group chat late that night, the leader of the group sent a note as he was pissed that someone included their underwear in the communal bag and demanded to know who it belonged to.

The sterile glove was a nice touch.  No one claimed them so they hung them up in the middle of our bus where they stayed all weekend.  As we got on the bus to return to Taipei, told the boys that I rarely took a selfie, but was going to take one with the underpants if they wanted to get in on it.  They did.

Love that picture.  It was a fun trip. Betty came along and is invested in this group now too.  It is quite pretty there and our fields were right up against the mountains.

The coach ordered a magnet board to keep track of the positions/line-up and he loves it.  I'm a bit old school and prefer to write it up on paper, but the boys found it useful as a creative outlet.

And for posterity, here is the baseball brain trust.  We're #1.

Betty and I will be pulling through Hualien next week as we are headed south for Spring break to our favorite little spot in Dulan.  You may recall that last year in that area they were battling an invasion of iguanas with hefty bounties placed on the leftover dinosaurs.  This year, there has been "an invasion of cane toads".  That article talks about how they can be lethal to dogs that eat them and how Australians brought 102 toads to Australia in the 1930's to combat some insect, but now they number between 200 million to a billion.  Aussies are adorable, but not too smart as evidenced not only by their decision to bring in the toads in the first place, but that they can't count for shit.  From what I gather, the Taiwan Amphibian Conservation Society doesn't kill the little buggers as they are  considered "fortuitous" in local culture.  Tell that to Fido when he gets poisoned by one.  You know what kind of shoes a frog wears?  Open Toad sandals.

Have been looking forward to this trip for a while cause we haven't been anywhere lately and love this little corner of the world, but am getting a bit nervous as Covid cases are on the rise.  Nothing that the States would consider significant, but massive for here and they have freaked out about it before.  Last few days, it went from the twenties, to the eighties with today being 160.  They are pretty well vaccinated and saw something about the identified cases showing mild symptoms, but if they start shutting stuff down, like school, I'm outta here.  They're a pretty pragmatic bunch and would think that they have to let it wash over the country based on what the rest of the planet is seeing, but if the death rate goes up...

In some lighter news, have a few articles saved up to share.  First...Cockfighting and gambling operation in southern Taiwan busted.  Probably could have shortened the headline by taking out "and gambling" cause I assume that if you are going to a cockfight that you are gambling on it as you'd have to be a sick fuck just to go and watch the sport for the beauty of it.  I recently read that some cockfight in Mexico got shot up by a drug cartel and one of the victims was an American schoolteacher from Wisconsin.  Cool.  I kind of gave up gambling years ago cause I suck at it, but if we can get in on some action next week, might have to try my luck.  The fine for getting caught at a cockfight is NT$9,000 (US$300), so totally worth the risk.

Next up...Taiwanese food.  I am finally getting traction on my contention that the cuisine here sucks.  On our baseball trip last week, the parents arranged a dinner at a local establishment that is "legendary".  We had 5-6 big tables and at all but one, they brought out the stuff that isn't objectionable for non-local tastes.  Pot stickers, pineapple shrimp, etc., but at one table they served up all the nasty tasteless animal parts.  Betty sat with them and I felt a bit insulted that I was not invited to their table, but after looking at their boiled wet pork fat, was happy with the insult.  And a few of the folks at the "local" table made their way over to ours to eat some of the dumbed down food.  Which leads me to Pizza Hut's new specialty pizza consisting of cilantro, intestines and pig's blood.  At Pizza Hut!.  And as part of the Yum! Corporation, they don't offer Taco Bell here?  They call it the Wu Geng Chang Wang and copy a piece of the article below.

Wu Geng Chang Wang (五更腸旺) is a dish thought by many to be of Sichuan origin but was actually invented in Taiwan, either by a chef of former dictator Chiang Ching-kuo (將經國) or in a military dependents' village. The name of the dish is interpreted either as a reference to the time it was cooked (3 to 5 a.m.) or to its five plant ingredients — garlic shoots/green onion, suan cai, chili pepper, garlic, and ginger.

In this case, the Wu Geng includes pig's intestines, pig's blood cake, pig's blood, cilantro, garlic shoots, and chili pepper topped with mozzarella cheese. The pizza also features a special "Wu Geng sauce.

They put mozzerealla on top of that?  Jeez.  Way to get your story straight too...either the President's chef or military dependents, and the time it was cooked or ingredients.  Taiwan history really isn't that old and this is less than 40 years ago so how is there so much confusion?  And the mind swirls thinking about what is in the 'Wu Geng' sauce.  I'm sure it is fish based, but wonder who puts the Wu in the Wu Geng sauce?

Last and relatedly, photos show pig organs spilled across bridge in Taiwan.  You gotta click on that to see the carnage.  It says the driver didn't properly close his back door and that the parts were to be made into feed, but who doesn't suspect that some of them were earmarked for Pizza Hut?