robynsinclair's blog

Playstation 3

    Yeah, I know i'm overdue for an update about my life, my new apartment, how Elise is faring after coming to Japan, etc etc. However, I have something much more important to talk about at the moment...the launch of the Playstation 3 in Japan! Two of my friends from the dormitory decided to go camp out in order to score themselves a shiny new system, and I couldn't resist tagging along too. The PS3 is actually being released in Japan a week earlier then America, so I figured if I could buy one I could sell it immediately on Ebay and make a little bit of a profit.

     One of my friends from my dorm, Stephen, (Canadian, but he's lived in England for the past couple years) saved up during the summer to buy a PS3, so he was absolutely determined to get one at launch. He managed to convince Tommy, a fellow UBC student, to get one too. Of course, those who know me won't be surprised that I was up for camping out all night for a gaming system ^_^. Elise, on the other hand, wasn't so thrilled about the idea and decided to give me moral support from the comfort of our cozy room. We had a couple of choices where to go try to camp out, but we decided on the biggest Bic Camera shop in Tokyo, at Yurakucho station (right before Tokyo station downtown). We got there about 7:30 PM and saw several people already there trying to line up, but apparently the security guards weren't so impressed with the hardcore gamers' attempts to line up 9 hours before the line officially opened. As a result, you could see pockets of people scattered throughout the square obviously hanging around waiting to get in line. Not feeling like standing around pointlessly, we headed off to find something to eat, and decided to simply stop at the Mcdonalds nearby since coupons had been handed out at the train station. I was hoping for some exotic asian Mcdonalds cuisine, but sadly it was standard Mcdonalds fare through and through (don't laugh! I've been to KFC a few times already and they have some awesome menu choices that will never see the light of day in the western world). Afterwards we stopped at a decent cafe for a coffee before heading back to Bic Camera. During our absence an amusing sign had been erected clearly stating that the line for the bus was NOT the PS3, and the security guards posted around the building discouraged any thougts of starting up our own line. As a result, we planned to head out to karaoke or something to kill some time. Before we left, however, I wandered up to another group of foreigners who were obviously waiting around for PS3 too and started up a conversation. Before long we decided to join forces in our quest and set up temporary camp across the street from the store. It was actually quite enjoyable talking with them (two of the guys were even Sony employees - one had designed the browser for the PS3 - and they STILL had to line up to get a system...-_-). I chatted with one guy from Hong Kong who had been living in Japan for 15 years or so and had some tips and encouraging words to say about finding work teaching English. What was really amusing, however, was what happened after we ran out of things to chat about.

Everyone decided that it was "game time", and promptly took out their Nintendo DS's for some 10-player multiplayer mario-kart action. Keep in mind that most of these people didn't know each other and were from different places all over the world, yet everyone had a gaming system along with mario kart (well, except for my friends, but even they had their PSPs to play -_-). I thought it was quite scary, personally. So there I was, the only one without a handheld system, instead forced to waste my time reading literature I had brought with me...psh. Furthermore, after all this had started, a reporter from Reuters came over to our group and tried to find someone for an interview. Of course, since everyone was involved in their head-to-head race, the poor reporter couldn't get a second glance from anyone. You could see the relief on his face when he finally spotted me across the sea of flashing screens with only a book, and he hurried over to ask me a few simple questions, to which I gave boringly simple answers so I could get back to my book. So imagine my surprise when I logged on to the Reuters website the next day and found they had quoted my lame answers specifically ^_^ (you can check out the link on the bottom of this post). A little while later, several people in our group including me were also interviewed on camera for a Japanese news show that aired the following Sunday. Unfortunately, I didn't catch which news or what time, so I guess i'll never know how that turned out.

    Anyhoo, time flew by pretty fast until about 3 in the morning or so, but by then we were all starting to run out of energy. We sent runners to the closest 24hr konbini to grab some snacks and drinks to tide us over, but it was getting difficult to keep sleep at bay. It was in this dozey state at about 3:30 that I suddenly heard a loud bang from the direction of Bic Camera. I still don't know what the heck it was (employees were setting up for the morning's launch events, so they probably just dropped something), but whatever it was, it caused a few people to start running towards the store, which in turn started a massive stampede of people across the streets. My friends and I were totally shocked, a few ran out with the crowd but I just stood there stunned as the hordes of screaming people rushed and surrounded the building admist officials screaming into their megaphones to stop and that it was dangerous. Dangerous indeed...I'm really surprised that no one was seriously injured. I took a little video of the aftermath with my camera, but I was too slow on the uptake so I missed most of the action. Nonetheless, it did result in waking us all up, and we subsequently started a lengthy debate as to how they were going to open up the line at 5:00. They had strewn pylons throughout the area in very mysterious ways, leading us to believe that they would probably start one line on one side of the building and one on the other (either that or the line would be on the other side of the building where most of the security guards were, in which case we would be screwed). As the clock approached 5, the wolves surrounding the store were all standing and and steadily edging closer and closer across the street, to the distress of the poor people in charge that had to keep shouting for them to stay back. It was a strange experiance to say the least - I was beginning to think we were laying siege to a castle or something. I'll give people some credit - they did manage to hold back until about 4:55...when the tension finally snapped leading to a second rush into the middle. Amidst the hordes of people shouting and shoving our party got completely divided. I ended up on the far side of the building from where I had been waiting, and couldn't decide where to go next. I finally followed a couple of the ameircans around the side of the building, and was promptly shoved against the building by some store staff who sealed us in a line with a steel bar. So, it turns out that the entrance HAD been on the far side, and the staff wound the line around the entire building so that the big crowd that had rushed to the middle actually ended up being funneled into the very back of the line. Despite being among the first people the night before I ended up somewhere around the middle, but at least I managed to pick up the 60gb system after another 3 hour wait in line. There was also an opening event in the front of the store which included the head of Sony Japan and Sony Europe, but as I was stuck in the alleyway I wasn't able to see much of anything.

    So was it worth it? For me it was...Japanese people apparently do this kind of thing all the time (lining up all night that is) whenever the latest system or even the latest popular game is released, so being the geek that I am I was more then happy to give it a try myself. I also got to meet a bunch of interesting fellow-geeks in the process. Add that to the fact that I bought the system for about $500 USD and sold it for $1350 USD on ebay, I'd say it went pretty well.

Success!

* note - as I type this, i've just realized that if I had waited a bit longer to sell the system, I could have sold it for almost $2000 USD online (that's the current selling price). Damn.

Videos:

Japan PS3 launch - after the first rush

Newstory:

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=newsOne&storyID=2006-11-11T061736Z_01_SP136538_RTRUKOC_0_US-SONY.xml&WTmodLoc=Home-C2-TopNews-newsOne-9

The Decision

Yeah, I guess it's about time I get back to updating my blog. First of all, I want to apologize to my family and friends for suddenly seeming to disappear off the face of the earth. I didn't mean to make anyone worry, but I guess i'm just a "fair weather" blogger so to speak. It's not that things have been going badly here, quite the contrary...it's just that i've been feeling pretty down without Elise. It's not that I can't take being alone...it's actually been a great opportunity to meet lots of new people. It's just that I feel like part of me is missing...i'm sure many of you are rolling your eyes right now, but that's the way it is ^_^. Which brings me to the title of this blog...Elise and I finally made a decision that she will come join me in Japan. I'm going to be moving out of my dorm (unfortunate, yes...it really is quite nice) and we'll be renting our own place very close to campus. Of course it's going to be more expensive compared to what i'm paying now, but it's not too bad actually - the place is only 70,000 Yen - about $670 CAD per month, so $335 CAD per person compared to the $170 CAD i'm paying in the dorm. That's not a bad price at all for housing in Tokyo...even my tutor was fairly surprised. Obviously I definitely need to work though, but it shouldn't be hard...some of my friends have already found jobs, and the average rate for an english tutor here is $30 CAD an hour! Elise is a bit worried that she won't be able to find work since she's not white, but i'm optimistic - although it is true that she probably will have to ask for a bit less pay. Even in the worst case scenario we have enough savings (read - loan money) to survive for the next three months (until my next loan installment), so I think this is a risk worth taking. Unfortunately, I know Elise's Mom especially won't be too happy with the idea, as she wants Elise to get started on her "career" and start earning some full time income. As for Elise, she also thinks it will be a great experience living in Japan and she'll also get the chance to learn Japanese, which she considers a worthy investment. It's true that she probably will not be making enough money to make any serious headway against her debt, but what's another 10 months? Once i've graduated we'll both be serious about paying off our debts and we'll be able to do it together. I just hope that Elise's family won't hate me for being party to this -_-. But anyway, we finally decided to take the plunge last week, and i'll be moving out of my dorm into the new place on Oct. 31, and Elise has already bought a plane ticket to Japan on Nov. 2nd. So wish us luck - we may be living very frugally for the next while, but I still think it's going to be a great experience! ^_^ (although I guess definitely no PS3 for me -_-). Best of all, now that i'm in much better spirits, my faithful journal readers (all 3 of you? 4?) can expect some real updates! Yes! Life is worth living again for all of us!

In Japan - proper entry

    I've tried to start this entry many times of the last couple of days, but I just haven't been able to do it. I'm still in shock over being apart from Elise and can't help but feel that it was a horrible decision to come to Japan for an entire year. Nonetheless, I still want to keep a log of my trip, so here it goes. (For those of you waiting for pictures in Japan, I just bought a new camera yesterday. I'll give picture tour of my dormitory / campus soon).

    Oh, and if anyone is wondering where my last journal entry went, I changed it to private because I don't think I should subject the entire world to my whineings - if you want to be able to see all my entires, however, you can join Vox and add me as a friend.

Tuesday - day 1

    I arrived in Narita airport on Tuesday Oct. 3rd in the early afternoon. The flight itself was uneventful - I slept most of the way so I don't remember much. Nor do I remember much about the airport itself - like I said, I was feeling kind of dazed. I made a big mistake after arriving though - after disembarking I decided to look for a washroom. As a result, I was almost the last person on the flight to arrive at customs and had to wait in a massive lineup - took almost an hour! At least I had no hassle getting through. I was then able to grab my luggage and find my "tutor" - a junior university student assigned to help me out throughout my entire stay here.  His name is Nakamura Koh, and since his English is quite good we were able to converse fairly easily. We had to take the train to get to the university, and it was a lot farther then I thought. The train ride took longer then the flight from Taiwan to Japan! Not only that, but we had to transfer at several stations along the way, dragging along my heavy, wheel-less luggage as we went. By the time we got to my dormitory (which is about a 10 minute walk from the nearest train station), we were both exhausted. I received I very warm welcome, however, by a group of graduate students in charge of looking after the international students. Koh then took me on a brief tour of the campus, showing me the library and the cafeteria. Everything is very clean and very new - the campus is only five years old after all (the institution is much much older, but it was moved to this new location). The library is very spacious (plenty of places to study)  and appears to have a decent selection of english books. The cafeteria has two levels, and each serves a different selection of moderately-priced food, so i'll probably be eating lunch there fairly often. After my tour Koh dropped me off at my room with my key and student keycard, and we agreed to meet early the next morning and head to Fuchu to apply for my Alien Registration at the government office, and start the process of setting up a Japanese bank account.
     I was then left alone in my room which thankfully had free high-speed internet already set up! I didn't have a lan cable, however, so I hurried off to the school bookstore to buy one before it closed. Unfortunately, they only had the 10ft. long cables (the others were sold out). I wanted to talk to Elise ASAP though, so I still bought it even though it's only about 3 ft. from my laptop to the outlet. Oh well. As for a description of my room itself, i'll give a detailed picture-tour later on, but suffice to say it's clean and brand-new (it was just completed this year). It includes a bed, desk, shelves, fridge, sink, stove, and washroom - not bad at all. All I did that night though was chat with Elise for a while before falling asleep.

Wednesday - day 2

     I met Koh at the entrance to the dormitory at 9:00, and we headed off for Fuchu. The closest train station to my University is Tama Station, which is part of the local Seibu Tamagawa Line, which connects to the Keio Line at Musashi-Sakai station (around 5-10 min. from Tama station). From Musashi-Sakai it is around 20 min. to Shinjuku Station. The Keio Line doesn't connect to Fuchu, however, so after getting on the Seibu Tamagawa line we had to go one station in the opposite direction. After that it's about a 10 min. walk to a different line (the name escapes me now) which connects to Fuchu Station. If all of this sounds confusing, then welcome to the wonderful world of the Tokyo Metro system. After arriving in Fuchu we spent the better part of the day going through the long bureaucratic procedures to obtain an Alien Registration Card and a bank account. Everything went smoothly, but it will take 2-3 weeks before everything is processed. Hopefully the money my parents leant me will last until then (and since I couldn't resist buying my digital camera, I may be living on instant noodles for a little while -_-). Afterwards we were hoping to go to a cheap department store in the area (called Don Quixote - Koh tried to explain why but I didn't really follow - something about Don Quixote liking cheap department stores? -_-), but since the alien registration and banking took so long we didn't have time. Koh had to get back to campus for baseball practice - he's part of the school club and they are right in the middle of getting ready for a big tournament. Once I got back to the dorm I was invited to join the grad students to eat - they were sitting in the entranceway welcoming the dorm residents as they arrived. I accepted and ended up eating with several Japanese, someone from Italy, France, Brazil, and the Czech Republic. Everyone was trying their best to speak Japanese and filling in with English when necessary - it was quite an enjoyable experience. The food was just some sashimi and other Japanese snacks from the local supermarket - tasty and not very expensive. After dinner I headed back to my room to see how Elise was doing, and then went to sleep.

Thursday - day 3

    When I woke up today to a message from Elise saying she had been drug off by her uncle to her relatives place in Taizhong, Taiwan at 8:00 in the morning. We had been awake till like 4 AM chatting, so she wasn't too pleased with the idea. She said she would message me when she got back.  
    Today the weather was absolutely horrible. It was pouring rain and the wind was howling like i've never seen before. It's the monsoon season I guess, and there have even been travel warnings not to come to Japan at this time. I really needed to by some living necessities though (as well as do something to take my mind of things), so I headed out despite the weather. My goal was to find my way back to Fuchu and go to Don Quixote, but I ended up getting completely lost. I immediately got on the Tama Station going in the wrong direction and wandered around looking for anything that looked familiar. I then got back on the train and continued to Musashi-Sakai, exloring that area for a while before trying to figure out where to go next. I thought it was the Keio Line that went to Fuchu, but I couldn't find it on the map anywhere. I tried to ask the station attendants for information, but they spoke too quickly for me to understand much of what they said. I was able to tell that they didn't really know the best way to get to Fuchu though, so I realized I was completely in the wrong area. Dejected, I gave up and headed back to Tama Station planning to check the internet for directions and go tomorrow instead. On my way back, however, I came across a British mom with her child and asked them for directions for Fuchu. She was happy to oblige, and I decided to try one more time to find the elusive department store. I managed the 10 min. walk to the other train line successfully and finally reached Fuchu Station. I didn't really know how far the department store was, but Koh had pointed it out to me as we were riding on the train so I knew I should be able to find it if I followed the metro line. After trudging another 10-15 min. getting pummled by rain and wind I suddenly stumbled across the glowing neon sign of Don Quixote - success at last! My feeling of euphoria was short-lived, however. As I wandered thorugh the department store picking up things for my dormitory room, I couldn't help but feeling this was something I should be doing together with Elise. It was my first time buying things for my own place - I had been looking forward to this moment, but as it is I got no enjoyment out of it at all. It should be Elise and I shopping for things for our own apartment together.  I ended up not caring much about the look of things - I only bought the things I needed the most and whatever was the cheapest (well, as long as it wasn't TOTALLY ugly). I know several of my friends and family are wondering how expensive things are in Tokyo, I've quickly typed up my shopping list for you to see. (in yen of course. To get an approximate CAD amount just move the decimal two places - i.e. slippers 474 = $4.74)

slippers - 474
body soap - 664
drinking glass - 188
coffee mug - 283
bathroom mirror - 1,028
knife - 379
fork - 188
bath towel - 474
fancy wash cloth - 647
frying pan - 933
two sets of chopsticks - 320
pot - 1,504
10 coat hangers - 379
dish rack - 1123
bowl - 283
dish scrubber #1 - 283
dish scrubber #2 - 94
dish scrubber holder - 283
knife set - 951
saran wrap - 112
dish soap - 188

grand total - 11,325 ($107 CAD)

As you can see, prices aren't too bad. After getting all my loot I headed back into the maelstrom. I made it back to Fuchu station with all my bags, but after I set out on the 10 minute walk to the Seibu Tamagawa line I again went the wrong way and got lost. So there I was,  standing in front a map in Japanese that made absolutely no sense to me trying to read it in the dark, blinded by the rain and wind, and wondering why I had left my girlfriend to come here. I have to say it wasn't one of the highlights of my life. Just at this time, however, a very old Japanese man slowly walked out of his house amidst the horrible weather over to where I was standing, and asked me in English if I needed help. After stammering out that I was indeed lost, he gave me directions to the train station and even offered to escort me there. Of course I told him I would be fine and thanked him profusely for his directions, and then managed to get back to the station. I have to say that all the Japanese I have encountered so far have been extremely kind and helpful - i'm very impressed.
    Once I got home I had some new messages from Elise detailing her prediciment. She was trapped in Taizhong with her uncle because he had been drinking since they got there. She was furious with him since he had promised to take her home, and he had promised her mother he would not drink. As a result, she had to spend the night there without anything - computer, clothes, toothbrush. Not only that, but there were seven children staying there too that were driving her crazy. She wasn't able to use their computer for very long since it was in her aunt and uncle's room, but luckily I could call her on her cellphone via Skype and keep her company. Thank goodness for modern technology.

Friday - day 4

    Today was my orientation. The weather was just as bad as yesterday - the rain and wind has been nonstop. The orientation was ok - a lot of it was conducted in Japanese so I didn't follow everything, but I received a massive pile of books and papers full of information in both Japanese and English. The teachers and staff all seem very friendly and helpful, so I have complete confidance that everything will go fine. The Japanese placement test is on Tuesday, so I really need to get ready for it and review like crazy (I should really be doing that right now instead of writing in my journal. Oh well.) I really wanted to get a digital camera so I could start taking pictures of my dorm and campus, so after the orientation I decided to brave the weather again (yeah, i'm masochistic) and head off to Shinjuku and Akihabara (I went solo again - I asked a few people if they wanted to come along but no takers in this weather). There is so much to see and so much to talk about in both areas that i'm not even going to make an effort to right now - besides, because of the weather I didn't really pay much attention to my surroundings - I just single-mindedly sought out the digital camera stores. I knew exactly which type of camera I wanted, and I have to say ultra-zoom cameras are not any cheaper in Japan then in the United States (Canada, yes, but not the US). I checked both Yodobashi Camera in Shinjuku (which caters to local Japanese) and the touristy electronic disctrict in Akihabara, but didn't have much luck. After an entire day of searching I finally found a shop that sells refurbished cameras with a month warranty, so I purchased the camera I had been looking for there (it still cost $20 more then a new one would have in the US!). After I got home, I went to the konbini (local Japanese convenience store) along with a couple of my Italian acquaintances to pick up some food. They invited me to eat with them but I wanted to talk to Elise and was really anxious to see how she was making out, so I headed back to my room instead.
    It turned out that Elise's uncle had been drinking AGAIN, and she was trapped there for another night. She was furious beyond words and was ready to take the bus to get back home, but her another one of her uncles arrived to visit her and he was able to make her feel a bit better. So I talked with her for a while but then headed to bed - I was pretty exhausted after the day's activities.

Saturday and Sunday - day 5 and 6

    I took it easy both of these days - unpacked my clothes, organized the things I had bought from the department store and settled in. Elise, for her part, did finally get taken back to Taipei on saturday, but she had to stay at her Grandma's house since the Aunt and Uncle who were visiting Canada were coming back Sunday morning at 5 AM and it was much closer to the airpot. So after spending another night in a very dirty guestroom that hadn't been used in years, she finally  made it back home. It was quite the ordeal, and I feel really bad that she had to go through that. Tomorrow I really need to power-study my Japanese so I do alright on the placement test - I don't want to get stuck in a class that's way to easy for me. Better get some sleep - after Elise and I watch the new episode of the Office which we downloaded. I'm going to try to update my blog more regularly now, and as soon as I have time i'll post some pictures of my campus and dorm. 

Day 9 - Taipei 101

    We got up pretty late today - sure didn't take us long to revert to our old habits of staying up and sleeping in! We decided to check out Taipei 101 today - the tallest building in the world. On our way there, we stopped for lunch at the dumpling restaurant at Taipei Main Station again - the dumplings were just as good as last time! By the time we got to 101 it was already getting pretty late. We didn't have much time to shop or look around, although of course we found time to stop at the Starbucks for our lattes. The shopping area was quite impressive - it is a very nice looking mall with a humongous food court in the basement. There are about four or five levels for shopping, and Jason told me the price increases by an extra 0 the higher you go up. We didn't bother to actually look around the expensive brand-name stores though. After we ate an oyster-pancake snack, we bought our [fairly expensive] tickets to take the elevator to the 89th floor observation deck.

    The elevator itself was very cool - we hadn't realized that it is also the fastest elevator in the world. As soon as we got in, all the lights turned off except for an LCD panel showing which floor we were on and how high we were going. Once the elevator took off I could feel the pressure in my head as we ascended 89 floors at a vertical speed of about 60 kmh - the whole thing took just over 30 seconds. Remarkbly, the ride was very smooth and almost noiseless.

    Once we got to the obeservation deck we were able to walk around in a complete circle, gazing at all the city lights - it was quite a sight. There were, of course, plenty of souvenir shops trying to tempt us, but Elise and I managed to resist, aside from sharing an ice-cream cone. In the middle of the deck is a small area where we could view the 660 ton mass damper, which protects the tower against earthquakes and typhoons by reducing the building's sway by about 40%. We were also able to go to the outside observation deck on the 91st floor (for an extra fee!), and that was very nice as well, although very very windy as you might imagine. We were almost the only people outside that late at night, so we stayed there for quite a while before heading back.

    Afterwards, we stopped at PageOne - a giant bookstore in the shopping mall. They had books in many languages including English, so we wandered around there until it closed at 10:00. We didn't realize, however, that the last shuttle bus going back to the metro was at 10:00 as well, so we got there just in time to see it drive off (although we weren't the only ones - I saw another girl give her boyfriend a hard smack on the head before storming off). As a result we had to walk back, but i'd say it was a blessing in disguise because it was actually quite enjoyable, not least of all because it is a much cleaner area then where we live. It was quite late by the time we got home, but a street vendor was still open so we grabbed take-out snacks for a late-night dinner, bringing an end to an enjoyable evening.

Day 8 - Jiou Fen Jollies

    Today Elise and I took up Shao Jo's kind offer to take us up to the northern tip of Taiwan - Jiou Fen (九份), to be specific. We hopped in the car at about 8:30 in the morning and it took us a good hour to get there (I slept most of the way up though - should have went to bed earlier!). Jiou Fen is a town that experienced a massive goldrush which reached its peak during the time of Japanese colonial rule. As a result, there are numerous Japanese buildings remaining including a "chalet" built for the crown-prince when he came. It's now part of a heritage site (Gold Ecological Park) that was to be the focus of our visit.
   
    Upon arriving, Elise and I were overjoyed to find a Starbucks awaiting us (they must have known we were coming - it was just completed last month). And talk about prime real-estate - we were able to enjoy our coffees upstairs on the balcony with an amazing view. Not a bad way to start off the morning.

    After our coffee we hit "Old Street" which was filled with tourist shops and food (of course) of all kinds. We sampled many of the local cuisines, including some shaved ice with all sorts of toppings (different then the ones i've had back home in Richmond), and two gooey green balls - one sweet with red filling and the other salty with a "sprouty" filling. Everything was tasty - we ate enough snacks to last us until dinner. We wandered through the tourist shops as well, but it was mostly the same type of stuff we had seen offered elsewhere in Taiwan.

    Old Street eventually tapered off and soon we found ourself wandering through the various narrow streets and alleyways of the town. I have to say this was probably my favorite part of today's trip - we had no idea where we were going, but we got a great glimpse of the everyday life of the people in the area. Some of the areas were old and falling apart or even abandonded, while others had obviously been renovated and were more modern-looking. I'm sure I would have loved growing up in this area though - the amount of hidden routes and passages that wind up and down through the town are staggering - I would have had a blast when I was a kid. Eventually we managed to find our way back to our car (well, it's pretty hard to get lost when you're on a hill), and we headed off towards the Gold Ecological Park.

    The first thing we did in the park was grab more food (of course). While we were eating, a dog wandered up to us and then planted itself right beside me. At first we thought it was a stray - one thing about Taiwan is that it is filled with mangy, stray dogs - but it was much too friendly. Eventually its owner came over to take it back home, but it wouldn't leave my side until it was offered food - Elise was amused (she thinks I have an unnatural attraction to animals). Afterwards, we headed into one of the museum buildings. Within was some information regarding the mining activities of the town, including a historical model detailing the progression. We then continued on to the Japanese chalet. It wasn't actually possible to walk inside, but we were able to walk around the building through the gardens and look through the windows. It was all very beautiful, but the best part was the entertainment area in the backyard. Apparently the crown prince was quite interested in golf - a sizable mini-golf course was set up throughout the yard. It looked like a lot of fun - I would have paid good money to go try it out.

    Our next stop was an actual mining tunnel that had been turned into a tourist exhibit. It cost extra money to go in though, and since Shao Jo had seen it before he waited for Elise and I outside. It was pretty neat walking through the tunnel - they had several stations set up with life-sized models of miners. At each station there was a sensor which activated a realistic audio segment as you walk by. The tunnel was fairly short, but i'd say it was worth checking out.

    Next, we decided to climb the stairs that led way way up the the mountain above us. It actually leads to another mining tunnel about 3 km away, but Shao Jo said he had gone there before and since that tunnel is not open to the public it's not really worth the trek. Instead, we ascended about 500 meters to the ruins of a Japanese shrine called "The Gold Temple". On the way up we also passed through a a cool tori gate, but its markings had been scraped off by the Chinese nationalist party long ago. The ruins of the shrine gave us an amazing view of the area, so we took a whole bunch of pictures before heading back down.

    By the time we got back to the bottom we were in a hurry because it was almost 5:00 and Shao Jo wanted to make it to the other section of the park where the "gold" was. We made it with just five minutes to spare, so although we didn't have time to look around much, we did get to touch the massive gold bar that was 99.9% gold. Our guide also said that if we could lift it we could take it home. I tried my best, but I think it'll take a few more push-ups before that's happening. Maybe next time.

    By this time it was starting to get dark (and we were getting hungry again), so we started our journey home. For dinner, we stopped at a famous "bian dan" restaurant (aka "bento" for you japanophiles) which had previously offered them on the local train. They became so famous that even after the train shut down several shops opened up offereing the exact same bian dan. I can see why they are famous - they only cost $1.50 Cad each and were delicious - one of the best meals i've had here yet!

    Shao Jo decided to take the scenic route along the ocean coast on the way home. There are several "rest areas" where you can stop the car and go walk along the rocks by the water, so we hopped out once before it got too dark and snapped a few more pictures. Many people were there to fish off the cliffs, as well as several couples there for a romantic evening watching the sunset. I wandered around for a while looking for any small rocks or driftwood I could send back to my Mom, but sadly I didn't find anything too interesting. It got dark pretty fast, so we had to head back to the car and drive home.

    I'd like to end the days events here, but there is one more thing that bears mentioning - the drive home. Did I mention before that Taiwanese drivers are crazy? Well, Elise's Uncle is no exception...the way he took the curves on the narrow mountain highway...I thought our trip was about to come to an abrupt conclusion. Some of the areas we had to drive through were SO narrow - I was surprised the car even fit. Nonetheless, we did make it back in one piece, bringing an end to what was the highlight of my trip thus far.

Day 7 - The National Palace Museum

Yum

    Elise and I were feeling pretty lazy this morning, so we didn't actually head out to the museum until after 1:00. We took the metro until Shilin Station where were decided to grab some lunch at an air-conditioned Japanese fusion restaurant. It was actually very nice - the ambiance and service were great, the food was tasty, and it was moderately priced to boot. We then had to take a bus to the museum, but it was a pretty short ride. We happened to arrive at the exact same time as a massive group of Japanese tourists giving us the impression that the museum was extremely  busy (it turned out that, other then them, the place was pretty empty). We spent a good amount of time taking pictures all over the museum grounds, as you can see below:

    Once we got inside, we signed up for the daily 3:00 English tour. It turned out that we were the only ones for the day (aside from some girl working at the museum who tagged along because she wanted to improve her English), so we pretty much got a 2-hour private tour. Our tour guide was a British university student who was volunteering for reasons unknown, and although he took us to many of the highlights of the museum he wasn't exactly a professional guide and didn't know too too much about what he was showing us. Nonetheless, we got to see pottery and other artifacts from all of China's various dynasties; i'm too lazy to list them here, but some of the more interesting ones included the jade cabbage and the "rosetta stone" pot with ancient Chinese characters in it. The museum closed at 5:00 so we really weren't able to see too much; our tickets were good for one more free visit so perhaps we'll go back again.

    On our way home we were thinking about stopping at an impressive-looking garden we had spotted on the bus on the way to the museum, but since it was really hot out we opted instead to stop by the Taipei Main Station underground mall again. I wanted to go back to the shopping area we had originally visited (with all the cool little anime stores), but it took us quite a while to actually find it. By the time we did we didn't have much time to shop before everything closed (the only thing I bought was another little Bleach keychain for Elise, which turned out to be the same stupid figure from last time. Lame.) Our trip wasn't a complete waste, though, as we succeeded in finding an excellent little restaurant serving delicious dumplings of all shapes and sizes. I think Elise nicely sums up our resulting feeling for the day:

DSC03504.JPG

Day 6 - The end of the metro

 

   Today, as planned, we headed to Dan Shui, which is the northern-most station of the metro. We actually stayed up pretty late last night, so we were very pleased that the very first thing we came across when we got off was another Starbucks. After grabbing our lattes, we began to stroll down the waterfront. Since it was a weekday it wasn't very busy - apparently this place is totally packed full of tourists on weekends and holidays. Also, the weather was very nice and not too hot (there was a pleasant ocean breeze blowing), so it made for quite a relaxing afternoon. I couldn't help comparing it to the beach at Whiterock though, and I have to say this area was just too dirty to be quite as enjoyable. Nonetheless, we had a good time wandering in and out of the various souvenir shops and sampling many of the snacks offered along the way (I especially enjoyed the candy-coated tomato sticks).

Red Castle

Romantic lunch

    It turned out that lunch was the highlight of our trip. We stopped at a place called Red Castle, which was an old European-style building which was actually built and used by the Dutch way back in 1899. It has since been turned into a fancy dual restaurant-cafe, and consequently is an excellent tourist trap. After buying so many snacks along the way there we didn't feel like eating a full meal at the restaurant section (it's pretty pricy too), so we went up to the cafe on the top floor and ordered some tasty mango drinks while we watched the sunset over the water. Not bad at all.

    Afterwards, at my insistance, we hopped on a "ferry" (read: fishingboat) to take us across the river to Bali. I had read on a forum somewhere that this "ferry" was one of the top things to do at Dan Shui, but after paying 50 bucks for a  five min. ride in a dirty little boat I can't say I agree. Bali didn't impress us too much either - it seemed almost identical to the area we had just left, with the same types of shops and snacks offered. I think there are some things to do and see further inland (including climbing up the mountain to watch the sunset), but it was already getting late so we didn't have time. You were able to rent bikes and carriages to ride along the waterfront though which I thought would have been a lot of fun, but Elise thought it was getting too dark. The only thing we checked out while we were there was some kind of building with a tower you could climb up for a decent view of the area. We clamored our way to the top and it turned out to be a popular make-out area for highschoolers. Since it was getting too dark to see anything anyway, we decided to call it a day and start heading back home.

    Our final stop for the night was Shilin nightmarket again for a little more shopping. Our last outing to Shilin was cut short because of the rain, so I wanted to finish exploring. The stores were pretty repetative though; we didn't see much different from the last time we came, although Elise snagged a few cheap jdrama dvds on our way out.

    So all-in-all, although Dan Shui was not the most amazing place we've been to so far, it was definitely worth the trip. Tomorrow we plan to hit the National Palace Museum for a change of pace - but unfortunately cameras are not allowed, so we probably won't be able to take many pictures.

Day 5 - a visit to Elise's grandma

Fixin' our ride

   We got up early today to go for a ride with Shao Jo and Jo Ma (Elise's "Uncle" and "Aunt"). We planned to stop by and see HongLuDi Temple (烘爐地) on our way to Elise's Grandma's place in Zhong Li. Before we left, however, we discovered that Shao Jo's car had a punctured tire from driving over a nail, so we first went to get it repaired and grab some breakfast.

    Afterwards we made it to HongLuDi. HongLuDi is a kind of Daoist temple devoted several Daoist deities, especially Tu Di Gong (土地公), or the "Earth (Land) God". This is a deity who has traditionally been in charge of the general affairs of a village. When people worship him they usually ask for wealth related boons (symbolized by the gold ingot in his left hand), power-related boons (the staff in his right hand), or long-life (his long beard). We had seen a large statue of Tu Di Gong from the distance up on the mountain as we drove, and it was even more impressive up close. One interesting thing is that the area has been rebuilt/renovated recently, and someone had the bright idea to make it more interesting for kids by placing a bunch of random dinosaur statues throughout the grounds, which Elise and I thought was rather amusing. Tu Di Gong better be careful or he might run into the T-Rex lurking right around the corner (they're about the same size - I wonder who would win in a fight. Tu Di Gong looks like he could whup some butt with his staff).

    After climbing a lengthy flight of stairs to get to the top, we came across the main shrine. The area was actually pretty busy, and Shao Jo said it is even busier later at night. It didn't seem like it is a well-known destination for foreign tourists though - I was the only obvious foreigner there as far as I could see. Since Shao Jo and Jo Ma knew the worshiping process, Elise and I decided to try our hands at lighting the incense sticks and going along with the other believers. We felt a little silly but tried to be respectful and do everything properly - I thought it was a great experience. The first part involved going around to various smoldering cauldrons, each representing a different deity. At each one we would bow three times with the incense to our foreheads, and then toss one of the sticks into the cauldron. After finishing this process, we grabbed a pair of "moon blocks" and knelt down to pray to the gods for guidance. After stating her name, date of birth, and place of residence, Elise asked about finding a job. She then tossed the blocks onto the ground, and since one landed face up and the other face down, she was granted permission draw a "chien", which was a type of fortune stick with a number on it. When I first asked permission I was denied (the blocks both landed face up), but then I realized I had forgotten to state my birthdate, and after that the blocks landed properly ^_^. After receiving our chien, we then had to kneel down again and ask if it was the correct fortune stick. Then we had to toss the blocks three more times, and if they landed correctly three times in a row we could go pick up a corresponding piece of paper with our fortune on it. Jo Ma told us that her friend once tried to ask the gods for a fortune, and she tried for over and over for an hour but kept getting refused. Elise messed up on her third time (afterwards she said she was feeling cocky on her third throw), but suceeded on her next three. I managed to get three in a row on my first try. After we got our fortunes we took them to a translator to help us understand them. Elise's fortune said that in the beginning she will need someone to help her and she must be patient, but things will get better and better. I had asked about work as well, or more specifically, finding something I am passionate about doing, and my fortune said that there will be many opportunities in the future and everything will go very well. Sounds good to me! Shao Jo said that he had tried this several times himself and in different temples, but each time his fortune simply said he didn't believe (which is true) and he should just find the answer himself.

     After the temple we continued on our way to Elise's Grandma's place. It was about an hour drive, but time went by quickly as there was lots to look at on the way. We weren't really in the countryside, but it was still less busy and more open then the area we live in. Once we arrived I was introduced to Elise's grandma (Ah Ma) and her other uncle (Da Jo). After arriving, we immediately set out again for lunch at a beautiful little restaurant with ancient Chinese-style architecture. The food there was pretty expensive (well, by Taiwan standards anyway - only about $10 each Cad!), but it was very good, and well worth it for the dining experience. We were able to wander around and take lots of pictures, and we even fed the fish after lunch with some leftover crackers.

    After lunch we headed back to Ah Ma's place to chat for a while longer. Elise and Ah Ma seemed happy to see each other again. She seems really nice - I really hope she enjoys her trip to Canada later this month. I think Ah Ma was hoping we would stay for dinner (I wouldn't have minded), but Shao Jo and Jo Ma wanted to make a stop on the way home.

    It turned out that the place they wanted to stop was a ceramic museum. It was actually the last day of display and the place was pretty empty. Even though most of the signs were in English and well as Chinese, I wouldn't say I learned much there but there was a lot of neat looking pottery and I snagged a few nice pictures. After the museum we went to a local market nearby which also specialized in ceramics of all kinds. Unforunately, however, we only had about half an hour before it closed so we didn't get much chance to look around. Perhaps Elise and I will go back ourselves if we have time.

    All in all it was a very busy day today. Elise and I are planning to take the transit to Dan Shui tomorrow, so we need to go to bed early again and get a good rest.

Day 4 - time to relax

    After our exhausting day yesterday, Elise and I thought we would stay at home and relax for most of the day today. Both our feet were still sore, and since we finally had our router we were able to catch up with things on the internet. We ordered breakfast from the same place as yesterday (I ordered the bacon and egg burger - simple, but not bad), and Elise's Aunt brought home some beef noodle soup for lunch. Thus, I was able to catch up on my journal writing and uploading all the pictures I took.

The Night Market

Chinese Opera

    In the evening we went to go to the Shilin Night Market - one of the biggest in Taiwan. On our way to the Metro station, however, we ran across a group performing some Chinese Opera at the temple I took a picture at on our first day here. Elise and I got out of the car to have a quick peek, and we caught the very end of the performance (also, an old guy standing next to us seemed amused to no end that a foreigner was watching the show). We then got on the metro and took it several stations past where Elise and I usually get off.

The market itself was even busier then I expected - a steady sea of people rolling through the narrow market alleyways. Before shopping, however, we went to the large food area to eat. Elise's Uncle had said that it is tradition to eat at least 5 different dishes when you are there, and we surpassed his expectations. There was so much food there (400+ stalls!) that the most difficult thing was choosing what you wanted to eat. It was all very cheap, and huge portions - the "chicken steak" stall had a massive line, and I could see why. For only $1.50 you get a ginormous portion that puts anything in Vancouver to shame. Altogether, Elise and I ate an oyster pancake, fried devilfish, Chinese tempura, a french toast sandwich, the chicken steak, and "pig's blood" dipped in some kind of batter. Altogether it only cost about $10 cad, and was at least as much as I eat for all-you-can-eat in Vancouver.

Outside

    We were going to go shopping afterwards but it started to rain so we didn't get very far. The crowds and the heat were also getting to Elise, so we decided to come back another night (probably a weekday) when it is less busy.
    Tomorrow we'll go and visit Elise's grandma. I'm a little wary, but all of Elise's other relatives have been very nice so I shouldn't have anything to worry about. We'll be going for a drive into the countryside, so I should have some nice pictures to post tomorrow.

Day 3 - time to tour

    Our plan today was to head to a tourist spot close to our area - the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. This is another area Elise remembers from her childhood and says it is quite impressive. After eating a quick (and cheap) "delivery" breakfast, we embarked on our journey three metro stations away. As soon as we headed above ground, we were immediately met with some interesting architecture - the transit station itself is built into the Chiang Kai Shek memorial area. I'll let the pictures describe what we saw as we passed the entrance:

    I was in awe as I traversed the grounds - it brought back memories of some of the grand structures I had seen when travelling in Europe. For Elise it was a trip down memory lane, and she enjoyed walking around with me but I think she

Bow to Me!

got a bit annoyed at all the pictures I wanted to take (not to mention the heat - it was as hot and sticky as ever). There are 4 main structures - the entrance is across from the main memorial building, and two huge concert/theatre halls (almost identical) complete the circle. Also in the grounds are several gardens and two large ponds filled with many different types of colorful fish and even turtles. After we had explored outside we headed into the memorial building, where we were greeted by a rather large statue of Chian Kai Shek seated on his throne. There were also some officers standing on guard in the hall which reminded me of the Queen's Guard at Buckingham Palce - they were not allowed to move at all, and required someone to come by reguarly just to wipe the sweat off their face. In this area I actually saw several white people, obviously tourists, but overall the place was not very busy.

Creepy

    Elise and I were almost ready to head out at this point when we noticed that it was possible to actually go UNDER the memorial building. Inside was a vast museum of all things Chiang Kai Shek - personal effects, awards, writings - even some of his class notes from university were preserved. Several of the information posters were in English and were rather amusing to read  - from them, you would think that Chiang Kai Shek was the most noble, generous, intelligent, and overall amazing person to ever grace this earth.

    The last thing we came across in the memorial hall, interestingly enough, was a Science World-type exhibit called "Discover Taiwan". It was a two-month long exhibit (we had caught it during it's second last day) celebrating Taiwan's geological and cultural history. Most of it was competely in Mandarin, but there were many fun and clever activity centers set up that required little explanation (although, several of the employees working there did seem to speak a little English). Elise and I played around there for a while, and then went back to the Metro to head to Taipei Main Station for some lunch.

    After exiting the station, we went to a place we had seen beside K-Mall called "Taiwan Storyland". Elise vaguely remembered it and thought it might be fun to check out. It cost $150 admission ($5) for students, but we could then use that admission payment to pay for food or drinks inside. As the pamphlet says, Taiwan Storyland is an interactive museum that attempts to replicate life in 1965 Taiwan. It was filled with the buildings of the time period, including a hot spring hotel, a classroom, a theatre (playing real 1965 movies you can sit and watch all day long!), a bar, a police station, a doctor/dentist office, and much more. Check out the pictures to see more detailed information of what we did there - it kept us occupied for the rest of the day.
    On the way home we decided that we wanted to look for a wireless router so we could use the internet back at our place. We assumed we would be able to find one in one of the little electronic shops close to where we live, but I completely lost my sense of direction and we got totally lost. We eventually managed to find one (although it wasn't cheap - Taiwan seems to suck when it comes to buying electronics), but by the time we found our way home we both had blisters on our feet and couldn't move a muscle. After getting the router hooked up, we went straight to bed - I don't think we'll be doing much walking tomorrow.