The list that follows is based strictly on my experiences in Taiwan, and while the list might seem facetious, it really isn’t. Taiwan is a bit like a crazy old uncle. He just doesn’t seem right in the head, but at the same time he’s a cool old dude.
Taiwan
Taiwan 2010 – Torn Between a Steak and a Vomitorium
“At no point in this story is actual vomit involved.” Honestly, I am seriously torn about how to “pitch” this particular blog post. It all relates to a single story and it has two different facets, it has the comedy vomit angle and it has the high praise for excellent food angle. You’d think they’d … Read more
Taiwan 2010 – Not My Most Successful Scheme By a Long Shot
LA sucks. Jet lag sucks. Put together they are a massive, steaming pile of suckage. Make a plan that glosses over those two points and you have a recipe for failure. The ways in which LA sucks are many and varied, so let me come to them as flows within the narrative. For starters, LAX, … Read more
Taiwan 2010 – There are Stories Left to Tell
There are stories left to tell, like about the vomitorium in the classy restaurant inside the five-star hotel, but they shall have to wait until my return, for in about 30 minutes I’ll be heading out towards the airport to catch in flight 3 hours from then. The family will be staying behind for another … Read more
Taiwan 2010 – Wearing Glasses Sucks
About 3 bus stops away from the house is the Taipei Water Park (which, cleverly, appears to be connected to the water treatment plant.) We’ve been meaning to go there since we arrived, but a variety of things such as rain and trips out of town have stopped us. On weekdays, the place is virtually … Read more
Taiwan 2010 – Part VII – In Which I Do Totally Ordinary Stuff
It’s Father’s Day, and I’ve been given a rare opportunity to catch up on “stuff.” Irene has taken the kids to meet a friend and dubiously “…let them play in a playground, which [I’d] no doubt be bored doing.” Of course, that’s totally true, but at the same time, it’s rather an obvious excuse to … Read more
Taiwan 2010 – Part VI – Taichung Science Adventure
Oh, I may make fun of their mystical Chinese medicine, Feng Shui, superstitions, ghost concerns and a host of other completely illogical remnants to the dark ages of man’s reason, but that notwithstanding, the Taiwanese are at heart a science-loving, technology-obsessed people, which makes them infinitely superior to a vast swath of science-denialist Americans who … Read more
Taiwan 2010 – Part V – Jhihben, Chrben, Jhiben, Chiben, Jiben
At last I’ve finally caught up. All that cow excitement was beginning to make me fall behind, but I’ve got a couple more hours on the train from Taitung to Taipei and nothing to do except burn out my batteries. Michelle has exhausted all but the last of my iPhone’s battery playing Monopoly and now … Read more
Taiwan 2010 – Part IV – My Life After the Cows
I knew that after a visit to the Pastureland Resort Experience, life was going to be a pale imitation of its former self, but I was determined to soldier on. It seems that Guanshan Township is part of the great Taiwanese bicycle experience. Sometime after our last visit, a bicycling craze overtook the island, with … Read more
Taiwan 2010 – Part IIIb – Pastureland Resort Experience Area (Episode 3)
If I haven’t got you confused with my post numbering by now, I never will. Let’s see, I left off at the sugar refinery, on our way to the cows. Oh, OK, right… so, we left the sugar refinery and we went to the cow place, known formally (in English) as Rareseed Ranch, where they … Read more