Taipei 101 is the official name for the world’s tallest building, piercing the sky in the Hsin Yi district in the southeast of the city, often with clouds just dusting the upper sections with a light, awe inspiring touch. This amazing monolith just seems to go up forever when you’re beneath it, each 10 floors flaring out from the ground only to angle in and start again on a relentless quest for vertical limits. To build it in the first place seems ludicrous in such an earthquake prone region, but it is constructed on giant rollers which will actually move with the shake, which sounds fine as long as I’m not up there at the time it happens!
Cass and I have watched the tower’s steady upward movement over the past 2 and a half years, wondering if it would ever stop reaching further skyward, until a 30-metre spike was fastened on top just a few weeks ago. It is taller than the Petronas towers and the Sears tower, but a building in Shanghai is being built now, which will eventually overtake it. It is certainly an engineering marvel, yet if you see it from afar, it occasionally doesn’t seem possible that it is this tall, owing to a lack of perspective around it. The Hsin Yi district is littered with modern glass and steel blocks of architectural curiosity, like an old tablecloth suddenly and incongruously set with the finest china and silverware, placed with meticulous care, not an item out of place. This part of town contrasts markedly with the back streets just a few blocks away, where traders hawk their wares on street corners, setting up impermanent shops for a few hours before moving on to escape the attentions of the police. From one such furtive man, I bought a perfectly serviceable backpack on Sunday, proffering $NT100 ($4 Aust) to complete the transaction, while brand name packs in shops opposite were fetching more than 10 times that.
It is this contrast, which continues to fascinate us about Taipei. We have eaten in one of the world’s finest restaurants just metres from a sleazy red light district, been filled with wonder at the world’s tallest building as a man almost comically attired in rags, pushing a pram of his worldly possessions, rifles through a rubbish bin outside, while beautifully dressed women dressed in the latest haut couture window shop for Tiffany’s diamonds and Chanel suits in nearby malls.
We are readying ourselves to fly to Hong Kong and London before arriving in Prague mid morning on Friday. Our accommodation is a totally refurbished boutique apartment capsuled within a 13th century façade, just 15 metres from Charles Bridge. It is a pedestrian only area, so we’ll have to wait and see how we can get our bags in! An ex-colleague in Prague reports snow and sub zero temperatures, although I saw no evidence of this on a web cam in Old Town square last night. We will play it by ear as to Christmas dinner, but I’m sure we’ll find something. After a week we will fly to Paris for the New Year staying at a small hotel in the cite Bergere in the 9th arrondissement. I can’t wait to visit my favorite gallery, The Marmottan, the home of more than 30 Monets, just perched as stunningly as you like on the walls of a non descript house in the suburbs, which has been converted to a gallery. Cass has lined up just a few things she “must see” after missing them in her last two visits, like the Pompidou Centre and a more in depth penetration of the Left Bank. No doubt we’ll also partake of some wine and food somewhere along the way as well!
Basically, though, we’ll be guided by our noses as usual, a method that hasn’t failed us in the past, the secret I think being to have enough time in each place so as not to be rushed and having a chance to re-visit things which are particularly promising on first viewing.
We’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Christmas and New Year and we hope to hear from you on our return.
Wednesday, December 17, 2003
Sunday, December 07, 2003
As Newcastle Grammar had their speech day indicating the end of the school year and we received a couple of emails from colleagues there wishing us a happy Christmas, we had a few pangs of envy. Cass was winding up some units of work for the half year here and I was getting ready to present a workshop on vocabulary for over 200 parents the next day. This time of year is always hard on us here, especially knowing we won't be back home till June, although it's easy to get a "grass is greener" mentality without doing all the work that no doubt has been done over there in the last few weeks.
The workshop was a success from all reports and then I just had to wrap my head around doing some ordering of books and materials for the ESL department for next year as well as write an extensive report on some long-term ESL kids for the school board. Mid year testing went along with this and grading them plus reports are next, all due on Wednesday. They're all paperless now and the whole school has gone electronic. Our on-line classroom software has been trialled and is now ready for the next emergency.
Cass got all dolled up to attend a candlelight dinner at school for the middle school while I went to the lower school principal's house for Christmas drinks on Friday night. It was a fun night and plenty of beer, wine and food ensured a convivial atmosphere even though the trials of the last few weeks certainly ensured some overindulgence. Plenty of reputations were confirmed or sullied, depending on how much alcohol was drunk.
The action continued down at the Green Bar and then to Club 75 where live salsa music provided the catalyst for some ill advised dancing by many attendees, myself included, which proved to be quite hilarious. I think we did better than the majority of the locals however, where the term "dancing on the inside" takes on a whole new meaning. Girls dressed in the current Taipei uniform of checked mini skirts with long boots swayed to the music without actually moving their feet at all, which has to be seen to be believed, seemingly defying all laws of physics. At least they attempt a dance, with guys obviously deciding it is totally uncool even to try, although I might have misread this completely: they might just be shy, and come to think of it, the strange gyrations of a group of inebriated foreigners probably didn't inspire them to jump up and join us!
We scootered down to the Living Mall on Saturday and saw the bleak and brilliant Eastwood directed film, "Mystic River". If Sean Penn doesn't win an Oscar for his performance I'll be very surprised. His heart wrenching grief at the death of his daughter was palpable and the supporting cast was nearly as good. The ending disappointed us a touch, but I'll leave that for now, in case you want to go and see it.
The traffic scene on the way back was one of the most chaotic we've experienced, possibly because of the slightly later hour, or my poor choice of roads. Vehicles stopped without warning in front of us, turned without indicating, swerved into us, beeped, snorted fumes, opened doors, pulled out with no warning, bunny hopped, slowed and generally provided every conceivable possibility for a serious accident. But Taipei being Taipei, no one got upset, everyone let the rude in or patiently waited while they double-parked in a traffic lane until they could get past. Anyone who has been in a car with me driving would not recognize me now. I take all this mayhem in my stride, just zooming around, waiting and joining every other scooter in illegally weaving in and out of buses, cars, trucks, taxis as they play their bizarre game of traffic brinkmanship.
Today, we had a late breakfast and read some Newcastle Herald clippings that Mum regularly sends us (thanks as always Mum!). I have to admit that I went into school for a few hours to do some marking, an action that is anathema to my personal philosophy, but I won't be making a habit of it!
Cass did the shopping.....a story in itself, perhaps for another time, but it does involve walking, lugging recyclable bags of groceries through parks full of twirling ballroom dancers!
We fly out on the 18th of December for Hong Kong, London and Prague to spend a week before catching the city hopper to Paris for another 8 days. Even though we pine for home sometimes, at least we're halfway across the world already, making the rest of it just that little more accessible.
The workshop was a success from all reports and then I just had to wrap my head around doing some ordering of books and materials for the ESL department for next year as well as write an extensive report on some long-term ESL kids for the school board. Mid year testing went along with this and grading them plus reports are next, all due on Wednesday. They're all paperless now and the whole school has gone electronic. Our on-line classroom software has been trialled and is now ready for the next emergency.
Cass got all dolled up to attend a candlelight dinner at school for the middle school while I went to the lower school principal's house for Christmas drinks on Friday night. It was a fun night and plenty of beer, wine and food ensured a convivial atmosphere even though the trials of the last few weeks certainly ensured some overindulgence. Plenty of reputations were confirmed or sullied, depending on how much alcohol was drunk.
The action continued down at the Green Bar and then to Club 75 where live salsa music provided the catalyst for some ill advised dancing by many attendees, myself included, which proved to be quite hilarious. I think we did better than the majority of the locals however, where the term "dancing on the inside" takes on a whole new meaning. Girls dressed in the current Taipei uniform of checked mini skirts with long boots swayed to the music without actually moving their feet at all, which has to be seen to be believed, seemingly defying all laws of physics. At least they attempt a dance, with guys obviously deciding it is totally uncool even to try, although I might have misread this completely: they might just be shy, and come to think of it, the strange gyrations of a group of inebriated foreigners probably didn't inspire them to jump up and join us!
We scootered down to the Living Mall on Saturday and saw the bleak and brilliant Eastwood directed film, "Mystic River". If Sean Penn doesn't win an Oscar for his performance I'll be very surprised. His heart wrenching grief at the death of his daughter was palpable and the supporting cast was nearly as good. The ending disappointed us a touch, but I'll leave that for now, in case you want to go and see it.
The traffic scene on the way back was one of the most chaotic we've experienced, possibly because of the slightly later hour, or my poor choice of roads. Vehicles stopped without warning in front of us, turned without indicating, swerved into us, beeped, snorted fumes, opened doors, pulled out with no warning, bunny hopped, slowed and generally provided every conceivable possibility for a serious accident. But Taipei being Taipei, no one got upset, everyone let the rude in or patiently waited while they double-parked in a traffic lane until they could get past. Anyone who has been in a car with me driving would not recognize me now. I take all this mayhem in my stride, just zooming around, waiting and joining every other scooter in illegally weaving in and out of buses, cars, trucks, taxis as they play their bizarre game of traffic brinkmanship.
Today, we had a late breakfast and read some Newcastle Herald clippings that Mum regularly sends us (thanks as always Mum!). I have to admit that I went into school for a few hours to do some marking, an action that is anathema to my personal philosophy, but I won't be making a habit of it!
Cass did the shopping.....a story in itself, perhaps for another time, but it does involve walking, lugging recyclable bags of groceries through parks full of twirling ballroom dancers!
We fly out on the 18th of December for Hong Kong, London and Prague to spend a week before catching the city hopper to Paris for another 8 days. Even though we pine for home sometimes, at least we're halfway across the world already, making the rest of it just that little more accessible.
Monday, December 01, 2003
Thanksgiving feasts are something we hadn't experienced before moving to Taipei, but in what is suspiciously approaching a tradition we celebrated our 3RD with Chad and Cathy last Thursday! It doesn't seem like it could be possible sometimes, yet at others the days and weeks seem endless. How incredibly lucky we have been to have such great friends, who really enjoy having us to share this special family holiday with them. Of course, this one was just that little bit different, with Chad, Cathy and new addition Levi in their new apartment and a few extra people to join the festivities this year. We had North Americans of course, some Aussies, New Zealanders, a Pom and a Scotty as well as an Indian and Taiwanese and Chinese.
Our generous hosts went all out to provide a great atmosphere, from the table decorations to the food. The turkey itself had been baked and smoked and was of gargantuan proportions. It was mouth wateringly succulent accompanied by all the trimmings of stuffing, gravy and veges with hot buttered rolls. A guiltily rich pudding with sauce was for sweets baked by our Scotty colleague with the simple adage of "too much butter and sugar are never enough". Great fun was had by all especially when the aptly named "cranium" game was produced for a bit of team play. Have you ever seen a room full of teachers trying to outsmart, out wit and out dramatise their opponents? It wasn't pretty but everyone ended up still being civil to one another so it wasn't too bad!
Raj produced some of his Mum's Middle Eastern delicacies later on; aromatic breads, which seemed impossibly thin with a rich spicy sauce for dipping. Raj is an enigmatic young man, a little mysterious but delightful in manner. He runs a family company, which imports and exports all manner of goods, but it's hard to say exactly what. Recently he has been having all sorts of trouble in airports, due he thinks to his Indian/Middle Eastern appearance; being 'randomly' selected for searches with annoying regularity.
Fired up with more than a few "sherbets" we made our thankyous and farewells about 10.30 (from 2 in the afternoon!) and I enticed Cass up to the karaoke bar where we sang our hearts out for hours! It's the first time we'd been there for ages, so we enjoyed it immensely. Of course I cranked out a few Kiss classics, limiting my choice to my vocal range, which is horrendously restrictive. I did, however, attempt the Sex Pistols "God Save The Queen", an interesting choice with such a melodic and insipid music track as offered on karaoke! I discovered that shouting at full volume drowned out the music and I did just that, only to have the owner of the bar jump up and start dancing to the song as if I was singing "Yesterday"! Ah well, another Taiwan quirk. Cass outshone me of course, singing some beautiful songs and ensuring we would be welcome next time!
Cass and I were keen to see either "Mystic River" (starting next week) or "Master and Commander" (session times didn't match ours) on Friday, but we opted for the 3rd installment of "The Matrix". Just a touch esoteric for our mood at the time although the 2nd half did liven up a lot. We caught the bus back to Sogo and then decided to walk for a few more blocks before we linked up with the MRT. We both commented how well we know this city now, at least on the main drags, and so much better than say Sydney, or even, dare I say it, some areas of Newcastle and surrounds. It's so reassuring to know that this or that shop, restaurant or park is just a few MRT stops or a ride on the scooter away and being able to hop from one spot to another with ease.
Ross and Ains had caught a flight to Kenting for the 2 days so on Saturday, Ross was all fired up to get to the beach. We gave Carl a ring and he was keen to go so we headed off to the newly christened "Rockets" (see previous Blog about the rocket ride point) To say the surf conditions were horrendous is a very large understatement of conditions. Carl watched the huge storm swell and competing rips and undertows and wisely decided to leave it to us. After a fair battering we gave up and headed home. Of course, all due to the stimulating and irreverent commentary we provided on the way back the day worked out just great. Some of our least favoured colleague's ears would have burnt right off as Ross nearly lost control of the car, he was laughing so hard!
Never content to cut our losses Ross and I weaved our way back over the mountain at midday on Sunday where we experienced similar conditions. The wonderful comic relief was provide by Clarky and Aaron turning up to try to paddle a double surf ski out the back of the swirling mess we were trying to surf. Clarky is now an Olympic coach for kayaks, his charge having won the world championships and heading to Athens next year. Aaron is the TAS Aquatics director and swim coach. Anyway, we thought they were insane, but they nearly made it out the back in these mountainous waves before being ignominiously smashed back to shore on both attempts. We tried hard not to laugh, but it was a sight to see as they floundered in the big swells, all arms, legs, paddles and boat.
We have less than 3 weeks left before we jet off to Prague and Paris, an exotic carrot to keep us salivating through tests, reports and other end-of-year "delights".
Our generous hosts went all out to provide a great atmosphere, from the table decorations to the food. The turkey itself had been baked and smoked and was of gargantuan proportions. It was mouth wateringly succulent accompanied by all the trimmings of stuffing, gravy and veges with hot buttered rolls. A guiltily rich pudding with sauce was for sweets baked by our Scotty colleague with the simple adage of "too much butter and sugar are never enough". Great fun was had by all especially when the aptly named "cranium" game was produced for a bit of team play. Have you ever seen a room full of teachers trying to outsmart, out wit and out dramatise their opponents? It wasn't pretty but everyone ended up still being civil to one another so it wasn't too bad!
Raj produced some of his Mum's Middle Eastern delicacies later on; aromatic breads, which seemed impossibly thin with a rich spicy sauce for dipping. Raj is an enigmatic young man, a little mysterious but delightful in manner. He runs a family company, which imports and exports all manner of goods, but it's hard to say exactly what. Recently he has been having all sorts of trouble in airports, due he thinks to his Indian/Middle Eastern appearance; being 'randomly' selected for searches with annoying regularity.
Fired up with more than a few "sherbets" we made our thankyous and farewells about 10.30 (from 2 in the afternoon!) and I enticed Cass up to the karaoke bar where we sang our hearts out for hours! It's the first time we'd been there for ages, so we enjoyed it immensely. Of course I cranked out a few Kiss classics, limiting my choice to my vocal range, which is horrendously restrictive. I did, however, attempt the Sex Pistols "God Save The Queen", an interesting choice with such a melodic and insipid music track as offered on karaoke! I discovered that shouting at full volume drowned out the music and I did just that, only to have the owner of the bar jump up and start dancing to the song as if I was singing "Yesterday"! Ah well, another Taiwan quirk. Cass outshone me of course, singing some beautiful songs and ensuring we would be welcome next time!
Cass and I were keen to see either "Mystic River" (starting next week) or "Master and Commander" (session times didn't match ours) on Friday, but we opted for the 3rd installment of "The Matrix". Just a touch esoteric for our mood at the time although the 2nd half did liven up a lot. We caught the bus back to Sogo and then decided to walk for a few more blocks before we linked up with the MRT. We both commented how well we know this city now, at least on the main drags, and so much better than say Sydney, or even, dare I say it, some areas of Newcastle and surrounds. It's so reassuring to know that this or that shop, restaurant or park is just a few MRT stops or a ride on the scooter away and being able to hop from one spot to another with ease.
Ross and Ains had caught a flight to Kenting for the 2 days so on Saturday, Ross was all fired up to get to the beach. We gave Carl a ring and he was keen to go so we headed off to the newly christened "Rockets" (see previous Blog about the rocket ride point) To say the surf conditions were horrendous is a very large understatement of conditions. Carl watched the huge storm swell and competing rips and undertows and wisely decided to leave it to us. After a fair battering we gave up and headed home. Of course, all due to the stimulating and irreverent commentary we provided on the way back the day worked out just great. Some of our least favoured colleague's ears would have burnt right off as Ross nearly lost control of the car, he was laughing so hard!
Never content to cut our losses Ross and I weaved our way back over the mountain at midday on Sunday where we experienced similar conditions. The wonderful comic relief was provide by Clarky and Aaron turning up to try to paddle a double surf ski out the back of the swirling mess we were trying to surf. Clarky is now an Olympic coach for kayaks, his charge having won the world championships and heading to Athens next year. Aaron is the TAS Aquatics director and swim coach. Anyway, we thought they were insane, but they nearly made it out the back in these mountainous waves before being ignominiously smashed back to shore on both attempts. We tried hard not to laugh, but it was a sight to see as they floundered in the big swells, all arms, legs, paddles and boat.
We have less than 3 weeks left before we jet off to Prague and Paris, an exotic carrot to keep us salivating through tests, reports and other end-of-year "delights".
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