Ilha Formosan Life 美麗島の生活

Big drinks!

2008-05-04T15:10:00.003+08:00

Drinks are big in Taiwan!

Ah Q Tea House

2008-04-21T07:31:00.007+08:00

This where my wife and I often go to breakfast on Sunday morning, because it's quiet, quaint and quid-wise. Breakfast costs just 99 NT dollars, which is about 1.5 GBP. This is also the place where my wife and I had one of our first meals after we arrived back in Taiwan.

The building is made of timber and was constructed during the period of Japanese occupation. But as with many old and interesting buildings in Taiwan it's destined to be destroyed, and fall victim to Taiwan's obsession with "modernity". You can see the decor has a lot of character and has a mini-rain forest in the centre; cool! You can see from the calender that Ah Q has been around since at least 1994; big shame to see it go!

Lin Family Home

2008-04-13T15:13:00.003+08:00

Today we went to visit a local historic site. For me it's a big shame that more of Taiwan isn't like this. You can see some of the general housing behind in one of the pictures. Still, at least some of the buildings are left behind to remind us of a more romantic period in Taiwan's history.

To the hills

2008-04-06T18:19:00.005+08:00

Today we went up into the mountains to breathe some fresh air and take some pictures. I took some with my shitty little pocket camera, but they can give you an idea. Actually the mountain areas stand in stark contrast to city-side Taichung which is crowded, messy and polluted. The mountains tend to be quiet, tidy and clean...nice!

Jalopy gets fixed

2008-04-05T21:13:00.003+08:00

Our car getting a blown tyre sorted...

We've been driving this old baby for a year now, and it's done us very well actually. Apart from the occasional problems and the smoke from the tail pipe, overall it's been a very good little car.

No place like home

2008-04-05T20:33:00.005+08:00

Just a few pictures of home to give you an idea of what our living room and balcony look like at least.

Another unpaid holiday

2008-04-05T07:34:00.004+08:00

I think that it's taken me a year to get used to the idea that when you're asked to take a day-off in Taiwan that means you ain't gonna get paid! Although that's not strictly true because I did get a few days thrown in as a token gesture over the Chinese New Year.

Yesterday was Tomb Sweeping Day, and we drove out to mum's grave to deliver some flowers and say "hi".

There is very long hill on the road out of Taichung and the car could barely make it as the engine is old and tired. But we hope to keep the car running until we leave Taiwan sometime in March next year. Well at least that's the plan.

Taiwan's multiculturalism

2007-09-09T12:40:00.000+08:00

Re-defining Taiwan and Taiwan's cultural and historical legacy has become a major endeavour in recent years. Taiwan's thinkers and politicians are busy trying to work out how best to unravel the reality from the propaganda a make a new sense of identity for the Taiwanese people.

Being from the UK I can identify strongly with this process and cultural shift. The UK and Taiwan are both islands and both have a long history of invasion and absorption of different cultures and peoples.

Rather than Taiwan seeing itself as a Chinese backwater, it is now seeing itself as a unique entity with a long and colourful history of cultural development leading to it becoming the first constitutional democracy in Asia, something that the Taiwanese now seem determined to maintain despite antagonisms from across the water.

Multiculturalism is at the heart of this new identity for Taiwan. Different from China's Han superiority "we won't hassle you, as long as you do as we say" approach to ethnic minority management within its own boundaries. Taiwan is learning to embrace all under one.

Out of hiding soon

2007-09-08T23:07:00.000+08:00

The time is coming soon to come out of hiding and spend some time outside. As reported back in May the Summer is too hot here to venture outside for too long, but now the weather is starting to cool down.

My wife is starting a photographic course at the end of this month, and we'll be going out most weekends on shoots, so hopefully we'll have some nice pics to share and something interesting to write about.

We are not the only ones that hide indoors during the Summer so don't think us too weird, most of the adults I teach English to also hide away during the hot season, only venturing out because of necessity.

During these last few months I have basically been working six days a week and in my spare time brushing up on my Chinese and other stuff. Nothing much exciting has been happening, just the usual routine.

Anyway October should see some fresh and more interesting posts on this Blog, be back soon!

It ain't half hot Mum!

2007-05-13T20:21:00.001+08:00

It's only early May and we here in Taiwan are already having temperatures up to 32 degrees Celsius, I'm really not looking forward to the Summer!

Today was the first Sunday that I've had off for sometime so we decided to go up into the mountains to look at some green stuff. Even with the mountain breeze to keep us cool, it's still bloody hot up there!

We've decided that the best antidote for the hot summer is to basically stay indoors, and go sightseeing during the cool Winter months. That seems to make a lot more sense.

Fortunately our flat is big and cool even on hot days, and we only require ceiling fans to keep us cool [so far], no need for air conditioning which I'm very pleased about.

We have been out buying plants again for our balcony as we've decided that we are going to bring a touch of the countryside to our own living environment, instead of going outside to be incinerated under the Summer sun!

As with the rest of the world Taiwan is getting hotter as each year goes around, next year we'll try to get back to Europe for a few weeks to escape the worst of the heat. But, maybe it'll be just as hot there, who knows?

Party in the graveyard!

2007-04-05T20:58:00.000+08:00

I haven't been writing blogs here for a while, not because nothing has happened, but because starting my new career has absorbed all of my creative energy so far! And, as I am working seven days a week, I have spent my spare time doing other stuff!!

But, today is Tomb Sweeping Day, and as anyone familiar with Chinese culture will know, that is the day once a year where everyone turns up to "party in the graveyard". Well not exactly party, but it's certainly a time for families to get together at the ancestors tomb side and clean the place up and pay some respects as well. There is also some food, drink and some joviality involved as well for some families.

So Tomb Sweeping Day means a day off for me [although unpaid], and a chance for a well earned rest! This morning we went to a family member's grave to pay our respects and place some flowers there, at lunchtime we ate some local delicacies from Clear Water Village and then I went home to sleeeeep! Aye, I needed some extra shut eye!

I am working mornings and evenings at the YMCA, which on some evenings means working until 10 pm and as I am a newbie at the job, I am clearly making it more effort than it need be, but it will get easier with experience I know. So the last few weeks have been pretty intense getting to grips with my new career, but I'm really enjoying it now. And, more importantly I have finally found a career where I can actually use the stuff that I learnt at university. Both, the Chinese Studies and E-business degrees are proving very useful indeed for English teaching in Taiwan, especially for teaching advanced adult learners. Taiwanese, in general, are pretty smart, and like to know as much as they can about the latest technology and the outside world. So E-business knowledge keeps me current and Chinese Studies helps with meanings and translations, pretty cool!

As you probably know I am also learning a new style of Taijiquan, and that is also keeping me occupied as well. As with all things new it takes time to familiarise oneself with the whole thing [or part of a thing in this case].

Anyway, everything is pretty cool here in Taiwan, but I am not looking forward to the summer when the place gets incinerated under the Summer sun, and on top of that Summer is also Typhoon season, and they can be pretty extreme here too!

So back to work tomorrow and off to Hong Kong at the weekend for a quick visit. Life here is keeping me busy and tired too! It's all go! Be back soon!

A new career in a new town

2007-02-28T08:25:00.000+08:00

On Monday I started my new career as an English teacher, finally I have found an organisation that is willing to take me under their wing and give me a chance to get started. Many thanks YMCA!

The job consists of teaching 50% kids and 50% adults. I started the kids classes this week, the adults will start next week. I was/am really nervous about teaching the kids, but actually it is working out much better than I thought. My confidence is growing already!

But two days into the classes the we have yet another holiday in Taiwan. It is 60 years since the Chinese took control of Taiwan, and systematically carried out a crackdown on an islanders' uprising against what they saw as an invasion. You can read more about it on BBC here.

As for the English teaching, I have to keep in mind that if I can succeed at it, then I can find work pretty much anywhere in the world. This is a very important motivation for my wife and I, as it is likely that we will not settle permanently back in the UK again.

Chinese New Year!

2007-02-20T22:17:00.000+08:00

Chinese New Year is upon us in Taiwan and the night markets are already bustling and packed with throngs of people, noise, flashing neon and of course food stalls. Taiwan has so much good food to eat!

Actually there is so much to describe that I am not sure where to start, but the most interesting experience so far has been a return visit to the temple in Da Jia.

Visiting the temple to burn incense and to pray for good fortune in the coming year is a fundamental part of the Chinese New Year celebrations and festivities.

The temple in Da Jia is one of the most famous in Taiwan and today it was even more packed than usual and at times it was almost impossible to breath through the clouds of incense smoke.

I knelt down at the alter to Guan Yin next to my wife and let her do the praying this time, as I am sure I made a hash of it last time. As we stepped outside we were confronted with the traditional Lion Dance, the lion being lurid pink, I don't think that is a traditional colour.

We walked around the the local streets absorbing the sights and smells of local snacks being cooked at the side of the road. My wife bought a local delicacy that had enough garlic in it to scare off even the most determined vampire, but she loves to eat it that stuff, so what can I say!

Lots of choice words!

2007-02-18T00:22:00.000+08:00

As I have been recently unemployed and consequently much spare time on my hands, I've tried to use my time constructively. Thus I present a new dictionary of essential Taiwanese for foreigners, in no particular order and to be updated as new entries are acquired. Transliterations are only approximations and should not be taken as an accurate tool for pronunciation, please seek a native speaker for added authenticity.

1. Hwanna = uncultured foreign ba*t*rd
2. Kwasasha = what the h*ll are you looking at?
3. Chongsasha = what the h*ll are up to?
4. Adogha = foreigner
5. Kartchun = one's anus
6. Kowyow = what the h*ll are you whining about?
7. Ohbahsan = stuffy old woman
8. Ohjeesan = boring old man
9. Ahdohbai = motor scooter
10. Gan ni nyangh = f**k your mother
11. Soolah = d**khead
12. Yookee lahmay = hot-chick or jail-bait (depending on the age)
13. Goyginnah = monkey boy or odd looking juvenile
14. Tsan gyowah = farmers who made a stash selling their land
15. Gyewkee = something that has shrunk or otherwise distorted
16. Joo Joo = cute sound used as a euphemism for a man's ****

Flickr-Ralph in Asia

2007-02-14T19:14:00.000+08:00

I have created a Flickr profile for all to view here

More photos to come later, I'll try to make it as interesting as possible...

A visit to Clear Water Village

2007-02-06T09:17:00.000+08:00

When I visited my wife here in Taichung three years ago she took me to her hometown, at least the place she spent her early years. At that time I wasn't really familiar with the environment and geography of the area, so I only remembered the town centre (although vaguely) and the art museum, although I hadn't realised that was actually in her hometown. All lost in the mists of time, I'm afraid, or maybe just another sign of old age!

During her time in the UK, she has described many of her early memories to me and one in particular related to her grandfather's house. You know the Taiwanese have a problem, and that is they spent the last half of the 20th century in catch-up mode and lost sight of how to appreciate some of the more natural things in life, and so consequently urban Taiwan is generally a sprawl of randomly designed, randomly planned high rise and low rise, with the odd park thrown in as a gesture towards a real desire to appreciate things more natural. Even then the park must be manicured to perfection, forgetting that in general little bugs and birds don't like things so perfect.

Anyway, after living in the UK for three years, my wife has learnt to appreciate the peace and tranquility of more natural parks and gardens, and now often reminisces about her grandfather's big walled back garden that she loved to play in as a kid, with its tall bamboo, guava and mango trees, water pump and flowers and butterflies everywhere. Sounds idyllic, right? Sounds like something to preserve and enjoy, right? Wrong! Although my wife enjoyed the garden she was also deeply embarrassed by it, because it was not "smart and modern" like the city.

So, my wife decided, with her new vigour for appreciating things natural, to visit the place where her grandfather lived to see if the garden had survived the ravages of Taiwanese mindless urban development. We walked from the town square, with its large traditional temple, out towards the railway line (as she can remember the sounds of the trains going by whilst playing in the garden). We walked through small lanes lined with now largely decrepit traditional bungalow style houses and the odd secret temple, down the hill towards the main road. She remembered the old factory building, which we found. She said that she can remember looking up at the factory through the trees in the garden, so suddenly we knew we were in the right place.

But, she said that she couldn't exactly recognise anything. We found an old house on the edge of what is a new road heading back up the hill towards the town centre, a kind of tumble down wooden build with a remnant of garden left to go wild. Was that her old grandfather's house? She thought that maybe it was, but not convinced about it. We wandered around for a while looking at the row of ugly concrete buildings that lined the road and searching around for clues. We found ourselves down a small alley, where we came across a very old guy standing out in his small garden. My wife, reluctantly at first, asked him in her now dodgy Taiwanese, if he knew of her old grandfather's house. The old guy was kind and friendly and proceeded to try and help us find it. We walked together back through the network of small lanes and alleyways to the place opposite the factory, where now stood the blocks of concrete with windows. He was sure that was the spot where the romantic garden was, but now all was gone! We thanked him for helping us, and felt saddened that the garden was no longer there, but at least some her relatives have some old photos that we can take a look at.

The old factory opposite has been out of action for more than 30 years, but is still standing today , empty and unused, which to me is kind of symbolic of the randomness of the "town planning" in Taiwan! The Taiwanese developers are more than happy to build a road and concrete blocks over what we would perceive as a lovely garden, and yet leave an old factory standing and rotting for so long, just a few metres away! There are many, many similar examples of this type of development all over Taichung and it makes me wonder how many decades it will take to tidy the place up again and go some way to revert it back to the beautiful place it must have once been.

Cute little fella!

2007-02-05T14:07:00.000+08:00

This morning when I went to the kitchen to make some breakfast, I moved a plate standing on the drainer and low and behold their was a cute little fella sitting on the back of a plate, much like the one in the photo. In Taiwan these little House Geckos are known as Bihu 壁虎 or Wall Tiger, presumably because they like to hunt down bugs that live in the house.

But, I decided to move it quickly before my wife got up, because I know that she would start panicking and making a fuss about it. So I picked up the plate and carried it out to the balcony, me staring at it and it staring back at me as if to say, shit am I gonna get eaten here or something.

I placed it outside on the wall and it sat there for a while trying to blend in with the tiled surface as best it could.

When I lived in Xiamen China, the people there simply let them live in the house, because they know that the Wall Tigers will hunt down all the undesirable bugs and eat them for lunch. If I had the choice I would do the same, but you know who's boss in this house don't you?

Anyway, if another appears I will quietly place it outside out of harms way, ha!

Tiger Roaring Central Village

2007-02-03T09:01:00.000+08:00

That is the literal translation of the name of the new community that we have joined. We moved house this week and have rented a rather nice apartment, although in a slightly dodgy area ("dodgy" in Taiwan means that it is a fairly run of the mill area, but a bit quiet and without streets lined with bars and restaurants).

Tiger Roaring Central Village is a fine example of Taiwan's "affordable housing", which means that the local government has built a few big blocks or small housing estates across the city, that are made available cheaply by means of a lottery or application. Actually, they are nothing like the so called affordable housing that we have in the UK, where you can buy a percentage of a "rabbit hutch" and end up paying your mini-mortgage, rent and service charges together (which are not really affordable at all and works out just as expensive as buying your own place if only you could raise the mortgage). The affordable housing apartments that I have seen here are "BIG", big rooms, big balconies, big buildings and big gardens, and cheap to buy or rent!

But, big also means cold, and Taiwan's winters are cold, much colder than I imagined! The cold air must be blown down from the mountains or something, because the air is damp and gets right into your bones. Apartments do not have central heating either, which is a bit of a bind. So we have two choices I suppose, buy a heater or keep moving around to keep warm.

At least with this place we have all the furniture and household stuff included in the rental cost, which is a big help.

We are looking forward to warmer days, hope they come soon!

Photos coming soon, once we get our new PC.

A mosquito's weakness

2007-01-25T19:59:00.000+08:00

We are going to move this weekend from our very humble studio flat into a much smarter 3 bed affair on the other side of town. Probably one of the most irritating things about living in the studio, is our little buzzing friends that arrive most evenings to terrorise us. Mosquitoes have a canny ability to just appear in our room (we have stuffed obvious cracks with little plastic bags) soon after it gets dark outside, but the most important thing is, they are smart. Yes, a mosquito can hide itself, waiting and waiting until the lights go out and just as you are about to nod off, the buzzing noise starts around your ear, as it senses for a place to land and get sucking.

There are two responses at this point, either hide under the cover and try to ignore them and go to sleep, or jump up, turn the light on and see if you can spot the little bastard.

It is not easy, I assure you, to see them when you are half a sleep and under the grey white light of a fluorescent bulb!

But, mosquitoes have a weakness, that is having out smarted you and managed to suck your blood, they get lazy. Surfeit on blood they seem to lose their previously mentioned ability to hide and just sit on the wall, apparently intoxicated, and an easy target for a quick whack with a heavy magazine. Blood spatters on our nice clean white walls, lay testament to the fact that mother nature has given the humble mosquito a design flaw.

Anyway, we have found a nice clean place to live now, and we are looking forward to leaving this room with its squashed mosquito carcasses decorating the walls. Life will hopefully take on a semblance of normality once we move, but I think we still have a way to go yet before it feels completely comfortable for us.

It has been a strange week...

2007-01-16T08:39:00.000+08:00

Last weekend we went to visit a very famous temple near my wife's hometown with the intention of asking the "Gods" for a little assistance with finding work, which we did. Of course that was all a little new to me. I followed my wife around the crowded temple trying to breath through joss-stick smoke, praying to the various "Gods" for a little help.

Low and behold on Monday the "Gods" appeared to have been listening and I suddenly seemed to have some success with my job hunt. I struck up a great rapport with a manager from a rather well presented adult language centre in the better part of town, who insisted that I was perfect material for his school and that he could mould me into a perfect teacher to match his vision for the school. I should have known he was a "fruit cake" from that moment, but when you're feeling desperate your vision can be a little clouded.

On Wednesday I returned to school having prepared a couple of short teaching demos (bear in mind that I have not a jot of English teaching experience), but nevertheless he seemed suitably impressed and wanted to "train" me to be a teacher. He said that he thought that I was very creative and had a lot of potential, weird right?

On Thursday evening I returned to the school to take part in the "training", which was meant to consist of sitting in on a couple of lessons and then working with my new mentor on how to conduct a class. It is true that I did sit in on a couple of classes, but the mentoring was a little short of the mark in terms of being of any use whatsoever. It was training of the "erh, just do it like this and like that" school of thought, but anyway I was still feeling good about the whole thing. I was invited back for the next day to take part in a class with my mentor and then to put together another demo and have a go again.

So, I arrived there again on Friday with my wife who was there to offer support, as she has a lot of teaching experience.

Suddenly, the whole feeling about the situation had changed (I don't think that it was to do with my wife being there as they had met before), my mentor seemed tense and uneasy, but nevertheless invited me to prepare for another demo, although he "no longer had time" to let me help him with a class.

I prepared for the demo which took a little longer than it should have due to computer problems (I know that is not a good excuse). The demo was completed and certainly went a little better than the first two that I did, so I felt quite pleased about that.

There is one character, however, that I haven't mentioned in this little story yet, that is my mentor's manager, a local Taiwanese guy, who spoke pretty good English (all learnt from watching movies, he told me, yeah right!). I had a long chat with him outside after my Thursday evening "training" session, and I think that is when my fate was sealed. Although the guy was all smiles and chatty (imagine the Japanese soldier smiling as he slits your throat), I am now sure that I pissed him off somehow, and the word was passed to the mentor not to hire me.

Although I was allowed to go through the process on Friday, it was when I was told, just as I was leaving, that the mentor had gone home and that he would "call me later in the evening" that I knew things had gone horribly wrong somewhere. My wife had sensed it also. The call never came.

So here I am back at square one! I am not sure if I am going back to the temple again this weekend to pray for help as it didn't seem to work, or maybe the "Gods" are just pissed at me for not praying in the right way or something and wanted to teach me a lesson, who knows?

Anyway, I am going to try and chill out a little this weekend and make an attempt at feeling normal again, Taiwan style!

Gissa job mate!

2007-01-12T21:34:00.000+08:00

Looking for work in Taiwan is perhaps not as easy as I thought. Being a man of more mature years (apparently 45 is really old these days!) it is not easy to be taken seriously in terms of finding work. This seems to be especially the case in Taiwan where basically men over 40 cannot find a job to do, unless they are exceptionally talented, or want to work as a security guard etc. It seems that the expectation is that by middle age an individual will be compelled to start their own business in some way shape or form.

Actually that is one of our objectives, that is to develop a business idea that we can take back to the UK, but in the meantime we both need to work and I am now worried that it will take some time to find a stable job, hrm!

The two main career choices for English speakers in Taiwan appear to be either an English Teacher for some kind of educational establishment, or a Technical Writer for some kind of IT company. A good English teaching job seems to pay more, but I am applying for both to see what comes my way.

Another important thing that is working against me is that I am not American, and Taiwanese love Americans, especially when it comes to learning English. I mean, to me I don't think it is a good idea to focus on any particular accent when learning a foreign language. For me it is most important to speak clearly and make yourself understood, my first Chinese language teacher gave me this advise when I first started out learning Mandarin. Imagine if I had focused on a heavy Beijing accent (the considered standard for Mandarin speakers), I would now sound very strange here in Taichung where Mandarin is heavily influenced by the accent of the local Taiwanese dialect.

Personally I think the focus the Taiwanese have on American English comes from a desire to have some of the USA's success rub off on those that learn it, and a slightly desperate desire to be perceived as being an integral part of the international community. Hrm, I am not sure that I agree with that approach to language learning, but then I would say that wouldn't I?

Taichung scooter city

2007-01-03T09:39:00.000+08:00

Detroit is known as Motor City, Taichung could be known as Scooter City! If you are fan of scooters then this is the place for you! Taichung is the definitive scooter lovers paradise, complete with clouds of two stroke engine fumes and very few laws to control their usage.

True, I can understand why people like to ride scooters, because Taichung streets rarely have side walks and those that do exist have often been utilised as business space for road-side eateries, of which there is an unnecessary abundance I would suggest. Also, there is little place to park a car and a randomly designed and unlinked bus service with which to navigate around the city, makes life here without a scooter pretty inconvenient.

The modern scooter is a bug-eyed pest carrying all and sundry on their daily routines, from little old ladies to traffic wardens to entire families. The spread of this vermin across Taiwan has remained unchecked by the government and now there is pretty much a scooter for every person in Taiwan today, that is 23 million scooters, argh! Making the air in urban areas pretty much unbreathable without the aid of a mask, this is especially true at a main junction during rush hour-don't forget your respirator!

Take a look at this Flickr link and you'll see what I mean!

Earthquake experience

2006-12-27T09:25:00.000+08:00

Boxing day 2006 was my first real earthquake experience. It was yesterday evening and I was just chatting to family and friends on Meebo, when the studio room that are living in started swaying more than shaking from side to side. We have long floor to ceiling curtains that cover the doors to the balcony and those were swaying with the motion of the building.

When the first shock came we were not suitable dressed to exit the building, so we panicked and scrambled around for some clothes to wear. We then sort of half carried on watching TV and tried to continue chatting on the Internet, when the second shock came, which to me sounded like a truck going by. In fact I asked my wife if it was just just that, she looked at me and said that it seems to be; then the building started to sway again and we decided to exit the building.

Standing outside all appeared to be normal with people milling around and scooters whizzing by as normal. We stood around outside on the sidewalk for about ten minutes then decided that we should go back in. Actually the earthquake more than being scary just seems to make you feel a bit queasy and disorientated from the swaying building.

According to the TV news reports this morning the earthquake was way down in the south of the island in a place called Hengchun and we are living more or less in the centre in Taichung. Taichung was more or less at the epicentre of last big earthquake in Taiwan in 1999, when about 2000 people died.

They also reported that some buildings are down in the Hengchun area and showed some fire fighters trying to escape from a gas fire on the 1st floor balcony of a building. They also reported that there are two people dead and forty eight injured.

Check the BBC report for more information.

Arrived in Taipei

2006-12-10T08:29:00.000+08:00

Leaving China into Macau, Hong Kong or Taipei always feels to me that I have arrived back into civilisation, where people are relaxed and can smile easily when they greet you. China is a tough place and the majority of Chinese have a tough life that is for sure, but I am not sure that is an excuse for a bad attitude. There are many that suffer a hard life in this world, but can still manage a smile for a stranger.

In order to get to Taipei our journey had to pass through Macau, even just arriving at the airport in Macau it is possible to feel the stress lift. Suddenly one feels dirty and miserable after exiting China mainland and into one of China's satellite alternative environments. Greeted by smiling faces and a friendly service our spirits started to normalise.

My wife accidentally left her bag at the security check point at Macau airport and received friendly and efficient service in order to retrieve it, I am not sure that we would have seen it again if the same situation happened in China, or she would have simply been treated with contempt as they reluctantly moved to help out.

Landing at Taipei airport was for me a kind of second homecoming, after all Taiwan is now my second country, ha! Smiles greeted us here too and I think that we both felt relieved to back on familiar territory.

We boarded the bus for Taichung and I sat there gazing out of the window watching the city turn to countryside as we headed home. We sped by green hills with small farming villages dotted around and not a smoke stack in sight. Also, being a blue sky day, suddenly Taiwan felt very comfortable indeed!

The highlight of Suzhou

2006-12-08T10:50:00.000+08:00

The highlight of of Suzhou for us was a visit to one of the famous traditional gardens. We only managed to get there because we had an extra day available after bungled escape plan. We had booked a flight out of Suzhou to Taipei via Macau and at the time of payment to boss of the small flight centre in the hotel agreed to deposit our "e-tickets" at the front desk, but when we arrived back later to collect the tickets, they were not there. So what to do? The flight was from Wuxi airport at 8:45 a.m. and the fight centre did not open again 'til 8:00 a.m. and the airport was a one hour drive from Suzhou city! Because we thought that we were to be issued e-tickets we decided to take a chance and make it to the airport, but you guessed it, when we got there there they wouldn't let us board, shit! And we have no money to get back to the hotel, argh!

By this time my wife was up for a fight and called to boss of the flight centre demanding that they compensate for the mistake; after much negotiation they agreed to pay for a cab back and an extra night in the hotel. My wife is a master negotiator!

That is how we got our extra day to see the Suzhou garden, which was a very interesting experience and cannot begin to explain a traditional Chinese garden with my limited writing skills and the photos we have cannot be published to date, because of technological limitations. But, you can take a look at someone else's photos here, many thanks to that photographer for allowing us to appreciate the beauty of Suzhou's gardens.

As for Wuxi airport it sits on the outskirts of Wuxi city, which isn't really a city at all, but is new huge industrial area that sits in the middle of farming land, with pretty farming houses all around. No doubt a full blown city will appear out of the countryside over the next decade and the area will become unrecognisable from today's appearance.

Arrived in Suzhou

2006-12-07T13:56:00.000+08:00

We were off the bus with our two backpacks and two heavy suitcases and rushed through to the exit of the North Bus Station by the throng of people heading out, only to be met by beggars and taxi drivers all plying their trade amongst the maelstrom of people, noise and dust. We dragged our cases across the pot-holed street to the taxi rank. I asked a taxi driver if he could take us to the city centre, he glared and tutted and looked away as if disgusted at my impertinence. We discovered soon after that we had too many bags to go in regular taxi and we had to ride in kind of mini-bread van, but my wife manged to pursuade a larger taxi to take us.

During the joy ride through the manic streets with cars honking and breaking every rule in the good drivers conduct book, my wife asked the taxi driver to take us to the centre of the city where we could find a cheap hotel, he dropped us off in a dodgy part of the city at door of an expensive hotel. We registered and went to the room for a deserved sit down, we looked at each as if to say-where the hell do we go from here?

And then the smog came down

2006-12-06T11:02:00.000+08:00

The last evening in Hangzhou was not so pleasant. We had discussed everyday as to why the sky was so grey over the city, yes it was misty, but the clouds looked darker than any grey days that I had seen in London. Then around five in the afternoon, just as it was getting dark it was as if the whole sky turned black and the fog came down and we completely surrounded by smog, I could barely breath! I have seen and heard reports about China's air pollution problems from using coal to fuel their power stations, but you have to experience it at first hand to really understand how bad it is. It is said that Hangzhou is one of China's more advanced and cleaner cities, well I would hate to have to experience one of the bad cities like Wuhan or Chongqing!

That is when we decided to try to escape to Suzhou. In the morning we packed our bags and caught a taxi to the bus station and rode the bus 80 miles to Suzhou city.

The Tea House

2006-12-06T09:34:00.000+08:00

The second experience was much more pleasant, at the junction of Rising Phoenix Road and the North Section of National Reconstruction Road, stood a building that combined three businesses displayed in neon Chinese characters across the roof line.

One was the very smokey and unpleasant Internet gaming room (where hacking and spitting are considered normal), the other was some kind of casino which we didn't visit and finally there was the Tea House.

We entered the Tea House via the lift and were greeted by six young women dressed in pretty silk Qipao lined up on each side of the entrance way, who shouted excitedly in unison "Huan Ying Guan Lin" (which means something like "Welcome you to come in and take a look"). This actually made my wife laugh out loud, not because they said anything funny, but because, as she later told me, she couldn't believe that they employ six people just to greet people into the restaurant. We had noticed already that Chinese stores and restaurants seem to employ two or three times the amount of staff than you may see in London or Taichung. I guess this is a reflection on how cheap labour still is in China.

Anyway, we were shown to the table and we sat down in what was now proving to be quite a pleasant environment. The Tea House was decorated in a modern design, but still capturing the essence of a traditional Chinese garden tea house-that is with bridge like structures between sections, water, pebbles and bamboo used to compliment and enhance the atmosphere.

The most interesting feature for me was the small shrine, on the walkway to the buffet area, complete with three large statues of glistening painted porcelain gods looking more gruesome that endearing, fruit offerings, music and burning incense. All these features have been installed to create and authentic atmosphere, much like the the themed pubs we have in the UK, I guess.

As we sat down and made ourselves comfortable the tea heater was placed at the side of our table, and clear glass tea pot placed on top. We ordered a local tea grown in the hills around the lake, which was actually the most amazing tea that I've ever tasted. The tea actually changes flavour as you drink, it is difficult to describe, but when you first sip it has a slightly bitter woody taste and then moments later it turns to a sweet almost honey flavour in you mouth, quite extraordinary!!

The eats were also very enjoyable and matched the tea very well in flavour and style. I could spend much time describing each one, but for those that have eaten Dim Sum, you will understand a little, but I have to say it was much better than any Dim Sum I have tasted before.

We sat for an hour or so and indulged ourselves, we then paid the bill and ventured out again into the cold, misty darkness taking the most direct route back to the hotel.

These are the stark contrasts that make up life in modern China, in the same that you'll see glistening glass towers juxtaposed against old slum housing, or you will see the slick new Mercedes manoeuvre its way around the old guy pushing hard to make his creaking and rusting old bike move away from the lights; you can find the best and the worst eating experiences just a few doors from each other.

This is something that people living in China have to learn to live with and it doesn't look like it will get better anytime soon.

Chicken Head Curry!

2006-12-05T14:37:00.000+08:00

Yes, I received the hot food with eager delight. I began to eat, first the rice and then some curry sauce, not too bad I thought. I tried to find some meat to eat, and discovered a piece that was a strange shape and it didn't twig at first what it was. I suddenly realised that it was a whole chicken's head-winking at me! Suddenly my appetite was lost, and could no longer eat with such vigour, in fact all the chicken related items in the curry were all those pieces that are chopped off during the preparation process to get at the more wholesome parts-they had given me the head, feet and butt, fantastic!

"Chicken Head Curry" highly recommended! We can give you the address if required!

The best and worst in close proximity

2006-12-05T14:19:00.000+08:00

The two most memorable eating experiences happened at either end of the now much trod Rising Phoenix Road.

We had spent the day once again looking at places to live that were value for money when we decided that the time to eat had come. It was already dark and cold and my wife noticed a chain store eatery that was (at least on the face of it) imported from Taiwan that is normally considered a reliable eat.

From the time I lived in China one of my favourite dishes was Chicken Curry and Rice (I am British remember) and with pleasant memories flooding back I resolutely went ahead and ordered my "favourite" dish...

Meeting some new friends

2006-12-04T14:00:00.000+08:00

Today we spent most of the day looking at apartments and discovered that Hangzhou is quite expensive from this point of view. Of course nothing compared to my native London, but more expensive than my wife's Taichung. Actually renting in Hangzhou is almost twice as expensive as Taiwan's Taichung and English teaching salaries are almost a third of that in Taichung, so on discovering that, we started to get more and more nervous about the viability of staying in that city.

We met up with some local foreigners in an "Irish Pub" (They sell Guiness and play the Pogues very loudly) and sat in the smoke filled bar for a couple of hours shouting at each other over Shane's dulcet poptones, such pleasantries!

What we did discover however that work opportunities are quite limited in Hangzhou and that Shanghai was the best place to search for work, but with rents being twice the cost of Hangzhou the viability of us being able to set ourselves up quickly and easily on a limited budget was rapidly becoming a remote possibility.

Back to the drawing board perhaps?

Arrived in Hangzhou

2006-12-03T10:55:00.000+08:00

The main feature of Hangzhou is the famous West Lake and after arriving late on Friday evening (December 1st) we did not have a chance to take a look until Saturday. We woke early and after a food stop at a local breakfast store, walked the long distance down Rising Phoenix Road taking about 25 mins from the Holiday Inn finally arriving at the edge of the lake.

After chatting for a while with a local woman who was very keen to tell us where to buy a map and catch a bus to round the lake, we decided to just take a stroll around the edge and that is when we realised how big the lake is. That morning was quite misty and after our initial worries that the mist that hung over Hangzhou was actually mist and not smog as we had first suspected, my wife proceeded to take some pics of the fantastic vista. With water glistening star like into the distance and far off pagodas just visible through the mist on the surrounding hill tops we felt very satisfied that we had chosen this city as our destination.

We moved on and sat for a while along the edge of the lake in a small park, listening to birds sing in the trees and talked a little with my wife about her impression of West Lake. She told me that she had studied much about West Lake as a child, but had no impression as to why much poetry and prose had been written about it (she was taught that China was a dark and terrible place), suddenly all has fallen into place and she recalled some of those ancient stories. That was a very satisfying experience I think for the both of us.

Not knowing anything about the city or where to eat we decided to venture out from the hotel on our first evening in the city, it had grown dark and very cold. The street was wide, about 40 odd metres wide, in fact it turns out that this part of the city is criss-crossed with wide boulevards busy with cars and buses. Along each side of these city "highways" there are shared cycle lanes that are also used by riders of electric mopeds - yes, do you remember mopeds that can be pedalled when the going gets tough - that whizz silently by and weave in and out of all travelling slower. How green is that? actually road side air pollution is not too bad at all in Hangzhou!

We ventured into a local style eatery and ate handsomely for around 1 GBP for two, although not the cleanest eating experience it did not leave us feeling ill so we were happy with that. After that we went back to call a contact that we later met up with, she filled us in with some local information.

We made plans to meet up over the next few days to meet more "foreigners" living locally.