Greetings all
have been in Asia over a week now and am feeling very good. No health issues to speak of and am sleeping well.
The flight to Taiwan was an eterinty, many lifetimes spent in the air, flying over the Berring Strait down over China and Japan to Taipei. Was received very warmly by Rebecca's family in Shin Zou. Once settled, we basically ate our way thru Taiwan. The main event of the day is eating. the rest of the daily activities such as sleeping, bathing, etc are just am means to kill time between meals. and the food has been amazing, family dinners, market stalls, elaborate teahouses.
Everything here is a done by family committee. When I wanted to exchange a pair of shoes one day, the mother grabbed a co worker in the family business and insisted on joining us to make sure it all went well. I was embarassed, as we in the US pride ourselves on being independent to a fault. Our lives there at home are very solitary by comparison.
We spent a couple of quiet days in the family house and then went on to Taipei by train with R's sister. We arrived in Taipei just in time for a record heat wave. Reports were saying over 40' celcius in the City Center, something like 105 f with nearly 100% humidity. Taipei is a decidedy modern opulent Asian city which boasts the current tallest building in the world (Dubai is preparing the nest dominant phallic obilisque currently). We spent an evening swimming thru alley after alley of designer shops, tea lounges and bars finally settling on a Japanese grill house for dinner. Many beers later we went in search pf accomodations. As it was late we ended up at a downtown "love motel" which can be rented by the hour. Used mainly for extra-marital activities, these clean modern rooms have certain staged look to them, sharply focused lighting, dramatic lines, etc. In the halls, there was the customary yelping coming from the other rooms. But actually a nice place for a night.
Next day ducked into the National museum to escape the heat and headed home after a great meal in the market stalls.
Last day in Taiwan was spent in the country side with R's mother and sister exploring old villages and tea houses. Very beautiful and soulful places. It was good to get out of the caos of the cities for a while. Last meal with the family was a very elaborate spread of home cooked gourmet food, many many dishes made in our honor. I presented a collection of my music cataloug to R's parents and as the music was playing and the toasting began the conversation became more spirited. R's father, a gentle slight man, is a Chi Gong master and he abruptly jumped up and challenged me to pushups! 60 years plus and he dropped and did 50! I struggled thru 30 or so and gave up. The master wins again...
As a general observation of my initial impression of Asia, I saw very few police and heard no sirens for several days and yet the streets are a wild confluence, a moving sea of moto scooters, buses, cars, carts and bikes all merging and moving together in an organized intuitive flow. Random merging, lane changes etc, whimsical driving technique is really a high art. I think the scooter is another representation of the ADD psyche that I saw on television here, a change of mind, changing lanes, wrong way on a one way road, whatever, it all works.
Actually, it is very safe here, the US is far more dangerous. Also as I travel more I see that the US is the anomoly. Most other places feel basically the same, a more primary human experience. This is what corporate branding is trying to dilute. This is even more apparant in Hanoi, where I am now. For a brand or product (pop star, celebrity, BMW whatever) to rise above the noise of daily life here, is impossible. Life here is much more immeadiate.
And that is why I travel.
In Vietnam now, have had many adventures already. This is a much wilder and unpredictable place. Will write more in a day or so before I begin my journey south to meet up with Rebecca in Saigon.
photos at
http://flickr.com/photos/jefstott/sets/
have been in Asia over a week now and am feeling very good. No health issues to speak of and am sleeping well.
The flight to Taiwan was an eterinty, many lifetimes spent in the air, flying over the Berring Strait down over China and Japan to Taipei. Was received very warmly by Rebecca's family in Shin Zou. Once settled, we basically ate our way thru Taiwan. The main event of the day is eating. the rest of the daily activities such as sleeping, bathing, etc are just am means to kill time between meals. and the food has been amazing, family dinners, market stalls, elaborate teahouses.
Everything here is a done by family committee. When I wanted to exchange a pair of shoes one day, the mother grabbed a co worker in the family business and insisted on joining us to make sure it all went well. I was embarassed, as we in the US pride ourselves on being independent to a fault. Our lives there at home are very solitary by comparison.
We spent a couple of quiet days in the family house and then went on to Taipei by train with R's sister. We arrived in Taipei just in time for a record heat wave. Reports were saying over 40' celcius in the City Center, something like 105 f with nearly 100% humidity. Taipei is a decidedy modern opulent Asian city which boasts the current tallest building in the world (Dubai is preparing the nest dominant phallic obilisque currently). We spent an evening swimming thru alley after alley of designer shops, tea lounges and bars finally settling on a Japanese grill house for dinner. Many beers later we went in search pf accomodations. As it was late we ended up at a downtown "love motel" which can be rented by the hour. Used mainly for extra-marital activities, these clean modern rooms have certain staged look to them, sharply focused lighting, dramatic lines, etc. In the halls, there was the customary yelping coming from the other rooms. But actually a nice place for a night.
Next day ducked into the National museum to escape the heat and headed home after a great meal in the market stalls.
Last day in Taiwan was spent in the country side with R's mother and sister exploring old villages and tea houses. Very beautiful and soulful places. It was good to get out of the caos of the cities for a while. Last meal with the family was a very elaborate spread of home cooked gourmet food, many many dishes made in our honor. I presented a collection of my music cataloug to R's parents and as the music was playing and the toasting began the conversation became more spirited. R's father, a gentle slight man, is a Chi Gong master and he abruptly jumped up and challenged me to pushups! 60 years plus and he dropped and did 50! I struggled thru 30 or so and gave up. The master wins again...
As a general observation of my initial impression of Asia, I saw very few police and heard no sirens for several days and yet the streets are a wild confluence, a moving sea of moto scooters, buses, cars, carts and bikes all merging and moving together in an organized intuitive flow. Random merging, lane changes etc, whimsical driving technique is really a high art. I think the scooter is another representation of the ADD psyche that I saw on television here, a change of mind, changing lanes, wrong way on a one way road, whatever, it all works.
Actually, it is very safe here, the US is far more dangerous. Also as I travel more I see that the US is the anomoly. Most other places feel basically the same, a more primary human experience. This is what corporate branding is trying to dilute. This is even more apparant in Hanoi, where I am now. For a brand or product (pop star, celebrity, BMW whatever) to rise above the noise of daily life here, is impossible. Life here is much more immeadiate.
And that is why I travel.
In Vietnam now, have had many adventures already. This is a much wilder and unpredictable place. Will write more in a day or so before I begin my journey south to meet up with Rebecca in Saigon.
photos at
http://flickr.com/photos/jefstott/sets/
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