Colorful Taipe

 

 

16 June 2015

We've been enjoying our little corner of Taipei, somewhere on Min Sheng Road.  Which has a mural featuring these little vignettes of neighborhood life.  We're in a studio apartment we rented through airbnb.com - great way to live in a non-tourist area pretty much anywhere in the world!  We seem to be in a rather upscale neighborhood - not really posh or ritzy, but also not really poor either.  Maybe upper middle class.

Our apartment is a fourth-floor walk up, and is one good-sized room with a kitchenette in one corner, a comfy queen bed, a couch, and a bar or counter that separates that kitchenette.  There's a washing machine (yay!), and the window opens out to sort of a gated box with a drying rack for the wet clothes.  We have a small bathroom, the open plan - meaning the shower is not separated from the rest of the bathroom, it's just the showerhead on the wall.  We've encountered these elsewhere, and while it isn't what we grew up with, it's manageable.

There's a large park across the street, with lovely old trees, a few structures for protection from the sun or rain, a gazebo for events, and benches scattered around.  Richard said there's a class that meets each morning, quite early, all the people wearing the same uniform and waving red flags in unison.  No idea what that's about, they could be cheerleaders, military personnel, or crossing guards, we have no idea!

Various flowers or vegetables are planted around the trees that line the streets.  Really, one area has eggplants growing around the trees!  
But the pinwheel flowers with sunflower centers are truly the best street ornaments we've seen in a long time!

And of course a decorative manhole cover or two.  Fortunately, the traffic is relatively civilized compared to some of the countries we've encountered this year, and cars stayed stopped at the traffic lights so I could take a few photos from the center of the road.

We also found an area with periodic mosaics instead of concrete paving blocks on the sidewalk.  Turned out these were encircling a middle school, so I suspect this may have been an art project.  (Definitely something I would do, so I'm guessing my Taiwanese counterpart probably did this project with his or her classes.)

It's funny to be in a country where we don't know the language, and can't even read the signs.  We spent much of this year in parts of Asia where the alphabets are unrecognizable to most of us who use the Roman alphabet, and we became used to that.  We'd walk around clueless, and have to look in windows to figure out what a store or business might be about.  We'd learn a few basic words in that language - hello, please, thank you, good-bye, excuse me - and that would be about all we could say.  Maybe a few food items.  And that was it.

But then we were in New Caledonia, and I could chat with people in a language other than my main language.  I could read menus.  I could have short (and limited) conversations.  I could put together entire sentences, and ask questions.  I got so used to being able to communicate without playing charades or drawing pictures!

And now, we don't have that anymore.  It feels weird, and even more foreign, and almost desolate somehow.  Although we've met people who speak English, and are happy to help.  Actually, even people who speak very little English try to help.  Everyone has been very friendly, and they do their best.  We've had people apologize for their small amount of English.  Which is better than my tiny bit of Chinese - I can say "hello" (nee how) and "thank you" (she-she, but not a strong "ee" sound, a cross between "ee" and "eh").  So I have two words in Chinese (and we think this is Mandarin, but we're not positive).

Anyway, we're back to our usual bumbling around selves, trying to figure out what various food items might contain, or where various places are located.

We haven't found the tourist information center yet.  But one friendly lady at the gelato shop down the road suggested we head to the town of Hualien, on the east coast.  She said the town has more old, traditional buildings and arts, so people find it very interesting.  And it's supposed to be a very scenic train ride to get there.  

Since Taipei is very rainy this season, more than usual, we might just head to Hualien.  Not sure, we have this apartment booked until the weekend.

Until then, we'll keep exploring the city.  Between the thunderstorms.

 

 

On The Way to Taipei

14 June 2015

 We left New Caledonia on Saturday morning.  I really liked the Aircailin decorations on their planes.  Lovely red hibiscus on the tail and engines!  Even more outstanding on the planes with the back half in bright cobalt blue - that red and yellow hibiscus really pops!  

We flew to Sydney, Australia.  This is a three hour flight, not too long.  But it arrives in the mid afternoon, so it doesn't make for easy connections for outbound flights.  This meant another night in Australia.

So we spent the night at the Shakespeare Hotel in Surrey Hills, our favorite little hotel in Sydney.  The place is an old pub and hotel, built about 1890, and the hotel rooms have been re-decorated to reflect the decor of that period.  Last time we have the brass bed and coordinating chaise.  This time we had the room with a fireplace.  How can you not love a hotel room with a fireplace?  Yes, the bathrooms and shower are down the hall, and shared with the five other hotel rooms.  But I'd rather have charm and personality than worry about a private en suite bathroom.

The Shakespeare also has great pub food at the restaurant, and a small "lounge" with friendly pokies - what Australians call slot machines.  We had changed our Caledonian money for Australian money, and had a bit of Aussie cash left over from our trip to NC.  So we figured, with only one night, we'd play a bit on the pokies.  Well, I had one of those nights.  The machines were just very friendly to me.  Put it this way.  I left Australia with more cash than I had when I arrived!  Made me happy!  And of course I bought our dinner and then brekkie the next morning while we waited at the airport.  

The flight was Sydney to Hong Kong, change planes, then on to Taipei.  This is a loooong day of flying, some 13 or 14 hours in the air.  Plus some confusion with what gate for our flight out - apparently the airline has several flights each evening from Hong Kong to Taipei, one left just as the other started boarding, we did a little running back and forth due to getting wrong information from various gate agents.  Oh well, burned off the mediocre airplane food.

We finally made it to our little apartment by about 11 PM (booked through AirBnB.com - great way to get reasonably priced lodgings not at hotels!).  

There's a lovely little park across the street from the apartment, all green and grassy and shady, with a little gazebo in the center, and benches placed for relaxation.  There's also one of those reflexology paths, where the stones are placed on edge, sticking up, so people can walk along and stimulate the pressure points on the soles of their feet.  

These reflexology paths always really hurt my feet - I don't know if that means I need the points stimulated, or if I just have tender little feet.

But the sign showing the pressure points on the feet, and the corresponding body areas, was just gorgeous!  Incised black marble or granite, with the drawings and letters then painted gold - just a work of art!  One of the most beautiful of these signs that I've seen yet!

Our first day in most locations is usually spent recouping after the travel - maybe sleeping a little later, unpacking what's needed for this climate, and of course getting to know the new neighborhood.  We headed out about lunchtime, but couldn't really find a café or restaurant.  Our neighborhood is full of bakeries (uh oh!), and we finally found a Starbucks.  But couldn't seem to find a place with cooked food.  Well, the skies were looking ready to let loose with tropical rains, so lunch at Starbucks was the best option.  

Turned out to be okay food, but the thunder and lightening started while we were inside, so we waited out the downpour and left during a lull in the rain.  The staff told us to take umbrellas and just return them tomorrow - they had a stand full of umbrellas outside, so we helped ourselves!

Then off to Seven-Eleven.  I know, in many parts of the world the 7-11s are just junk food - slurpees and chips and such.  But we found in Asia, the 7-11s often carry chilled meals that just need to be microwaved, and are an easy way to get food when you can't find a restaurant.  In Japan I had sushi from the 7-11 - it was delivered daily!  So we had our choice of various chicken or pork or fish or egg items with either rice or noodles, and various sauces.  Also cut fruit, different green salads, fried rice, even vegetarian options.  All at 7-11!!!  And of course yogurt for breakfast (with cranberries!  When did you ever see cranberry yogurt???).  

I also found a bodhi tree, complete with a sign.  The bodhi tree is a kind of fig tree, the ficus religiosa.  Yes, this is a religious tree.  The bodhi tree is the kind of tree that Buddha sat under and meditated, and where he achieved enlightenment.  This occurred in the town of Bodhi, India.  The trees now represent Buddha, the path to enlightenment, and are often (or usually) planted around Buddhist temples and monasteries.  With heart-shaped leaves, so there must be some symbolism there some kind of way.  (Side note - the tree also has pharmacological properties - the bark is an antibacterial, the leaves supposedly have anti-venom properties, the list goes on and on.  An important tree!)

It was exciting to find the sign and finally see a real bodhi tree, especially after reading about them and seeing all the various Buddhist temples and pagodas in our travels!

Now that we're rested up, we'll start exploring Taipei and the rest of Tawain!

 

 

Not Quite Poum to Plum

10 June 2015


We tried heading south to visit the Blue Rivers National Park on Sunday, and again on Monday, but the rain got us.  Tropical downpours and strong wind aren’t the best time to go hiking.  So we gave up on the park, and explored our neighborhood around this new-to-us hotel.

I had an excellent gallette - the gallette is a buckwheat flour crepe from the Breton region of France.  There were a variety of savory versions, which are wonderful for brunch.  But one can create their own gallette, so I did.  Bottom layer of ham, with a pile of sautéed apples, melted chunks of camembert cheese, and sprinkled with walnuts.  Oh man that was absolutely wonderful!  Followed by a glass of kir for dessert.  Tres French, tres delicieux!!!  (The restaurant is La Gavotte, almost in Anse Vata, in the Noumea suburbs.)
Of course, the sailboarders and kite surfers were out in full force, and it’s always exciting to watch them.  Like swimming and diving, it doesn’t matter if it’s raining - you’re already wet, right?

We found out from a friend in Australia (a friend of a friend, who showed us around Brisbane a few days) that there’s a certain kind of tree here in New Caledonia, the araucaria.  These trees are considered to be living fossils, because the species dates back to the early Mesozoic age, some 250 or so million years ago - the time of the dinosaurs!  Fossilized remains show that these trees existed in the northern hemisphere, but they no longer are native species there.  Most of the araucarias in the world are found in Australia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, and certain areas of Chile, Argentina, and southern Brazil.  The greatest diversity of araucarias exist in New Caledonia, due to the isolation and geographic/geological stability. 
So the trees that look somewhat like Norfolk Island pines are really a kind of araucaria.  The trees tend to have a single tall trunk with branches that grow in an upwards curl, somewhat circling out from the trunk rather than truly branching out like most deciduous trees.  The leaves aren’t needles, such as on conifers, but are more like short flat leathery leaves that are smooth to the touch, and are tightly overlapped along a central branch.  And yes, some of these trees produce cones similar to pine cones, but not exactly.

Very interesting to find out about these trees!  (And, I found out, the study of ancient species of plant life is paleoecology.  Who knew?

So now I see araucarias everywhere!

Today we went to the monthly outdoor market and street fair, right across the street from our hotel.  All kinds of arts and crafts, some clothing, some local foods, and music.  Plus one of those mechanical bulls to ride, though we didn't see anyone on it.  We browsed, bought some food, and found a bench by the beach for our picnic lunch.  Then I found I had sat down on a bit of bird poop.  Yuck!  Fortunately our travel clothes are wash and wear, so my slacks are double washed (I was grossed out and had to wash them twice) and drying in the shower.  Yup, life of a rolling luggager.

We were hoping to get south to the town of Plum, just so we could say we'd seen New Caledonia from Poum in the north to Plum in the south.  But we've had too much rain these past several days to make a road trip at all appearing.  So, only Noumea to Poum and back.

I have to mention the music here in New Caledonia - it's quite a mix, with some traditional French music sung in French; some traditional Kanak music sung in one of the Kanak languages, and sounding vaguely Polynesian or Hawaiian; and more modern music which has a definite reggae beat and can be in either language, though more often French.  Really, the indigenous population has identified to a certain degree with Rastafarians of Jamaica, and we see some people with dreadlocks, or wearing clothes with Rasta designs or words.  Kind of funny to come halfway around the world and meet the culture of one of our neighboring Caribbean islands!  For us, the music is very familiar, even if we can't understand the words.

Somehow, we seem to make friends in our short few weeks in a location.  We've chatted a few times with the manager and chef at the little café next door to our hotel here in Noumea.  Well, it all started when Richard tried the fondant au chocolat, which is a mostly flourless chocolate cake, similar to what in the US is called chocolate decadence.  I asked the chef about it, he brought out his recipe book (in French), we discussed the cooking process (baked in a hot water bath, a bain marie), and I gave him the recipe for our chocolate decadence wedding cake.  We bonded over chocolate, obviously. 

Well tonight, our next-to-last night here in New Caledonia, we went there for a light dinner.  Many of the cafés here have a dessert item, the café gourmand - a cup of coffee with three mini desserts.  One of those desserts here is chocolate mousse (mousse au chocolat) - and I can't be in a French place without trying the mousse au chocolat at least once.  But we didn't want an entire café gourmand dessert.  So I asked, politely but perhaps not grammatically correctly in my French, if it was possible to have only the mousse au chocolat, thinking Richard and I would share one.  They comped us two servings!  Really, we were so surprised!  And of course thanked the waitress as well as our friend chef, Julien, over and over again!  (And yes, it was wonderful!  Not as dark and intense as the mousse au chocolat in Chiang Mai at that French restaurant, but really good!)

We have tomorrow to visit our favorite places one more time, and then we fly on Friday.

People ask us periodically what has been our favorite place to visit.  Difficult to answer, because every place is unique, interesting, exciting.  Every place has beautiful scenery in its own way, plus interesting people, tasty food items.  We haven't been anywhere that we hated.

But New Caledonia is special, and will always stand out as a favorite amongst all the other wonderful places.  Gorgeous scenery.  Friendly and helpful people.  Amazing views.  Wonderful food.  Not too hot.  And it's only chilly for us because we're spoiled by so many years in the Caribbean.

I could see coming back here during the spring, summer, or early fall so we could get in the diving we hoped to do.  

This really is a hidden treasure!

When Plans Come Undone

6 June 2015

One of the lessons people learn when travelling is that one needs to be flexible.  All the planning in the world can fall apart due to circumstances that truly are beyond anyone’s control.  Things happen, and plans end up changing.  Flexibility is key.
Our vague outline was to drive up the west coast of Grande Terre, cross over to the east coast while up north, and drive back down along the east coast.  Explore the deep south end, head west again, and end up in Noumea.

Sounds great, right?

Didn’t happen quite that way.

We were up in Poum, having a nice time.  Went back to Malabou Beach, enjoyed the afternoon with the hat, who had a great time exploring the little island, the faux tumbolo, and the beach.  Started looking for hotels along the east coast, but decided to not book anything ahead of time.  We figured we'd just drive for as long as we could, and find something.

So Friday morning, we checked out of the Malabou Beach Hotel, saying goodbye to our sweet little bungalow.  Chatted with the friendly staff at the desk as we dealt with the paperwork, which was a little confused because we used two different online sites, one to book our first night and then a different site to extend for a second night.  It took a little while for the staff to find our two different bookings and sort things out.  As we were chatting, they asked which direction we were heading, and I said we thought we’d head east and head toward the town of Hienghene.  (I know, took me a while to pronounce that one - hye-ENG-ghen.)

Our friendly reception person said, oh, maybe don’t go that way.  Yesterday, the hotel manager was trying to drive to Hienghene, and the people on strike had the road blocked off.  They wouldn’t let anyone pass.  The guy had to turn around, drive back, drive south, cross the island, and then drive north on the east coast.

Uh oh.  As former union employees, we don’t like to cross picket lines.  We also didn’t want to risk having to turn around and take another route when we didn’t know where we were heading to begin with.  And the east coast, which gets more rain than the west coast, had a 100% chance of heavy rain over the weekend.  With the ever-present risk of flooding (risque d’inundation) along the coastal plains, where the national highway is located.  One of those situations where it could go either way - and while it was a little frustrating, and potentially scary, it was also kind of funny.  (Have you ever been on strike and decided to block the main highway in your state?  No?  Neither have I.  Can’t you just picture doing this?)

Yeah, so, the plan changed.  Quickly.  Richard and I talked about maybe staying one more day, but we wanted to have time to explore the far south.  So we figured we’d head south on the west coast, and try to make it back to Turtle Bay, which is just past the halfway point.  Then we’d head to the south the following day.  Took about five minutes to make a new plan, such as it was.

Okay, no problem, we just went back along the same road.  Stopped for lunch at the same sandwich truck in the park at Koné, and our friendly sandwich dude recognized us, wanted to know all about our time up north.  Headed south and made our way to our hotel on Turtle Bay, where the staff and one of the guests also remembered us from earlier in the week, and they too wanted to know about our travels.

Side note - the road in to Turtle Bay, which runs behind the beach, was littered with beach debris - coconuts, driftwood, piles of shells, etc.  All that hadn’t been there when we left, about four or five days earlier.  I asked, and apparently they had large waves and heavy surf during high tide, so the waves came all the way over the beach and onto the road!  Wow, those were some huge waves!

We had a nice night in Turtle Bay, and tried to find a place online to stay in the far south.  School break has begun, so many places are booked up.  Plus the south is a little more off the usual tourist route, most people do day trips and don’t spend much time down there.  One town was super pricy, the other town has only camping.  And that was about it for accommodations. 

So, another plan change - book a place in Noumea again, and do day trips to the south.  We really want to visit the Blue River National Park, so that’s the general plan.

Our previous hotel was booked, so we’re now at a hotel we had seen down the road.  Nice, good location, but the wifi is only in public areas.  Okay, we can adjust.

This hotel also has a small casino, which we visited one afternoon.  (No major wins.)  But now, the workers are on strike, and sitting around the entrance of the casino, with signs and flags, and have totally closed down the place.  So the casino is a no-go for us while we’re here. 

Regarding the strikes, which seem to be spreading - there are numerous issues and sides, as there always are in these labor strikes.  The majority of the workers on strike haven’t had a pay increase in over 5 years, while the businesses continue to be profitable.  That’s the financial aspect.  The management and administration tend to be people of European descent, while the workers on down the chain tend to be from the indigenous groups - so there’s the built-in segregation of employment, based on both prejudices as well as educational opportunity and chances to move up within the businesses, which is frustrating for those working at the lower pay scale jobs.  And then there are all the other issues, such as benefits, working conditions, etc. 

You can tell where our sympathies lie.

At any rate, the strikes seem to be spreading to other unions, and we just hope it doesn’t affect the flight on Friday!

And thus far the strikes haven’t spread to hotels or restaurants.

Richard and I both have chatted with the workers at the casino here, because holding down the picket line is SOOO boring!  One man told us they show up and make sure the casino is safe, and then just sit until their shift is over.  Oh, and the bankers have negotiated a deal, which he said is a very good contract for them.  So things are settling down, and the strikes are helping the workers.  Power to the people!!!


The rain has arrived in Noumea.  We drove back through some rainy spots, but it wasn’t too bad.  Navigated our way to our hotel and settled in.  Then went out for a walk, picked up food, the usual.  Walked back in the rain - even with a rain jacket and an umbrella, we got fairly wet.  Tonight is a quiet evening in the hotel.  Just as well, it is now a tropical downpour out there, rain drumming on the roofs and bouncing off the puddles on the pavement.  The rain is usually more intense on the east coast, so we’re happy to be snug in our hotel in Noumea.

So life in New Caledonia continues to be exciting!