1898

June 29

Day Two- Much Better Than Day One

It was a slow start to the day today. The morning is when the streets are busiest with people that will try to rip you off. They are absolutely everywhere. It is impossible to avoid people that want to make some sort of deal with you. Because of that, and the guy I “owe” Php 200, I elected not to go out in the morning and instead watch television until noon. At noon, I elected to go do the same lunch that I did yesterday. Today's menu was not as good. The curry chicken with fried noodles and white rice was alright, but not nearly as good as yesterdays jerk chicken. However, I was still able to access the internet and get caught up on some things.

For the afternoon, I was in “Don't get ripped off” mode. On the internet I saw that I was close to the American Embassy as well as a big park so I decided to check those out. It was definitely a good choice. The US Embassy was huge, way bigger than any of the other ones that I saw. They have like three different areas just for Filipinos to get US visas. I would have pictures of it, but I barely had my camera out of my pocket before two security guards started yelling at me. So no pictures on that front.

I was about to skip the park because of how huge the intersection was to get to it. That's one thing about the streets here: it takes a serious amount of testosterone to cross. While the area may have crosswalks, the preferred strategy to cross is to wait for the smallest gap and then just start walking. It is common for people to be halfway in the street waiting for another car or two to pass before they reach the median. Then they repeat the process again.

So instead I crossed the street at a different point and looked around the area there. Little did I know that I was still entering the park, just at the very end of it. From there, I was able to get to the rest of the park at an easier section in the road. The park was huge and had lots of stuff in it. It was not just a big area of grass. There were many statues and monuments. I can't say for sure, but I believe that it is the national park. One of the main areas has a plaque commemorating the exact location where the United States granted the Filipinos independence on July 4, 1946. It made me wonder how much fun it would be to celebrate independence day halfway across the world around people that are doing the same thing.

I was checking out a cool little bridge area when a man said that I couldn't walk there. So I walked to another statue and he approached me and started telling me information. He told me he would show me some of the other areas in the park. Weary of getting ripped off again, I let him take me there but I knew that I needed to make terms with him before he showed me too much. Two of the areas that he showed me were a Chinese area and a chess park. The highlight of the Chinese park was the big statue of Confucius. I was surprised that he had an influence all the way down in the Philippines. The interesting part of the chess area was how quick the games go. Most of the players played games where they would start out with 5 minutes and no time would be added per turn. These guys were absolutely flying. At one point in the game, the button barely popped up on their side before the player would pound it down again. I found out that it is 10 pesos (about 20 cents US) per hour to use the equipment. Not too shabby. Still weary of getting ripped off, I declined the multiple offers to play a game. Oh yeah, un-timed chess here is called “Long Chess.”

When the told me he would show me another area of the park, I knew it was time to talk money. He explained to me that he did it for goodwill and if people felt inclined they could give him a donation at the end. I explained what happened to me yesterday and he told me that not all Filipinos were like that. Scam artists give a bad reputation to the rest of the people. I wanted to believe him, but I still had to be hesitant.

Next, he told me that we would go to see an old Spanish fort, and I made sure it was close by before I went with him. It ended up being pretty cool and offered a great view of a spectacular golf course and some of the government buildings. After that we went back to the park and that's where he said we would part ways. I gave him a 20 peso and he insisted that we buy water with it. We both got a water and then parted ways. In hindsight, I should have given him more than that since he showed me areas that otherwise I would not have seen. A 50 or 100 would have been more appropriate. I also feel bad for lying to him because I told him early on before I realized that he actually was a good man that my parents were staying back at the hotel. I said that I was leaving in two days and if we weren't doing anything I would invite my family back to the park to get a better tour. He said that he would take us on the train and the jeepneys (kind-of long pick-ups with benches in the back used as buses) to get places so I wouldn't get ripped off by taking a cab again. At least I told him that we would probably have plans. In any case, if you are ever in Manila and looking for a cool historical tour, I would highly recommend walking to Rizal Park and looking for the man named Paul.

Life in the Philippines- Bad Start

June 28

Wow. What a start to my first full day in the Philippines. One of the first things that I did was get outside to explore the area that I'm staying in. Along the road as I was walking towards the ocean, a man approached me and said that he remembered me from the hotel last night. He said that he worked there. He introduced himself as Rico and I told him that I was Graham. He then told me that it was his day off and that he would take me and show me some of the touristy things. The first thing that we did was explore the coast next to the hotels. I was expecting a beach, but instead it's really just the ocean with a wall in the area that I'm staying at. He pointed to a few different things, one of which being the American Embassy, which I was thankful for.

He also was talking about an American cemetery that was nearby for the Filipino and American soldiers that had died during World War II. I thought we were going to walk there but instead he hailed a cab. At this point, I was too much of an idiot to ask how much it would cost. I thought that it was just going to be a quick ride. Instead, it turned out to be probably a 15 minute ride. I was very nervous at this point and realized that this guy was going to try to take advantage of me.

Once we got there, however, the cemetery was really beautiful. The grass was perfectly trimmed and the facilities were in pristine condition. I would have stayed and enjoyed it longer, but the taxi parked instead of leaving, and that's when I realized that I was in serious trouble. At this point, he was talking about taking me to another location, and that's when I finally asked him about how much this whole deal would set me back. He told me $100. I was thinking Philippine Pesos. He was not. I said that I could handle that. Somehow, the message became clear that he was talking about American dollars and the situation got more interesting. I said that I was unwilling to pay $100 American for anything and he said that instead I could pay $2500 peso. I said that that plan would not work either. I told him that I was only carrying $500 peso. He told me that we could go back to the hotel for $1000 peso. I reluctantly agreed to that offer. I pulled out $500 peso, but he saw that I was carrying more than just the one bill. After talking with him a little more I gave him another $300 peso with the agreement to pay the last $200 once we reached the hotel.

The ride home was very tense. He called about three different people and was absolutely livid. At least whenever he was talking to me he was much calmer. He ended up getting dropped off close to the hotel so he could be with his “baby” that he kept talking about. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that. He also wanted a bottle of milk for his baby because it was its birthday. But before the taxi rode away, I made sure that all of the expenses were already paid. The driver said that they were. He then drove a couple more blocks and dropped me off. As of now, I have still only paid the $800 peso. I don't plan on paying any more because it looked like my money was the only money that was given to the cab driver. The thing that makes me nervous is that he knows where I am staying because I stupidly said my hostel, even though the hotel that he thought I was staying at was right across the street. But I forgot the name of that when we were driving so I just wanted to make sure that I got back successfully. I am now out $800 peso but at least I know from now on ALWAYS to ask for the cost before I do anything. There is no such thing as free hospitality in the area that I am staying.

One Bad Trip to Manila

June 26-27

This is not exactly what I expected. To make a long story short-scratch that. To not have to repeat a story that makes me mad, I was not able to receive a visa extension on the trip to Taipei. Therefore, to be able to study for the full stay, I had to leave Taiwan and then return in order to get a fresh 30 day stay. So I needed to look for a cheap place to stay for a few days. The two cheapest choices that I found were Thailand and the Philippines. Since Thailand has so many political problems, the choice became pretty easy- I would spend a few days in Manila.

Since Alex, Ray, Emilie, and I were already in Taipei, I looked for a flight that would depart while I was still in town. That would save money as opposed to traveling back to Chiayi and then coming back to Taipei a couple of days later. One of the drawbacks to this was that I had only packed for a one night stay in Taipei. Luckily for me, I had packed a few extra things, but still not enough for the three night stay in Manila. Even with that problem, I still booked an 11:00 am flight to Manila at about 9:00 pm the night before.

After all of the shenanigans, the four of us still elected to check out some of the bars in the area. The one that we decided on was a bar that was going to have a live band playing about 20 minutes after we got there. We decided that it was worth the NT600 charge to go. The band ended up being really awesome. They were a Taiwanese group that played a lot of American covers. They had both a male and a female singer. Both had really great voices and their English was pretty much spot on. They both talked with a good Midwestern accent. Unfortunately, the ventilation was poor and it got smoky pretty quickly. Ray ended up having problems with his asthma and I joined him for the taxi ride home.

In the morning, I woke up around 7 and began my trek to the second largest archipelago in the world. After a scary bus ride where we almost got into an accident, I successfully made it to the airport. Surprisingly, there were no problems getting my boarding pass and getting through immigration. The flight was nice and I was glad that I got a window seat because I was able to look at the different islands that we were flying over on the way down. Arriving was interesting, because apparently our plane was too small to use the normal gate (it appeared that only the big 747 and 777s could use it) so we had to take a bus to the terminal. Customs in the Philippines was pretty nuts because we also had to fill out a health form. On each of the three forms that were required, each one asked to write a permanent Philippines address. I didn't realize that it meant the hotel or hostel that I was staying at so there were problems fixing my forms. I am so glad that I had my hostel information on my Expeedia confirmation because I'm not sure if they would have let me into the country otherwise. They seemed to be very strict about having a place to stay. Once I got through that part though, the rest was really easy. Going through Customs, they didn't even check what was in my backpack.

The taxi ride to the hostel was eye opening because I quickly learned how little importance lanes are here. There were people driving between lanes and the congestion was so bad that I wondered if people just picked a lane if it would be nearly as bad. I successfully arrived at the hostel and got checked in. After a nap, I had dinner at a seafood place. It was delicious. I got a seafood dish were I dipped my assorted animals into a mix of soy sauce, chili mix, and some sort of little green citrus food. The woman told me the name of it but I quickly forgot. Whatever it is, it added an excellent kick to the dish and made it worthwhile to order.

The main drawback to the area so far is sticking out as an American. So far walking down about two blocks I have already been offered some silver coins, 2 different sets of watches, ganja, Viagra, and of course, a full body massage with the emphasis on “full body.” It makes me realize how much I enjoy staying in Taiwan because being American is a cool thing, but for the most part they will still leave you alone. Here, it appears that being an American is just going to be a hassle and people will just try to take advantage of me. Hopefully I will be wrong about that.

$50 Wine Never Tasted So Bad

Today was a pretty low key day. I don't even think that I left the house until about three in the afternoon. Basically the highlight of the day for me was trying the rice wine that I bought yesterday. I figured that it would have a similar taste to regular wine, just not as good. Instead it tasted “like watered down vodka,” as Alex described it. As I am writing this at midnight, my glass is still half-full but I haven't the heart to throw it away.

Let's Play a Game: Alcohol...or Paint Thinner

Yesterday was a pretty low key day. The highlight was visiting the alcohol museum in town. It is home to the local liquor distillery. They had a little walk-through exhibit that had some interesting exhibits. Overall, it wasn't too fancy, but college kids across the world can appreciate how much of a positive spin they put on alcohol. The best part about going was being able to look at all of the different liquors at the end. They also have a sampling station where you can try some of the liquors. After just two little sips, it was clear that some of the stuff that they brew is potent. After looking at the different liquors, I decided to buy a bottle of rice wine. It was $50 NT (under a buck-fifty). I might look around later while I am here by myself and see what else they had because we got there near closing time.

Kenting: It's a Good Place to Visit, But You Wouldn't Want to Die There

June 20

Today the four of us had our first full day in Kending. It did not go according to plan. Kending is the southern-most part of the island. The area is renowned for their beaches and hot weather. Off the coast, there was a tropical storm about 200 kilometers away. Because of that, the waves were rockin' today.

We decided to get two surfboards and split time with them. Only Alex was experienced at surfing so he got one for himself and the other three of us split the other. After Ray did a good job of surfing, I decided to give it a go. I was pretty terrible at surfing. I was never even able to stand up while I was there. After a few minutes, I realized that I was pretty far away from land. What I quickly realized, however, is that I was unable to get any closer to land because there was a rip-tide pulling me further away. I fought it for awhile but ended up even further away from the coast. The situation was not good. Ray and Emilie were on the beach and started to look for me. I waved to them but I did a poor job explaining that I was stuck in the sea.

I was able to finally get the attention of Alex and explained that I couldn't get any closer to land. He told me to try to move sideways to escape the current. The only thing that did was made me further away from everybody else. After struggling for a few more minutes, Ray and Emilie both swam out to help us. Ray was going for me at first, but then ended up with Alex. Emilie, after lots of struggling through the waves, was able to reach me. Together, we made some progress to get close, but still not a substantial amount. As we slowly made a diagonal path towards the land, two Aussies saw our plight and asked if we were alright. I quickly responded that we weren't, because I was already exhausted from trying to get in myself. He helped pull us in by having Emilie grab his tow and also hold my surfboard. Pretty soon, we were back to where the waves were breaking. I was so tired at this point that I wasn't able to keep my head above water when the waves came by. As we started to get towards the shallow water, I began to dry heave. I was mad at myself for not even being able to wait until we got onto land to do it. I was able to not throw up, which I guess is a positive. Overall, that will probably be the last surfing experience that I ever have during my lifetime and I am thankful that nothing worse happened.

To top off that experience, after we had returned the boards it began to rain hard. Having taken the scooters there, we had a good 25 minute ride home getting pelted by rain. I was on the scooter with Ray and I was shaking and I know that he was cold as well. I at least had the benefit of his body blocking a decent amount of the rain and the wind. It was the first time since I have gotten to Taiwan that I was wishing it was warmer.

Things got better after that and we went back out to the market. We ate at a Mexican restaurant which was surprisingly good. I also thought it was a lot of fun when the Chinese guy starting singing and playing the guitar. He played songs from groups such as Maroon 5, James Taylor, and Tom Petty. It was a lot of fun.

I also had my first tasting of stinky tofu. I bet you can guess why it gets its name. It was actually really good, and I'm not even a big tofu fan. One thing I have learned here is that when you get the opportunity to add spiciness to your meals, go for it. They don't just add hotness to the dish, they add flavor with it. The kick to the tofu made it really tasty.

Later in the day we went back out to the market and had a drink at a trendy little bar. I was lame and went with a salty dog because I knew I would like that. We talked for a while and came into agreement that it was a good thing that none of us died today. I would have taken more pictures, but the batteries to my camera died and the backups were dead as well.

Baseball Far, Far Away

June 18

In the afternoon, Ray, Alex, and I took a bike ride down to the Chiayi park. Just like in Tainan, it is right in the middle of everything but absolutely gorgeous. It was also quite a bit larger than the park in Tainan. We walked around and saw a bunch of interesting things. We came across Chiayi tower and decided to go up. It was a good view of the city, but the smog limits the view of the mountains. We saw that there was a baseball game going on nearby from the tower, and decided to check that out. Unfortunately, once we got inside I forgot to take any pictures. It was a nice park where that the professional teams use when they come to town. The Taiwan baseball league is different in that the teams are sponsored. Instead of being located in one city, they play all over the island. After watching a few innings of what appeared to be a high school game, we went back because it looked like a storm could hit soon.

For dinner, a bunch of us went to eat at a Thai restaurant. I went for the spicy drunken beef with cashews. It was awesome. I also noticed that my chopstick handling is getting better. I had little problems grabbing the cashews.

After dinner we went bowling. The lane that we got stuck with was possessed. It would randomly put down the guard and stop our balls. The girl working there had to have come over at least 10 times to correct our score. Because of all of the delays, the group next to us finished way ahead of us. So we were able to switch our scores and play on a lane that was working better. When we switched, I was bowling a perfect game through two frames. I proceeded to get a spare followed by two more strikes. I was feeling it. The next ball that I threw got 9 pins, leaving the 7 pin remaining. But there was another problem with the lane, and it reset the pins. In the first game I bowled it happened, but I really didn't care because I was bowling a fairly average game. But in this game, since I was going for a high score (I've been stuck at 199 for a long time) I wanted to make sure that the game had no hiccups. Luckily Mark knew enough Chinese to ask them to fix the problem. He told them that I was going for a high score, and they actually sent a guy down there who pushed all of the pins down except for the one that I had missed. The whole process of getting everything ready took over 5 minutes. After all of that work, I ended up missing the pin by a fraction of an inch. The rest of my game ended up falling apart on me and I ended up with a 168. That game could haunt me for a long time.

To make things worse, the reason we went bowling in the first place was because I had an outstanding challenge with Anna. She was one of the bridesmaids at my sisters wedding and went bowling after the reception in her dress. There was a deal that if I came to Taiwan there would be a rematch. Well she ended up bowling a 128 which was awesome, but all of the drama surrounding my game hid the fact that she did really well. I guess there just might have to be another challenge at a later time.

Additional pictures here.

Confucious Says...

June 17

Today we took a day trip to Tainan. It was about an hour trip on the train. The first thing that we did while we were there was visit a Confucian Temple. It was the oldest one in Taiwan. They had some interesting things in there and the architecture was pretty spectacular. I also got to witness the first squat toilet that I've seen in their country in the bathroom.

The second place that we visited was the Golden Fortress. It was the most aesthetically pleasing military fixture that I have ever seen. There was a Japanese tour group that went in before us, so we ended up following them around just to make sure that we saw everything that was supposed to be seen inside.

The worst part about the day was easily the heat. It was definitely the hottest day since we got here and the buildings and concrete just trap and radiate the heat. We took a taxi out to the fortress, but it was outside of the main traffic areas. When we were finished looking at that, we had to walk back far enough into town to hail a cab. When we were walking back, there was absolutely no shade and the sun made the conditions absolutely brutal. Luckily, we survived.

After we bought our tickets for the trip back to Chiayi, we looked around for stuff to do and found a park nearby. Once again, it looked amazing.

More photos here.

Night Market

June 16

In the afternoon today we took a trip to the pool. It was a lot of fun because they had an area where there were a bunch of different areas with the water jets. You could go from station to station and push a button to get water jets on different parts of the body. It's kind of hard to explain, but it was a very relaxing afternoon.

For dinner we ate at a Japanese sushi bar, where there is a conveyor belt of dishes that you are able to grab. At the end when you pay, the workers just count the number of plates and charge 30 NT per plate (a little under a dollar). It was fun, and I was able to try salmon eggs for the first time. They are little orange salty balls and weren't too bad.

After that, we headed over to the night market, which has a variety of snack foods, toys, shoes, apparel, and much more. I didn't end up getting anything this time, but when I go back I plan on buying a mask so I can breathe easier when I ride around on the bike. The exhaust combined with the heat combined with my asthma makes riding my bike a lung burning ordeal. It also reminds me too much of working at the go kart track for all of the wrong reasons. Sorry again for the lack of pictures. I'll be sure to take the camera tomorrow when Alex and I go to Tainan!

Cloudy with a chance of Sunburn

Today was overcast all day. However, that did not prevent me from getting sunburned. I think I am whiter than Conan O'Brien. All over campus, the children were wondering what that delicious smell was, only to discover that it was the pasty white American smoldering in the heat.

The most interesting part of today was that it offered the first opportunity for me to navigate the streets. The streets have essentially three lanes in the high traffic areas. The rightmost lane in the street is for scooters and bikes, and the others are for cars. However, with the relaxed traffic laws, the first couple of lanes are a crazy mix of bikes, scooters, and cars. I am still not yet fully comfortable going down the road on the bike in some of the busier sections. Left hand turns are also kind of nerve wracking. I would explain more but the sleeping pills I took tonight are starting to kick in. I woke up at 5 this morning and I don't want that to happen again. I'm sure the more I am on the streets by myself, the more I can explain. Until then, enjoy your Monday. I know I did.

I Can't Feel My Legs

June 14

Today I got to experience my first church service where English was not the main language spoken (Ed's note: that is not true. I have witnessed services in Creole and Spanish before). It was pretty cool because the songs and the Bible have English and Chinese right by each other so you can follow along. For the sermon, there is a woman who is fluent in both languages and translates for the English speakers into a microphone. The English speakers can use a headset to listen to the English translation. I felt like a part of the United Nations during the sermon.

After church, the four of us went to a Japanese restaurant for lunch. Seeing as I want to try as many different foods as possible, I went for the squid dish. The squid had an interesting consistency. It was kind of crunchy, but was seasoned great and I enjoyed it.

In the afternoon, a bunch of the teachers played Ultimate Frisbee and I got to join them. Apparently, not working out since the conclusion of soccer season has made me really out of shape. I'm sure the 30 degree increase in temperature and the constant humidity do not help, either. We played for a couple of hours and had a great time. The best part was when it rained for about 10 minutes which really cooled us off. In the end, it was exhausting.

In the evening we went to a movie. The nice thing about the theaters here is that they show American movies with Chinese subtitles. We saw The Hangover, which I thought was sub-par. But it was still a fun experience. Apparently, Transformers 2 comes out here earlier than in the States, so I hope to watch it before you loser Americans have the opportunity to see it. The other thing that is cool about the theaters is that you can take in any sort of food or drink into the theater as long as it doesn't smell. I didn't take advantage of that today, but I hope to bring in a beer next time I go.

In the Land of Chiang

June 13

We hung out in Taipei on Saturday. It's a pretty crazy city. Plenty of stuff going on. The first place that we went once we got up was the Taipei 101. It currently is the tallest finished building in the world (there is a building in Dubai that is taller but it isn't finished yet). It was tall. When we went inside, the first few floors have a ton of different stores. What's interesting is that nothing is Asian. They are all Western style stores and they are not cheap. They are all upscale and it was weird because I never saw anybody inside of any of those stores.

The second place we visited was awesome. We went over to the Chiang Kai-shek memorial. The place was hoppin' that day. There are three large buildings and in the center is a large square. We were unaware of it when we went over, but there was a marching band competition going on. The place was packed. We were still able to head over to the monument and the museum. The monument was massive and it was awesome. It reminded me of the Lincoln memorial with an Asian flair. The museum was great as well with some pretty cool stuff inside. I liked some of the informational signs that they had because they definitely took a different perspective than what we talked about in my history classes.

After that we took the High Speed Rail from Taipei to Chiayi where my sister and all of the other teachers live. We ate a good dinner of a beef and noodle soup. After that we went out to a seafood restaurant and got a few beers. I also got to meet a few more of the teachers that stay here. We played two different card games that I had never played before, and I won each game on the first try. Yeah, I'm that good.
Thanks to Mangmang for the pictures of Chiang kai-shek memorial.

Bladder Envy

June 12

It was really depressing to turn on this laptop. I am writing this entry on the flight from Tokyo to Taipei. The clock on the computer, still set to central time, just changed to 6:00 am. I have actually been successful in adjusting my body to the 13 hour difference. On the flight from Chicago to Tokyo, after the meal I took some sleeping pills and spent the rest of the afternoon trying to sleep. The results were decent. I probably took 3 naps at one hour apiece. Unfortunately, now it is 7:00 pm local time and I am trying to stay awake long enough to get in the airport and get through customs. Still, I think I am handling the adjustment better than most would. With a good night's sleep tonight (aided by more sleeping pills), I should be ready to go tomorrow to explore Taipei for a day.

As many of you know (or if nothing else, as a few of you know very well), I have a tiny bladder. Just the sight of liquid has me running towards the bathroom. The twelve hour flight to Tokyo was brutal for my bladder and my kidneys. Since it took so long to book the flight, the selection of seats was limited to say the least. I ended up getting the middle seat somewhat near the back. The people next to me were both young Asian guys. The guy in the aisle seat never said a word the entire flight save for ordering food and drink. But boy, he was good at consuming liquids. Every time the flight attendants came by he'd get another can of something. Meanwhile, my decision to get another drink was based purely on how much that would speed up the process of me running to the bathroom.

You know that uncomfortable feeling that you get when you have to nudge the person next to you so you can leave your seat? Yeah, it ain't fun. Well, on this flight it was even worse. On the twelve hour flight the guy in the aisle seat didn't use the bathroom until the last hour. It was a truly breathtaking experience to witness. Unfortunately, that just amplified my tiny bladder even more. I felt bad for the guy every time he had to move for me. I got really excited each time the guy in the window seat needed to go, because it gave me an excuse to go as well. Ah, the joys of flying.