YeongPyeong Island

As usually happens whenever the North does something wonky, there's been a wave of concern from people stateside about the well being of people living in Seoul, namely myself, were war to break out on the Korean peninsula.

In case you've missed it, the North fired live artillery shells onto an island off the east coast of South Korean shores in what may be considered disputed waters.  The incident left four dead, including two civilians.

On our side of the DMZ, reaction has been mixed.  It's true that the civilian deaths have sparked some contained outrage here in the city, but the overall response has been to criticize President Lee MyeongBak's failure to act more swiftly and forcefully.  In my opinion, the Korean people would rip him to shreds no matter what reaction he had; he's not a very well liked president.  In any event, the administration sacked the Minister of Defense.  There has been little activity since the first bombing save some ramp up of defenses on the island and the typical squabbling over who provoked who.  Aside from that, everything has been business as usual, with the local media and civilian population going back about their lives as if nothing has happened.  If there's anything the nuclear tests in 2006 taught me, it's to worry when the locals do.  If that philosophy holds true, then all's well.

I'd like to recount a story I read in a local newspaper on Saturday.  According to the paper, the U.S. General in charge of forces in Korea visited the scene of the bombing to survey the damage.  Shortly after his departure, the North began firing artillery again, but this time into their own waters.  This behavior says two things to me about the North's mentality.  The first is that they know they've rattled some cages and they want to let the South (or perhaps even their own citizens) know that they're the ones in control.  The second is that they're too timid to stick their tongue out while the parents are watching.  That is to say, when the States are on the scene, they can behave themselves.  When we've got our backs turned, the North Koreans start teasing again.

Given that there's an evident fear to provoke the U.S., I highly doubt that we'll see another incident until the media turmoil tires of the uneventful.  If this is truly a solidification of strength to pass power to Kim JeongEun, then  we can be sure to see at least a few more hawkish moves on the part of the North, but contrary to popular belief there's nothing crazy about Kim JongIl.  He's calculating and he knows how to keep his power.  If he appears weak to his people, he loses the underpinning of his cult following: the deception that he could topple the U.S. at any time.  He must keep poking the tiger without ever waking it up, because then he knows he doesn't stand a chance.  So far, he and his father have gone almost 60 years without losing it all.  Kim JongIl's more than aware that there won't be anything for his son to take over if he oversteps the boundaries while trying to pass the torch.

My final word would be to not believe the hype about riots in the city, devastation on YeongPyeong island, or the brink of war for the region.  The panic stateside wasn't half as bad in March when the North allegedly sank the Cheonan, resulting in 46 casualties.  Sometimes the things American media chooses to run with can be as arbitrary as a slow news week.

To Taipei

In my swiftly becoming tradition of buying the cheapest plane ticket the night before a break, I recently made the snap decision to fly to Taiwan for 5 days. Hereafter is the chronicle of the sights and smells of the little island off the coast of China.

This is not the ticket,
but rather a subway token.

Day 1
With its airport well outside of the capital city of Taipei, it takes a little over an hour before I really feel like I am in a different country. The people are still short and sporting unanimously black hair, and the existence of Chinese on signs is not so abnormal in Korea. My first clue, however, has to be the weather. I hadn't realized just how close in latitude the island was to Hong Kong, but it has the same balmy sort of tropical thickness. Stepping out of the airport and waiting for the bus is like spending a half hour in the sauna. My recently shaved head is going to get so burnt!

Shortly after arriving in the city proper with my travel buddy from work Josh, we start to scour the streets for food. Suitcases in tow, we cram into a little place with a lot of business. There seems to be little more than one thing on the menu, so we order that. Already a marked difference between Taiwanese and Korean food. This particular dish is a noodle soup, the broth of which was as viscous as Double Dare slime, though admittedly more appetizing. The what-seemed-to-be-pork and oysters was definitely an odd surf and turf meat option that I hadn't expected, but over all a nice kick off to the week of food that is to come.

The hostel's common area,
which surprised us by
just being some guy's house

After our lunch, we wander around and survey the hostels available to us while slurping down one of the many bubble teas we would drink throughout the week. Finally, we settled on a quaint place sandwiched between a bakery and a cosmetics shop. The narrow staircase to W Hostel climber up into what was certainly this man's home. (We never determined with any certainty the name of the hostel owner, but for the sake of story telling let's call him Willie.) After dropping our bags and settling our bill, it was back out into the street for some exploring.

We wander around the area we are staying in, known as Zhongxiao Fuxing on account of it being the intersection of Zhongziao and Fuxing roads.  This eventually leads us all the way down to Longshan Temple, which was seconds from closing when we arrived, and the Ximen night market.  Unfortunately, all I can say is I stood outside of a stall that serves snake.  The story is a far cry less cool than it could be, but the sight of it was stomach turning.  I haven't wimped out on a food adventure yet this year, so I think you've gotta give me this one.


Day 2

That white outline you can barely make out amid the danger pink?  That's Taiwan.

Our day starts with live footage of a sink blowing down the street during what will turn out to be, in regions south and east of the capital, devastating typhoon Fanapi.  A ponchoed female reporter screams while huddled in the fetal position behind a concrete column.  A delivery truck is toppled.  Breakfast of toast and tea.  Death toll at 10 a.m.?  One elderly woman who was trying desperately to do some last minute vegetable harvesting and two middle school students: a girl who slipped down the muddy banks into a flooded river and the boy who jumped in after her.

Rattled but not to be dissuaded on the first day of our adventure, we headed over to the original Din Tai Fung, a phenomenal 6-story dumpling and dimsum extravaganza.  Rain is off and on throughout our walk there, which is down the "runway" of sorts that leads up to the 2nd tallest building in the world: the Taipei 101.  It doesn't appear to be shaken, though the city might be.  With streets empty and the newspaper headlines ominous, we felt quite intrepid about being on the move.  The restaurant was relaxingly crowded, though, and leaving meant parting the sea of eager diners-to-be.

On the way back from brunch, we circled back through the Da'an Forest Park, then wandered down to the base of the 101 (If you haven't picked up on it yet, wandering is to be a real theme of this excursion).  The wind is really picking up by this time.  Cue the video:

Gusty and intense, you could actually at times lean 45 degrees into the wind.

A typical casualty on the streets of Taipei for the next few days.

The meandering continues as we find ourselves at the "Living Mall," which seemed like a suitable enough refuge from the wind. "Lots of shoes" and "a very confusing structure" are the memories I take away from this building that resembles a space station from Star Wars. Our impromptu walking tour of the city continues down Tea Street, or what we assume is Tea Street. There are a few tea shops, though nothing to warrant the name.

Perhaps this is as good a moment as ever to mention the bubble tea. We each drank 1-2 glasses of this a day. It's a cup filled half way with tapioca balls, half with ice cubes, then finally topped up with (typically) sweetened milk tea. I'm no stranger to bubble tea, but this is a whole new ball game. The tapioca is fresh, plentiful, and addictive. Since this trip it has been a recurring craving of mine.

We finish the day off with a series of foods, starting with a deceptively simple bowl of rice with an egg. I don't know why it tasted so good. Maybe it was the sauce the soaked into the rice, maybe the veggies and nuts, or maybe the fish shavings even. One things for certain: that would be a staple of my diet were I a local. We moved on to a beef and onion calzone type dish, a plate of butter sauteed asparagus, and some spicy tofu dish. All expertly devoured. Don't drink the sweet black licorice jello beverage.

Day 3
We decide late the night before to get out of the city.  To the astonishment of our hostel owner, we inform him of our quest to take a train to the Taroko Gorge and back in one day.  Against his advice to stay Hualien, we head out to the train station.  The worst of the typhoon has passed, with nothing left but fallen branches and some light rain.  We're not quite sure where to get off the train or how to find transport from the station to the gorge, but the ride itself is quite pleasant.

It's nice to see some smaller towns and farm fields, but there's also a prominent industrial presence. We pass multiple large factories on our way. The small towns are also a good vantage point from which to notice how strongly the temples jump out of the scenery. While the majority of the landscape is grey and brown, the temples were stark, unnatural reds, yellows, and blues.

The gorge itself is a 30 minute uphill walk through a small town. There is much more evidence of Fanapi's passing on this side of the island. By now its almost noon, so we stop at a fruit stand shortly after getting off the train. Lunch is the most amazing mango and dragonfruit I've ever tasted. Vibrant color, huge flavor. Nothing will ever compare again.

Taroko Gorge is the most impressive experience of the trip. The pictures sort of do it justice, but it is absolutely breath-taking. Towering, tree-packed mountains, with fog snaking over and between them, stand like walls on either side of a typhoon-flooded river. Waterfalls drizzle out from imperceptible sources throughout the range.

It also is the site of one of our most authentic meals on the island. A small group of monks in this monastery in the foothills is preparing food for themselves. Before we know what happened, we are ushered into the silent "cafeteria" on the third floor of this temple and aimed at the dishes. Without explanation or instruction, we are observed in a hushed silence. We eat our absolutely delicious vegetarian rice mix, noodles, moon cakes, fruit, and soup in the same silence. There's a feeling of calm in the air that discourages words for fear of breaking the peace. Naturally, photographing the scene would have felt obscene. We leave the temple slack jawed and wide eyed at the hospitality we've just encountered.

We arrive, exhausted, back in the city after dark. We get a quick meal of beef noodles, pork blood soup, and pickled cabbage noodles. The bubble tea of the day is with Pu'er tea, plum juice, and lemon.

It is at this point, with 3 days left, that my camera breaks. The remaining time is captured on Josh's camera and the story will continue when I get the visuals necessary to do it up right.