Thursday, January 04, 2001
New years and christmas....
let's start with Christmas....
23rd: my friend Katrina took me to a bar called "party animal".
She's Taiwanese so she knows how to find the authentic places that
the foreigners have yet to discover). We walked in and right on cue
the music stopped and the band (who had a stage right by the door)
turned and looked at the first foreigner to step into this local
hangout. All eyes were upon me, watching my next move. I considered
my options:
1] run and leave, leaving this corner of asia unspoiled by the
tracks of western civilization
2] stay and see what happens.
Of course I opted for number 2 and had the pleasure of meeting her
sister (the bartender) and her cousin and his friends (in the Taiwan
army- see footnote). They showed me a lovely pasttime named after
a western tradition. 'Bottoms up' is played by simply saying
'Bottoms Up' and draining your glass. Anyone holding
thier glass at the same time you must also drain thier glass. The
rules are that simple.
Luckily, the glasses are small.
Unluckily, the more people playing, the greater the odds are that
you will be caught holding your glass.
The people were quite friendly to show me this game and the band
started up a little later, playing such well known western hits as
"The powal of rove", and "that ord brack magik". The closed with
the holiday classic "Have you self a melly rittle Clistmas" making
me feel right at home.
24th: Some friends had built a hut in thier backyard (nicknamed
'Jabba' from Star Wars fame) from bamboo and palm leaves. It was
decorated with christmas lights and a glowing disco ball. We sat in
the hut (even though there was a perfectly good living room available) and ate like kings. Potato salad, prawns on the bbq, sushi, kebab skewers, and cheesecake for dessert (not easy to come by
After dinner we relaxed around the hut playing guitar and singing
until the sun was gone.
Then we said our good-byes and went home.
Ok.... then we went to the 24 hour bowling alley and played a few
games. At midnight we put down the bowling balls and walked around
the lanes, wishing everyone a merry Christmas. Some understood what
we were doing and wished us a Merry Christmas back. Others just
stared at the strange foreigners who were acting stranger than usual.
Then after the sun came up (did I say a few games?, I meant a lot) we
continued the Christmas triathalon by going to the driving range.
where for the low, low price of 480 NT ($25 CDN) you can rent 3 golf
clubs and hit 180 golf balls on the range. Tony (an Australian who
had joined me on this all-night Christmas adventure carried the
shopping basket full of golf balls and I carried the clubs. That was
the plan anyway. The journey of 180 golf balls begins with a single
misplaced step. ie; he tripped, spilling 180 balls across the floor
of the lobby, weight room, and club house resteraunt, still rolling
and bouncing across the tiles toward the locker room. In an attempt
to diffuse this potentially embarrasing situation I stepped clearly
out of the way of all the morning golfers allowing them to get a
clear view of this spectacle while I laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
And that was my first Christmas in Taiwan.
Footnote:
The Taiwan army is composed of people who realize that the biggest
military threat to thier tiny little island is the Republic of China
(who already consider Taiwan to be theirs, just a state misbehaving
badly). Last year China fired missles across the water that landed
less than 100 km offshore. Taiwan army guys are ready at a moment's
notice to defend thier puny little island against the 2 billion
Chinese who want it to be theirs. Let's just say these guys are tough.
New years was a trip down to the south tip of the island, Kending.
Beaches, palm trees, bbq squid on a stick and about 200 westerners
(mostly Canadians and Aussies) whacked out on illicit drugs
and alcohol, partying until the wee hours of the morning. After
the bar closed, we headed to the beach for a bonfire with the
band playing an unplugged session until sunrise, and the
bar owners bringing a garbage pail full of 'Mojo Punch'
(I don't know what's in it either). The statement that
would best sum it up was:
"we can keep drinking until we run out of glasses".
Traveller tip from Portugal: That sand gets everywhere,
even in your drink glass.
I personally got back to my hotel room at 9 am so I could
sleep for a couple of hours before checkout.
So now I'm counting down the next 14 days until I fly to Thailand.
I'll stay in Bangkok for a couple of days then head out to
Ko Samui for a week of beach and scuba diving. This life sucks.
Why don't you come on out and join me?
let's start with Christmas....
23rd: my friend Katrina took me to a bar called "party animal".
She's Taiwanese so she knows how to find the authentic places that
the foreigners have yet to discover). We walked in and right on cue
the music stopped and the band (who had a stage right by the door)
turned and looked at the first foreigner to step into this local
hangout. All eyes were upon me, watching my next move. I considered
my options:
1] run and leave, leaving this corner of asia unspoiled by the
tracks of western civilization
2] stay and see what happens.
Of course I opted for number 2 and had the pleasure of meeting her
sister (the bartender) and her cousin and his friends (in the Taiwan
army- see footnote). They showed me a lovely pasttime named after
a western tradition. 'Bottoms up' is played by simply saying
'Bottoms Up' and draining your glass. Anyone holding
thier glass at the same time you must also drain thier glass. The
rules are that simple.
Luckily, the glasses are small.
Unluckily, the more people playing, the greater the odds are that
you will be caught holding your glass.
The people were quite friendly to show me this game and the band
started up a little later, playing such well known western hits as
"The powal of rove", and "that ord brack magik". The closed with
the holiday classic "Have you self a melly rittle Clistmas" making
me feel right at home.
24th: Some friends had built a hut in thier backyard (nicknamed
'Jabba' from Star Wars fame) from bamboo and palm leaves. It was
decorated with christmas lights and a glowing disco ball. We sat in
the hut (even though there was a perfectly good living room available) and ate like kings. Potato salad, prawns on the bbq, sushi, kebab skewers, and cheesecake for dessert (not easy to come by
After dinner we relaxed around the hut playing guitar and singing
until the sun was gone.
Then we said our good-byes and went home.
Ok.... then we went to the 24 hour bowling alley and played a few
games. At midnight we put down the bowling balls and walked around
the lanes, wishing everyone a merry Christmas. Some understood what
we were doing and wished us a Merry Christmas back. Others just
stared at the strange foreigners who were acting stranger than usual.
Then after the sun came up (did I say a few games?, I meant a lot) we
continued the Christmas triathalon by going to the driving range.
where for the low, low price of 480 NT ($25 CDN) you can rent 3 golf
clubs and hit 180 golf balls on the range. Tony (an Australian who
had joined me on this all-night Christmas adventure carried the
shopping basket full of golf balls and I carried the clubs. That was
the plan anyway. The journey of 180 golf balls begins with a single
misplaced step. ie; he tripped, spilling 180 balls across the floor
of the lobby, weight room, and club house resteraunt, still rolling
and bouncing across the tiles toward the locker room. In an attempt
to diffuse this potentially embarrasing situation I stepped clearly
out of the way of all the morning golfers allowing them to get a
clear view of this spectacle while I laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
And that was my first Christmas in Taiwan.
Footnote:
The Taiwan army is composed of people who realize that the biggest
military threat to thier tiny little island is the Republic of China
(who already consider Taiwan to be theirs, just a state misbehaving
badly). Last year China fired missles across the water that landed
less than 100 km offshore. Taiwan army guys are ready at a moment's
notice to defend thier puny little island against the 2 billion
Chinese who want it to be theirs. Let's just say these guys are tough.
New years was a trip down to the south tip of the island, Kending.
Beaches, palm trees, bbq squid on a stick and about 200 westerners
(mostly Canadians and Aussies) whacked out on illicit drugs
and alcohol, partying until the wee hours of the morning. After
the bar closed, we headed to the beach for a bonfire with the
band playing an unplugged session until sunrise, and the
bar owners bringing a garbage pail full of 'Mojo Punch'
(I don't know what's in it either). The statement that
would best sum it up was:
"we can keep drinking until we run out of glasses".
Traveller tip from Portugal: That sand gets everywhere,
even in your drink glass.
I personally got back to my hotel room at 9 am so I could
sleep for a couple of hours before checkout.
So now I'm counting down the next 14 days until I fly to Thailand.
I'll stay in Bangkok for a couple of days then head out to
Ko Samui for a week of beach and scuba diving. This life sucks.
Why don't you come on out and join me?
