Hsinchu, Taiwan

I'm realizing because of the scope of my travels I'll need to change the way I live and not just treat this as vacation. Budget, exercise and what I consume need to be put into control if I want to keep my body and my bank account healthy.

This weekend will be clubbbing in Taipei. More then 10% of Taiwan's 23 million people lives in Taipei. The Taiwanese economy has been catapulted over the last decade and one of the results of this transformation is the booming nightlife of Taipei. It seems to be a hip and urban and it'll be interesting to compare and contrast with Tokyo. My business shoes are versitile enough to double as dancing shoes. But of couse, currently they are my only pair of shoes.

Next weekend will be a retreat into the mountains, the week after will be the beach and Taroko Gorge in Hualien and then the next weekend will be Tiachung and Kenting. The island itself takes only 6 hours from tip to tip and I'd like to try to see as much as I can while I am here.

It has been pretty easy to meet other English speakers since if one doesn't fit the majority ethnic make up here then there is an excellent probablilty of English launguage skills. In practice it is like: Look a white dude, let's say what's up. I haven't tried to hard to meet folks, but I am going out tonight with a guy I met on the bus and a couple of his friends. I also met a couple of English teachers and even a couple of Mormons on mission. Being here gives me another perspective on the human instint to build communities with people with common histories.

If any of you had the misfortune of watching television with the remote in my hand, you know that I enjoy werid TV. The combination of a short attention span and my facination with the margins of society makes me flip rapidly though the bizzare images and ideas projected though the air and into the little box. I am going nuts with TV in Taiwan. The exotic nature of the material, the different graphic design elements and the bright, hypnotizing shiny lights keeps me flipping though the 70 or so channels in my room continuously. For hours. Non-stop. Help.

Hsinchu, Taiwan

I am in Taiwan right now, but before I get into the maddness of Hsinschu, let's talk a little about Japan...

After a day hoofing it around Tokyo, I spent a more quiet and meditative day biking around Enoshima and Chigasaki down south in the Kanagawa prefecture. I was couchsurfing and my host was this really cool woman who split her time between being a childrens entertainer and a surfer. I crashed on her futon and hung out a bit... It is refreshing to meet someone who made decisions to live the life he or she wanted to live. I hope I meet more people like her on my journey.

So when I arrived into Taipei there was a driver waiting with my name on a sign. You know you made it when you have some dude you don't know waiting with a sign. I'm big time now. I settled into my dorm/guest room and explored Hsinchu.

Hsinchu is a town of a little over 400,000 people. Not big, but a signifigant bit or urban amounst the rural. Few thoughts: The main mode of transportation are scooters. Everywhere are scooters... parked on sidewalks, buzzing between cars, and sometimes packed with families of 4. The convience stores is a way of life around here. Dinner, whiskey, coffee, phonecards... sometimes they are the only place to get essentials. I have already had a few meals from 7-11. They like eating here. I crashed a wedding my second day here and man, the food spread was impressive. I have been stuffing myself stupid with chinese food. It has been difficult keeping my membership up in the clean plate club down here.

Betelnut shops... Scantly clad women, neon lights and saliva inducing stimulants... Along the roads leading into town are these little brightly lit store fronts with hot girls waiting in the windows to sell betelnuts wrapped in leaves. I know about red stains and how addictive that stuff is from Bangladesh, but tying blatant sex to cheap mild herbal trucker-uppers... advertising genuius.

Tokyo, Japan

I expected all sorts of wackiness and seediness with Tokyo, but it seems just like any other big city I have been too. Well, other then the large amount of Japanese. I spent yesteday wandering around just asorbing it all in. Highlights include octopus balls before taking a walk through a park, having a beer in the DJ dive bar under an overpass to take a little time to figure out where I was, and trying to understand the charm the slot and plinko parlors.

What I noticed about Tokyo is how fashion and money are tied to the everyday kid. Wandering around Harjuku all these teenagers with �15000 baseball caps and willowy dresses looking good and looking smart. Being a sucessful designer here has got to be lucrative. The artist community in Tokyo has to be an interesting scene and too bad I dont have the time and coonnections to expore it more on this stopover.

But even if I dont blow my entire budget on a Bathing Ape hoodie, this place is mad expensive. The Salarimen coming home passed out on the train at midnight is testament to how much this place costs. Or the rampant consumerism... I thought people hustled hard in Silicon Valley, the pace here is breathtaking. Still, my 2 days of tasting Japan makes me want to come back here again sometime and give myself some more time to breathe it in.

San Francisco, California, US

Last night out before I go and I must admit that it is a little... well, I don't know. I haven't been in a situation where I haven't had a place to call home for an extended period of time. Bags packed, tickets booked and 8 hours of Mandarin tapes digitized.


Can't wait to go. Can't wait to get back.

East Palo Alto, California, US

Diet Sparks... who comes up with these things?


School's done. Packing not...

Bay Area, California, US

In my 9 months out here I really have enjoyed it. No, I haven't gotten to go camping, or becmone a regular in a bar in the Mission or even run Bay to Breakers this year... Rigors of grad school aside, it is nice being out here. Today the weather is awesome. Perhaps that's why folks drop mad loot to live out here. For the money I drop for my place in the 'hood, I could have had a palace in Houston. A palace with fountains and stuff.


I am sure you want substance in this first blog post, but you are out of luck. But stay tuned... This is where I'll be collecting toughts and images to share with you all as I make my round the world trip. Any of you know anybody in Portugal?