Taiwan

I got to the airport early. I took a two hour nap at the terminal. The first flight is to Japan. The plane is pretty large.
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I am still on the plane. It has been 7 hours so far, on a ten-hour flight. It has been very comfortable. I chose a seat with lots of leg room. The flight is not full. There is no one sitting on my right. I have a layover in Japan. I want to buy a bento or sushi. I look forward to it. I love the taste and nutritional value of japanese food.
I have not seen my relatives since 1991. It has been a long time.
My life is somewhat empty. I feel like I have no greater purpose or achievement to which I aspire. I ask: what am I doing?
I have to give my final toastmaster speech. I do not know what to talk about. I am at a loss for words. I have to inspire an audience. I cannot even inspire myself. I am inspired by Edmund Hillary: respect and admiration and won the hearts of all.
1. Winning respect thru achievement and skill
2. Winning hearts thru compassionate service.
Inspirations: Lance Armstrong, Teach for America, angels in caring., biker's toys for tots.

I am thinking about asking someone out. I have to pray about it. I am not sure. My life has not been straightforward.
I still have left knee pain: better with use, no point of tenderness, pain with extension of knee, lateral aspect of left knee.

I arrived in Japan. I am waiting for the plane to Taiwan. It is on time. I am tired. I need to go to the br, but it is full. I cannot get a seat. I have to hold it. I hope my mom is at the airport to pick me up. I have no back up plan.
I found a seat at the BR. hooray!! I feel so relieved - in more ways than one. I am almost there. I think that I take a lot of trips, just to have the feeling of "getting there". Taipei should be warmer than Tokyo. I lost a day. It is Saturday night now. I look forward to eating and seeing relatives. My life is pretty mundane. Does anything change? Maybe, I am lazy. I wish I had some yen. I would buy sushi. Who am I? What am I doing? I have no idea. I am Somebody. But who is it?
We are starting to board.
From now on, I want to take group trips. Two types exist for me: sight seeing and adventure.

Obama really is a global person: white, black, yellow. I am a narrow person: yellow, somewhat white.
It is amazing how the little things in life make a big difference. I had a dust speck caught under my contact lens. I popped out the lens and washed it in water. I put the lens back in my eye. I did it on the plane. Praise God I did not lose the lens. I feel so much better having cleaned it. Small things, like relieving myself in the br, make my experience so much better.

I made it! My mom met me at the airport with no problem. That was the difficult part since I had no plan B. I got thru customs quickly and picked up my luggage. I met my mom and then we wandered around for a while to look for a bus. We found the bus to Taipei. After a one-hour ride, we arrived at a stop near my aunt's place. I had to go to the br. I must have a digestion problem. My stomach is not adapting well to the food. We arrived after midnight. It has been a good trip. The plane ride was not too bad. I slept during entire trip from Tokyo to Taipei. I cannot believe I am here. It has been nearly twenty years. My aunt looks pretty young for seventy (actually she is sixty five). It is tough not speaking the language. My mom is the translator. Back then, I was such a different person. I was bookish and introverted. Still am. But my inner self has totally changed.
I have this overall feeling that my life is not leading up to anything. I have no family and no real purpose. I read "The Call" by Os Guiness. It has not really helped me. I am still clueless as to MY call. I think that overseas trips help me to get a better perspective on my life. I can step out of my regular life and examine some of my assumptions.
A generation has certainly passed. I am middle aged. I am not in the current generation.
I think that my developmental problems started early. I was Asian, but could not speak Chinese. Shame, self consciousness, introversion soon followed. My thinking turned inward. Success became an all encompassing goal. Everything else was secondary. That led to estrangement and social delay. My life took a bad turn. The calamity of failure turned me around. It re-aligned my thinking in a more proper way.
I woke up early. We went to a local place for a quick breakfast. Now, we will go to my cousin Peggy's place.
It was a great day. We went to the national museum. I saw a lot of interesting historical objects. I usually do not like museums, but this one was pleasurable. We had lunch on the fourth floor cafe. Afterward, we saw some more objects and went to see the Beitou hot springs. We rode buses and subways to get there. It was good weather - not too hot nor too cold. We saw the hotspring museum, the actual hot spring, and the library. Afterward, we went to a classy restaurant and had a satisfying meal. My time with the cousins was satisfying. They lived in the U.S. for 4 years. I was impressed by everything they saw. We went parted ways and I went to my aunt's home and had deserts. I saw my other cousin and his wife. He is a dentist. I went to sleep early.

It was a fun day today. We woke up early and drove to the Yangming mountain. We saw the cherry blossoms, but they were half bloomed. We walked around the park area. As we were driving away, we drove past the Chiang kai shek residence. At first, we thought it was closed on Monday. Luckily, during cherry blossom time, it was open. We had a tour guide who showed us around the house. It was an incredible experience. A beautiful house on the mountain with spectacular views. I was happy that we saw it. It was my mom's first time. We drove home. There was a huge traffic jam going up the mountain: single lane. We had beaten the rush; we were headed downward. I am so pleased that we went up early and saw everything in the morning. We were the only ones in CK Shek's house. We got back by noon. I took a nap after lunch. At 2 pm, we drove to Tamshian: fisherman's wharf. It was north of Taipei. One hour drive each way. We got back and met up with my aunt. We went to dinner at a fancy place. Overall, it was a good day. Tomorrow, we are going on a tour. The conversation occured between my mom and aunt. I cannot speak chinese. My uncle does not speak much.
How has EC influenced me?
1. Be politically active
2. Host parties
3. Constantly learn
4. Connect with more people
5. Travel more
My future plan: Dems, house, adventure trips, medical missions, blogs

We woke up at 6 am. After a quick breakfast, we got a ride from my uncle to the train station. We arrived an hour early. We met my younger uncle, ugoo. We took the train from Taipei to Hualien. Three hours. We were met by our tour guide, Mr Chen. Just call him Nicholas. He took us to a restaurant for lunch- decent authentic food in an old wooden structure. Then, we drove to Taroko park. We saw the global climate change exhibit and watched a nature film in an air conditioned auditorium. We drove to the gorge. We stopped a few times and went for leisurely strolls along the gorge. I took a ton of pictures. It was a beautiful day for walking. It was slightly overcast and somewhat windy. The scenery was spectacular: a gorge with a river, waterfalls, and stone cut outs. We arrived at our hotel at around 4 pm. We went to a local buddhist temple on the mountainside. It was a beautiful view of the gorge. I climbed up one of the temples. It was a bit frightening since the railing was low. I felt like I was going to fall over. It was incredibly peaceful. I think I could find myself if I spent a week meditating there. A bridge over the gorge leads to the temple plaza. After climbing a few stairs, the temple plaza is reached.
We went back to the hotel and showered off. We had dinner at 6pm. It was a great meal. Ugoo was a bit pissed off that the entire trip cost too much. For me, it was worth it. I think that it comes out to a thousand dollars per person for five days. That is not bad compared to all of my other vacations. Tomorrow, we have to wake up at 5:45 am. We will be going thru caves and along rivers.

We went to sleep last night at 7:30 pm. It was a long day, so I had no trouble falling right to sleep. I woke up at 5 am. I had some strange dreams last night. I dreamed of SA. It was the first time ever. She was pretty but older. I had no desire to be with her or possess her. I am not sure what that dream meant. Also, my left knee is back to normal. I thank God truly. It was a small miracle. It was hurting for a while. On the plane ride, it was stiff and painful. Now, it feels pretty good. I climbed a six-story temple yesterday and I did not feel any pain. Right now, it is 5:30 am and we are preparing to start hiking this morning. It is dark outside and we have to wear our headlamps or bring flashlights. What am I doing in life? That seems to be a persistent question. Living for the moment. I will meet my cousins, uncles, and aunts on Sunday.
We got back from the hike. Incredible hike!!! We hiked along a gorge. We ended up in two areas that were breath-takingly beautiful. One area was a convergence of waterfalls and rapids. We crossed a bridge and had spectacular views of the river below. Later, we got to the Water curtain cave. We put on ponchos and went into the cave. Water poured down on us. The roaring sound, feel of the water, and darkness of the tunnel made it a memorable sensuous experience. During the hike, we crossed thru many tunnels. I wore a head lamp. The total trip was about an hour. It was a flat and easy stroll thru very scenic areas. We got back to the hotel and had breakfast. I saw a beautiful chinese woman (with her boyfriend). All in all, it was a good start to the day. I think that we will drive along the coast now.

I am just hanging out by the gorge. Perfect weather - blue skies, humming river, canyon views. I walked across the bridge to the temple area. Today is the perfect day. The hotel looks like an old warehouse from the outside. From the inside, it is a five star hotel. The food is great.
I hiked up to some kind of memorial. I could not read the chinese characters on the marble wall. It was good exercise. The sun beat down on me as I trudged up the steps to the granite wall with the chinese characters. Once again, you guessed it: it had great views of the hotel and the gorge.
We went to another part of the taroko park. We saw the same nature film as yesterday. I was bored. Before the film, a taiwanese speaker spoke for ten minutes. It must be a chinese tradition for speakers to talk before films. I understood less than five percent of her talk.
It has been a great day. We drove out of the gorge and out of Hualien. We had a very good lunch. We ate some taiwanese seafood which was a special delicacy. It was a five star food experience. Then, we got some slushie deserts and drove out of town. We took a scenic road along the ocean. We stopped at an isolated beach area. We had to get out of the van and into another one which took us downhill to the beach area. It was an interesting spot. It had wooden statues of people and animals. I took a ton of pictures. We walked around the beach. There were very few people there. In fact, almost no one was there. After, we drove away along a sea front road. We stopped at another beach area on the side of the road and walked around. I think that we are in the south part of Hualien. We are staying at a quaint mom-pop type of hotel. Good views of the water and the mountain. Two things to mention. First, the Taiwan bathroom quality is not too bad. In fact, it is much better than what I remember. No gross out places. Not quite up to Japanese standards, but not too bad. Secondly, Ugoo is one strange dude. I am not sure which characteristic is strangest about him. He persistently belches. I think he has a medical disorder. Also, every time he talks, he seems pissed off. I think that his business is losing money and he is angry about it. He reminds me of the hunchback of Notre Dame. He is the hunchback of Hsinchu.
Our tour guide is a good guy. He speaks mandarin, so I understand only a fraction of what he says. He is pleasant and helpful.
Ugoo paid for the dinner. He does have some redeeming characteristics. It was the best seafood I have ever had. The fish and shrimp were freshly caught and alive prior to the meal. It was a run-down restaurant. The meal cost thirty dollars US. I have had much worse meals for a hundred bucks.
I think that I will turn in early tonight. Overall, it was a satisfying day. I ate well, I saw a lot of great scenes, and I hung out with my family. Pretty good time. Also, the weather was perfecto!! It was 70 with a nice sea breeze.

We woke up at 5 am. I went to sleep at 8pm last night. I have been sleeping pretty well. We will go for a walk on the beach.
If I had to live over again, I would do these things:
1. Ask SA about the situation and her feelings, instead of reacting in anger
2. Join clubs. Focus less on academics
3. Travel more
4. go to a small liberal arts school

Now/future:
1. Adventure trips
2. Singing
3. Public speaking
4. Making movies
5. Physical achievement: hike
6. Photos

I need to practice:
1. Moving forward
2. Holding in and re-considering my spontaneous reactions
3. Identifying signals- anger, boredom, purposelessness, depression/sadness, distancing

We walked to the marker for the Tropic of Cancer. We were hit with a misty rain. We walked on a concrete path next to the road. We saw the sunrise. I got back to the hotel and took a shower. It should be a sunny day today. I feel like I have been on this trip for a week. We have seen a lot. We have three more days to go. We will end up in Hsinchu.
We drove along the coastline. We stopped at the eight arches bridge. I walked across the bridge to the adjacent island. I picked up a few pebbles. The beach was composed of stones - large and small. It made an interesting clucking sound when the waves receded. A million stones banged against each other.
We drove and stopped a couple of times and saw the beautiful coastline with the incredible shades of blue water. The sky was a crystal clear blue. During one stop, our driver/tour guide backed into a tree and damaged the van. We ate lunch at a great place with awesome sashimi. We met the owner. The driver is trying to set me up with her daughter. I hope that she is cute. We stopped at the "stream goes uphill" sight. Supposedly, water moves uphill. It is an optical illusion. However, it is very convincing.
We drove along a scary single-lane two-way road on the mountainside. He assured me that it was safe, but two cars had difficulty being on the same road. We drove along flower-laden roads in town. The flowers were in full bloom and appealed to my feminine side: orange, pink, red, violet, yellow. Even a flower ignoramus such as myself could fully appreciate it. We made it. We are staying in a town called che-cheng or something like that. It is a small town with a great hotel. We dipped our feet in the fish pool where the fish nibbled on our toes. It tickles. Our hotel has a hot spring pool.
I went for a bath in the hot spring pool with my mom and uncle. There is some sort of festival going on in front of our hotel. They are performing a puppet show with loud chinese opera music.
I am waiting for dinner at 6 pm. Overall, it has been an impressive trip. I am very happy about it. Family, food, great scenery - it does not get better. I am chilling out on the balcony overlooking the pool area. A nice breeze, but overcast skies. I think it is going to rain tonight.
We had a great seafood dinner. I love shrimp. I am writing this message while having my feet nibbled by doctor fish. They feed on dead skin. It feels like I am being tickled. We went to see a natural gas fire after dinner. It was interesting, but not as cool as seeing lava go into water in Hawaii. I am just hanging out with my mom. I have a lot of dead skin because the fish are just feasting on me. It is the weirdest sensation. It has been a fascinating trip. I did not realize that Taiwan was such an interesting place.

We woke up at 6:30 am. I took a bath with hot spring water in our room tub. My mom says not to put toilet paper in the toilet. We should throw it in the basket. I think it is disgusting. It is a beautiful morning. My mom and ugoo took another public bath. I am offering my feet and legs for consumption by the doctor fish. I do not mind the doctor fish, except when they nibble on my big toe. That feels weird. Off to breakfast.
It was a buffet type of breakfast. Buns and assortments. There was a type of hot milk tea that I never had before. At first, I thought it was soy milk tea, but it is actually something else. Quite tasty. Another perfect morning weather-wise: blue sky and a few clouds. This hotel has been the best so far. Five star accommodation, food, public bath and doctor fish.
It has been a pretty good day. We drove along the coastline of South Taiwan. Blue skies and mildly warm. We went Ali Seafood. Same place as last night. The food was fresh seafood: eels, shrimp, fish. We went to the National Aquarium afterward. It was an impressive exhibit. I think that fish are boring, but this aquarium entertained me. We saw fish, eels, sting rays, penguins, seals, sharks, etc. Almost as good as scuba diving. We drove two hours to Kaohsiung thru countryside and small towns with small roads. Not as scenic, but Ok for seeing Taiwan inland. It was a long ride that I thought would never end. We are staying on the 54th floor of a luxury hotel. Amazing view of the city. The elevator is the best-smelling and fastest one I have ever been on. There are a lot of well-dressed beautiful women here. It is a classy place. I feel like a country bumpkin. It is quite a contrast. Last night, we stayed at a spa-hotel in a small back alley town. Tonight, we are staying in a skyscraper hotel in the second largest city in Taiwan.
We had shrimp for lunch. I am pretty good at eating it. First, I rip off its head, then I yank off its feet, then I peel off its scales. For dinner, we went to the night market and ate seafood. We rode the MRT. It opened seven years ago and is clean and artsy. It has a section with Italian glass lining the ceiling. This society is first world. Their public transit is better than ours. Also, we went for a boat ride along the Love River.
EC lessons: clubs, photos, blogs, parties, travels. Keep moving forward. Keep staying connected.

Last day of the trip. I am sad and happy at the same time. I have seen a lot of Taiwan and am happy about it. After a week of vacation, I normally just want to get back to the U.S. We will be driving around today and then, going on an express train heading to Hsinchu. I will be seeing my relatives for lunch tomorrow. We have stayed at some really interesting hotels. The first night, we stayed in a hotel situated in a canyon. The second night, we stayed at a place by the sea. The third night, we stayed at a place near a hot spring. Last night, we stayed in a skyscraper hotel overlooking the city. We had a buffet breakfast. It was a mixture of chinese and western breakfasts. The restaurant was on the 39th floor - with awesome views of the city. Ugoo gave me a shocking revelation: my cousin Jeremy became Muslim a couple of years ago. Overall, it was the most luxurious hotel that I have ever stayed at. However, I liked the spa-hotel better in terms of coziness and comfort and hominess (since I am a homey).
We went to the old British consulate. It was a steep climb up a few flight of stairs. Good view at the top - overlooking the sea. Then, we went to a local park/lake. We crossed the nine cornered bridge. It is similar to the eight arch bridge, except that it has nine corners instead of eight arches, it is flat instead of curved, it traverses two peninsula points instead of a land mass and an island. Other than those differences, they are exactly the same. It was a twenty minute walk. First gross out bathroom. We drove to a fancy mall and ate some noodles at the food court. It was the newest and most beautiful mall that I have ever seen. It was totally crowded. I ate some green tea ice cream. We drove to the high speed rail station to take the train. We said our good byes to Nicholas the tour guide. Second gross out bathroom. One stall was covered in stool or vomit. I did not look long enough to figure it out. We got on the train. The ride is only an hour and a half to Hsinchu. Ugoo and mom complained about the overall cost, but it was pretty darn cheap in my book. I had a great time. It was just the right length of time. We saw a lot of interesting things and stayed at a good variety of places and ate a ton of delicious entrees.
I finished reading the Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson. It was a quick gloss of economic history. I would like to read a more detailed economic text.
Books that I would like to read: Soros, Samuelson, Hemingway.
Ways to gain knowledge: people interactions under different circumstances, books, analysis/writing, putting self into different situations and learning how to adapt.
We got to the Hsinchu train station. We took a shuttle bus to downtown Hsinchu. We walked for fifteen minutes, stopped at a cheap restaurant to eat, then walked another fifteen minutes before arriving at ugoo's place. His place is like his personality: a bit rough around the edges and unkempt. He drove me to my other uncle's place: my dad's younger brother. He is a bit older but looks the same. It was great to see him. I am staying in his house on the remodeled fourth floor. It is a phenomenal place. It has a bedroom and beautiful, large bathroom with a high tech shower. Pretty fancy. A friend of their family named Rex came over with his mom. His english was pretty good and his understanding of american culture was outstanding. He knew more american tv shows than I did. He is a freshman at Taoyuan University and is studying mechanical engineering. He hopes to study in the US some day. I hope that he makes it. I am going to sleep now. It is going to be a big "relatives get-together" kind of day tomorrow.

I had a weird dream last night. I dreamt that I was supposed to play lead guitar for a rock band. The band went out first and started playing. The crowd went wild with anticipation. I had a fancy new guitar that was going to blow away the crowd. I was supposed to go out there ten minutes after the band. However, I was delayed by something. I did not get out there for a few hours. Perhaps, I intentionally did not want to go out there. By then, the concert was over. Most of the crowd had left and the ones remaining were angry. I woke up. It is 7:30 am.
My uncle bought some breakfast. My uncle, aunt, and I went to pick up my mom. We met my other aunt, my dad's sister. The five of us drove around Hsinchu. We went to the harbor. It was windy. A lot of old fishing boats were docked. Then, we went to a park that was situated next to a waste incinerator. The park overlooked the sea. It was a cloudy and slightly chilly windy day. I wore a jacket. The park is located in a beautiful location, but it is next to an incinerator. There is a public pool next to the incinerator. My uncle assures me that it is safe. Has he ever heard of Love Canal? Also, the incinerator is housed in this artsy glass building; perhaps to make it more palatable to the public. We drove to a burial site with all of my ancestors on my dad's side of the family: six generations. There is a building on the site. It contains all of the cremated remains of my ancestors and other Hsinchu people. It was like a library, except that it had cremated remains instead of books. No check outs. We drove to a bookstore in downtown Hsinchu. It was pretty classy, like a barnes and nobles. I bought a couple of chinese vocabulary books. We drove to the restaurant for lunch with my relatives. About thirty people came out. Once again, the food was plentiful and high quality. We took a ton of pictures. Then, we drove to my ugoo's place. We walked over to the train station, bought a ticket, and boarded the train for a one hour ride. It is crowded (I am on the train now). I do not have a seat. We are going to meet another uncle, Dr. Tsai, who is head of a medical department in the military hospital in Taipei. He is one of my few normal relatives. In fact, he is supra-normal, since he is the most successful. Unfortunately, he is not a blood relative, but related by marriage only. Too bad I don't share more of his genes. Last time I was in Taiwan, he took me to a great little place to eat.
It was great to see my relatives. The difficulty lies in not being able to speak chinese. It is hard to communicate in any meaningful way. I sat at a table with my cousin, Yu Lin, her husband, and her 4 year old son. He is a cute kid. They lived in LA for one year,while he was a student at USC. My cousin F is in LA. He is trying to get a job with a pharmaceutical company.

We got to Taipei pretty early and found the hotel that we will meet Dr. Tsai. We were walking around and ran across a barber shop called "Just for Man". I will be getting a haircut. I cannot communicate the length I like. How do you say "use a number four clipper" in chinese? I got the haircut and it turned out well. It cost only eight dollars US. My mom was telling the cutter how to cut my hair. Despite that annoyance, it went well. We ate dinner on the top floor of the Sheraton Hotel. Uncle Tsai was in top form. He told a lot of stories. He is an entertaining kind of guy overall. It was a pretty fancy place. Very high quality food and ambiance.
We got on the TRA train. It is super crowded. Too many people are squeezed like sardines into this small train. It is the slow train and stops at every point from Taipei to Hsinchu. It will take an hour and a half to get home. We will awake at 5:30 am to go to the airport. My mom and I will catch a taxi to the airport.
It has been a great trip and has exceeded all of my expectations. I am glad that I went to Taiwan. I was pleasantly surprised by its natural beauty. I am ready to go back to my normal lifestyle. I have a lot of things to take care of.
That was a long day. We finally got back to Hsinchu. After arriving at the train station, we took a taxi to ugoo's house. He gave me ten tea pots to give away to friends in Seattle. We drove to my dad's brother's place. I showered and jumped into bed. I am exhausted. Tomorrow will be a long day on the plane.

I woke up at 5:20 am. I am ready to go home. I have seen enough. I have to go to work later this week. The flight time will be eleven hours with a two-hour layover. We ate breakfast. We are waiting for the taxi. It should be here at 6:30 am. I have one carry-on with my teapots and one large check-in bag. I am tired.
The taxi arrived on time. It took an hour to get to the airport. I am waiting to check in at the United gate. It is closed for now (which makes me a bit concerned that there is a different gate that I should check into). My mom's plane leaves one hour earlier than mine.

We checked in and got thru security without a problem. My mom took off for the gate. I tracked her down at her gate. She had the mis-impression that her plane was leaving. I found her talking to another Taiwanese passenger. I am hanging out at her gate. Later, I will go to my gate.
I think that the flight back will be faster than a blink of an eye. EC's techniques for connecting: clubs, travels, smile, eye contact, hugs, high fives, dance, singing. (Death anniversary is coming up, so my thoughts about her have returned)
I arrived at the gate for my flight. That was pretty painful. They had three lanes to perform security for hundreds of passengers going on connecting international flights. It was almost as bad as my experience at JFK in NYC. It was a fast flight. I had to cram my bag with the teapots into the overhead bin. I hope they did not break. My flight leaves in a couple of hours.
I am laying down on a few seats. The plane should be boarding soon. I am so eager to get home. I went looking for my mom, but she is not anywhere to be found. The airport has tv's everywhere. I have been watching world news on cnn.
I made it onto the plane. I cannot believe it. We took off at 6 pm. It is an eight hour flight.
The trip is over. What are the elements of a great trip?
1. Being with friends/family
2. Seeing natural wonders or special sights
3. Special activities