Taipei Jade Market and the Museum of Drinking Water!

Hey everyone! It's been a while, I know, but I've recently been on two interesting trips. The first was to the Taipei Holiday Jade Market and the second was Part Two in my two-part series on weird museums in Taiwan.

The Taipei Holiday Jade Market was really great. It's a massive jade market located under a highway overpass.

Inside it's like a big flea market where, I assume, if you new enough Chinese you could barter your way to a good price.







I, luckily, was with my friend Joy Lin and she was able to at least tell me how much things were.

I saw lots of bracelets, and necklaces and even some tea pots, but what I was looking for was a jade cat for my mom.



Joy told me that they would probably be hard to find because most of the popular animals that are made from jade are from the Chinese zodiac and there is no cat in their system. There is however, a tiger which would work for me.

We looked around a little more, and I did find a pair of jade cats, but they cost NT$8,000, or over US$200!

We also came across a table that had older and dustier looking jade pieces. The guy had vases and some animals, one of which I thought was a cat, but turned out to be some kind of Chinese mythical creature.



While I also couldn't afford this jade animal (NT$80,000 or US$2,500!!) the table-owner told us a little about jade. He explained, in Chinese, that good jade will look dingy and flat, but that you can shine a light through it. Also, if you run a brush over it can be polished and will shine a little bit.

So, in teh end I did not find cat, but I would definitely like to go back some time and look again.

Part two coming soon. . . .

A Letter to Taiwan

Dear the Country of Taiwan:

Today the high temperature is 90 F (about 32 C). Could you please turn on the air conditioning? It would be much appreciated and help me out big time.

Thanks!

-Nate

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial v. 2.0 Part 2

Military uniforms worn by CKS.





Changing of the Honor Guard at CKS Memorial Hall. They pass through the main hall.



The grounds around the memorial have lots of little paths and gardens. Very nice after being in the city all day. I say down next to a small lake and bridge to relax.



Well, that's about it for the pictures. Until next time,

在見！

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial v. 2.0 Part 1

Some of you may recall that when I first got here in February I made a trip to Chiang Kai-shek National Memorial in Taipei. You may also recall that I didn't bring my camera. Well, today I went back, with a camera, took pictures and . . . wait for it. . . . . . video!!!!!

Also, this time, I toured the museum part of the memorial. It was a great trip overall, and a wonderful day to boot. Much less overcast than it has been and the pollution wasn't bad either. Coming into 西們 on the bus I could actually see mountains in the distance!

So, here are pictures and video. Not much of a narrative this time, but nothing wrong with pictures, eh?

CKS Memorial Square. The Memorial Hall is the white building in the distance.




Panorama of the CKS Memorial square from on top of the Memorial Hall.



Panorama of the CKS Memorial Square from opposite the Memorial Hall.



Statue of CKS in the Memorial Hall.



Dome of the Memorial hall. In the center is the white sun of the Republic of China flag.



As I said, I went to the actual CKS museum as well. It was neat, but different from a US museum. There didn't seem to be any sort of narrative to the exhibits. Mostly it was just a lot of "Here's some stuff that Chiang touched/wore/read/sat in." Moreover, the pictures around the exhibits were just that pictures of Chiang doing different things with no context.

The pictures did have sort of a chronological order to them, but if someone was unfamiliar with the early Republican history of the Republic of China (ROC), or Chiang Kai-shek generally, they would be totally lost. I, however, knew a good amount can could catch the general theme of things.

All that being said, here are some highlights of the museum!

One of two cars owned by Chiang Kai-shek.



CKS's other car.




The highlight, I think, of the exhibit, was a recreation of CKS's Presidential office complete with a waxwork of the man himself poised and ready to sign legislation at any moment!



More pictures in the next post. . . .

Taipei Museum of Modern Art Part 2

When last we left our intrepid hero he was wandering for days around Taipei in search of the elusive MOMA. Nearly collapsing from thirst and hunger, he reluctantly returned to school and vowed to one day find the museum. . .

Ok, it wasn't quite that dramatic, but I did shake my fist at the city on the bus ride home. Today, though, I did set out again to find the museum. I had a map, and directions and pictures of the buildings around it. . . and still wandered for an hour.

I did, however, have the common sense to ask around to find it. I went to a Family Mart nearby and stumbled through some Chinese when from behind me I heard "What d'ya need, mate?" Yes! and Australian just so happened to be in that same market, and was able to point me in the right direction.

"Oh, I'm looking for the Museum of Contemporary Art," I said.

"That's just back the other way. Make like a kangaroo to the crossroads, hang a left, and you'll see the building."

"Thanks," I said leaving.

"No worries bloke," he said untying his dingo from the bike rack in front of the market.

My memory is a but hazy, but I'm pretty sure that's how the conversation went. The interesting thing about it is that this is the second time it has happened! On our trip to the National Palace Museum an Australian guy helped us find the correct bus to the museum. I suspect that Taiwan imports Aussies to help poor lost Americans find their way.

So, I walked back to the main intersection turned left, and still couldn't find the place. Despondent, I found my way back to the Taipei Bus station, which is also connected to TPM, and walked around a bit thinking I'd soon be headed home. Luckily, after some walking, I happened upon this sign;



I followed some more signs into an elevator, and up to a city street. Down another street and viola! There it was! I found the museum in all its red brick glory!




Just to make sure I was in the right place, I took a picture of the sign out front!

The artist on exhibit at the MOMA was David LaChapelle, an American artist who's early work was with Andy Warhol. Generally, his work is pretty shocking, fairly crude, by very interesting.

Below are three of his more tame pieces. For more info, Google "David LaChapelle, deluge." That's a pretty accurate representation of most of his work.

Last Supper.



Cathedral.



Archangel Michael.



Overall the experience was lots of fun. I'd definitely go again (but with better directions!) and think I might when the exhibit changes in May.

That's all for now, I might be headed out again this week, but until then,

再見！

Taipei Museum of Modern Art Part 1

Today's outing was to the Taipei Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), and I was very excited to go! It occurred to me, though, before I left to look up directions. Seemed easy to find. Take the 635 bus to Ximen MRT station, Ximen to Taipei Main Station, TPM to Zhongshan and then a short walk to the MOMA.

Also, before I left, I thought I'd take a few pictures of my way down to the bus stop to show everyone what exactly campus is like.


There are lots of stairs on campus. The school is built on the side of a mountain, so it's also pretty steep. You know the inside gate-fold for Led Zeppelin IV with the hermit on the mountain? It's pretty much like that.



To get to the street, I walk outside my dorm door.



Down a flight of stairs.



Down another set of wooden stairs.



Across a courtyard to a long set of steps that curve down around the Fa Min Building (that's it on the right).



More stairs next to Fa Min.



End off the stairs at Fa Min. . .but that's not all!



More stairs that go past the main guard house on campus. It's run by retire military who are all very nice. One, named Lou, usually says hello to me.



So, I finally got to the bus, and off to my destination. I arrived at Zhongshan at about 1:30 or 2:00 and thought "This won't take long, and I'll be home by 6:00." I was wrong.

I ambled around Taipei for an hour and a half trying to find the place! One would think that a big international city would have better road signs or street maps. One would also assume that I'd have the sense to ask someone where the place was. . . but that's beside the point.

What is the point, is that I did not find the place and was exhausted by days end. I wandered back to TPM and drowned my sorrows in curry chicken.




So, maybe better luck tomorrow. Stay tuned for part two. . .

Trip to Danshui

So. . it's been a while, but I've got a few posts in the works with fun pictures!

First on the slate is a trip to Danshui in Northern Taipei. It's a seaside town, and not having seen anything but buildings and pavement most of this trip, it was nice to see ocean.

Overall, the trip wasn't bad. More shopping and food of course, and I ate grilled squid! Delicious!(好米)












Me eating grilled squid. It was delicious 好米

As night fell, the trees lit up, weirdly, and the ocean/lake (not sure which) took on a nice calm feeling.






A good time was had by all, and it was very enjoyable. Next post will be this weekend to the Taipei Museum of Modern Art.

再見！