My Cute Family to Receive Tawian Tax Vouchers

According to the explanation provided above, I'll be receiving a "tip" (the same word, I think, as they use in restaurants for good service) of NT$3600 this coming Sunday from Taiwan's government, which is in the process of "tidying up Taiwan's economy". I'm a bit surprised, as I didn't think I'd be getting a whiff of the money the government is doling out. But it seems all I have to do is show up with my ARC (Alien Resident Card) at an elementary school in Wanhua (萬華) and I can collect.

I'd heard that "foreign" spouses would be eligible, but when I mentioned this to local friends, it was explained that a "foreign" spouse meant a woman from Vietnam, Indonesia or China, not me. The tip has been called a tax credit or tax rebate by some, but as my American friend Craig has bitterly pointed out, many "foreigners" who pay taxes in Taiwan will not be included. He counts himself among the disenfranchised. He's been paying taxes in Taiwan for 21 years and won't get squat. My daughter, on the other hand, who has never paid taxes or for anything else in her life, will be making off like a bandit. My in-laws received a list of family members who'd be collecting come Sunday. The list included my wife's grandma, my father and mother-in-law, my brother-in-law, my sister-in-law, my niece, my wife and my daughter. Even though I am listed on the official family registration from which these names were drawn, I received a separate notice.

From what I can understand of this letter, I am encouraged to spend, not bank, this money on myself, my cute family or someone else that I love. Details on how I can collect are given in Vietnamese, Indonesian, English, Thai and Burmese. It's been a killer year. The cash will be nice to receive regardless of the terms.

Getting It Up the Yangtze

Back Up to Wulai

"In 1964, the Wulai Feng-ching Ch'u Kuan-li So or Administrative Office of the Wulai Scenic Area (AOWSA) in Wulai was founded. It is estimated the number of tourists coming to Wulai has averaged about 3,000 per day since the mid-1960s. Tourist revenues have become the most important economic resource in Wulai. Although the government has actively encouraged the Atayal residents to plant firs and mushrooms, the great majority of this indiginous group, especially the women, continue to depend on the tourist industry...." -Hsieh Shih-chung

When I read something like this, I wonder why the government doesn't encourage Taiwanese people to plant mushrooms and then work on the Atayal (泰雅) Aborigines to open shops and become prosperous. It's like when Chen was targeting Filipino and Indonesian workers, saying they were stealing labor jobs from Aborigines. He never said, "let them have them, because I'm going make sure every Aborigine goes to university to ensure he or she can make more than NT$16,000 per month, maybe less with forced days of unpaid leave off."

Anyway, Wulai (烏來), though crowded, is great place to visit especially if you're like me, even on a busy holiday like this (see above pic - I think there must have been three times the average for visitors, amazing for a town with a population around 2,000). First of all, it's right up the road from Wenshan (文山) where I live. Second, they've got a lot of cheap, tasty dishes. It's also in the mountains and the scenery is beautiful. Finally, they've got hot springs everywhere; it can be quite relaxing (although we ended up paying NT$1800 or US$60 for a 1.5-hour soak). The waters and fresh air are a nice way to recover from any new year-party hangover.

Normally in the Wulai (烏來), the shopkeepers will do anything to attract your attention. They'll wave at you, talk broken English or stick food samples on toothpicks in your way. This Indian restaurant was different. If it hadn't been for the Indian guy working the upside-down woks, where they heat up Indian springroll shells, I never would've noticed. According to the owner, an Indian man from the Punjab, they've been in business for a year. That means I've walked by this place on several occasions without taking the slightest notice.

Wulai is actually supposed to be Atayal (泰雅), the name given to Aborigines of similar traits and a shared language some 101 years ago by Japanese anthropologists. In truth, it's a hodgepodge. The last I heard, the town was 98+ percent Taiwanese owned. The Aborigines who work in the shops for the gratifiction of Aborigine-seeking tourists come from all over, though most of them do come from from a town just beyond river. The owners have asked them to bring stuff from home, to make the shops look more authentic. That's why you can seen pictures of Bunun (布農) Aborigines on the walls singing in religious ceremonies or clothes that might be Kavalan (噶瑪蘭). There's a really good variety.
I had this after the Indian spring rolls. It was supposed to boar meat, but when was the last time you saw a boar in Taiwan? Whatever it was, I couldn't complain. Fried with chilis and lots of onions, a serving only costs NT$100 (US$3) and really hits the spot.
This line, which stretched out on to the bridge with Taiwan flags, was for sausages . (See the sign? They contain boar meat!). There were about ten stands selling sausages in Wulai, but this was the only place you had to wait for a half an hour to get one. I asked my wife what was so special about the sausages. She couldn't really be brought to believe that the sausages were that much better or worth a thirty-minute wait. She hadn't seen anything about this place on the news, etc. "The thing that is special," she explained, "is there are a lot of people waiting to get a sausage. If you stand in this line, you could get something other people can't and that makes you special. Plus, these people are bored." I didn't have anything to do either. That was why I was in Wulai. But I wasn't about to wait this long unless they were giving the things away. And even then, I 'd still probably decline. I do know that if I ever open a food stand, I'm going to get my friends to stand out front. Or, I'm going to organize 10 to 15 food stand owners, so that we take turns rotating from stand to stand to drum up business.

Sanur, Bali

We decided to get out of the cold weather of Taiwan. After digging around for direct flights to tropical locales (my little daughter doesn't do airport stopovers very well), we came up with Bali. This was my third trip to Indonesia and my first to Bali since 1991. Instead of heading to Kuta Beach, the natural choice for visitors, we chose the quieter Sanur. I think this was a terrific move, especially after visiting Kuta, our original choice, for a couple of hours last Thursday. Kuta has really gone downhill in the last 17 years, sliding into as my colleague described it, a kind of Fort Lauderdale for Australians. Even though high season is not yet in full gear, the beach in Kuta was more packed than Waikiki (I've never been to Florida, but I can just imagine). It was wall-to-wall noise, filth and inanity.

I've posted a pic of the beach in front of our Sanur hotel (the Sagara Village Hotel) for a bit of contrast. Needless to say, we couldn't get out of Kuta fast enough - back to our nice quiet patch of sand.
The Bintang, Bali Hai Draft and regular Bali Hai were all waiting patiently for our return. The Bintang goes, on average, for $11,000 rupiah (about 90 cents US.) You can expect to save $500 rupiah on Bali Hai Draft and Bali Hai regular.
The Stone Pillar (above) is said to be the oldest artifact yet to be dated in Bali. The language on the stone could be an ancient version of Javanese that is not widely understood anymore. Located in Sanur, it's an obscure site, even to locals.

When I told the taxi driver the address - just down the street - he was perplexed. Taking the address out of my hand, he stared at it and rubbed his head. Then, about five minutes later, we were pulling up in front of an alley about a meter wide. The driver got out and checked around to make sure the address was right. Then he said "This is it. In there" before collecting a $20,000 rupiah fee (about US$1.60).

The pillar is, well, unimpressive. The temple next door, which is half in ruins, seemed a lot more intriguing. I googled Stone Pillar just a few minutes ago, and this is what I got: http://www.baliblog.com/places-to-go/in-search-of-prasasti-blanjong.html
The sentiment on baliblog is about the same. It's an interesting post, with an exact date.

I think the driver thought he had scammed us, because he was still hanging around when we came out. He said: "Come on. I take you back now." I told him we'd shop our way back, but struck a deal for transport to Ubud the following day.

On our way up to Ubud (we stayed there for a couple of days), we started up a bit of a conversation. The driver was from a village around 30 minutes away, but took lodging in Sanur and returned to his wife and little child on weekends. His wife also worked, in a shop at Denpassar, so child-rearing was left to his 50-year-old unemployed father. "It's very hard here," he explained. "Harder and harder, and I'm just 26-year-old guy to say this. We make about US$100 a month." After I had translated to my wife, he turned and asked "Chinese?"

"No, Taiwanese."

"Same," he affirmed.

Knowing a bit about Bali's rocky relationship with Indonesia (or Java, where the government is) and understanding my Taiwanese wife could become agitated, I jabbed back: "Bali and Indonesia same?" The Balinese are still very, very upset with the 2002 and 2005 bombings, which were carried out by nutcases from Java, and they will differentiate themselves strongly. These individuals made a huge dent on tourism and affected the lives of, it is safe to say, one in two people on the island. I think the driver got my point. His reply was emphatic:

"No, not same! All Indonesia people? Better can't come here in Bali. Better not come."
*****
Returning from a visit to the rice terraces outside Ubud, we drove through into a "New Year" parade (Friday, November 28). There were about 100 revelers in the road, including women balancing loads on their heads and lots of kids. Our driver, Bayu, took a mysterious tone of voice and asked: "Do you want to see the 'white bird'?" I had an image of large statue of worship that was hauled out on special occasions, so I answered:

"Yes, we do."

Bayu turned the minivan off the main road and headed up a lovely, tree-lined lane. "There's 'white bird'," he announced finally, pointing up at the trees (see above pic). The trees were teeming with white birds. According to Bayu, these are the only trees in Ubud that they come to rest in. They do so at dusk.

Taiwan: Food, Finally!

I've never seen it as my duty as a good little "foreign" guest here in Taiwan to say that "everyone knows that Chinese food is the best food in the world". To tell the truth, I don't agree with this. You won't see me making top ten lists with Chinese food at number one. For me, Chinese food is too rich, too greasy, too (piping) hot and too hard to dig into. I'd much rather eat Greek, Italian, Cajun or Indian. I especially don't like expensive Chinese food, such as is served at feasts or wedding banquets. I simply nibble at these meals to be polite. And I absolutely detest anything with "herbal medicine" in it. I not only can't eat that stuff, but I can't even breathe it. There are exceptions of course like Szechuan food, which is spicy yet simple and Cantonese food, with its crunchy noodles and fun-to-eat dim sum offerings. Thus I am happy to see Taiwanese becoming more democratic in their tastes. Where I come from, it's more like "everyone knows Chinese food is quick and easy takeout. Make sure you have something to wash it down with." Nobody has it ranked number one.

My friend John was telling me the other day that the reason "foreign restaurants" are taking off in Taiwan is people here are afraid of Chinese ingredients, like everything has melamine in it. I don't see it that way. I think the population has become more worldly, more adventuresome and less susceptible to Sino-centric brainwashing. This bodes well for me, because boy do I like to eat. I threw some pics down below as further evidence of Taiwan's democratization.

Vietnamese spring rolls over noodles served at a the Pho Cafe, a nice little place near my office in Taipei. The owner, a friendly Cantonese fellow, comes from Vietnam.

I had this pita sandwich and spicy fries at a Middle Eastern restaurant called the Sababa Pita Bar www.sababapita.com, a restaurant in the newish Breeze Center, upstairs at the Taipei Train Station. I asked one of employees, I think his name was Eddie (an overseas Taiwanese from the Philippines) if they had a "foreign" cook hidden away in the back. He said "no", and that the owner was a Taiwanese woman. But he also told me that restaurant was a franchise. Sababa buys all of their sauces from the original branch, which is run by a Canadian. I'm guessing the Canadian, or his parents, come from some place cooler than Canada. This guy can really cook. Let's just hope the owner of this branch doesn't get it into her head that they don't really need to keep paying up, that she can do just as well on her own. When/if this happens, the Sababa Pita Bar can kiss its sales goodbye.
Moroccan eggplant, yogurt sauce, tomatoes, dill (I think), pita and drink for NT$180 (US$6).
Korean food in Hualien (花蓮), Taiwan: for the life of me, I couldn't remember eating this. It was in my Hualien pics file stored on my Mac, from the spring. I must've enjoyed it, because I love Korean food. Hualien has also started to go cosmopolitan. The tiny airport there serves international flights. And I do remember eating at a Chinese restaurant and having my order taken by a Russian in a chipao.
This jarred my memory. It was definitely Korean.

Tainan, Taiwan's Wa Gei

I had this traditional dish which is called Wa Gei in Taiwanese - no idea how to write that in Chinese - yesterday in Tainan. It's like a hard cream of wheat with salty shrimp mixed in. The concoction is topped off with a salty, tangy goo that is really delicious. Taiwanese people usually douse Wa Gei with a garlicky wine sauce that calls for a cold beer to wash it down. The dish, which dates back to the Ming Dynasty (明朝), comes in a solid chunk that needs to be chopped up with a fork before it can be handled with chopsticks. Yesterday, I was in a bit of a predicament as I was on my way to a school to give a speech to some teachers. Inebriation and foul breath don't usually go down well at these moments.

Just as I was considering my options, a middle-aged woman pulled up on her bike and said: "Good. You gave 'the foreigner' a fork", noticing my chopping utensil, "because he can't [even though I have been in Taiwan since the nineties] use chopsticks." That's right. If there's no fork available, I just eat with my hands. I put ketchup on my dumplings too. And I simply talk louder when people don't respond to me. I know that everyone can speak English. But many people are hard of hearing.
*****
I've blogged about this before, but I still can't get over the range of temperatures in this small country. When I left Taipei yesterday morning on the high speed rail, it was drizzling and cold. An hour and forty minutes later, 274 kilometers south of Taipei, I stepped off the train to a tide of warm air. I checked the baseball thermometer coming down the escalator in the Tainan High Speed Rail Station; it was registering 26 degrees Celsius - just another beautifully sunny day in Tainan without a strand of cloud in the sky. When I returned to Taipei seven hours later, the city was so cold and wet that my eyes watered and nose became red. Today, at three o'clock in Taipei, it was 15 degrees Celsius. We had a humidity of 67.5 percent.
*****
The Taiwan HSR is running a promotion right now. If you ride during an orange hour, you save 35 percent on your ticket. If you go in a blue hour, it's 15 percent. Otherwise, you save nothing. When I purchased my ticket down, I was charged NT$875 (around US$25). "No," I explained, "I want reserved seating. It should come to NT$1080." I know this because I go down on an almost weekly basis. That's when I found out about the color-schemed savings. For my trip back, I, actually my company, was charged NT$1350. I'm figuring that costs are going up in general. The color times are a way to put sugar on this fact.

President Chen, Come Out!

This has been going on outside my friend Celia's apartment, which is across the street from President Chen's apartment, for the past couple of months (I grabbed these shots on my cell phone yesterday at around two p.m.).

When it first came out, thanks to Swiss authorities, that Chen & Family had been laundering the millions of dollars it ripped off from everyday Taiwanese people, the press was out in droves. They waited all day just to grab a pic of Chen or his wife, or perhaps a family member, shielding their face(s) as they drove out from the underground parking complex that is part of the ex-president's luxurious new pad in East Taipei, about a five-minute walk from Taipei 101 and in one of the cities swankiest neighborhoods. Since then, the amount of press stalking Chen directly outside his apartment dwindled, to where it has just been one or two student-ish individuals timidly crouching in the shadows of Celia's apartment, enough away from the secret service not to catch it, with their cameras, looking lonely, miserable and kind of cold. According to Celia, there has been one or two photographers under her eaves 24/7. With Chen's arrest last week, the mayhem has returned big time.
President Chen's lawyers (bald guy in the middle) gives a press conference right in the middle of the street out front of Chen and my friend Celia's apartment, oblivious of the traffic.

Reporters and photographers taking over Celia's apartment even brought their own chairs and playing cards. Instead of shooing them off, the security simply slept through it all with both doors to the building flung wide open.