mad max   2004-05-25

its been an action packed couple of days. where to start ...

shinlin night market.

the biggest in taipei. it kicks off every night of the week at around 7:00 pm and runs until around 1:00 am. feels like the best night of your life when you're 15 and walking the calgary stampede or vancouver p.n.e. grounds with a pack of friends. what you can do/buy is only limited by your imagination. it takes place in the main and side streets of a whole neighbourhood. not sure what the actual size is with all the winding and twisting streets involved ... but don't get lost or you're not coming out for a few days.

feel like cutting an album in a glass booth with everyone outside watching and laughing at you? easy. feel like eating some raw octopus? done. in the mood for a new pet? if it moves it's on sale. how about picking up a "dress young girls in revealing underwear" video game? it's yours (warning: only legal in the lower 10 states).

brian and juno took us to the market on sunday night after a day spent wandering the streets of tianmu (get out mapquest and follow along). a great neighbourhood ... probably one of the "nicest" ... if you know what i mean ... in taipei. it's a bit of a foreigner section of town. if you're in the mood to satisfy your craving for spray-on cheez you can make that dream a reality here ... or "steak."

really enjoying brian and juno's company. juno is an absolute firebrand and brian is quiet and laidback with a razor sharp desert dry sense of humour. nothing lost in translation with either of them. it's good times having them around.

the market's provide a good overview of taiwanese fried food. there's nothing you can't deep fry. most of it good. all of it freakin' greasy. brian kept on buying us snack after snack. "no thanks, i'm full." "but you haven't tried the chocolate fried sausage yet!" no joke. "ahhh ... okay ... but just one." repeat numerous times. we both left with 5 pound grease babies rolling around in our stomachs.

there's this incredibly stinking ... and folks ... when i say stinking i mean stinking ... kind of tofu simmering in a bunch of the stalls ... cho do-fu. whoa. it's like the gates of hell have opened up and let all the bad smells out. happily being pushed on all sides from the throng of people while munching some fried egg pancake and suddenly ... CHO DO-FU. hit the ground and hit it fast.


foreigner eye aversion

not quite sure what the deal is ... but on the very odd occassion we've seen another whitey on the street we've flashed the pearly whites only to be ignored or outright snubbed. we're about 1/20 for even an acknowledgment. strange. will continue smiling for at least another few weeks and then they're cut off unless there's some improvement to the smile/snub ratio.


mad max

the scooters are mad. period. i can't wait to either borrow or buy one. the roads are the ultimate test of darwin's theory. we have it easy in the west. everyone's a winner. witnessed my first "baby on board" sighting the other day. gently nestled between mom's legs on the scooter was none other than a two year old. no helmet. just checking it all out. being in a car in the midst of so many scooters is something like being on the bridge of the spaceship enterprise going through an astroid field. wicked.


work

we found work today! woo hooo. i only have a couple of minutes left so i can't go into detail ... but i'll pick it up from here tomorrow. suffice it to say i'm now a teacher. totally unqualified ... but a teacher nevertheless. waiting for inspiration.

until then ...

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