Stay-At-Home Adventures

Lately I've been feeling stuck, so I made a pledge to myself to go on day-trips, small adventures. This weekend, I didn't bother with my day trips, but opted instead to explore and improve my culinary skills, watch new movies, and sleep until I was sore.

Sometimes on Fridays I make soup from the odds and ends in my refrigerator, dubbed "Smorgasbord Soup", named after my dad's method of making dinner when I was younger. We would make a "smorgasbord" by taking everything out of the refrigerator; everyone was then in charge of his or her own meal. How those meals often ended up as tacos continues to mystify me to this day.

I bring home a lot of leftovers from school, and they complement each other magnificently when simmered together with some curry powder, chili powder, and turmeric. This Friday I had spare broccoli and cauliflower and tossed that in--delicious. The soup was burn-your-throat spicy, and utterly satisfying.

Later I made one of my favorite meals, "Indian Spiced Salmon", which my mom used to make a lot. Interestingly enough it was like a smorgasbord for salmon. You take any combination of spices that you have on hand, spread them over the salmon with a bit of olive oil, then bake until cooked through. This is best accompanied by a sauce made from cilantro and plain yogurt.

Staying up all of Saturday night to watch movies and cooking videos inspired me to try baking bread again. I tried a few times in Israel and for some reason was satisfied with the results even though they were quite gross. This time, I made a ton of mistakes during the entire process, but ended up with beautiful, delicious, golden dinner rolls. Nevermind that they were supposed to be hamburger rolls. I'm currently slow-cooking some pulled chicken, which I will mix with honey mustard, Thai sweet chili sauce, and Sriracha (separately, of course), to make tiny, adorable sliders.

With the exception of two enjoyable yet horrendously bad movies, each movie I watched this weekend was better than the last. Well, even that isn't true. They were all just so freaking good. Emotional, touching, feel-good, funny. Through these movies I have gone through what feels like nearly every possible emotion in one weekend, and it felt great.

In no particular order, the movies were: "The Imposters", "The Rules of Attraction", "35 And Ticking", "Home of Phobia" (the horrendously bad one, also known as "Freshman Orientation"), "Shake, Rattle & Rock", "Beauty & the Briefcase" (the other horrendously bad yet enjoyable movie), "Conception", "21 & Over", "Stuck in Love", and "Phoebe in Wonderland".

All in all, it was a great weekend. I feel refreshed, and slightly out of my rut.

How the 921 Earthquake Museum Rocked My World

March 22^nd, 2014

I was too lazy to get up for the Sun Moon Lake trip that I had scheduled for today, but after a relaxed morning I decided to fulfill a different goal and visit the 921 Earthquake Museum, commemorating the earthquake that occurred in Taichung County on the morning of September 21^st, 1999.

This involved two buses—one to the train station, and one to the museum. The bus to the station was fine, but the bus part of the train station is a MESS. However, it is easy to navigate if you are willing to ask questions in order to ensure that you are in the correct location and on the bus you need. I got on the wrong bus but quickly figured out that it was a mistake, and the bus driver pointed me to the bus “terminal” that I was supposed use. I saw the bus I needed pass me by, but another came ten minutes later. It turns out I had negative money on my bus card, so I paid for a ticket instead, which was great because that way I knew to ask for one for the return trip. This meant I could avoid being my usual bumbling self for a change!

It’s possible the bus driver was repeating all of the stops for my benefit, and later in the ride two middle school-aged boys came onto the bus and one of them (Gary) said hello, introduced himself, then proceeded to turn around after every stop, give me a huge smile, and repeat the names for me in English. We spoke a mix of Mandarin and English to each other, and it was fun. He and his friend seemed excited to see me and to speak with me. I wish I had the spunk in middle school to get on a bus and talk to foreign strangers. At one point the boys turned around and said “91”, and I had *no* idea why. It turned out they were saying “921”, which was the name of my stop (and the bus' last stop)!

The museum itself was interesting—it had a lot of pictures of the havoc the 921 earthquake wreaked on Taiwan, which ranged from raising tea fields two meters higher in certain points, to destroying bridges, to creating waterfalls. There were also some interactive parts, including multiple earthquake simulators, one where you jump to register magnitude, and another where you set up a small village in mud (the four year old in me LOVED that one) then turn a crank and raze it to the ground, along with a few more. The dork/child in me decided that I needed to use the stamps provided in each building of the museum to stamp the map I was given at the beginning, which led to a few giggles with the museum’s staff.

One of the best parts was the location of the museum. It is housed in a former junior high school which was decimated by the 921 earthquake, and is situated in the mountains. Although it was a cool and cloudy day, the weather was perfect. I ate lunch outside after going through the museum, and then headed home.

The Next Three Months

I'm teaching myself how to take day and weekend trips during my last six months in Taiwan, partly so I don't have to spend too much time here after my contract ends, and partly because learning how to leave my apartment on weekends even when I only want to sleep and watch TV is a good skill.

Here's my schedule for the next three months:

Saturday, March 22nd, 2014: Sun Moon Lake

8:10am bus from Nantou Bus Ticketing Office (10:10am arrival at Sun Moon Lake).
*Across from Military City (15 minute walk from Train Station)
**Get discount package (includes bus ticket, possibly a return ticket?, cable car ticket, boat tour ticket).

Explore! (take the cable car, go on the lake boat tour, bike around Sun Moon Lake).

Last bus leaves Sun Moon Lake at 6:40pm (8:10pm arrival in Taichung).


Saturday, March 29th, 2014: 921 Earthquake Museum Day Trip

Take the 50 bus between Taichung train station and 921 Earthquake Museum (trip takes about an hour).

Learn about earthquake that took place on September 21st, 1999.
http://www.921emt.edu.tw/e_content/about/about01.aspx


Sunday, March 30th, 2014: Science Museum and Minsu Folk Park

Spend the morning/mid-afternoon exploring the National Museum of Science, then go to Minsu Folklore Park (recreation of a rustic/old-fashioned Taiwan) for the afternoon.


Friday, April 4th, 2014: Alishan National Park Day Trip

(This is a day off from school for Children's Day, so I'm going to push myself to wake up hella, hella early to explore the bamboo and red cypress forests of Alishan National Scenic Area.)

5:22am train from Taichung to Chiayi (7:03am arrival). Try to catch the 7:10am bus to Alishan (if not, get the 8:10am bus).

-Take the Jhushan train and hike back
-Walk the Giant Trees Trail
-See Two Sisters Pond

See: giant red cypress trees.
Try: Oolong tea!

5:10pm bus (THIS IS THE LAST BUS!!!) back from Alishan to Chiayi, then take the train from Chiayi to Taichung.


Saturday, April 5th, 2014: "The Parkway" and Taichung Park Mid-Lake Pavilion

"The Parkway" is an area between Wuquan 3rd and 4th streets, from the Art Museum to the Science Museum. It has a lot of small, local shops and restaurants, and a lot of cool artistic and cultural displays. After that I'll head over to Taichung Park. I'm not sure what is there, but I was typing a location into my Google Calendar and the Taichung Park Mid-Lake Pavilion showed up, so I figured I'd check it out.


Saturday, April 12th to Saturday, April 19th: USA! USA! USA!


Sunday, April 27th, 2014: Dakeng Hiking

From the Taichung Wikitravel page:
"Dakeng in Beitun District has several hiking paths along elevated wooden walkways. Trails are connected and some loop around to connect with other trails. Trail #5 leads to the highest point in Taichung City."

Also, I've heard there are monkeys all around this area.


Saturday, May 3rd, 2014 to Sunday, May 4th, 2014: Taipei

-Modern Toilet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Toilet
-Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall
-Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall
-See the National Theater and Concert Halls at night
-Taipei Zoo
-Spend an hour or so hanging out at the Hua Shan Cultural and Creative Industry Center
-Peace Park
-Beitou Hot Spring Museum
-Daan Forest Park
-228 Peace Park
-Dajia Riverside Park


Sunday, May 11th, 2014: Guanziling Muddy Hot Springs

Train to Chiayi, bus to Guanziling.

"Fire and Water". WATER IS ON FIRE. Methane gas comes up from the ground, so the rocks in the hot spring are on fire.

Guanziling is famous for muddy hot springs. I'm going to a spa! The experience seems to be similar to the Dead Sea mud.


Sunday, May 18th, 2014: Tainan

In Anping District (安平區； Ānpíng qū)
-Anping Old Fort (Watch the sunset here)
-Anping Tree House
-Eternal Golden Castle/Fortress/Fort
-Chihkan Towers (the landmark of Tainan and its most famous historic site)
-National Museum of Taiwanese Literature


Friday, May 30th, 2014 to Monday, June 2nd, 2014: Kaohsiung, Kenting National Park, and the Dragon Boat Festival

Friday night I'll take a late train to Kaohsiung, stay the night, then take a bus to Kenting National Park the next morning. I'll stay over in Kenting National Park on Saturday night, and stay over in Kaohsiung on Sunday night. Monday, June 2nd is the Dragon Boat Festival, so I'll watch that in Kaohsiung, then take the train back to Taichung that evening!

Kenting National Park is supposed to have the best beaches in Taiwan. I plan to veg out and read on the beach for two days. Mmm.