Not to Be Social Media Shaming, But...


Ever since I started the Southern Taiwan Hiking group, I have always said that I wanted to start a blog about hiking, or other outdoor activities in Taiwan. My hunch is fear of success kept me from doing it. I think it's a fear of success, because my top five favorite things to do are:

1.) Writing
2.) Hiking
3.) Photography
4.)  Cycling
5.) Reading

With those five interests in life, it should have been pretty obvious to me to start writing some of the adventures out. But, better late than never!

But, I have recently been reading a book called The Artist's Way.  It is about the tenth time I have made an attempt to read, and work through the exercises that the author provides her readers. The material focuses on providing strategies for increased creativity. Every time I spend time working on this piece of work,  it always seems to give me the courage to try some new things while I am going through the suggested activities. So, with the list I made above, I took notice of the fact that I should start chronicling more of my outdoor activities.

Enjoy my first entry!

Careful Flipping The Bird in Taiwan

I left a little later than usual today on my afternoon adventure. So, this meant a lot of traffic. Which in Taiwan means, a lot of cars driving unnecessarily too close to you, as a cyclist. Moments before taking this picture of the Fried Rice place near my house, I had to refrain myself from giving a guy driving a BMW the finger. The main reason that I didn't give him the finger is that you can supposedly have trouble with the police if you are found guilty of giving someone the finger here. I can't verify the legitimacy of this claim. I only know that I did see a detective come to the beach one day when a local Taiwanese accused my friend of calling her a bitch.

Instead, I passive-aggressively stared into the guy's tinted window.

I have been in Taiwan way too long. I'm starting to act just like the locals. Put me to sleep if I start slurping my noodles.

"Hey You, You Wanna Chao Phan?"

I took a picture of this guy's fried rice place for a couple of reasons. One is that the word for sex in Mandarin is pronounced the same as the word for fried rice, "Chao Phan." That makes me chuckle every time I see a fried rice place. The other  reason is that I  complain all the time about customer service in Taiwan. Well, mainly I just complain about the 7-11 near my house. It's the exact opposite scenario here. This boss hands me a Taiwan beer out of the fridge every time I walk in, and immediately starts cooking my meal. So, if you are ever on Wenhua Road in Douliou for some reason, go visit this chao phan stand! :) :) 


Finally Getting Greener

The ride out of the city was a little more aggravating than usual today. I remember at one point trying  to formulate a joke in my head about all the people. It didn't get much further past me just sounding like a bitter and un-sexed old man.
 I was happy to see any bit of  green when I snapped this tree up there. They are ugly trees, I know. However, Douliou, where I live, and the bordering city called Linnei which I have to ride through to get into any kind of mountains,  are two dreary and grey factory towns. This should show you how ugly these two places are if these trees made me happy.
Linnei, I suppose adds a bit of culture since there are various Vietnamese restaurants, some Thai grocery stores, and I am uncertain if they have Filipino stores or restaurants. But, Linnei does have a lot of Filipinos living there. A lot of the SE Asian countries export large amounts of foreign workers that take employment in the local factories here.

Mean-Ass Dog Country

I tooled around some more in an area I call, mean-ass dog territory. The side roads in the country side in Taiwan give you that sense of raw adventure that so many people seek. You can hear the cicadas, the monkeys throwing poo at you, and all the other natural noises of the jungle screaming at you. The only problem is that you never know when some mean-ass dog is going to come darting after you, making Cujo look like a little tiny Chihuahua in a baby cart, like you find so many of here in Taiwan.  Sure enough, I heard some pretty gnarly growls, followed by angry footsteps on three different unnamed roads. So, I abandoned some of these lesser known side streets and headed to the Buddhist temple on top of the hill I know quite well. 


My first  companion outside of the temple was this little stray puppy. He looked like he was surviving quite well on scraps from temple goers in the area. Even though I have been in Taiwan seven years and I have absolutely no intentions of adopting a street dog,  I always contemplate taking a street dog home when I see them out in the wild like this.


Welcome to Garbage Town

Before I got to the temple, my eyes feasted on this bullshit. Now , anyone who has been around stand-up comedy for the last five years has probably heard a famous comedian start a bit, " When somebody says, not to be racist, but... You know they're going to say something racist. "


Same idea here. I don't like Social Media shaming. But, I'm about to.

I think if you complain about something you need to at least offer a solution. But, I have been living in Taiwan's smaller and more remote villages for the last four years. People using the Forrest as their dumpster is a problem I see way too much of. I don't know the solution. To a Western mind, you just throw your shit in the garbage. It's pretty simple. Maybe these old people think that is not convenient? The optimist would say the place has the potential to be like a  Chenglong Wetlands Art project. This is a village nearby that had problems with pollution, trash, and other cleanliness issues. Now, this program  invites artists from all over the world to come do Artist Residencies there every year to help make the village more beautiful. 






Back to the temple, this place always has a pleasant vibe. I feel like I could watch an old man kick a dog, and then come here and forget anything happened. The music also reminds me a lot of my trip to Nepal a few years back already now. A very calm and serene environment.


After taking in the lotus ponds, the Buddha statues, and the sounds of the temple and jungle together, I decided to call it an easy 30km day, and head back home for dinner.

See ya next time!



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

5 Reasons Why I Joined The TIE Mastermind Group

The RKD (Reflection Kills Depression) Movement Is Coming!

Are You Fit for Taitung?