ONEBUBBLE

I don’t remember when but roughly two weeks ago we took a trip to the Danshui River Park. Actually I don’t know if that’s what they call it but this place is located alongside the Danshui River (obviously) and if you take the MRT (red line), just go north until you reach the Danshui Station (duh).

Danshui has become quite the hot tourist spot. In addition to its various historical attractions, it has a perfect combination of good crowd, great food, and beautiful scenery. If you’re looking to avoid the hustles & bustles of a night market, this is a great place to just walk around and enjoy the breeze. (Edit: actually, I never been here at night so maybe it gets just as boisterous as a typical night market. I doubted it though…)

I would recommend coming here right before dawn so you can catch the sunset and enjoy the night scenes here. You can also check out some nearby attractions such as the Fisherman’s Wharf or the Red Castle.

Every spot has their own specialty or creation and Danshui is no exception. Unfortunately, we were in a hurry so didn’t get a chance to really enjoy the food here. Which bites… but not literally. You can also walk through the alleys and check out what’s happening on the street side.

I wished I bought one. I saw one that’s at least twice as high as the one in the picture above (left side).

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Here are some videos we took:

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THE BLACK STORE

We did however check out this joint famous for its pork chops. It’s about a 10-minute cab ride from the Danshui Station. It’s a very well-known restaurant so any cab driver from Danshui should be able to get you there no problem. By the way, it’s called the Black Store because when it first opened, about 20 years ago I think, the interior was all black. Taiwanese are simple people when it comes to store names.

It wasn’t bad but I think we came at a bad time (around 2-3pm) because the food came out immediately after we order it. There’s no doubt the pork chops were pre-made because it wasn’t quite hot off the grill if you get my drift. Maybe if you come during lunchtime then you won’t get the leftovers.

We ran into this little charmer right after our meal. It seems like every time we eat pork chops there’s a pig right outside waiting for us.

So I thought I’ll start doing a quick recap like this every once in a while just to be more current. We still have quite a few more updates in the bag which hopefully I’ll get to in the next few days. As for the past week, I pretty much just stayed home, chilled with my mom, and caught up on all the Chinese movies I have ever missed. It was a needed change of pace after our first two weeks. I can’t say the same for Andy. He has been working his butt off at the summer camp with hundreds of kids half his age. Just so y’all know, I visited him this past Thursday and he’s doing well. The kids love him and he’s doing a great job. In any case, until next post, a few more random thoughts:

• Honestly, I didn’t know karaoke was such a big thing in Taiwan and I’m guessing all of Asia. Here’s a typical routine for a night out: First, you hit up Cashbox with a few friends to get warmed up for the night. Then you meet up with your party people at a trendy lounge such as Barcode (where everyone seems to be ABC) to get a few drinks and check out the crowd. Lastly, if people are in the mood to dance, you make your way to the likes of 18 and Luxe. Apparently, a whole bunch of clubs and bars are all located in the same exact location.
• This past Saturday night, I was invited to a birthday party of a friend of Andy that I have met only two weeks ago. Andy couldn’t make it because of camp so I went solo. The party was at, of course, Cashbox. Basically, I found myself mingling in a small and crowded room with 25 people I have never met before and probably will never meet again, singing songs I have never heard of, and speaking a language that I barely use. It was a great time. Too bad Wonderwall wasn’t on the selection…
• I saw both The Matrix and The Matrix Revolutions tonight. I always thought the third installment was the worst of the three because…well, I don’t remember. Like everyone else, I just thought it got worse and worse after the first one. Anyway, I saw the third one tonight again and thought it was pretty good. Everything made a little more sense. Maybe it’s because by not watching the second one, The Matrix Reloaded, it made the storyline flow better or maybe it’s just that my expectation has leveled off considerably since then. Anyway, here’s a great clip from that final fight scene. Awesome dialogue between Agent Smith and Neo. Don’t ask me why but I got inspired and did some push-ups & sit-ups.
• By the way, I think this is my new favorite movie right now. The commute would be so much more bearable if I have eight of these wild things to guide me.



• Question of the day: Would you break up a fight between two random strangers in a foreign country? Think about it. I had about 10 seconds to make that decision. A few nights back, I decided to swing by National Taiwan University and check out some basketball action. I wasn’t dressed to play so I just found a seat and watched. Out of nowhere, all hell broke loose and some kid went psycho on this other kid because he got smacked in the face. At first, a few teammates got in the way and it looks like everything is calming down. But it didn’t. It escalated. The bigger and stronger kid started to chase down this other kid and he started running my way. Before you know it, they were right in my face and this kid was about to get pummeled. Man, I didn’t know what to do. At first, I was thinking I better not get involved because it might end up with me getting jumped by a group of kids or worse me getting arrested. But then, I thought…dude, I can’t sit idly by while some kid gets beat up right in front of me. Seriously, what would you do? Luckily, before I could do anything, a swarm of people ran over to break things up. Whew…
• I’ll end with this. C’mon people, it’s “Don’t DRINK and Drive“, not “Don’t THINK and Drive“!!

Don’t get your hopes up. This post won’t be nearly as entertaining as the title suggests. We went to meet a friend of mine (father of Boy In Static actually) in Neihu, Taipei at a hotel right next to the Miramar Entertainment Park. It’s not much of an entertainment park but rather just a mall with an over-sized ferris wheel on its roof. I heard it’s one of the largest ferris wheel in the world and a great place to propose, because at the top, you get a great view, ton of excitement, and best of all, the girl has no place to run. That or it’ll be a very long and awkward ride to the bottom.

Andy got very excited when I told him we’re going to ride the ferris wheel. I lied.

To our surprise, we found a driving range right next to Miramar and decided to hit a few balls since we arrived early. It was nice do something active other than eating.

I didn’t really like golf that much before mainly because I suck. Sometimes there’s nothing more frustrating than trying to enjoy a nice relaxing afternoon at the driving range. Anyway, I still suck but slowly improving. See for yourself below. It’s not quite like Tiger’s swing but it’s close. By the way, slow motion is cool. Is there a cheap way to do it at a high-quality level? Yeah…probably not.

Here’s my swing:

Here’s Andy’s swing:

Raohe St. Night Market is one of the oldest night markets around, and from what I’ve read, it’s supposedly the first night market in Taiwan. Located near the Songshan Railway Station (like you know where that is…), it’s about a ten minutes cab ride from the Taipei 101 area. The taxis here are much cheaper compared to New York City but it still adds up. For example: a cab ride of about 40 minutes and 20 miles will cost roughly $30 USD in Taipei and I’m guessing about $50 in New York. It’s not dirt cheap like the street food here but if you split the cab with couple of buddies then it’s not too bad at all. It beats trying to figure out the bus routes in a foreign country.

I have heard that this night market is one of the better ones in terms of food deliciousness which makes sense if this is indeed the first ever night market in Taiwan. Well, it’s a good “combo” market meaning it covers both food and shopping. We didn’t spend much time here, but from what I remembered, it had a good crowd, great variety of food, and enough stores on the sides to keep your eyes busy wandering.

We decided to eat here first because the line was long and it looks like everyone was clamoring for one of these steamed/fried buns.

They looked pretty good from where we were standing. By the way, don’t believe the hype. The line died down right after we got on. If we were there ten minutes later, there would’ve been no one there.

These buns were huge and there were HOT!! Like mouth-burning lava HOT!! The taste wasn’t bad but we were stuffed (and burned) so it kind of killed our appetite for the night. I would recommend against this as your first bite.

Another Doraemon sighting. Confession: I grew up reading Doraemon and eating Dorayaki. Anyway, I bought one, left it in my shorts, and forgot all about it. I ate it about a week later (I put it in the fridge after I found it) and it was just alright. Somehow, I don’t think I gave it a fair chance to be good…

We ended the night by spending a good amount of coins at one of these game stations. Here’s Andy trying to win the grand prize. I think it’s either a polar bear or a really fat rabbit.

Ni Hao! Sorry for the lack of updates lately. Blogging is hard work. Just thinking of a catchy title takes hours. Since we got here we’ve been “out on the town” almost everyday. There’s plenty to blog about but I don’t know how interesting it will be. In any case, Andy is out doing his mission work (what a guy) for the next two weeks so I should have more time to blog. Be on the lookout for more updates in the next few days and feel free to hit us up with ideas and suggestions. In the mean time, a few random thoughts on the trip so far:

• I find it easier to spend foreign money mainly because it doesn’t look real. It looks like monopoly money to me. Also, the difference in exchange rate here (30:1) makes me less aware of how much I’m actually spending sometimes. In other words, I’m broke…
• In celebration of 4th of July, we went to see Hancock. One thing I’m not yet accustomed to, or like, is seats assignment for movies. We bought our tickets more than an hour in advance and still got the crappiest seats. Here’s our view. As for the movie, I thought it was better than MIB but not quite as good as ID4. My suggestion for going to movies in Taiwan: Buy tickets a day in advance especially if you’re watching it on the weekends.
• Speaking of movies, I don’t know why but I really don’t want to see WALL-E. In fact, I’m sick of all the trailers and promos for it. I’m sure it will be another great Pixar movie, but right now, I’m just overloaded with too much of this, this and this to watch some cutesy animated flick…

• I’m, however, very looking forward to this new epic (above) by John Woo. Now, this is the kind of movie that I don’t mind dishing out NT$300 for (sounds cheap no?). Growing up, I was a big fan of Romance of The Three Kingdoms and love anything that had to do with military strategies. If you’re still not pumped up about Red Cliff yet, here’s a more hyped-up version of the trailer with voice-over by who else but Don LaFontaine (that’s obviously not him).
• Playing basketball in Taiwan is very tiring. It’s hot and humid and it’s nonstop. Everyone here plays 3-on-3 which actually requires more energy than 5-on-5 because you are constantly moving and fighting for positions. There’s only three of you so you can’t slack off – not if you want to win. Also, there’s very little rest time in between games. The next team waiting is always ready to go. In any case, we’ve played twice so far and the competition is fairly decent. I’ll blog more about it later.
• By the way, I really miss Gatorade. For some reason, you can’t buy it here! Hey, I don’t mind drinking Super Supau or Pocari Sweat, but if you drink them too much, it will start tasting more and more like sweat. I kid you not.
• I love how creative kids get when they are bored. Seriously, give a boy a ball and he’ll find a way to entertain himself for hours. Here’s my first taste of competitive basketball in Taiwan. It might have looked like I lost 2-0 but I was en fuego right before Andy started recording.
• I picked up this magazine at JFK Airport for my flight here. From cover to cover, it’s the best magazine I’ve read in a really long time. Go get a copy (mine is issue 011 – the travel issue) and see for yourself. Trust me, it’s a good magazine.
• I’m no travel expert but here’s a tip for those planning a long-term trip abroad: always underpack.
• Lastly, let me dispute the rumor that both me and Andy have lost weight during this trip. Well, it’s not entirely inaccurate. Andy has indeed lost a few pounds since we arrived…