Bindu's Repose

Yo-Yo Taipei

I have been in Taiwan for almost a week already. I'm staying at the Taipei Hostel. Which is a bit run-down, but has a great central location and free internet if you have your own computer (they are threatening to impose a reasonable charge)! Yay. Before I go into too much detail about Taiwan, I feel that I should post a bit more about Japan.

I had a really nice time in Kyoto, visited lots of temples and gardens (will post pictures soon). Unfortunately I didn't get quite as gob-smaked by the sights in Kyoto as I did by the ones in Kamakura, but still really enjoyed walking all over the city. I especially liked discovering unexpected sights while walking. I met some really great people at the hostel and participated in LOADS of tea ceremonies. I tried staying in a Japanese style hotel, but it wasn't very Japanese (the only thing that the great tourist office in Kyoto got way wrong.) I also stayed for a huge parade/festival, loads of folks dressed-up in traditional clothes. The costumes were amazing, I'll post pictures.

My first impression of the people in Japan is that they are not very friendly (esp. compared to China.) However, once I actually met some locals (much harder in Japan than in China) they are really lovely and very genuine! One of the guests at the hostel made the comment that Japanese people don't seem to be connected with things "outside" themselves, but have a tremendous amount of time/energy for the internal. This seems to hold for friendships as well as for personal space (many buildings look quite ugly on the outside, but inside they are gorgeous!!!)

The flight to Taiwan was easy, as was the bus from the airport to the hostel. I have done a little roaming around here. Mostly walking, which is very easy here, although the distances are a bit much. The underground here is fantastic, so that helps quite a bit at the end of a long day walking. My first impression of Taiwan is that it is a dirtier China... After being here a few days, I have also noticed that it is MUCH easier to communicate with folks here.

I have visited a couple of night markets, and electronics markets (I love browsing.) Also been to see the Chiang Kai-Shek (CKS) Memorial, which looks like it would be amazing, except that it's completely covered in scafolding. The gardens around it are realy nice. As is the National Palace Museum, which has the largest collection of Chinese art in the world. As museums go, it wasn't quite as nice as the Shanghai Museum, but they did have some really amazing things on display (I especially liked some of the more recent china.)

Yesterday, I tried to get a ticket to see a Yo-Yo Ma concert, but they were "sold out". They broadcast the whole concert just outside the National Theater for free, so I had a great time watching/listening/socializing. And the whole band (Yo-Yo and a bunch of South American muscicians) came out after the concert and did a big charity speil with Mercedes... They performed some live music too, which was quite nice! I put "sold out" in quotes, because I could see plenty of empty seats on the video feed... Maybe they were sold, but folks didn't show, or maybe the ticket agent thought I looked a little rought for something as posh as this concert... Who knows, I would have loved to hear more of them live (rather than through the PA system outside.) Sitting on the ground with tons of Taipei-ites was a pretty great experience anyway, so I'm not complaining.