Beijing August: Late Planes and Broken Tooth

First Restaurant Stop

Air China is always late!

Myself, Mom and Queenie left for Beijing on 31 July 2010. I had to go to the Beijing office on business and since mom was around decided to drag them along. We had originally booked Eva airlines that left early on a Saturday morning and came back late the following Sunday. Unfortunately they cancelled the flight so we had to change to Air China. The departure time was meant to be at 1:00pm on Saturday and return at 8:35am the following Sunday. The flight was delayed without reason. A frequent Air China flier then informed us that they are always late. The kicker was they gave us each a meal voucher valued at NTD180. That couldn’t even buy a Burger King meal (Burger King in the airport is more expensive). We finally got off the ground at around 4:00pm and landed in Beijing at 7:00pm and checked into the Landmark Hotel at 7:30pm. Only a three hour delay but we lost all the daylight in Beijing. That is life.

Exploded Chicken, Broken Tooth

There is no such thing as carved poultry in Chinese Cuisine it seems (except maybe for Beijing Duck). Most of the poultry seems to be “exploded” chicken, duck, turkey etc. The reason they seem exploded is that instead of carving the poultry the chefs hack it with a meat cleaver with bones and flesh mixed together. Anyway, after arriving in Beijing Queenie selected a restaurant from her guide book and off we went. Of course we ordered some chicken. I selected a slice of chicken that I thought was boneless and tested it as much as possible to see if there were bones. And then I took that fatal bite! I felt the small piece of bone cracking into my tooth and felt an incredible surge of pain. Realizing what had happened I quickly spat out the bone but alas, it was too late. Soon after spitting out the bone I spat out the part of my tooth that had broken off.

“Beijing you bitch,” was my response.

Guilty Chicken

Mom, Queenie and Me

Our Waitresses

The Amazing Menu

Another Dish

The result of my first dinner! One week of chewing on one side of my mouth, a visit to the dentist in Taiwan and the need for an NTD8,000 cap on the said broken tooth, which will take three weeks to get. At least I now have a temporary cap and can eat on both sides of my mouth.

After leaving the restaurant we went for a walk around the neighborhood and came accross our first Dog Meat Restaurant. Yes, dog cuisine is still alive and well in China.

Dog Meat Restaurant

Naked Swimmer, Expensive Lake

After dinner we were in the mood for a little life. So Queenie, Mom, me and my half tooth headed off to Hou Hai Lake. This was a happening place! People danced in the square in front of the lake, music was blasting out of the riverside bars, people were fishing in the lake and others were swimming. We took a casual stroll around the lake and stopped to talk to one of the swimmers in the lake. After chatting with him for about a second we realized he was completely naked. Good thing it was night and he was in the water. We just wanted to know if it was safe to swim (and perhaps go for a dip ourselves). We decided against it. We strolled around the lake, I was offered girls in a bar but they didn’t want Queenie or mom to come. Eventually we landed up in a quiet bar, drank some lemon tea and had a plate of fruit. We thought Hou Hai was expensive. On Day 2 we went there for some snacks and some drinks, it came to RMB500 (NTD2,000) and the food was crap and the drink small and disgusting. We will never eat or drink there again.

Masks on Hou Hai Lake

Us at Hou Hai Lake

Paul at Hou Hai Lake

Don’t worry, despite the late plane, the broken tooth and the disgustingly expensive food at Hou Hai, we had a blast on the first day (that is said without Sarcasm) and the whole trip to Beijing was amazing. We were glad to have the opportunity to take mom along for the ride.

Rugby at the Brass Monkey in Taipei

Springbok Supporters

Well the first game of the Springbok's international was on today. A few of us trooped off to the Taipei Brass Monkey to watch the game. We also ran into some old friends and had a thoroughly good time. We also had some dinner there (the chicken pies are always good) and one or two beers.

The game was a good one. Wales went ahead 16-3 in the first 20 minutes. The boks managed to pull it back and get to 31-19 with 12 minutes to play. The Welsh then ran in a try to push the score to 31-24. The boks managed to put over a penalty to push it up to 34-24 and then a bad mistakes by the Boks allowed the Welsh to run in another try to make it 34-31 with three minutes to go. It was a good game. We are glad the Boks won but kudos to the Welsh for keeping the game alive. Anyway, some of the pictures below of those who pitched up.

Doug and Queenie


Hector, Queenie, Andy and Paul


Doug, Queenie, Paul and Thomas


The Crowd


Queenie and Paul


Paul and Mark


Hector and Andy


Hector


Hector and Queenie


Hector, Queenie, Andy


Mark

We had a great time with everyone. Thanks all for coming out to watch and support the Boks and the Welsh. We had fun. Next week, France! Oh, and by the way, The Brass Monkey is a good place to watch live sports. Two chicken pies and four beers only cost NTD1,038. Not bad for a night out.

Highlights of the game are below. Thanks RugbyDump.

Dinner Tonight - Rib Eye Steak in Taipei

Tonight we had dinner in the The Red Kitchen. I chose to have the rib-eye steak, well done of course. It was really delicious.

Rib Eye Steak

Queenie chose just to have the salad bar which included chicken pieces, savory biscuits with liver pate, lots of fresh salad, boiled eggs and lots of fruit.

Some of the Salad

The meal, as always, was delicious. We still highly recommend the food their. You can find them at:

No. 1, Alley 2, Lane 118
Hoping East Road, Section 2
Tel.: (02) 2377-6186

Taipei Africa Week - Love for Africa

Love for Africa

Last week was Africa Week here in Taipei. Africa Week is apparently a yearly event which is organized I believe by the Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) (if I am wrong, please correct me). This event highlights the charitable work done in Africa by multiple organizations and emphasizes the relationships Taiwan has with some of those countries. The weekend events were run at the Hua Shan Art District in Taipei. A few businesses in Taiwan that are run by South Africans and other Africans were invited to put up some stands. There were also many other charitable organizations in attendance that were highlighting the work they do in Africa including Buddhist Organizations, Churches and other charities.

One of the Taiwanese Charities in Africa

Some of the businesses that were there included Grillmasters, Frankies, and Afriwine. Grillmasters is a BBQ company that specializes in South African Braais, Frankies is a restaurant in Yonghe run by an old colleague of mine at Kojen and Afriwine is a new shop that opened and imports wine from South Africa. There was also a central stage on where a lot of Taiwanese performers were playing African drums and on which a few presentations were given. The Taiwanese government had also flown in a dance troupe from Swaziland. From what we could see, they were pretty good.

Roelf the Grill Master



Etienne & Roelf, the grill masters and Paul

Unfortunately the weather played the spoiler. It rained all weekend. According to one of the stand holders, they were very optimistic at the grand opening since Taiwan president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) himself attended. The stand holders were told they could expect at least 10,000 visitors over the weekend but by Sunday afternoon when we visited they said they were lucky if 1,000 people had shown up. All the stand holders we spoke to said they were losing money being there but were hoping the marketing opportunity would help their businesses grow. Those we spoke to thought that although the weather was bad, poor organization and poor marketing were responsible for the low turnout. This may be true. I only heard of the event last week on ICRT and Queenie said she had seen nothing in the Chinese press about the event.

Nevertheless, the main hall had a host of displays highlighting different countries in Africa including Burkino Faso, South Africa, and Nigeria. There were also stands highlighting medical missions to Africa and the health issues faced by Africans including HIV and malaria which afflicts a large portion of the population. There were also presentations by Taiwanese people who had worked in Africa as well as African students in Taiwan who were learning Chinese.

Main Hall Information Booth


Highlighting HIV and Malaria


Swaziland Highlighted


Nigeria Highlighted


Traditional African Arts and Crafts

What was good for us is that we got to eat some boerewors (farmer's sausage) rolls at the grillmasters, eat some excellent chicken pies from Frankies and buy some good South African wine from Afriwine. Hopefully next year the marketing and organization is improved, the weather is better and more people attend. This has the makings of a fantastic annual event if the organization can be improved. Until next years, totsiens and sala kahle.

An Afternoon in Hsin-Beitou

Hsin-Beitou Library

Paul Theroux once wrote: "Only a fool blames his bad vacation on the rain." I agree, and similarly only fool can blame a bad weekend on the rain. Last weekend it rained buckets, but we were determined to enjoy the whole weekend and do exciting and fun things. Queenie was especially determined to ensure the weekend wasn't a bust and early on Saturday morning set about planning the day. The plan she came up with was brilliant. First we would visit the Taipei Art Museum. Next we would visit the wooden library in Hsin-Beitou and then end the day with a hot spring. It was the perfect plan, considering we also had our niece Charlene and Queenie's Mother going with us. The art museum was fun (see Photo Exhibit at Taipei Fine Arts Museum) and after a quick bite we jumped on the MRT and headed off to Hsin-Beitou

Hsin-Beitou Library

The library has been there for a few years but this is the first time we have visited it. The library is an aesthetic piece of wooden architecture built in a park next to the Beitou Hot Springs Museum (北投溫泉博物館). Queenie had seen the library on the television in the morning and decided we should take the trip up there. The library is fairly close to the Hsin-Beitou MRT station and is quite a remarkable building. I was duly surprised. The bulding facade at least was all made of wood (inside and out). There were a lot of windows and hence a lot of natural light pouring into the museum. The view outside was of the garden with lots of greenery. Of course most of the desks were occupied with very hard working students who are (I suppose) preparing for their exams.

Inside the Library


Library Staircase


Students Hard at Work

As mentioned, the view outside the library was of the park and there was a lot of greenery. And what was especially great was that they had tables and chairs outside the library too where people could sit, relax and read books. I couldn't think of anything better to do on a lazy afternoon than sitting down and reading some books in that environment.

Library Outdoor Deck


View from the Library

In the basement of the library is a decent size childrens section with all manner of children's books. Charlene really had a great time down there choosing different books and changing chairs. She had a great time. One of her favorite books turned out to be a kangaroo book. Who knows why?

Charlene Reading


Charlene's Kangaroo Book

There was also a decent collection of English books. I found myself quite surprised reading a biography of Nikita Khruschev in such a place. There was also a decent collection of English Journals in the library too and they seemed fairly up to date. So it would be a good place just to sit and read the latest journals for an hour or two.

The English Journals

The Flute Player

After a couple of hours in the library we took a walk around the Hot Springs Museum and took a short rest in the shelter outside the museum. There was an old man there who was playing the flute. He told us he had been playing the flute for 50 years. He had been featured in some of the local Chinese newspapers and had produced a CD. We should have bought one but it never crossed our mind. He said playing the flute was good for his health and also helped make you think clearly. He also advised me not to argue with Queenie but to listen to her and do as she says. That gave me a good laugh. He was kind enough to play a couple of tunes for Charlene and she absolutely loved it and tried to clap along.

Playing us a couple of Tunes

He was a grand old man. He had a lot of patience and kindness for children and he enjoyed chatting with us and Queenie's mom. I hope we can get back there soon to buy his CD. It will be worth it.

Ketagalan Culture Center (凱達格蘭文化館)

After leaving the flute player we headed down the hill back into the center of Hsin-Beitou to get a bite to eat. As we were passing the Ketagalan Culture Center (凱達格蘭文化館) we were stopped by some aboriginal ladies who invited us in to watch a dance. We were there at the right time. It was 3:00pm and the dance was just starting. The dance we saw was a traditional dance of the A-Mei people. Being from Africa I thought the dance was really passive compared to the Zulu dances I have seen before. The Maori dances in New Zealand were also far more aggressive. I don't think these were ward dances but they were still fairly passive. Nonetheless, they were pretty good and it was fun to watch.

The Dance

Hot Spring Resort

After a quick bite to eat we headed off to the Sweetme Hot Springs Resort. The room on the 11th floor with fantastic views was only NTD2,000 for 2.5 hours. We thought it was pretty good. The hotel lobby and corridors had elegant lighting and very soothing and relaxing music being played throughout the public areas of the resort.

The Lobby


Flowers in the Corridor

The room itself was very comfortable and the view of the cloud capped mountains made it all the more relaxing. Queenie, her Mom. Charlene and Myself all had a great time and found the whole experience to be very relaxing.

View from the Room


The Room (No Charlene is not Included)


Charlene and Queenie Relax


Lu Mama and Charlene

The End of the Day

After two hours in the relaxing hot spring, it was time to leave. It was a fantastic day by all. We took a slow walk to the MRT, jumped on the train and were home an hour later. Charlene and Lu Mama headed off to their house and we got ready to go to the Brass Monkey for the Super 14 finals, which the Bulls won. Surprisingly most of the day was free. The art museum, the library, the flute player and the dancing was all free. The hot spring was a bit of money but we needed to relax and since the rest of it was free, we didn't really mind too much. It was a pretty good day considering the rain.

More pictures @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/durbanbay/sets/72157624049422833/

Odd Taipei on a Saturday Afternoon

Saturday saw us heading out to Hsin-Beitou to visit the library and the hot springs after our tour of the Art Museum (see Photo Exhibit at Taipei Fine Arts Museum). As in all cities, there are always some strange and amusing sights. I remember once I was riding my bike in Taipei and saw a kid on a chair on a motorcyle with a neck protector (see Motorcycle Safety in Taiwan). Well this Saturday we saw a couple of other odd things.

Dogs in Taipei

Some people treat their dogs really strangely, and I am sure this happens all over the world. The classic was this poor little dog being carried in a shoulder bag on the MRT. Pictures below. I carry our in-laws dog sometimes as he is getting on in years and gets very tired, but we generally let him walk around (I don't think pets are allowed on the MRT hence the bag) but the poor little mutt was probably carried around like this all day. Ah well, each to their own. At least the dog is well fed and has a caring and loving home.

Look Carefully in the Black Bag


Dog in the Bag

Afternoon Nap

The second sight was this guy completely passed out on an outdoor chair outside McDonalds. He had his Mandatory cigarette box and can of Heineken. Mind you, is there a much better way to spend a day out in the cool air than this? Ah well, I hope he had a good rest.

Just a Catnap


Really Tired


At Peace with the World.

Thanks for reading and comment is free.