FTV

Today we took a trip to Formosa TV, one of the large Taiwan stations on channel 53. We were given a presentation by the editor in chief of the only english news program on a Chinese station here in Taiwan. He seemed very nervous, and seemingly forgetful on some of the things he actually does, but really tried to answer all of our questions to the best of his knowledge.

We were then taken around the 14 floor of the building, which is the Taipei studio for FTV, and got to see many of the places they actually film some of the talk shows and news programs. We were lead around by the anchor/executive producer of the english news program. The tour was not very long, and did not include many things in it, but I found it very interesting as this might be a field I'm looking toward in the future.

After heading back and playing some volleyball, we were taken to a Hot Pot restaurant. The restaurant included a buffet, mostly of raw food, and a boll of soup they put in front of you. Your job is to boil the soup with the oven in front of you, then cook your food inside of it. The concept was really neat, and it took me a while

to get the hang of it, but it really was not one of my favorite places. It reminded me a lot of the Mongolian Grills back home, where you get to pick your meat, vegetables, fruit, and sauce and they cook it for you on a grill. Only this was in boiling soup, which I really didn't think tasted that well. I much prefer the Mongolian Grills back home. But it was interesting none the less.

First Meal Made in Taiwan... Success?

That would be the dinner I made today. It's from 7-eleven because 1. Taiwan is the most densely population area of 7-elevens and 2. I slept a good 4-5 hours today after class because I'm still not feeling totally great.

But my dinner consisted of prepackaged dumplings or pot stickers, and a far too complicated bowl of noodles. The dumplings were easy enough to make, just pop them in the microwave and keep checking until they seemed done. However, the noodles were a bit more difficult.

For some reason the package came with two bowls, a thing of noodles, and 3 packets. Two of the packets seemed to contain vegetables, while the other contained some sort of brown meat sauce you see on the top there. I actually couldn't stand that part and ended up taking it off, effectively using the extra bowl I was giving. Whatever i ended up doing seemed to work enough to eat, so at least that helped.

Anyways, this got me thinking about food, so I wanted to share some of the things I've had here in Taiwan.

The first is this juice. I do not know what it is called, what exactly is in it, but I had it the first day I was here because I saw the pomegranate on it, and I have had at least 1 (sometimes 3) a day since I've been here. It is the most delicious juice ever conceived by man.

The next is this breakfast sandwich. Again, I do not know what is in it, or what it is called. It seems to be some kind of BBQ ribs with eggs and vegetables. I've had at least 5 since arriving because they're so good.

This is peanut butter. It's the only peanut butter I've seen this whole trip, and I bought it right away. It's even crunchy, my favorite.

And lastly for tonight, this is bubble tea. I think I will miss this most of all after I leave Taiwan. Bubble tea consists of milk and tea, with around 100 little purple, near gelatin balls on the bottom. They dont really have much of a taste, but it's fun to chew them. This is more of a dessert rather than a drink, because with every sip you have to stop to chew the bubbles you sucked up. I've had quite a few since I've been here, and really want one right now.

Anyways, I have a lot more food to share, but I need to get to bed. I'll try to update more food tomorrow.

Sick in Taiwan...

The past two days have been anything but kind to me. Saturday night, after returning from a fun adventure through Taipei 101, the Palace Museum, and Chiang Kai-Shek Square, we went toa place to eat. Later that night, I began to have an allergic reaction to the food.

That crisis was averted, and I went with my school to Jioufen and the Gold Ecological Park and spent most of the day

in the sun. We went to a market in Jioufen and checked out some cool things at the park; some mines (as in gold mines), Chinese panning techniques, and the largest gold bar in existence, which my dog Flappers is sitting on.

I was also able to get some great pictures off the amazing mountain side in Jioufen. The scenery was absolutely beautiful.

After we go back, we went to an italian restaurant, where I possibly received food poisoning and missed all day today of school and laid in bed.

Since I've been here, I have tried to be very open to new foods, and eat anything I have been offered, but now I feel a little more scared about the foods I'm eating. I hope that will pass so I can start enjoying the food once again.

Not much to talk about, but that has been my experience within the past 48 hours. Hopefully things will pick up very soon.

Everything that makes Taipei cool for tourists, in one day.

It seems like we just tried to pack in an entire week of cool things in one day, which I am totally fine with.

The first stop on our Taipei sight seeing extravaganza, was the National Palace Museum. Other than being arguably the most crowded place I've been to in Taiwan, it was really cool to see a lot of ancient Chinese artifacts. I have always loved ancient artifacts, especially those of China, Rome, and Egypt for their age. Admittedly I lost a bit of interest as the exhibits became more

modern and more crowded, but I throughly enjoyed myself. Only downside: no pictures allowed. So no pictures for this section of the post. :'(

Next we went to the, at least still tallest office building, Taipei 101. We were able to eat in the basement, do a little shopping, then take the elevator from the 5th to the 89th floor, which only took 37 seconds.

On the 89th floor we were able

to see out on all of Taipei and more, and we were even able to climb up two stories to the 91st floor where the outdoor observatory is. Even more, down on the 88th floor was a full museum dedicated to Taiwan's Coral significants, and more shopping (but mostly for jewelry).

After that, we finished our day with a walk through the Chiang Kai-Shek Square (both picture below and the very top). It was a very large, beautiful, and a great peaceful way to end the day.

Karaoke, the new love of my life.

Last night was an absolute blast, more than I ever thought possible. We went with the entire business group to Holiday, a karaoke place. I have read about how much fun, and intense karaoke is around Asia, but nothing could have really prepared me for what it was really like.

I was one of the first, and last singers last night and sang a lot of songs in between. This is something we do not have back in the States, and it was a blast to finally try it out. I had never been karaoking, even in the States, and I simply loved it.

It was so interesting to see both the American music, plus Chinese music and the multiple dances that accompanied some of them. What surprised me the most was just how nice the place really was. It was a giant room that consisted of a giant projector screen,

microphones, a large table, and leather couches. On top of that, there was a buffet full of both American and Chinese food.

I have never done an activity with such a large group and really felt so engaged with all of them. In the States we can go to dinner, see a movie, even laser tag; but those activities really only involve yourself with 2 or 3 people at a time. I think I talked to everyone in the group last night, and sang with at least half of them. We even had Danny singing a few songs before the night was over.

We desperately need something like this back in the USA. I believe something like this could really thrive under the right circumstances, and it could be an activity that everyone can enjoy. Why this really hasent seemed to catch on in the States is beyond me, but I sure hope it does and soon.

Hsinchu Science Park

The Hsinchu Science Park was very fascinating in terms of what they have done, and how they did it. For a spot to become so popular with companies around the world and produce such a large amount of products in a relative short period of time seemed cool enough already.

We were given a short presentation, which seemed to be a bit lacking. The presentation seemed to be more aimed at people looking to invest into the company, rather those trying to see just what it is that they do. There were a lot of statistics, facts, and figures; yet it seemed lacking when it came to a more personal touch.

However, the museum displaying everything the Park had accomplished seemed pretty cool. Not only did they have information, pictures, and facts; but they also had live tech demos of many of the things that they created, or were the driving force in m

anufacturing. This more hands on approach to what the park did is what was lacking in the presentation. However, the entire experience overall seemed a bit lacking.

A Very Green Taiwan

This post is sort of a follow up to yesterdays. Throughout my few short days here, I've noticed just how much Taiwan really takes "going green" seriously.

In the United States, there is some effort to make the earth a better place; recycling bins in some places, hybrid cars, and even a few people that turn off lights when they leave a house. But all of these efforts do not come close to those put in place by Taiwan.

Very rarely do I see a trash can anywhere, and if I do, it always seems to be accompanied by two or more recycling bins. And the rules of recycling really do seem to resonate throughout the population, with nearly everyone seemingly holding onto their trash and disposing of it correctly later.

On top of recycling, the Metro system of Taipei also seemed to strive to be as green as possible. Of of the most stand out features were the bike rentals. A person can simply rent a bike, ride it to their destination in a designated biking lane, and return it on the metro or bus at a later time. This is a system I have never seen implemented before, but would very much like to see it catch on.

Companies as well seem to take the green standard of living, with many having fans rather than full blast A/C units. Not only does this seem to cut costs, but also use less energy. I truly believe that if other countries took the lessons of Taiwan to heart, it would help shape a better world.