Entries Tagged as 'Uncategorized'

Swimming holes in Pingtung county

Kaohsiung, a city of nearly 2 million people, sits on the coastal edge of a broad alluvial plain that spans 25 kilometres to the foot of an impressive mountain range. Every piece of land from the ocean to the mountains is occupied by houses, factories, villages and farms. There is very little by way of natural open space.

But as soon as you reach the foot of the mountain range you are in a very different place. The flat populated plains change to precipitous forested ranges. The mountains are sliced by deeply cut valleys created by typhoon fed rivers.

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The brief two months of Southern Taiwan’s mild winter have now past. In a few weeks the tropical rains will start and the stifling humidity will have people searching for cool relief. These last two years we have found that relief in the many pools and waterfalls accessible along the mountain range. Here are some of our favorites and directions on how to find them.

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Rubbish

As unglamorous a subject as it is, it is fascinating to see the way the rubbish is dealt with. At its simplest, it goes into a truck, squashed up with lots of other rubbish and land-filled somewhere.

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But the majority of rubbish is recycled one way or another. Between recycle trucks, local recycle yards and old women collectors, nothing with any residual value is placed in the ground.

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No bycatch but too much tuna

Once every few weeks we visit the Chijin(旗津) Island fish markets to buy a big bucket of fish. This is a small market right inside the fishing harbour with 20 or so regular vendors and up to 10 irregular ones that show up when there is enough of something to sell. The majority of seafood on offer is pretty consistent but every time we go there is sure to be a new variety of ocean protein I haven’t seen before.

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There is such a huge range of fish, crustaceans and shellfish. Nothing it seems is left behind or wasted. Indeed, there is no bycatch from a Taiwanese fishing boat.

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Wonderful insects

There are so many amazing insects in Taiwan that you could discover a new one every day. And after years, still find one that surprises you.

Rainbow beetle

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Old Fortress Taiwan

It is true that if the Communists had any sort of a navy in 1949 the history of Taiwan would have been very different indeed. When the Nationalists arrived in Taiwan they spent the first 20 years fortifying the nation for an impending communist invasion.

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When I first arrived in 1989 Taiwan had just lifted martial law. Air raid drills were still common and the military had a very strong presence. You would often see movements of army vehicles and troops and there was a continual coastal watch. I remember being moved off the beach one evening by a couple of soldiers as well as being cautioned, though not badly, for taking photos of the Kaohsiung harbour entrance.

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Digging up the road. Again…

It absolutely astonished me the first time I saw a team of diggers came to dig up the road not more than a week after it had been freshly repaved. They did their job and roughly patched over the hole leaving a beautiful street with a large uneven blemish. When I see these things now it doesn’t phase me at all.

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It seems that each essential service is responsible for connecting to any new development. And these services typically run down the middle of the road. Most streets are a patchwork of different service entry scars, even the recently paved ones.

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Election day

Yesterday Taiwan held its election for president. This was a simple vote for one of two candidates numbered (1) and (2). Along with the presidential vote there were two referendum votes. So every voter had 3 ballots to fill out. An easy and simple affair.

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Ma Ying-jeou and running mate on the left. KMT, red and blue, number (2). Frank Shieh and running mate on the right. DPP, green, number(1)

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I’ll have my power outlet here

Most electrical work in Taiwan is quite professional. The original power circuits in our house are all orderly, neat and tidy. It is the homespun additions to original circuits that demonstrate that artistic license rather than an electricians license was involved. Here are a collection of such wiring.

The open-air switchboard of a street-side food store. Here the free form wiring is starkly contrasted by the accumulation of cooking oil and street dust.

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A dogs life

The quality of life for a dog in Taiwan depends entirely on it’s owner. That is no different from most places in the world. It just seems that the range of peoples attitudes to dogs has greater extremes than the culture in which I grew up.

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