I’m back from Kaoshiung, the second largest city in Taiwan!
My mother and I traveled by bus to Puli, where we stayed overnight at a hotel overlooking Carp Lake, a small, mist-covered pond that was probably very beautiful back in the day, but has now been destroyed by foreign shrubbery, ugly sculptures and dodgy hotel facilities. Although, as you can see from the photo below, it is still a majestic sight, compared to the urban dinginess of Taipei City:
In the afternoon, we ate some fresh-cooked lunch from a trio of local sisters. Their restaurant was nothing but a few fold-up tables, simple chairs, disposable chopsticks, and of course, a Karaoke machine and television set. People would pop in just to sing their favorite song, then leave.
We traveled by (expensive) taxi to the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village (九族文化村), which I had read about while studying modern aboriginal culture in college. The “village” is really a theme park, complete with Space Mountain, Aladdin-themed arcade games and water rides. There’s also an out-of-synch “European Garden” with Roman sculptures. Very tacky, to say the least. The “aboriginal” features include nine mock-ups of “traditional” indigenous villages from each of Taiwan’s major tribes, and there are some regularly scheduled song-and-dance performances. All the performers wear Amis clothing, but most of them are actually from different tribes, like Bunun or Thao. There are some fast-food shacks that sell indigenous snacks, like sticky rice steamed in bamboo, and souvenir shops, that offer cheap trinkets and baubles that you can find anywhere on the island. I was pretty disappointed with the entire concept of the park, but on the other hand, pretty amazed at how aboriginal culture is regarded as a national treasure (國寶 - “guo bao”) here. If the park had less roller coasters, I guess I would be more impressed.
At night, my mom and I went to another hotel across the lake to bathe in some public hot springs. Unforunately, I didn’t bring my camera. Basically, there were three small pools, made of rock and granite, half-indoor-half-outdoor, filled with hot steaming water and equipped with jets and showers and bubbles and various seating arrangements. We were in heaven, especially after a long day of touring the area.
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The next day, we traveled again by taxi to Sun Moon Lake, one of Taiwan’s top tourist attractions. Indeed, the pristine lake is very beautiful, surrounded by lush mountains and blue sky. But the first day we arrived, it rained rained rained. Here are some pics from our first day:
Again, aboriginal culture was prominent in the area. The local Thao tribe, totaling only about 600 people, has a specially built community nearby, which attempts to preserve the culture, but again, “conservation” is defined in terms of tackiness, i.e. how many man-made placards decorate the village to lure tourists:
There was another song-and-dance show in the evening. Sub-par choreography and music, but we attended anyway, to support the Thao performers. My mother even bought one of their CDs, which I’m sure will inspire her to choreograph her own Amis dances.
We spent the night at Full House Resort, a quirky B&B filled with curious objets d’arts, just steps away from the lake.
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Day Two at Sun Moon Lake was stunning - sunny, mild and breezy. Our hotel’s boss had to run into Puli to buy groceries, and we were headed in the same direction to catch a train to Kaoshiung, so he invited us into his car with him, then graciously toured us around various points of interest along the way to the Puli bus terminal (where we caught a mid-day ride to the Taiwan High Speed Rail station in Taizhong.)
Stray dogs are everywhere in Taiwan:
Betel nut trees crowd the sides of mountaintops and line the main road arteries:
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Then we finally arrived in Kaoshiung, home of my aunts Agao and Otit. I won’t go into all the details of our trip, since everyday was filled to the brim with family activities and funny dirty jokes and good conversations and FOOD–lots and lots of FOOD–but all I can say is that Chinese New Year was indeed a happy one. We would travel in packs (often fitting six or seven people into one car, or better yet, riding en masse via public bus), receiving stares from the locals because no one could figure out where we were from–Overseas-Amis-American-Taiwanese doesn’t easily ring a bell… Sometimes, one of my relatives would strike up conversations with strangers, only to find out that, yes!, they were aboriginal (原住民 - yuanzhumin) too! And then there’d be an immediate bond and warm welcome. One day, while touring a Navy shipyard, we started dancing in-the-round with a group of crazy Bunun guys, wearing colored clown Afro wigs. So random.
I am forever grateful that my sister Amena was able to join us from Shanghai, and that my mother was able to re-connect with her brothers and sisters (she was totally “in her element”), but next time, we MUST bring my brother and father! Next time, for sure…
The best part of our trip was cutting a record! That’s right, my 45-year-old cousin Guning, who acts like he’s 23, is a music producer, and he recorded our voices and arranged all the music, and in the end, we created an eight-song record! We’re superstars! The highlight of our Taiwan debut album was the song “Dadugum,” the name of an indigenous vegetable that my mother fondly remembers eating as a kid. I will have to hold a record release party upon my return to the States so you can hear it! My mother is convinced that we should take our show on the road and make a fortune. Actually, she’s probably right, since aborigines are so red-hot right now (Taiwan’s version of “American Idol” is dominated by young, aboriginal singers and dancers.)
My solo song was “I Can’t Tell You Why,” originally recorded by the Eagles, but I also sang along to “Do Right” (a jazzy a cappella number with my older sister Amena) and “你是我心內的一首歌 (You are my heart’s song)” (a Mandarin-Taiwanese song, sung as a duet with my second cousin Alex, who now lives in Canada.) I also sang backup vocals to my sister’s songs, “I Love You Baby (Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You)” and “日不落 (The Day Doesn’t End).” It was amazing!
Here are some pictures to ring in the Year of the Rat~
恭喜發財！
鼠年行大運！
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Photos I wish I took:
- The Taiwanese woman at Sun Moon Lake riding a motorcycle while smoking a cigarette, holding an umbrella, chewing betel nuts and carrying a case of beer…all of the best that Taiwan has to offer!
- The mixed aboriginal Bunun/Thao boy who said, “I’m sick of living in the mountains! I want to move to America!” His mother and father perform in a Thao song-and-dance show for Sun Moon Lake tourists. Me and my mom told him to focus on his studies so he can one day earn enough money to go abroad. But we also encouraged him to learn his tribal languages and preserve his indigenous heritage.
- Retired Taiwan army vets who are now carted around on wheelchairs and nursed by underpaid Filipina housemaids. Many of them live in my aunt’s government-provided apartment complex in Kaoshiung.
- Betel Nut Beauties - these scantily clad (or sometimes, naked) young women sit in glass booths along the street, luring (mostly male) customers to buy betel nuts. Check out this blog for examples: http://briandavidphillips.typepad.com/brian/betelnut_beauties/index.html.
Quick note: I’ve been asked not to publish family photos, so from now on, I’ll only post pics of myself and scenery. Enjoy!
