Observing Europe – Part III (Amsterdam)

Going to Amsterdam was a spontaneous decision. The Netherlands wasn’t part of my (poorly planned) Europe itinerary and now that I think back on it, I’m not sure why.

It was a freezing cold Saturday and my dad was  already in hibernation mode and firmly entrenched on the sofa. I could barely see his face as he was submerged under a rather impressive  mound of blankets.  Trying to coax him to get out of his nest and to drive us 2+ hours to Amsterdam was like trying to separate a fat kid from his half-eaten chocolate cake. Fortunately for me, I mastered the puppy eyes as a young child and my mom perfected the “she’s-only-here-for-two-weeks” speech. Between the two of us, we managed to guilt trip my dad to abandon his blanket cocoon and into the driver’s seat.

the beautiful canals

During the drive up, my eyes eagerly embraced the lush green pastures, a variety of farm animals, and quaint countryside. Once we left the border of Belgium, windmills began to slowly emerge into the view. The numerous pictures and travel shows I’ve seen all my life slowly developed into something real and tangible, as those same images began to unfold in front of my eyes. It was exhilarating.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Amsterdam. Friends who have visited before, bring back stories of getting high, tripping out on shrooms and watching tons of (unforgettable) sex shows. I have a great relationship with my parents, but I have no desire to watch any sex shows or do any form of drugs with my parents. It’s bad enough when nudity comes up when you watch a movie with your parents, I can’t imagine how awkward it would be to watch a sex show in Amsterdam. No doubt it was going to be a rated PG trip.

One of my marketing projects during college was to write a marketing business plan. My group somehow decided that we wanted to sell bicycles in the Netherlands since apparently everyone owned a bike. Turns out we picked a severely competitive and mature market to try and enter (hence the low marks) but I was attracted by the idea of a bike-friendly environment. I never lived in a city where bikes were the primary form of transportation, so I was pretty intrigued to see how the city would look.

i have never seen so many people on bicycles in my life

Tempted to buy a bike myself!

i love how bike-friendly this city is!

Observing Europe – Part II (Luxembourg)

Luxembourg is often considered the stuff from fairy tales, with the abundant castles, the picturesque valleys and the romantic atmosphere infecting everyone that steps foot into the tiny country. I almost cried when my dad causally brought up that we should just skip Luxembourg and head straight to Germany.

it was love at the first sight

Sunday is probably the worst days to travel in Europe since everything is closed. I was disappointed that nothing in Luxembourg city was open that day. Not only was nothing opened, it was freezing and no one was in sight – a hint of resemblance to a ghost town. The only perk was not having to deal with hoards of tourists squawking about. After a while I became used to the stillness and I refocused my attention to the elegant architecture and stunning scenery. Luxembourg sits on precipitous cliffs, which suddenly drops into deep valleys and circled by two rivers. It was clear that the city was built at a place of strategic military significance. The old walls and towers still surround the city, making it almost too easy to imagine the bustling city life during the middle ages. It’s so different from Asia where everything was built in the last century or so.

I would love to live in one of these houses

Observing Europe – Part I (Belgium)

 

I forgot what it’s like being in a place where I have difficulty reading the menus
Giving long blank stares to anyone that attempts to speak to me
And that feeling of hearing something but not being able to process it at all

That almost sums up my whole trip to Europe.

Confused, lost, bewildered but also unbelievably giddy, happy and being in constant awe.

Taking advantage of the 9-day Chinese New Year break, I took this rare opportunity to finally pay a visit to my parents. My parents moved to Brussels about half a year ago and I’ve been dying to go explore and frolick around the old world. The fast-paced and stressful lifestyle of Asia made me crave for the laid-back European lifestyle. It sounded like heaven; a place where people take the time to taste their food and enjoy the company of others. When getting off at five and having dinner with family is the norm and not a rare occasion. Well dressed and groomed gentlemen.

And don’t even get me started on the food.

I fell in love with macarons (Pierre Marcolini macarons!)

Ringing In The New Year – Thumbs Up Taiwan!

NYE 2012 was surprisingly awesome for me since this was my first time going out to celebrate New Year’s (for more details, hit up my other blog here). I sincerely hope the world doesn’t end this year so that I can have another go at it next year!

I loved how characteristics of Taiwanese society and culture is so prominently displayed during large social events such as NYE. People are very polite and courteous to one another, even though we’re all squished together on the streets. Large groups of friends and family gather together for BBQ/cook-out. Though there is trash on the streets, it seems that people at least make an effort to toss all the trash in a distinctive pile. Just some observations I made while I was semi-intoxicated and being distracted by the number of food stalls that have sprung up from nowhere.

My favorite was the motivational messages/new year blessings that appeared on the scrolling text on Taipei 101. I think it’s a pretty great reflection of Taiwanese society and culture:

"Happy 快樂"

"Taiwan 台灣 Like 讚"

I almost pissed my pants when this text scrolled out. This is the most iconic building in Taiwan, and the scrolling text has a “like” and a thumbs up, just like on facebook. Whoever was planning these messages had a sense of humor for sure.

Flying A Kite

There’s something innocent and peaceful about flying a kite. I think it has to do with standing around in an open, breezy space with colorful kites just soaring in whatever way the wind guides them, with no goal or purpose but just simply enjoying the moment.

I’m not sure why both Teddy and I had the urge to fly a kite but it came up in conversation so frequently that we added it to the list of things to do. Finally, about two weeks ago, preparation (buying kite) and timing (beautiful afternoon) met and gave us the perfect kite flying opportunity.

Sun Yat-Sen Memorial hall is known to be the kite flying hot spot ever since I was young. It’s close to Taipei 101 and is a rather beautiful, low-key location. I’m not sure what the story is behind kite flying at the memorial hall but given any weekend, it is packed with kite flyers.

Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall on a beautiful sunny day

The kite we bought had awesome Transformers on it, for a grand total of NT99 (US$3).

trying to figure out how to put this thing together

The beautiful weather drew a large crowd to the memorial. There were little children, tiny dogs and sounds of laughter as far as the eye can see.

laid back sunday afternoon

Setting up...

go go go!

Though there was plenty of sun, the day was rather lacking in the wind department. We quickly learned that flying kites is no picnic. Both of us got some pretty good cardio time in just by running back and forth trying to get the kite up.

 

some other kite flyers

Just A Walk

The boy is an active person, much more so than I am. While I would choose to stay in bed to nurse a hangover, he would rather wake up early to hike and catch the rare Taipei rays during this time than waste time being indoors.

Thus, I have gotten more outdoor time, hiking trips and images of beautiful scenery in the past few weeks than I have in the first 5 months since moving back. I’ve discovered a delicious little French restaurant that serves amazing brunch 2 blocks away, a large traditional market with every type of fresh produce, lots of small parks and a handful of narrow alleys with a lot of character.

I completely forgot that there was a river fairly close to my apartment. There is a nice path and a lot of open space around the river banks for people to walk on.

the bridge near my apartment

The river itself isn’t very impressive. Like any other river running through a city, the water was rather murky and unpleasant. I was rather impressed to see fishes leaping out of the water at periodic intervals. Though we couldn’t figure out what type of the fish would lurk in such dire waters, we somehow came to the conclusion that it was probably mating season.

The unexpected garden

Along the banks, we stumbled across a very large and well attended garden. I’m assuming the Taiwanese government owns the land around the river but this garden was very clearing tended by private individuals that just wanted a space for themselves to grow  something. Having a yard or a garden in Taipei is unheard of since everyone lives in apartment buildings. Seeing green and having some space is a rare commodity in Asia, so it isn’t too hard to understand why someone would be tending a garden far from their own homes. There were a few middle aged women watering the flowers and being chatty. The flowers were beautiful and were as tall, if not taller than me, forming a slightly isolated flower wall.

Unexpected Surprises

the corner

You never know what unexpected surprise may be lurking in the corner…

Old School Swag

my grandpa was a stud!

I love seeing the vintage photos on The Sartorialist. It’s nice to remember that old people weren’t always just old people, but they were young and ballin’ at one time as well.

My awesome cousin started scanning a lot of old family pictures and it’s great to be able to see what my grandparents were like back in the day. My grandfather was in the army and actually traveled to Virginia to receive training. He is a very laid-back guy but puts effort to look good, even now at the ripe old age of 85. When I was young, I remember he would take long walks and go swimming. Now that he isn’t doing well physically, he stopped going to the gym but he still wears lots of Ralph Lauren!

Love you grandpa, I hope you get better soon.

Perfect Lighting

right place, right time = perfect lighting

Where did July go? It’s already the end of the month

Blue Door

I’m finally getting around to uploading some of the pictures I’ve accumulated from the past 4 months, since moving back to Taiwan. The images are very scattered and all over the place, since I’ve tended to just snap a picture whenever something looked pretty. Terrible for facebook albums but perfect for my blog

This image was taken at Fort San Domingo in Danshui, New Taipei City. I remember this blue door really standing out from all the red bricks.