End of the year

As it was written on the beginning of that famous Dickens book: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..., this year was like that. Well, maybe not to exaggerate, but it has been a year of really high ups and some low downs. Nonetheless, after spending two weeks already in Barcelona, I am seeing things in a different way. More optimistical, with a different perspective and appreciating the good things that were, are and will be.

Such as warming up to the smile of two little candles that are just beginning to walk into this world, or to enjoy the conversation with an old friend around some coffee cups

Happy New Year and see you soon!

Waiting

Lots of scooters, in their parking lots. Forests of handlebars and mirrors. All over Taipei.

Press the button

To stop the bus in the next bus stop.

In Chinese, of course

Grips

Martian facilities in Taipei?

No, just some big balls where kids can exercise their climbing skills. The first impression I had, though, was very weird.

Visit to Beijing

I am late. Again. It looks like I am losing some good habits. But, as I promised a few weeks, or months, ago, something about my visit to Beijing in mid-September.

It was a trip purely for pleasure, of course. I took a direct flight from Taipei to Beijing, now that it is possible. It might be a little bit more expensive than flying through Macao or Hong Kong, but you get there in only three hours. If the trip is only for three days, as in my case, it is an important factor in the decision.

I arrived to the new Terminal 3, another monster in the middle of nowhere —some megalomaniac countries have this obsession—, finished for the olympic games. I was picked up there and we headed back to Taipei in a taxi. My first impression of Beijing were concrete towers and freeways everywhere under a grey sky. Fortunately, I had my own Sun next to me, so to speak.

After lunch,

and experiencing my first bus trip —with one guy collecting money inside if you did not have the magnetic car, a curious mix of old and new times— we went to the Summer Palace.

It was the summer residence of the emperors, where they escaped from the royal court. Now, it is a very large and beautiful public park.


With the old buildings in a reasonable good state, even if there are signs of old destructions in some of them, and with magnificent forests and lakes.



A very nice place that we peacefully toured as the afternoon was slowly dying away. After so much time in Taipei, the temperature difference was almost shocking.


On our return to the city, with a mix-up of bus stops included, I had a first experience of the huge amount of people on the streets, and the accompanying chaos, and a very pleasant night taxi trip back home looking at the very modern-looking buildings along the way. A promising first day.

(There will be more)

Parking tickets

The first time I saw one of these women, sitting with one foot on the ground and the other on her bycyle pedal, wearing some kind of uniform, the conical hat down to her ears, the mask around her mouth, and taking out of some pocket the ticket-printing machine, print out a ticket, which she would immediately put on the windshield of a car, I thouhgt she was having a field day putting fines.

Later, I saw her/them many days until somebody's explanation made me realize that I had been wrong. They do not put parking tickets as fines, they mark the time intervals during which cars are stopped in the parking zones. As in the picture I took the other day.

The car owner must then go pay what is owed—I guess before a few days— to any 7-11 or similar store. I found it quite odd, but it's not such a bad idea, because they save the cost of installing the automatic coin machines. You cannot get rid of the watchmen/women anyway.

Short walk

Weekends are very slow again, lately. For different reasons, not hard to understand. Today, though, I managed to go out and take a walk after lunch, using the short time I had before the Sun set, and I went to Yuanshan, in the northern part of Taipei. Since last Wednesday, the weather is almost as warm as during the summer and it feels really good to walk in the street. So, I took my camera and started taking pictures of more temples, with dragons and phoenix,



reddened clouds,

absurdly highly elevated freeways,

and red, of course, bridges.

Later, a quiet coffe near Shida, in a place with nice memories, putting some order in my ideas. The way things are, that is the best I can do.

Contract

A few days later than it ought to be, but still on time. Last Wednesday, I signed the renewal of my post-doctoral contract. For another year. So, I am assured to have that time to be here. And probably, more afterwards, but it will all depend on how many things I can do during this year. Right now, there are many and who knows if I will be able to stick to the plans.

Just keep on going.

November sky

The weather is colder and we had a day between sunny and some clouds. Another failed try on the personal side, but I expected it. A real pity.

The sunset, though, was spectacular. Really worth anything.

Special offers

Some of the newcomers are, or at least seemed to be, very fond of another Taiwanese habit, which is to collect the little stickers that you get when you buy more than a certain amount of stuff in some of the convenience stores. If you manage to get the little booklet where to attach them and you fill it inside the predetermined time, you may win any stupid thing they might offer, or some other product if they run out of it. I think the prize is not worth the effort required to get it done.

But, if you feel like it, there is another way, collecting the stickers you get if you buy some coffe in a 7-Eleven shop. If you get six, you get a free coffe (it reminds me of my time in Columbus).

Of course, I suspect that if you want something more elaborated than just plain coffee, maybe you need to collect twice that number. It does not matter, we must spend money.

Cups

I guess I have said it more than once: eating out in Taiwan is awfully cheap for people used to the prices in Europe. One must take into account the difference in wages, but in any case for about 2 euros you can have a nice dinner, and if it costs 5 or 6 it will be considered expensive by some. If we get to 10 euros, you can imagine. Of course, food in western style places, like pubs, is more expensive.

What is a little bit shocking, in comparison, is that some things are proportionately much more expensive, like imported beer or coffee, which I guess it has not been a product widely consumed in a place where people love tea. More or less, for the price of coffee, you can have dinner. Prices in places like Starbucks are more or less the same as in Europe or the US, but you can also find more affordable prices in some convenience stores.

I am not complaining, though, because there are many small cafès, european style, more or less expensive, but with a very nice ambience, particularly since smoking is not allowed anymore, relaxed and quiet —if the crowds of people with laptops are not too large— where I can stop and rest and see the flow of life, far from the usual rush of life in Taipei.


And during these days, when I am thinking how to revive this blog, and I cannot stop listening to Chris Isaak songs, where could I find a better place to pass the time?.

Asymmetry

Crabs in Pingtung's aquarium.

Wet

Today, a friend sent me this spectacular image of the state of the tropical storms on this side of the world.

On the West side of the map, there is the tropical storm Parma, which has more less taken a seat near the coast of the Philippines and it is moving very slowly. The forecasts say that it should be travelling in a SW-S direction, doing more harm to the poor Philippines I guess, and moving away from Taiwan. But while it remains where it is, we already had two days of non-stop rain; strong now, weak later, with some strong wind coming and going, and it seems that this will not change until Wednesday.

The other storm towards the East side of the map is the supertyphoon Melor, kind of scary seen in this way, which should be moving towards the North in the direction of Japan and would never reach us, but we will see.

In short, we will not have a drought here, but a lot of clothes and shoes to dry.

BT

A difficult weekend in my emotional side, because it seems that I will never learn, but I finally managed to solve two small problems, with udev and Bluetooth, that I had in my Slackware. Now, I can dowload and upload the pictures, and other files, from my cellphone via Bluetooth!. As a sample, a picture I took on my way to Kenting last May,

which also fits what I feel about some people right now.

Stains

On Yehliu's rocks.

On the bend

Three days

Back from Beijing. A little sad and shaken, as expected, but happy too, with many good memories to cherish. Three intense and exhausting days, doing many things that I will tell about as soon as I can.

And my company? As you can guess, excellent and lovely. Very special.

NNW

Life has a knack for taking very curious turns. A little more than three months ago, I could say the day, hour and the place exactly, I denied I could ever do what I am about to do. I was not believed, of course, but I deeply truly believed it. After all the things that have happened, and because life goes on and I refuse to chase ghosts or negative people, I am about to cross the South China Sea again, to visit someone very special to me and to enjoy (hopefully) three very nice days.

Life is always surprising, especially when after the rain, the Sun comes out again.

Taking a rest

At the Taida pond.

Do Not Park

Bike lanes

Taipei is not (yet, maybe) a city too kind to cyclists, even if I am seeing more and more every day, risking their necks sometimes. It is true that there is a ver long bike path all along the river up to Danshui, but that's it, I have not seen any more. Until yesterday, that I discovered bike lanes in some wide downtown streets. I do not know how long they have been there, but these in Dunhua Rd seemed to be very new, with the green coloured lanes and all the signs. Maybe there is a plan to implement them in other parts of the city.

In any case, I was able to try my new camera.

Elections

One of the good things of being in a country so far away from your own is that you do little things that you would never imagine you would do. For instance, last Sunday, I got together with three other Japanese in a bar close to the Taipei 101 to see the F1 —well, as the ones who know me can say, I am not a big fan of it, but it was an excellent excuse to do something. The place is a Gordon Biersch bar, an American brewing company that brings me some good memories from years back.

So, what was the unexpected thing? Following live the results of the Japanese elections, through the web of one of the biggest Japanese newspapers, seeing all the funny little cartoonish animations, and all the political commentary of my companions. Very interesting.

Rusted

Rusted metal, in the lighthouse in Longdong.

Kenting

It is almost three months ago that I went to Kenting, for the annual meeting of the Astronomical Society of the Republic of China. I had a few exhausting days before going, sleeping not too much finishing things, but also there, with the trip and the stay, still not much sleep joined by some toothache. Maybe that is the reason why I never put up any pictures when I came back.

We did not really had much time to do any sightseeing, during the day, apart from visiting the National Museum of Marine Biology, which was in the same building where we had the meeting in Pingtung. Amazing, with rays, sharks, all kinds of jellyfish, a whale shark, all kinds of little (or not so little) fish, marine animals and plants






and some penguins too.

Kenting, which I saw more at night than during the day, is located at the southern tip of Taiwan and it resembles so many touristical coastal locations, with lots of half-naked people walking in the streets, full of shops and stalls decorated with shiny lights and deafening music. One night, though, I could see parts of the southern night sky that I had never seen before. A foreboding night maybe. Now, after all that has happened, I cannot escape an ambivalent feeling when I recall those days.

Colours in the Sun

An eclipsed Sun seen through the filter of my blackened lenses.

New TV

When some people have asked me why I do not look for a new apartment and then I will be able to know different parts of Taipei, a very strong argument against it has been, apart that the one I have now is close to work and well connected, that the landlady is very (too much?) nice to me. From giving me special food in special dates or bringing a pot of Oolong tea, to, like today, making somebody bring a new television set they were given, because it is too large for their place.

And it is truly big. I do not see too much tv, but at least this one will not have the sudden changes in volumen that the other one had.

Zebra and a Dog

On a mid-May early morning, I was walking back home after an observing session surrounded by a strange peace in this stressed city.

Somebody else was also enjoying the quiet moments.

Taipei 101

It has been more than two months since I went, but now that I finally remembered to do it, I am putting up some pictures I took from the top of the Taipei 101 building at the beginning of June. I went with some of the visitors that came to Taipei for the international conference. It was my first time up there and, unfortunately, the view was not extraordinary, because the visibility was poor close to the horizon. At least, I could make out the buildings where I work, see how big the Taida campus is, and contemplate Taipei from up above.



We could also enjoy a fairly diffuse sunset


Even if it is still the tallest building in the world, I think the viewpoint is not the highest I have visited. Even then, it is a privilege to be able to be outside at such a height and I am sure it has the most spectacular counterweight.

Accumulated rain

A spectacular image obtained by NASA's satellite TRMM showing the rainfall originated by the Morakot typhoon de la NASA from August 3 to 10. Impressive.

Good-byes

Xavi and Anna, the first two visitors I have had at home in Taiwan, left yesterday. As I write, they must be flying back to Barcelona after spending almost three weeks in Taiwan. I think that they had a good time here in the end, with all the hikes, trips and natural phenomena.

It is not surprising that having somebody staying at home changes the usual pattern of my life, and everything becomes a little bit more disorganized, but I think it was really good for me to have them here these last few days and be able to talk with them or just go out. I think I will miss them now, specially if I look at the pathetic state of my social life here. It still amazes me that after so many years of saying goodbye —even if it was generally me the one leaving— I still have a lump in my throat when the moment arrives. In any case, the experience has been positive and that is the important thing.

New Office

Yesterday, I spent my first full day in my new office in Shida. It is in the same building, but in the sixth floor. Why the change?. I was told that new people were coming and they ran out of space and had to reshuffle the office distribution. So, I had to go to an office where I will be able to stay for at least one year, and they can put two more girls in the office I was before. Why do it this way and not the other way around?. I did not want to ask, I was not in the mood. And maybe you wonder, what about in a year?. I do not know, they could not tell me, but I am not worrying about that. First, it remains to be seen if I will be here next year.

My first impressions of the office are not particularly positive, even if it has a similar disposition and it is placed in a similar place. But the view from the window is not so nice and I find it empty and cold. Of course, I have many good memories from the other office and it makes me sad to say goodbye —as I closed the door last Thursday, when I moved my stuff to the new office, I felt as if I was leaving behind a part of my life... I overdo it sometimes.

Mixed emotions in difficult days. Nothing new.

Floating away

Yesterday evening, I was in my office, where I had gone to organize my ideas a little bit and not much else, and I went up to the roof to send the worries away.

And there I found a show of an amazing calm. The sky was very clean; a warm but very pleasant wind was gently blowing around me; the place was very silent, strangely for its location; and several small clouds were passing by overhead, unravelling as they floated away, as ships disappearing in the sea.


and on top of it all a gibbous moon that shone more intensely than usual at that last moment of daylight.


We have had three beautiful days in a row —without any typhoon nearby, which is not so usual— and this looked like the final act of the show.

Well, there were other special lights shining later in the night, but that is a different story.