25 August 2009

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.

22 August 2009

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.

18 August 2009

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.

17 August 2009

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.

13 August 2009

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.

11 August 2009

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.

03 August 2009

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.

02 August 2009

Taroko

Shortly after arriving to Taiwan, somebody told me that if I had to visit some place in the island, I had to go to Taroko Gorge, which is considered the crown jewel of the natural parks of the country. But more than a year has gone by before I could go. Finally, last weekend, I went there with two riends of mine that are visiting me and other post-docs of the IAA.

We left early in the morning from Taipei in a train that took us to Hualien, where a guide picked us up and went with us for most of Saturday and Sunday. Taroko is a gorge with a narrow river that runs along at the bottom, between very high walls, most of them covered in green.


The rocks are mostly marble and there are many waterfalls


It is certainly a very beautiful place, with innumerable trails to walk on. We did some of the most typical ones, I guess, as the Tunnel of Nine Turns,


where we had to wear a helmet due to the risk of falling rocks —as I could tell when a couple of small size rocks fell 5-10 meters from me; a walk along the Baiyang Trail, and all its many tunnels,


until we reached a spectacular waterfall, maybe not because of its height, but because of the amount of water,

even if we could see two waterfalls more from there;

an illegal swim in the Shakadang Trail


and crossing hanging bridges.

On Sunday afternoon, we ended up in the beach, where we went for a short swim in the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean.

The weather was fairly good most of the time, except in the evening of both days, and despite the heat, I had a good time. Of course, we also could see many small critters


(many big spiders, too)

and little flowers or colourful leaves in the park, which is always nice.





It looks as if I was re-connecting with nature, uh?