The last day in Taiwan, bittersweet

As the Chinese saying goes, '天下无不散之筵席 tian xia wu bu san zhi yan xi', it means every party will come to a closure eventually. Today is the day with a bittersweet closure. One month came and go in just a blink of an eye. I still remember the first day when I touched down Taiwan and everything seemed fresh to me, from English signboards in Singapore to traditional Chinese signboards in Taipei, English-speaking community to Mandarin-speaking community and food centers to night markets. Even though I understand Chinese, I was rather unfamiliar with reading maps, road signs, and ordering food in the language. These memories seemed to be just one day ago, except that I have adapted to the culture here. I am glad that I will be heading back to Singapore in a few hours time because I missed its food! But I am also feeling upset at the same time for I will miss this land of love with heavenly cuisine. Taiwan, I will be back again sooner or later!

Today I went to Tamshui and visited the Fisherman's Wharf. It was renown for its lover's bridge and the beautiful scenery at the harbor. I did not stay there for long because it was during noon and the sun was shinning mercilessly at the visitors. I cycled all the way from Fisherman's Wharf to Zhuwei station instead and it took me about 2 hours to finish the 20 km looped track.

After that, I went back to Shida Night Market again to do a last minute shopping and get a taste of its renown braised mix-flavored cuisine. I went back to my hostel about 9 pm to pack up my stuffs in preparation for the flight the next day.

It's a pity that I did not explore the southern part of Taiwan because I am certain there are other interesting discoveries for me to explore, be it biodiversity, culture, food, lifestyle or traditions. Liked what Dr. Chen said, 'Goodbye' is not the word to bid farewell and conclude a program. I shall 'see you again' then, the Island of Formosa!

Back in Taipei

The feeling of coming back to the familiar Taipei seemed homely, but I was reluctant to depart from Sitou as well. One of the main reasons was the weather. I prefer the cooler air and less crowded environment there as it gives tranquility to my mind. Taipei has too many people that it makes walking, cycling, shopping and eating difficult, as there are obstructions (literally, by people) everywhere.

This morning was my first time transplanting rice seedlings in the farm and the experience was fresh and interesting. Although we got ourselves really dirty, the farm practice was enlightening as it taught us how tough it was for the forefathers to stand in the rain and scorching sun everyday just to meet ends meet. I was tired after doing 4 rows of seedlings and it took me almost 1 hour to finish, let alone staying throughout the whole day liked the forefathers.

I also get to rent a bike for the first time in Taiwan. I felt that it was really convenient for riders and the good of Taipei residents. It saves a lot of time and money for people who do not need to buy a bicycle but want a quick temporary ride. I was impressed by the people's integrity here because the bicycles looked new, the seat was comfortable and I saw no sign of damages. If the rent-a-bike system was to be implemented in Singapore, I am afraid that there will be a lot of bike theft and vandalism on the bike, since these crimes are palpable in my home country.

Project Work and Jungle Bash

14 July 2013

We went all the way up to the Sky Walk at the south of Sitou after the morning lecture of soil diversity by Dr. Lin. I was glad that the typhoon came and went quickly and did not do much damage to Sitou. The Sky Walk is about 30 meters above the ground and everybody crossed it without fear, probably due to the safety railings on the trail. Jack was rushing us on the way because he was pressing for time, but I just could not take our eyes off the scenery along the path.

 A small castle in the Meadow

View of Sky Walk from below

Entrance of Sky Walk

On our way down for lunch, we had little fun with the displays and visited different facilities in Sitou. This was me posing with the bamboo board, haha..

My team was the first group to propose the project and everything went smoothly. Until we approached and consulted Simon and Judy, we realized that there were a lot of shortcomings regarding our project like ambiguity of the outcome, different representation between small plants and big trees, and different conditions between a controlled experiment and the forest. As a result, we changed the project's observation to the effect of diameter against damages done on the tree. 

15 July 2013

We finalized it with plants facing the typhoon's direction being the most damaged in Sitou here. But before we proceed to count the number of plants affected by the wind, we went uphill towards the south and checked out the dams. I learnt that different kinds of trap dams served different purposes and that wooden ones actually had better functions than concrete materials. 

Afternoon came the time where we would be carrying out our project practically. We bashed through the jungle at an area of 50 m X 50 m to count the number of fallen and bent tress. If our hypothesis was right, the area facing the typhoon should have the most number of damaged trees and plants. But the rain was hindering our work 'cos the trails and paths were slippery. In the end, we only managed to finish counting 1 out of 4 areas which we had planned initially.

We came out all drenched and dirty after the forest adventure. It was like 3 years since I bashed through the jungle in the army. Unfortunately, it was just the beginning because we still have 3 more plots to do the next day. Hope it does not rain. Best wishes.

Eat, Play, Sleep, Project

Today is the only day where we spent all of our time in the hostel because of the typhoon. But we did not waste the time off because we enjoyed ourselves to the fullest. We played Bridge, Rat Slap and Spoon card games and I was kind of glad that we have this sudden break after all the packed activities to relax our bodies. Rat Slap is a game introduced by Kim and it is kind of fun to play. It is able to involve more people in the game and can last really long! I was quite excited and overwhelmed over the game that I was trying my best to win it. Hence, I picked up the game pretty quickly and was able to win it the first round, yeah!

Although the schedule for today was as exciting as our sleep-filled bus rides, I really enjoyed the time spent with my classmates. It felt like another free day. Free in the fact that we could do anything we pleased. Not free in the fact that we were confined to our small building. Sometimes I speak Chinese so fast that Kim can't understand haha.

As we did not have many things to do, we tried to make the best out of what we have in the building. So we were basically eating, playing and sleeping throughout the day. We were also productive by coming out with a topic fast on our project - Plants' Resistance Against Wind. It was basically the study of different plant species' resistance against winds, in lieu with the typhoon that just happened in Taiwan.

Time past so fast that we have already come to project meeting because after that, it's going to be the time to bid goodbye. I do not want the program to end so early as I feel that I have not explored Taiwan enough. How I wish they could extend it for one more month and pull me out of the stressful academic life.

Typhoon Soulik is approaching

After yesterday's tea introduction and culture appreciation, we get to brew our own tea in the classroom today. I was information overload by the steps demonstrated by the instructor to brew a good pot of good tea. I did not know that preparing a cup of tea needs to take note of so many procedures and etiquette. Most of the tea drinks I drank in Singapore were mostly the end product of mass productions in factories and I was not exposed to such tea culture.

We went straight to Bamboola Taiwan after packing up in Pheonix Tea Farm. In there, we were exposed to bamboo products and marketing, and I was overwhelmed by the design of the boxes and sets. They may look like simple sealed blocks but without tilting at a specific angle, one could never open the box. The boxes do not come with a key but have a more complicated lock system than an ordinary lock-and-key.

Due to typhoon Soulik, we were told to stay in the hostel at night and wait for further instructions before going out of the place. We were supposed to watch an introduction video about Sitou Experimental Forest but the system hanged and so we headed back to our dorms early. Just hope that Taiwan will be blessed from this disaster with minimized casualties. Peace out.

Endemic Species and Tea Party!

It's been nearly 3 weeks since I touched down Taiwan and everything passed so quickly that I didn't even notice it. We moved again from Shuili to Pheonix Tea Farm and I felt that good things always ended fast. We went to Endemic Specimen Research Institute in the morning to know more about the conservation work done by people there. It was sad to hear about the injuries and deaths caused mostly by road accidents on the endemic species. But it was grateful to know that there are always a group of people who would do their best to save these animals.

Next on schedule was diversity of bats and the lecturer actually brought 3 bats to the lecture room! Everyone was intrigued and took turns to take a photo of(with) it. They were kind of scare to see so many of us surrounding them and probably annoyed that we disturbed their sleep. 

We also went to see the temple remains after an earthquake around Mingsin Academy.

Lastly, we had lessons and introduction of tea culture and science in Taiwan by Mr Chen. He introduced us how tea started here and became one of the highest quality producers in the world. In the midst of the lecture, he served us some of the finest tea that they grow and produce in Pheonix Tea Farm which includes Green Tea, Dong Ding Oolong Tea, Bao Zhong Oolong Tea, Oriental Beauty and Black Tea. I like most of them except for Oriental Beauty, because I am not quite used to the taste of tea mixtures of different fermented grades.

It seemed that some of the course mates were affected by the tea drinking at night and they could only sleep at a later time. However, I didn't seem to any responses to the caffeine level and I turned in around 12 am. We are all prepared to moved over to Xitou. Hope the Typhoon isn't as serious as expected.

Shuili Wood Utilization Center

After the first night sleep here in Shuili, we went to Shuili Wood Utilization practice factory (水里木材工厂) in the morning and had our tissue box DIY. DIY in the sense that the materials and shapes had already been pre-made for us and we need to assemble them together and do the coatings. The steps are as followed: Sanding -> Assembling work -> Primer coating -> Sanding -> Finished coating. All these steps took us about 6 hours to finish due to limited spray guns. It wasn't a tough job because all difficult tasks had already been done before we arrived the factory. Below are some pictures that I took while making the tissue box.

 Dissembled tissue box

Assembled parts

1st layer of primer coating

Finished product

Next, we went to an assembly plant to see how logs were cut and separated. The external arcs of the log were sawed away first before cutting them into rectangles and squares. It was basically a factory where all raw planks and rods were made before sending for further treatments. It also has a machine to repair the teeth of the metal cutters where the 'shifu‘ would ensure the teeth go both directions to prevent wear off. We also get to witness another shifu making a baseball bat out of a rectangular plank! It was simply amazing and the craft work was exquisite. The bat was meant as a reward for Andria because she had won the Rubin Lock competition yesterday.

 Log cutting in the factory

Lastly, we went to its utilization center to see all the sculptures and art works that were made by the staffs there. I were amazed again by their craft works because they were really nicely done and I thought they must  have taken a lot of time to make and finish them, not mentioning how long they took to design them.

 Wood Utilization Center

Today was quite a relax day because we did not travel much and stay around the center most of the time. I am happy to own a personal DIY tissue box and the finished product was really nice!