Intimate Pilobolus

Last week, our campus was honored by the presence of two members of the world famous dance group Pilobolus. The group has performed at the oscars as well as several famous commercials. The two dancers that visited gave us an intimate performance limited to 50 people in the dance studio, giving us a taste of current work, the history of the group, as well as insight into their process. Here are a few photos from the event. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Dance Brazil

Last Saturday, I had the honor of shooting and watching Dance Brazil, a Brazilian dance/capoeira group. They’re starting a three-month tour of the states starting with our school. Their show, Ritmos, was simply jaw dropping.

In the background lovely ballads and energizing beats performed live, the dancers showed their grace, agility, and strength. Although my photos do not do them justice, I hope that you can get an idea of how talented they are. Definitely see them if you get the chance. 

 

 

 

 

Valentines Surprise

The semester has begun and I’m already swamped with work. But, I got a nice surprise in the mail from my church college group, a bouquet of lollipops. Thanks guys! I hope everyone else’s singles awareness day is going well. 

Back from Taiwan… With Pictures!

I just got back from Taiwan and I got a chance to look through my pictures and quickly edit my favorites. Since they’re all out of order, I’ve grouped them by subject.

 

Food

American Airlines was typical bad airplane food… sloppy and poorly cooked.

Yes, that’s airplane sushi. And it’s as disgusting as you can imagine.

But then there was Japan Airline, which threw all my conceptions about airplane food out the window. Just look at the presentation and attention to detail. 

Narita Airport also had good food considering it was an airport. I had melon-pan and beef udon. 

In Taiwan, I finally got a real taste of Chinese food. I hated some and loved others, but the food was so cheap that I didn’t feel bad if I didn’t like something. The pictures below represent about 1% of what I got to eat while I was there. Most meals were banquet style and had about ten dishes spinning around on the lazy susan. 

Markets

Taiwan has tons of markets… ones open during the day, others at night, selling clothes, fruit, flowers, jade, handicrafts, tea, electronics; basically anything you can imagine. They’re fun to explore and each has its own different personality, which is the byproduct of the types of vendors, shopping demographic, size, and location. Sometimes they can begin to look the same, but each one really is unique and each one shows a true piece of Taiwan.

 

 

Attractions

There are so many things to do in Taiwan, which my friends and I quickly discovered. Far too many things for the three short weeks we were there. 

Enjoying Taiwan’s famous oolong tea at one of the many tea houses in Maokong, a tea-growing region just south of Taipei that overlooks the entire city.

Taipei 101, the tallest (completed) building in the world. The view outside the observatory.

The observation deck, which strangely reminded me of the DMZ between North and South Korea.

A self-portrait outside the building. I didn’t want a typical tourist picture.

Navigating the subway system, which puts New York’s system to shame in terms of speed, cleanliness, and cost. Unfortunately, there are only a few lines and the system closes between midnight and 6 AM.

The countryside offers a stark contrast to the busy city. It becomes very rural and much of the landscape is untouched.

All the cemeteries across the island look like this, whether they’re for Buddhists, Christians, or Taoists. Everyone gets their own tiled house decorated with colorful mosaics.

Taiwan’s most famous natural attraction: Taroko Gorge. 

Most of our tour group minus me, Camille, and Sakiera.

The man who made this entire trip possible: Professor Kubler.

Enjoying the countryside amusements.

The southernmost tip of Taiwan: Kending. It was pretty exciting to have 70 degree weather in the middle of January.

Fo Guang Shan Temple. One of the many temples across the island. We visited on Chinese New Year when it was filled with people wishing for a good year.

Taiwan’s famous and slightly overrated Sun Moon Lake. I swear that Professor Kubler is not that serious all the time. 

Miscellaneous 

While I was being paparazzi during the trip, I also had paparazzi following me during the trip! (sort of)

When we went to dinner and KTV with Wang Lee Hom, Williams class of ‘98, we were being followed.

courtesy wangleehom.com

Travel Update

Today our group has made it to Kending, the southernmost tip of Taiwan. It’s a beachy resort area with clear water all the way to the horizon. We finally get to relax a bit from the hectic schedule that we had in our last week in Taipei and the first few days of the trip.

During the last weekend in Taipei, we stayed out every night until six in the morning, going to bars, clubs, and then finally meeting Wang Lee Hom. On Sunday night, we had dinner with him at a fusion restaurant near the campus that was specially opened for us. After dinner, we all headed over to CashBox, a famous Karaoke chain. We had a huge room complete with its own pole! (Even Kubler gave it a whirl) We only had a very brief time with him, but we got to see that he was very laid back and fun to hang out with. He is also extremely talanted at singing as well.

For the first few days of the trip, we hit all the toursity places along the eastern coast: Jiu Fen, Hua Lian, and Toroko Gorge. Luckily for us, there were almost no crowds, since all the people are returning home for New Years, and because Taiwanese people think that 70 degrees is too cold to go anywhere.

For the next two days we’ll be on the beach working on our tans, so enjoy the snow guys!

First Week in Taiwan

So it’s been one week since I’ve arrived in Taiwan, and we’ve been doing nothing but running around the city. My camera also has not been cooperating with me so unfortunately this post will be without photos (for now). As soon as I can get it to work, I’ll put up photos to accompany this post.

We arrived at the airport and as I approached the automatic doors leading outside, a burst of warm air rushed in. The air is humid and the smell of scooter exhaust is heavy in the air. Our bus from the airport into the city smelled of old sweat from hot summers past and had curtains with outdated fabric designs. Small signs in Chinese dotted the interior, some wishing passengers good luck and fortune and others reminding passengers not to smoke or eat. Out of the windows, we could see a city that had developed too quickly, its new buildings surrounded by the stretch marks of crumbling architecture. This place of change was to be our city for the next two weeks.

Every weekday we have three hours of Chinese class in the mornings. Our upper intermediate class consists of Nancy, Genny, Andy, and me. Our teacher, Zhang Lao Shi, is a bubbly young woman in her early twenties. She has wavy, orange hair with bangs in the front, and her outfits are always Japanese inspired. Probably because she taught there for several months. The classes go by quickly and we don’t have to put too much effort into them. Not that we can put a lot of time into preparing, since we’re always so busy.

The food has definitely been the highlight of this trip and I have been doing nothing but eating every chance that I get. With a very open mind, I have been enjoying trying many new things. The best part is that everything is easily a fifth of what it costs in the states and I now know that I budgeted way too much for food. A full breakfast costs around $1 ~ $3, lunch is $2 ~ $ 7, and dinner is around the same. Snacks such as bubble tea costs about a dollar, as does much of the street food.

Most of the street food is sold in the bustling night markets that can be found anywhere in the city. Starting around dinner time, hundreds of stands and stores in pedestrian-only streets suddenly come to life, selling food, drinks, and clothing. All the young people spend their nights at these markets, socializing, shopping, and eating. It’s truly a wonderful tradition that I wish we could adopt back at home. I can go out a night and not worry about when places are closing for a change.

The metro system is also extremely convenient. Known locally as the MRT, the subway runs often and is cheap, costing anywhere between 50 cents to a dollar and a half depending on distance. The only thing is that it closes at midnight and opens again in the morning. Interestingly, everything is broadcast in four languages: Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakka, and English. Taxis are also cheap, with a two dollar base fare and only a dime per kilometer after the first kilometer.

So, we have been traveling all over the city to the various districts each with its own local feeling. The area surrounding Taiwan Normal University, where we’re staying, is an older part of the city. The buildings have outdated facades remanicent of Korea and Japan in the 70s and 80s. There are even traditional Japanese style houses built during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan that dot the area. Xi Men Ding is in the west and is a popular area for young people to go shopping. It is heavily Japanese influenced and reminded me of a Taiwan version of Dong Dae Moon, a popular shopping area in Seoul. To the south is the Taipei Zoo, which recently accquired pandas that we were unable to see while we were there because the exhibit was not yet open. Further south is the hilly tea growing region of Mao Kong. There we enjoyed dinner at a tea house with a view that overlooked Taipei. The hills of Bei Tou to the north are famous for their hot springs, which are very sulfuric and thus have a hint of rotten eggs. The water was slippery, but left my skin feeling soft and smooth. To the east is the newest part of the city and the home of what was until recently the tallest building in the world, Taipei 101. I have yet to go there, but the area is filled with upscale shopping and home to the largest eslite, the 24 hour bookstore that puts even the largest Barnes and Noble or Borders to shame. There is a thorough selection of Chinese, Japanese, and English materials and inside there is an Apple store, several design stores, technology stores, stationary stores, nice restaruants, and the entire basement is a food court with every Asian cuisine imaginable.

And there’s still more left to see in this city.

Off to Taiwan!

Hi everybody! The day has finally arrived and I’m off to Taiwan with Andy and the rest of the group. I can’t believe that this break is already over, but I know the trip will be a great time. I’ll be sure to post as soon as I can.

Christmas

I love the holidays, all the time I get to spend with my family, and all the delicious food that comes along with it. It’s my favorite time of the year and it’s been particularly exciting these past few years with all the new nieces and nephews. Here are the three kids that were there at the party:

Nico, 2

Saebin, 2

Allie, 10 months (and her Grandma)

Snow and Cookies

It snowed today (the icy kind) in New York much to my dismay. I had planned to show Greg around Flushing, but after an utterly failed rendezvous, I spent the day at his place trying to avoid the snow. Besides getting my feet soaked in slushy water, I had a good day. Who doesn’t like take-out, video games, and movies?

Before I left though, I was given a clear cellophane bag of home-made cookies, candy, and tea. Apparently Greg helped paint the cookies with frosting. Who knew he could be so domestic?

The cookies were delicious, but before I ate them all, I decided to try my hand at food-photography, since I’ll be doing plenty of that in Taiwan as I document all the different foods I try.

 

Back Home

I’m back home!

Now that the fall semester is finally over, I’ll be blogging again but on this new blog. Check back often for new posts as I start preparing for my three-week trip to Taiwan next month!