Bamboo Underwear!

Have you ever seen these before?


Underwear entirely made out of bamboo? And they have socks and elastic bandages and things like that in the same fabric as well.

I couldn't believe it, so had one of those lovely conversations where neither of you speak a word of the other person's language.

But I ended up convinced and, from what I gathered, it would seem you char the bamboo and weave it, and end up with an elastic fabric that apparently is a natural antiseptic and kills germs and totally never smells or anything.

I thought it was so amazing I got myself a set, but when I got back to the hotel and met up with the Kiwi contingent and told them this exciting piece of news, they were all "ho hum!" and it turns out that they were all wearing bamboo socks. "Been wearing them for years." I was told, and "Never travel without them.", and "They are more eco-friendly." and "I support the NZ wool industry so I wear regular wool socks at home, but I always wear bamboo socks and underwear when I'm abroad. They never smell so you don't have to wash your smalls so often."

I should have guessed. New Zealand is probably more Eco-forward than any other country so of course they'd know all about bamboo fabrics. So, New Zealand, sorry if this post bores you, but just ignore it. It's meant for the rest of the world which isn't the same sort of Eco-Innovation-Friendly country you are!

And for everyone else, this is an excellent travel tip: get yourself bamboo socks and undies for travel purposes, particularly if you're going to be hiking or camping or trudging off anywhere else away from the comforts of civilisation for an extended period of time, and particularly if it's going to be cold, because there's definitely nothing nicer than having smalls which you don't have to rinse out so often because they never, never stink.

Taipei Oddments

Some random snaps from our Taipei holiday.

TAIWAN TWISTS!

First off, the Chinglish. Love these:

Cotton Bads and Mouthfish.

And you are forever coming across familiar things only in the strangest contexts:

A fairytale castle: This was so unexpected I went over to check it out and it was a Chinese kindergarten. Like, huh?

And the drive-thru counter at the local fast food joint:

A garden full of endemic Fijian plants:

The most beautiful screens that turn out to be silk threads embroidered on mosquito mesh:

Like, respect and all, but why?

And the Statue of Liberty:


Beatrix Potter and "The Tale of Benjamin Bunny":

Paths that wind up the side of a hill then just stop without rhyme or reason:

But I won't complain about this useless attempt at a shortcut because I did see an Australian dingo:

I know I've already told you about this one, but it was so strange I feel I can tell you twice.

And on the wildlife front, there was also a totally out-of-place squirrel:

Or isn't this a squirrel? Is it something which just looks like a squirrel?

And Gina got such a kick out of this one:

She sees this and says "It's so exciting. I now know how to write my name in Chinese." but I wouldn't count on that. I read that calligraphy as Ruler of the Moon Place of Extra Good Fortune. No doubt I'm wrong.

ONLY IN TAIWAN

And then there are things which are so alien, you have no idea what they're about:

Like, what is this sign
saying I can't do?

And these "Only in Taiwan" collectables:

Huh?

And here's a sky walk that isn't actually a sky walk yet they have a guard on it:


And there's a Refuge Centre with medical attention to hand in case you feel faint on the 90th floor of 101:

101 was the tallest building in the world until 2005. And here it is:

Those jutting-out bits are where they launch the Chinese New Year fireworks from. Amazing, huh?

And see those red wood things in the plate in the centre of this photo below, above the apples?

Those are what the Taiwanese use instead of fortune sticks. You throw them and how they land determines the future.

And I couldn't understand why this carved agate pot cost so many zillions of dollars:

Then I realised it was because it had a map of Taiwan on it. Naturally occuring too.


And these truly fabbo public ashtrays cum spit-pots:

And this one is just astonishing: See the tunnel there in the centre of the picture?

They wanted to build a road across Four Beasts Mountain to get to the coast and Taiwan went bonko!

Four Beasts Mountain.

Seems they credit Four Beasts Mountain as the reason for their prosperity and that a road would scar it and thus "cut their wealth", so they built the road beneath the mountain. 15 miles of it. No, really. It's a Feng Shui thing, I hear.

And everyone went bonko in the lift to the 90th floor of 101 and cameras came out ...

... as everyone snapped photos of the sign in the lift, and then everyone screamed when our ears popped. But, to be fair, this could just have been a bunch of farmers in from the country.

And here's the giant ball that counterbalances the entire 101 structure:

Amazing, huh? Saw an entire film on how this Taiwanese innovation works only I still didn't get it. However, that may have been less because I'm stupid and more because the entire film was in Mandarin.


And, in a world where you keep seeing the same vegetation everyplace, it's incredible to see a tree you have never before seen anywhere in your life:

What is this? Can anyone tell me?

TAIWAN INNOVATIONS

And there's several things Taiwan does that I so approve of, and think everyplace else should do it too.

Whenever they put up a screen to hide something, they plant it out:


And whenever there's a hold-up on a building permit, developers give the land over to farmers for the interim:

And they are really into life-sized bonsai, which sorts of defeats the purpose, yes?, but it looks so good, I absolutely approve.


Loved this one, which tries to blend rock and tree into one object:


And lots of fabulous public art in the MRT stations:


And, although they seem not to make any sort of fabrics here, and I looked hard for some, they do have incredible pottery:

This glaze is a specialty of the region. Lois was saying they appear to do it with laying on crystals before and between firings.

And they carve these beautiful pots out of local stone:

This one looked so much like opal I asked and it turns out to be a local stone found in Taiwan and nowhere else. They gave me literature on it, but I can't lay my hands on it right now.

TAIWAN NO-NOS.

Then there are the Taiwanese innovations that the world should NEVER take on board:

Doggy prams.

Dogs on Vespas.

Inappropriate dress-ups
to visit National Monuments.

Inappropriate names
for Baby Products.

Inappropriate advertising
at National Monuments.

But this one was so cute, let's see another shot:



Then there were thing Particularly Taiwan Moments that were very special.

TAIWAN MOMENTS

The blind fellow busking in the MRT:

The acoustics were amazing and this was a very beautiful moment.

And the Chinese orchestra at the wedding:

They kept dashing over to their own table between songs to eat each course, and when I asked, turned out they were actually guests and were playing only to honour Li's marriage.

And the koi were exceptionally beautiful:
I have so many photos of koi I long ago vowed to stop taking them, but these were mighty special with the goldiest gold colours you have ever seen.

And the guards at the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial were amazing:

So still we all thought they were plastic. If they'd been a hat on the ground in front of them, I'd have put serious money into it.

And I loved the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial MRT station:

See how the whole thing is done very tastefully.

I have so many other special photos you will otherwise never get to see, I may just add more later.

Taipei Artists Village. For Lois.

Lois had to fly out to Hanoi and was kicking herself that she hadn't got to Taipei's Artists Village. Since I was staying on, "Denise, will you go for me and take photos to show me what I've missed." she asked. So that's what I did.

What did Lois miss? Well, for nearly three hours, I walked the lengths and breadths of all the streets north of the Shandao Temple:

The Shandao Temple.

And for the longest time, I was convinced I was missing the village because all I saw was acres of this:



It wasn't until I'd been walking around for hours, struggling to read the map, then interpret the map, then, after not finding it, going back to re-read and re-interpret the map, trying for other routes and roads, going down every single side-street and back alley in the Shandao area, I realised how truly, truly stupid I was.

Lois, I think we can safely say you missed nothing because the Taipei's Artists Village is no more.


I did however see Sun Yat-Sen's house from across the road, but, by that time, it was far too late to get in so I didn't even try:

Sun Yat-Sen's place in Taipei.
Was once next to the Artists Village.
Now next to acres of derelict houses
and bare earth.

And, boy, did I need a foot massage at the end of that trek. The things we do for Art, la?