McAsia

One of the many things people notice in Asia is the “Americanization” of Asia, and the people’s obsession with American things. Almost every corner of the major cities in Taiwan and Japan there exists a McDonald’s or a 7-11. It is quite surprising to see how deep American culture has rooted itself into Asia but it’s comforting as well. I don’t think I would have survived Taiwan without those 7-11 or McDonald’s. I’ve definitely been to McDonald’s and 7-11 more times in Asia than I have in the past 5-6 years in America. Although these places originated in America , I must say I keep returning to these places because they’ve surpassed American branches in quality and service. The servers are definitely friendlier and get your food faster, and a plus, you can order a smile at McDonald’s in Japan for 0 yen. Looking at the food in an American 7-11 alone is dangerous, trying to eat one of their hot dogs might kill you. I also like being able to go to 7-11 with a low chance of getting shot or robbed, something that isn’t guaranteed at the American ones. The food at Asian 7-11’s not only taste good but are cheap, and are definitely a far cry from the American ones.

A unique aspect about American chain restaurants in Asia is that their menu is tailored for whatever locale they’re in, so much of the food can’t be found in America. Many of the portions in Asia are way smaller than their American counterparts, for example a small soda in Japan is about the size of a double shot. But I did find one American sized item in Taiwan; the double Big Mac and double spicy chicken sandwich. Pretty much two sandwiches stacked on top of each other in a glorious mound. One difference I also noticed was that all the fast food places in Taiwan (McDonald’s, KFC, etc) had delivery service for free, which we really took advantage of. What a great way to hasten you onto obesity. And another plus in Asia, no tips. Now, in America I don’t mind tipping my waiter/waitress if they’ve been on top of things, but tipping in America is now out of control at nearly 18-20%. What’s worse is that now it’s expected that you tip even though you get crap service. It’s definitely a sight to see to have people serving their customers happily and efficiently without receiving a tip.

Something that differs in Japan from both Taiwan and America is that you pay American prices for Taiwanese sized portions. Because the portions are smaller, there is more care put into the preparation of the food and better quality of ingredients. I admit this makes you eat more slowly and definitely savor every bite, but sometimes I just want my 5 lb steak and just go to town on it.

Mega-post

So its been awhile since I've updated so I guess I'll make it into a sort of double mega post. Right now I'm out of Taiwan and in Tokyo. Looking back Taiwan was an experience with both the ups and downs. I must say that without the roommates I had I probably wouldn't have survived Taiwan haha. They've got to be some of the most entertaining guys I know. A month was a bit long to stay in Taiwan but I did get to see alot more than I expected even though half of it was mountains and grass. It was an experience to see a completely different world outside of California and to see how other people lived. The differences between Asia and the U.S. are pretty stark, and in some ways, Asia has surpassed America.

If you've never been to Taiwan or seen outside of Taipei I would recommend this program. I can't say whether you'll have a good or bad experience but it will be an experience and that you will meet new people. A quick rundown of the program. Its a month-long program where the first two weeks you have class in the mornings and they bus you around Taipei to the different sites. Then for the next 10 days its bus trip around the island of Taiwan where you stop and see different sites. The program is Taiwanese Gov't sponsored where all you have to pay for is airfare and about $600 so its definitely worth the price. Couple people have asked me about the program so i'll give you the info here. Applications open up around Dec or Jan and are due at the end of Feb. you can go to their website here (www.ocac.gov.tw) and click on English and search for their application.

One last funny thing before I move onto Japan. We were walking along the river front (which is like Venice kinda) in Danshui and there's alot of old people fishing. After leaving a store we look over and we see this old dude peeing into the river and right next to him downstream is another old dude fishing haha. Straight out of Borat. But now onto Japan.

After being in Taipei Main Subway Station I didn't think it'd be possible for it to be even more crowded. Imagine Bruin Walk first day of class when all the lost freshmen and people going to class crowd that street, and now multiply it by 10 and you have Tokyo. Everything is mad hectic and the population density is ridiculous. The most amusing thing I've noticed is the overwhelming amount of bad English t-shirts and funny signs you see around town. Its got to be some of the funniest things I've seen (so I'm taking pictures of them haha). Everyone also walks twice as fast as a normal human being. No matter where you go people are rushing around running to their next train station.

I must say I feel completely out of my element in Japan. Even though Taiwan was different, I could generally speak the language and get around but here I have to completely rely on my friend Saki. I feel like I'm 12 years old. But I did make my first order in Japanese the other day, and that was to order a milkshake at McDonald's haha. I'm running out of batteries on my laptop but next post will be soon! Cuz Japan is pretty crazy and wayyyy different than America haha.

Splurge

So it has been awhile since I’ve updated and I do have quite a bit to update. For the past week and a couple days more the next part of the program I’m in includes a round island trip where we take a bus around Taiwan and visit different cultural sites and whatnot. I must say it has been an enlightening experience with many great pics along the way (as you can see if you keep up with my photo portfolio d40dan.shutterfly.com), but as the trip has gone on there has sadly been more cons than pros. But we’ll get around to that.

One thing that has always amused me was whenever I went somewhere touristy like Disneyland or around Hollywood there are always those tour busses full of fobby Asians following a tour guide with a flag. We may find it strange in the U.S. but in Asia it seems to actually be part of the culture. Our trip consists of taking the busses around to different sites and along the way we stop for meals and at these places we stop at, it seems to be dedicated for tour busses to come through. All the places have vendors selling Asian snacks that you see in 99 Ranch, and the meals always have the same thing and hold other people on tour busses. At every place we’ve stayed or stopped at to eat there has always been stale chicken nuggets, soggy French fries, and of course corn. I know for a fact that corn was never a native plant to Taiwan so who knows how it got so integrated into their diet. And those vendors haggle non-stop to always try and get you to buy Pineapple shortcakes and dried squid.

Another funny thing, as we go out farther and farther from Taipei the places we stay get more and more ghetto. No longer do people civilize the jungle, but the jungle takes over everything, houses, streets, and cars. I feel like I’m living in a zoo haha, there are mad bugs everywhere as well as other wonderful wild life such as geckos and lizards running around on the walls. In the forests I also saw a few spiders bigger than my hand; out here people don’t run things f’sure. So one set of pics I had to upload was one of the hostels we stayed at. Somehow someone thought it was a great idea to put the toilet in the same stall as the shower as well as have the whole bathroom outside. Perfect for the user who whenever needs to step outside to used to bathroom gets eaten alive by bugs and mosquitoes.

I must say the scenery and the sites we’ve seen has been breathtaking but if you’ve noticed a pattern in my pics, it does get repetitive after awhile. There are only so many rock structures, mountains, and green I can take before it’s all just one mashed up blob of green.

I think one thing that everyone notices about Asia is how small everything is compared to America, especially the food portions. A medium sized portion in America is a large in Taiwan. Food is cheap here in Taiwan but ironically by the time I eat enough to get full I’ve spent about the same amount as I would have for a meal in America.

The one thing that saves the tiny portions here are the 7-11’s. Unlike American 7-11’s where chances of you getting shot or getting E. coli from a hotdog run high, the Asian 7-11’s are pretty high end. Offering all kinds of actually good food at decent prices; think of it as a Nijiya/Mitsuawa at 99 cent store prices. If it wasn’t for all the rice balls and ham sandwiches they sold, I would probably look like a stick right about now.

And the bathrooms, man are they small. Now, I’m not a big person but one bathroom I went into I couldn’t even close the door fully because my knees stuck out into the door. That’s just ridiculous.

A cultural thing I noticed in Taiwan that I’ve never seen anywhere else is their receipts. Apparently, every receipt that is printed is also a lottery ticket. And every couple of days they announce off a few numbers and you can win different amounts of money per lottery ticket. Now that’s pretty cool, never thought I could win more money by simply buying groceries. And if you don’t want to keep your receipts you can donate them to charity or homeless people hang around outside collecting them.

But since I’m in the middle of nowhere right now, internet is pretty spotty so I’ll call it a night for now and upload before I lose everything I wrote. Try not to have too much fun without me guys haha jk. Till next post!

Another Social Faux Pas

The other day we were wandering around Taipei and as usual its like 95 out with 100% humidity, sweating our brains out. In the faint distance approaching us, I began to hear the melodic electronic tones of an ice cream truck. The simple tune that is the pied piper of every American suburb.

So of course hearing this, the image of a Rocketship popsicle appeared in my head and my mouth began to water. The sound began to round the corner and before I knew it my feet began to pick up speed to meet it.

The music got louder and louder and when the truck rounded the corner, I was not greeted by the familiar white truck with the popsicle menu on the side of it. Instead a yellowing monstrosity rounded the corner belching smoke and stinking up a storm. My friend noticed my crushed spirit and quickly informed me that the trucks that play music are not ice cream trucks, but trash trucks. What a let down, but at least I didn't get hit by people throwing out their trash.

Cultural Differences

Star Date: July 22, 2009

Although it has only been a little over 2 weeks in Taiwan I must say I've definitely noticed some cultural differences here. Some that we should have in the U.S. and some I'm glad we don't have.

First and foremost, the toilet system in Taiwan. Now, this isn't 6 years ago where nearly every single toilet was a hole in the ground, although those still remain. Most places now have flush toilets. But here's the catch, you don't throw your toilet paper down into the toilet, you throw it in a waste basket next to the toilet. I still don't understand the reasoning behind this. Why would you want to stink up the bathroom or have to look at your toilet paper again every time you go to the bathroom? And what's even worse is, if you throw even one little bit of toilet paper into the toilet, it punishes you but completely clogging up the plumbing system and blowing up feces all over the bathroom. Whooo.

Squat toilets still exist in many of the public bathrooms, and as an added bonus you have to bring your own toilet paper.

Speaking of waste another thing that's highly noticeable is the complete lack of trash cans around. Now, in the U.S. you can't go into a restaurant or walk down the street without seeing at least 10 trash cans. Now whether people actually make use of them is a whole other story. But in Taiwan there are virtually no trashcans, except maybe one for a 5 block radius. It's insane to have to carry your trash around until you find a trashcan or some store employee is nice enough to take it for you.

Which brings me to my next point, at all the restaurants they usually don't give you any napkins. If you've seen me at the dining halls you would know how many napkins I go through. By the end of the meal I usually have a small mountain of napkins in the corner of my tray. But here they don't even have any on hand! And if you're lucky enough to find any they're about the size of a playing card, and rip after one time use. Real handy.

But it is not all gloom and doom here, one of the most refreshing things to see is you don't have to tip anyone at all!! Things are already cheap as it is but when you don't have to tip that's just the cherry on top. Waiters, taxi drivers, bartenders, you name it you don't have to tip! Sometimes I'll tip if the service is really good or the taxi driver is really friendly, but usually you don't need to and they don't want you to. Awesome. I must say everyone you meet is really friendly and more than willing to help you find what you're looking for or go out of their way to help you which is a completely different attitude than LA or NYC.

On the subject of food and convenience, McDonald's delivers!! How awesome is that haha I can get french fries delivered to me at 3am if I wanted to without even leaving my room, AND I don't have to tip (even though I'm not that big of a jerk haha). Most fast food places deliver and are open 24/7.

One thing that really amuses me out here is in the food, nearly everything has corn in it, no matter what type of food. The other day we ordered Domino's and what was underneath the cheese? Corn. Ordered a salad. Corn. Got a sandwich from 7-11. Corn inside. Dinner at the dining hall? Yep, corn with pudding.

For those of you that have driven in East LA (Rowland Heights, San Gabriel, Arcadia, etc) you know how crappy and crazy Asian drivers are. Now imagine a country full of Asian drivers that have even less regard for pedestrians and the rules of the road and you have Taiwan. Its definitely a free for all on the roads. People don't even drive in their lanes! It's more common to see cars driving in the middle of the lane dividers. And you can all but forget about traffic lights, because those are just suggestions.

Now I know why people look at American's differently and why we think FOBs are so weird. Stay tuned for the next post: Food part 2 woo woo.

Mosquito Rant

I must say I hate the insect variety that live in Taiwan. I have officially become a top rated mosquito buffet. In the span of one day I have acquire over 45 bug bites from all over my back and arms down to my legs. I'll refrain from posting pics to save you guys from being grossed out but its pretty gross.

But you know whats even more ridiculous? As the day wore on my bug bites did not shrink, instead they got bigger!!! WTF. And on one hand, three of my bites combined together to form one mega bite and turned my hand into a baseball glove...oh joy.

I am now one big ball of itch, and nothing helps this is ridiculous; fml

Lu Ro Fan (Pork and Rice)

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Food Edition pt. 1

I must say that when I was told the food was good, I knew that it'd be good but I didn't know how good. Maybe its the heat stroke killing my brain cells, or the bacteria tearing up my insides but that street food has to be the most amazing Chinese food I've eaten. And to top it off, the food is dirt cheap, we're talking $2 for a extra large bowl of niu ro mien (Beef noodles), or $10 for all-you-can-eat hot pot. So this post will be one of many of the foods I eat haha.

To give you a sense of how everything is set up, most of the food stands are located in clusters throughout the night markets (I'll blog bout the night markets a little later, today is about food haha) where its like a outdoor mall. The food stands are a Yelp-er's paradise (sorry Matt), except if you Yelp about it you'll never find the place again cuz the stand always change locations (except some of the shops). Every place would earn raving reviews and failing grades from the health inspectors.

I must admit though, the first time I had stand food I had to do some pre-planning. And by pre-planning I mean determining where the nearest restrooms and exits were. But so far from all the stand food I've eaten, its been staying in and been kind to my stomach (*knock on wood* haha) although the water here still makes me a tad bit queasy.

So a sampling of the food so far.

Shaved ices: Yea yea Guppies is all the rage in SoCal for their monstrous shaved ices, but that's all they have; giant mounds of ice. Albeit the size is slightly smaller than Guppies, Taiwanese shaved ices beat Guppies hands down every time. Not only do they add on fruit and condensed milk but even the ice is flavored! You can choose different flavors of ice to combine with your fruit topping (common ones being milk, peanut, or green tea). And not only is the ice flavored they actually shave the ice for you on a industrial woodwork machine! haha. And the icing on the cake, its only 2 bucks. Take that Guppies.

Hotpot: Everybody loves hotpot! But I've never seen anything like the hotpot here. Even for hotpot you have choices of the type of hotpot you want! There's even one with a hotpot in the middle surrounded by a metal grill around the side to not only hotpot but to grill meat too. Now that's efficiency. There's also a stone hotpot that apparently gets crazy hot, but the best part of these places is that they're all-you-can-eat! I know if I went there with my friends from LA, we'd clean the place out haha.

Ding Tai Fung: So when Din Tai Fung opened in Arcadia all the Taiwanese people went nuts and stampeded over there. All for one reason; their famous shao long bao (steamed buns). Now, the ones in Arcadia are pretty good and does some justice to the authentic ones, but the REAL shao long bao's at the Din Tai Fung in Taipei is like a taste of heaven. Each little bun is steamed to perfection with the perfect amount of broth inside. Also, the cheap prices allows you to eat till you burst. The great thing about the Taipei Ding Tai Fung is also that it isn't as crowded as the Arcadia one, AND it has more selection of buns and food.

Lu ro fan: Have you ever had meat so tender and fatty that it just melted in your mouth? Now that is what a whole bowl of lu ro fan does, and the only way to experience this dish is to eat it off from street stands. Lu ro fan is finely sliced pork fat and pork meat marinated in broth and put on rice. If any of you have had cerveza meat from Mexican places, imagine that 10x as tender and over rice. Nothing warms my stomach better and comes out faster than a big bowl of lu ro fan.

So in this post there aren't too many pictures of food, but check out the portfolio for more and there will be more posts and pics coming up of food. Sadly, it is probably mean of me to post up the pics of food and tease it over you guys while I stuff my face....but owells haha.

DSC_0022.jpg

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Welcome to Mars

Star date: June 9th, 2009

I must say I feel like I’ve landed on a completely different planet. Everything here is pretty much completely different. Even the air, and omg the air is insane. What kind of place has a temperature of 86 degrees at night with a humidity of like 100%! Trying to breathe normally is a chore in itself. I am look looking forward to the day time that’s f’sure. And the smell of Taiwan, that’s one thing I tried to prepare myself for but still couldn’t get used to it. For those of you guys who have lived in the dorms at UCLA, imagine walking out of the airport and the whole country smelling like those smelly Rieber stairs on a hot summer day with no breeze. For those that haven’t lived in UCLA or was lucky enough to not go near Rieber ghetto, imagine your toilet clogging and overflowing on a 90 degree July day and the windows are sealed shut and you’re still in the bathroom. Yes, it’s that pungent.
And the bugs, they’re outta control! I’ve seen bugs I’ve never seen in my life, it feels like Taipei was built in the middle of the jungle and the jungle is now angry as hell and trying to take it back. There are millions of lizards running around, and the trees are straight out of the Jungle Book. (See pics of the buidling’s backyard).

I must say I love how everything is so cheap here! I mean I know Chinese people try to cut as many deals as they can back at home, but here it’s insane. You can pretty much buy whatever you want at a cheaper price (and that is just me in the convenience store downstairs)! Although whether it lasts on you, or if you get sick from it is up to luck. I bought a giant bottle of water, and feel a tad bit queasy already haha.

From my stop-over in Tokyo I must say I can’t wait to go to Japan, it’s like Star-Trek come to life! The first place I went to was the bathroom and it was like sitting in Capt. Kirk’s chair. All these automated buttons and dials where the toilet will wash AND dry your ass for you. Now that’s comfort haha. I spent about 10mins outside of the bathroom struggling to get in because I thought it was a push kind, but not in Japan. There’s a button and the door slides open for you! I did find it kind of ironic though, despite all the automated toilets and faucets, you still had to step on the little pedal to open the trash can lid.

So , I went around taking pics of the building and the crazy jungle trying to creep in on the city. I put up a few here and you can see the rest at http://d40dan.shutterfly.com

p.s. my Chinese sucks haha being illiterate is not the way to go. Be cool stay in school lol (sorry pics coming later when the internet stops being retarded and not kicking me off)

-edit- pics are up on shutter fly and scrolling down there

Airport Fun

The airport has to be one of the worst places in the world. It’s like Disneyland with all the lines and crowds, but minus all the fun. I must say it is a good place to people watch, but I get ahead of myself. Attempting to check-in already brought an onslaught of problems. When they weighed my baggage it was only 8lbs over their limit, and so the cost they would add on to take my baggage was an extra $100!! That’s friggin ridiculous. I can think a million ways to blow $100 in mindless ways, but paying that much for someone to take my packed underwear is definitely not one of em. So now I had to unpack all that underwear and turn my carry-on bag into a checked bag -___-. If my plane crashes I hope that bag blows open and rains down clean boxers to all the needy children of the world, courtesy of United.
But anyways onto the more fun parts of waiting for your flight; people watching. Here’s just a few of the things I saw.

Guy with SARS mask: I mean swine flu is rampant, but wearing one of those masks makes me think YOU have the swine flu and sitting next to you does not make me feel safe at all. Or maybe I make him feel unsafe because I don’t have one haha.

Grandma and grandkid: This one I admit is pretty cute. The grandma I guess tired of sitting around is walking around with her hands behind her back, and there’s a little kid behind her following her the same way (I hope this isn’t a little kid trained to pickpocket haha, but the kid seems too cute to do that)

Ballin’ Outta Control Kid: So according to regulations now you’re allowed to take a small bag and one personal item with you onto the flight. You always see the little kids clutching their backpacks with a plushie in hand, or the businessman with his laptop. But this kid has his backpack AND a basketball. Who takes a basketball onto a flight?! I mean I love playing ball, but he must love that basketball like no other or the next Jordan. Castaway anyone? (WILLLSOOOONNNN)

Family with feisty baby: Enough said. My earplugs are halfway in my ears already.

Kid with Willy Wonka Factory in Backpack: One thing I love on long trips and flights is snacks, nothing more satisfying than reaching in your backpack for that bag of chips or cookies. Now I look over 3 chairs over and the tiniest girl pulls the biggest zip-lock bag of candy I’ve ever seen! I didn’t even know they had zip-lock bags this big! And I think she has candy I’ve never even heard of!! What responsible parent would let their kids eat a whole bag of candy? A real sugar momma. The combination of Feisty Baby and Candy Girl is already a disaster waiting to happen. I feel it in my ancient bones.

But anyways on about Taiwan. I honestly must say I have no clue what to expect, and don’t feel ready at all. We’ll see if the Chinese 1-6, and 100A get me anywhere out here. I already forgot all my vocab, so it’s not looking so peachy. But the next time I blog it’ll be from Taiwan!! See you guys then!

An Unsettling Thought...or Several

What is one thing that every single human being needs on this planet? No, not peace and love but food. Wonderful, nourishing food. Now a anorexic person might beg to differ, but for me I must say I love eating.

You know how many Asians will eat everything on their plate to be polite even if they don't like it? Well not true for me, I eat everything on that plate 'cuz I'm hungry and want to eat. But being "polite" is a pretty good cover up for being a fat ass no?

Now to the unsettling part. From every person that I've talked to who's been to Asia, they always mention how their stomach had to "get used" to the food after eating from the food stands. They always seem to mention it in passing and quickly switch their focus on how cool the temples were, or how many Naruto books they were able to buy. But reading between the lines I've come to the conclusion that "getting used" to the food means after street stand cuisine you get the fun of walking around with a plastic grocery bag taped to your butt for the next two weeks.

Those cool temples?
Yea you only went because it was the closest squat toilet nearby.

All those cool Manga books that got read?
Got to have some sort of reading material to pass all that toilet time.

I like my food to stay in for at least a few hours before it checks out of Kao Spa and Resort.

Since food doesn't want to stay in for too long results in the Seigi Karasaki diet plan (can ask him for the story behind that one haha). But in a nutshell its:

Step 1: Contract the flu
Step 2: Whatever you eat goes right out
Step 3: Severe stomach pains leaves you on a liquid diet
Step 4: You can now play the xylophone on your ribcage

Now some would say,

"Dan! Are you nuts? I need to LOSE weight for summer not GAIN it!"
"I had to run 4 miles to work off this jelly donut! I've been doing it all wrong!"

Well unfortunately for me, the act of eating does make me somewhat happy, and sucking my food through a straw just isn't preferable. Also having to read all of Naruto Shipuuden squatting over a hole in the ground while mosquitos sting my ass is not how I want to spend my time in Asia.

So to what I hope will amuse everyone, every time I see a scale in Asia I will weigh myself and keep track of a possible massive weight loss and me coming back like a stick. That is if my massive diarrhea will stop to let me remove the grocery bag for a few moments to allow me to weigh myself.

Current weight: 148 lbs

(Oh and whoever correctly guesses my weight at the end of my trip will win a prize. Guessing entries can be sent via email (dankaosays@gmail.com), facebook, or left as a comment here. Last date to submit your entry will be July 20th)

Asia the Humid Land of Anime and the Future

Humid, hot, polluted, smelly, and big ass bugs. Those are just some of the things that just come to mind when I think of Taiwan. Yes yes I know, I've heard of all the great things bout Taiwan too. How I can buy anything I want for cheap (i.e. Folex watches and Chenel purses) as well as their awesome phones and really good food.

But despite the wonderful tales of travel told by friends and what I've seen in National Geographic, Taiwan is a great place but I never had any real desire to go. The places I've always wanted to visit has been Europe to see the famous buildings and paintings that exist.

But this year, I must say I got an opportunity that was too good to pass up and so I'm headed off to Taiwan for a month and then Japan for a week and a half...woo woo.

To give a little background, I've never been out of North America before. That is not to say I haven't traveled extensively. I've been all over Canada as well as West and East coast but just never to other continents. Canada can't really count as traveling to a foreign country since it's just a little America except cleaner and more polite.

Now, back to the present. So earlier this year my parents made me apply to this program where if you get in the Taiwanese gov't pays for those American born kids to come to Taiwan for a month and I guess see what there is there. It's kinda cool since room and board are paid for, and being unemployed free food is always a plus. Since I'm out in Taiwan I'd probably get more bang for my buck if I go to other places in Asia too, hence my stop for a week and a half in Japan.

So for this trip, I'll be blogging here bout my experiences and impressions of Taiwan and Japan through the eyes of a white washed Asian kid haha. I must say I have a lot of preconceived notions of Asia shaped through friends, movies, and generally what my weird mindset conceives. I'll be posting up selected pics and stories here, but if you want to check out all my pics I'll be uploading as I go along on my digital portfolio here: http://d40dan.shutterfly.com/

I head out July 7th through Aug 6th to Taiwan and then Aug 6th through the 14th in Japan. If you guys want anything let me know!

(still getting the hang of this site so some posts may show up funny or I'll have to test things out, but click below to be a follower or a member of my portfolio, the more the merrier!!)


-edit-

yes yes I know the pics below aren't of Taiwan yet, it's from my portfolio and using that album as a test one lol (Taiwan pics will come!)