green island part 3: caves

We kept seeing things in the guide books and travel brochures and maps about some cave on the island. We kept our eyes out for signs as we scootered around the island--who doesn't like a good cave? It's just one of those things that piques curiosity--we always want to see what's inside! (Well... usually... I think the last time I was offered a cave, I declined--it was on a near-vertical hike in Uganda, I was recovering from a sickness that had drained me of 80% of my bodily fluids, AND the cave was full of bats. Like, they were hanging five or six deep; it was so crowded. I ducked inside, took one whiff of the years of decaying guano, and dashed back out, clinging to the side of the mountain while my friends explored the bat cave. By the way, did you know that bat poo is used in many cosmetic items, such as mascara? Sick.)

So here's the Guanyin cave: home of a stalagmite that supposedly resembles the goddess, Guanyin, who is like the "lighthouse goddess" in Taiwanese folk religion. She helps sailors get home safely, and according to our sources, the stalagmite glows on stormy nights, leading lost fisherman back to the island. What I'm confused about (among many other things) is exactly how the sailors can see a glowing stalagmite that is underground--from out on the stormy Pacific. But let's just go with it. So, this tiny cave (you have to wait in line to go down the five steps--the thing is about the size of my bathroom) has basically been turned into a mini-temple. Inside there are some altars and the people go in, make their offerings of incense and fruit, bai-bai (pray) and take a quick picture of the goddess-mite.

Helen and I were like... whaaaaa...? That's the cave? Not super impressed. It was more of a rock temple falsely advertised as a cave. A cave SHOULD smell like guano, not incense!

So we found a real one! Stumbled on it completely by accident--it wasn't marked or shown on any map, and no one else was there. It was pretty cool. We found it at dusk, just past a mountain-side graveyard behind an abandoned prison.

We hopped across the slippery rocks, with the waves roaring and wind threatening to push us into the chilly pools.

We were greeted near the mouth of the cave by a family of mountain goats or sheep, their curious heads popping up over the top of the hill, their indignant bleating echoing against the rocks.

A 360-degree view!
Um, I'm extremely proud of myself for managing to get a video onto my blog. So watch it, please!

We thought we'd captured an orb in this picture--the setting was pretty creepy--an ocean-facing cave next to a graveyard an abandoned prison? Totally orb-inducing. But... it was raining a bit, so it's probably just water on my camera. Oh well.

No orbs here. Just me and the wind and the rain.

Helen and her friend (who happened to be on Green island and we randomly ran into several times, including right before our cave discovery) in the mouth of the cave. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the actual cave; it was just too dark. But it smelled as a cave should smell.

Another video! I'm on a roll. This is from inside the cave. You can hear the goats yelling at us if you listen closely!

green island part 2: taiwan's alcatraz

It seems popular to imprison the real bad apples offshore--preventing escape, I guess? The U.S. had Alcatraz, England had... Australia (?), and Taiwan has Green Island. There are several prisons complexes on the tiny island, but just one is still being used (by 200 of the most "incorrigible, unmanageable, and accusation-prone" prisoners in Taiwan, according to an English sign). The outside of this prison can be viewed; loads of Taiwanese tourists were stopping to take pictures outside of it and rummage through the gift shop (!) where handicrafts made by prisoners can be bought.

Here's the prison that's still in business. Guarded by a dude with a name tag. And his cat.

I would NOT attempt busting outta here. Not with that black and white lioness just waiting to bite my incorrigible head off.

In the gift shop. You can really get the experience of being in jail--very educational!

A memorial that I'm not quite sure I understand... the two prisons that are shut down did not have very good human rights policies and were apparently the site of horrible abuses. The prisoners there were political prisoners. I think this seaside memorial commemorates the people who were there before martial law was lifted... or something.

The old prisons. Totally abandoned and no tourists to be found (except a few foreigners like us). Very eerie and, though I don't quite understand what went on here, it felt very sad.

Green Island Part 3 is coming soon, and will be happier and prettier and will not contain any mossy urinals. You're welcome.

monday of all mondays

I want a vacation from my vacation! Unfortunately, my holiday week is over and it's a rainy, foggy, fireworky Monday morning (ohhh yes, I woke up to a series of explosions at FIVE AM). My opinion is, if we have to go back to work today, enough with the fireworks already! I yelled out my window, "HEY! I'm sure that all possible evil spirits in the area have long since evacuated due to your shenanigans." Pop. Boom-boom. Craaaaack-whaBAM! (They're not listening to me)

Green Island. What a trip! Lots of good things that would've been better had it been warm and sunny, but it was cool and gray and windy and rained for a good part of every day.

The hour-long ferry ride to the island is not something I would like to repeat, as I feared for my life for about 45 minutes. I was trying to keep my gaze at the horizon out the window, but hard to do when one second you're seeing the sky and the next your practically snorkeling. I was warned by several people that the boat is not fun, but I've been on so many rough boat rides and I've never had motion sickness--deep-sea fishing in Hawaii, a cruise, a ferry to the Florida Keys. But this was more like a roller-coaster (which I do NOT do). As I watched people around me grabbing the puke bags one by one, I realized that I was probably going to do the same. My hands were tingly, I was sweating... I won't go on--but you know when you're going to toss your cookies. So I did, while a teenage Taiwanese girl I'd been sitting by rubbed my back and said, "it's okay, it's okay." Weird.


I went outside to the deck after that because I thought the fresh air would help. It definitely did, but I had to hold on to the railing for dear life, it was so windy. Even on the deck, there were people on their knees by the trash bucket begging for mercy.

When we finally reached Green Island, I wanted to immediately either A) buy some real estate so I could stay there permanently and never be on that ferry again, or B) buy a plane ticket to travel back to Taiwan in the sweet gentle clouds instead of the raging sea.

I did neither, but all week was dreading our return trip--and Thursday night I couldn't even fall asleep till after 3 AM, I was so worried.

Obviously I survived, as I sit here on dry land back in my apartment--and a lot of fun was sandwiched between the two boat rides. Coming soon...

tiger-time

Happy Chinese New Year, dumplings! It's almost 1999 here in Taiwan and the Year of the Tiger begins February 14th. I'm off work for a week now, and heading to Green Island on Tuesday!

In other celebrations, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dear, sweet Mom (2/13) and HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY and also HAPPY WINTER OLYMPICS.

Think that covers it for this weekend! The weather changed from Thursday being 85 and sunny to now being 50, rainy and windy so I'm spending this part of my holiday curled up with yoga magazines, some books and of course, lots of coffee and tea. And Samantha Brown on the Travel Channel. Still trying to figure out how she got hooked up with that job, and how I can convince her to retire and let me take over. Thoughts?

adventures in off-brand land

I'm a big fan of anything with a lavender scent, so when I saw a bottle of "Body Lotion Moisture Lavender" for 39NT--about $1--on sale at Watson's (think "Walgreens") I couldn't resist.

I put some on before bed, and as I was rubbing it into my arms, inhaling the scent of a field in the south of France, I noticed little purple specks on my skin. I looked closer and saw that they were teeny tiny Chinese characters!

And I kid you not, my first thought was that they were little dissolvable good wishes to enhance your lotion experience. How neat! I imagined that they said things like "peace" and "happiness" and "sparkle" and "hope" and "rockstar," and as you rubbed them into your skin with the moisturizer, you infused your being with these qualities, which would then be exuded from your skin along with the smell of Provence in spring.

Then I looked at the bottle and saw that just by touching it, I'd smudged off most of the words on the back. Here is my fish, Bubbletea2, looking at the bottle with displeasure.

I can't deal with this so early in the morning. It stinks. Get it away from my bowl!

I guess all I was rubbing in were the Chinese characters for "fake," "unnatural fragrance," "disgusting additives," and "nasty chemicals," and "nothing in this product comes from the south of France."

"Cheap" does not mess around in Taiwan.

I miss Target.

celebrity lookalike?

I don't know who starts these things on Facebook, but apparently it's Celebrity Lookalike Week. I only remember being told one time that I looked like someone famous (except that my aunt thinks I look like Drew Barrymore--not now, but in her E.T. days...?). I don't even remember who told me I looked like Isabella Rosselini but at the time I had no idea who that was--and she's around 60 years old now, I think!

Anyway, I'm not sure if I resemble her, but about half a tube of red lipstick would get me closer! (And an enormous polar bear fur to lay on?!?)

i'm BLUE, ba-da-dee-ba-da-da, ba-da-dee, da-da-da...

Remember that incredibly annoying song from the '90's? Haha, now you do! (It's gonna be in your head all day, I promise)

Anyway... I am sooo over this leg situation. I realized that I can only remember ONE other time in my entire life when I had to be sedentary for this long--and that was when I had a mono-like virus my senior year of college and had to stay in bed to keep my swollen spleen safe (if you rupture an enlarged spleen, you're pretty much history).

Aside from that time and this, there have never been two weeks of my life that didn't include running, dancing, yoga, pilates, walking...

I'm not a doctor but I'm pretty sure my brain is going through endorphin withdrawal, which may be just as serious as whatever's going on in my knee. Speaking of which, I am noticing that people are okay with receiving a lot less information here regarding their health. The doctors told me only what DIDN'T happen (no broken bones) which hardly satisfied me.

I want to know why the heck it still hurts--exactly which ligaments/tendons/tissues/joints/bony protrusions/muscles are pulled/bruised/torn/stretched/chipped/strained. And then I want to know exactly how long I should wait before I straighten my leg/bear weight/bend/balance/jump/walk/run/bike/dance/ice skate/climb trees/spin. Is that too much? Is it because I'm American and grew up with western medicine that I must know all of these specific details (some of which I might not even understand)? Is it because I'm a dancer? Is it because I know I'm always missing something because I can't speak much Chinese?

I'm reminding myself to translate some of the physical aspects of movement that I usually enjoy into spiritual qualities that I can practice, leg or no leg. Fluidity, flexibility, strength, adaptability, perseverance, creativity...