taiwan chiropractics

my lower back has been bothering me the past few years. so i try to find useful stretches along with sitting and sleeping positions that will ease it a little. on a train from taipei, i happened to meet a girl who was a yoga instructor, so we talked about stretches that may help. later she referred me to a chiropractor that specialized in pressure point massage and stretching before doing any adjustments. i was excited to finally have another reason for being in taiwan, since the trip wasn't planned.

the chiropractor's office was a very soothing atmosphere, like a spa. i was laying face down on table, and a therapist was pressing down brutally on each nerve in my back, following down my legs, and finishing at my feet. i was trying to relax, so that he could work out all the kinks. as he bumped around the tendons it was the most painful, and it took all of my concentration to not shout.

once i was primed, the doc came in and cracked my back and neck. he was finished in less than a minute. he contorted my body in all sorts of ways. he was confident in the way he worked. once finished, he said some things to his assistant, pointing to my leg and lower back. the doc gave me a thumbs up, and left the room. he didn't speak english. the assistant started putting some cream on my leg and back, and then a bandage over the top. it smelled fresh and herby like eucalyptus. my friend translated for me as the doctor summarized what he did. the bandage was placed over my sore joints to cover the "medicine", whatever it was. the doctor demonstrated sleeping positions and stretches that would also help. i was very aware of how comfortable my back felt, and the herb cream was warm on my skin.

i rode trains clockwise around the whole country, starting at the top in taipei. the most gorgeous stretch of land was the whole east side. the tracks are sandwiched between ocean and tropical mountains, and the view is spectacular everywhere.

some detailed maps in english would have made it easier to navigate the south. everything is really spread out without much public transportation. at one point i rode a bus to a town i had never heard of, to look for a hostel that had closed; and then rode another bus in the dark to what i thought was the next town, only to find myself right back where I had started hours earlier.

i finally met some locals, at which point we were able to find the only atm in town that would accept american cards. nice, because i was out of money. once i had some cash, they introduced me to their favorite food, grilled squid - the whole squid. i bought some from a street corner grill; hot, rubbery, and covered with a sweet, spicy sauce. awesome.

my favorite though, was some watermelon on the beach in kenting. i found some people burying themselves in the sand, and i took some photos for them. they offered me watermelon that they had been tearing with their hands. i ripped off a section and felt the juice run down my fingers. nothing compares to cool, crunchy watermelon, with salty fingertips covered in beach sand.

taipei 101

when you visit taipei, be sure to check out the tapei international financial center 101. it's the tallest skyscraper in the world, for now anyway. but right after that, go to the shihlin night market. there are dozens of food stalls to choose from; find one that looks good, and order some spicy fried chicken - fresh out of the fryer. i know that most people think the best fried chicken is probably in kentucky, but i promise it's at this night market.

there's plenty of shopping there, but nothing that interested me as much as shaved ice/cream for dessert, tsua bing. and as it turns out, the night market also has the best. it's kind of a mix between hawaiian shaved ice, fillipino halo-halo, and american ice cream. it's hard to describe the texture, flavor, and especially the appearance, but it's extremely unique and equally enjoyable.

i luckily found the best spot for tsua bing, but it wasn't easy. to get there, you have to wade through a maze of food stalls in a giant market plaza, and swim through the nose piercing smell of fermented tofu. you'll see some duck heads sharing spaces on grills with parts of animals i don't recognize, and large bowls of brown jell-o. but once you get to the ice cream stand, all the other strange smells drift away, and it's only shaved ice and exotic fruits and colorful toppings. i ordered red beans with sweetened condensed milk, served several inches tall over flakes of icy cream on a gigantic plate. of all the things to travel half-way around the world to eat, i had fried chicken and ice cream, and loved it.

"all i want is oatmeal"

i love to try new things in a foreign country, especially food - hoping it's good. the easiest way i've found to make it a good experience is when locals recommend something. so a friend in tokyo took cindy and i to a restaurant that served okonomiyaki - japanese pancakes. nothing like american pancakes, although they're shaped in a similar way: noodles, eggs, meat, and topped with sweet/spicy sauce and fish flakes so thin they wave from the air conditioning. sweet enough for breakfast, salty enough for dinner. if someone hadn't taken me to the restaurant, i never would have known to try it. fantastic.

in comparison, living for a few weeks at yokota feels more american than the states could ever be. you won't find any international markets or restaurants at a US military base, but it's a nice change from some of the unique characteristics of the rest of asia: crazy designs for words, funky street smells, and unknown animal parts in some sort of stew. and living on base makes cindy's life somewhat managable, taking care of 4 kids. and it's only a short drive to the outer gate where you can experience some asian culture.

on mothers day, we were staying at a navy hotel in tokyo. we went to an extravagant brunch buffet with cindy and her kids; everything from eggs benedict to pizza; caviar and smoked salmon, pasta, eggs and sausage, lamb, turkey, soup and salad, sushi...but one of my nieces wasn't pleased, in spite of the enormous selection. surrounded by lavish, international, and fine foods, and all she wanted was oatmeal - which of course, they didn't have. but we were resourceful, and found things she would like and fixed up the things she didn't. a ham sandwich made from various ingredients around the room. crepes from the buffet - scraped off the blue sauce and added strawberries and cream from the fruit bar. a bowl of cereal made from marshmallow breakfast bars from the dessert table; we asked the waiter for a bowl of milk and broke apart the cereal pieces into a bowl. and of course, ice cream. so we successfully fed a child with a selective appetite for about $13. ironically, a bowl of oatmeal costs about a nickel. the desire to try new things may be an acquired taste.

raising gamblers

scott and i flew into japan from the philippines, and this helped us see the chasm of contrast between the two cultures. in the philippines, everyone wanted to look at us and talk to us. people were smiling a lot and very open. the cities were concentrated with exhaust and trash was put into piles when gathered. in japan, everything is very clean and orderly. people are straight-faced and focused; few will make eye contact with us. when we ask anyone for directions, however, they may go so far as taking us in the direction we want to go. it's amazing how countries develop such unique and fascinating differences.

we hopped on a few trains and headed toward yokota airforce base to stay with our sister, cindy and her family. they've been living here for the past four years, and all that time they have never had a cell phone. we don't understand how they can survive. cindy uses skype to talk to her husband, currently stationed in honduras, but it's difficult for us to get in contact with her. the base doesn't accept calls from payphones, so the only way to reach her is from a cell phone. japan has a unique cellular network; so you can't just buy a sim card at 7-11 like the rest of asia, and slip it into your current phone. we have to find someone that seems nice, hope they speak english, and borrow their cell phone to call our sister, and have her meet us at the train station. getting clearance to stay at the base is an entirely different issue.

arcade games are big in japan, competing with karaoke for popularity. some common games for kids here involve putting coins into machines, giving you a chance to win more coins if you do well. if you win a lot, you can keep playing on the same tokens. the machines are also pumping out obnoxious repetitive music, and flashing lights, so the whole experience is one of a kind. my nieces and nephews love the games, so we all went to a nearby mall called diamond city, which is where they usually go. once we got there, we changed out some yen, and were given buckets of tokens. scott was keeping hunter, the 2-year old, under control. cindy was keeping track of the girls. and mason, 12, got me started on a fish catching game that kept me busy for an hour.

there's a food court upstairs at the mall. all the kids like something different for dinner, so it works out well to minimize the fighting. order a pile of food and everybody grabs at what they want. great tempura, udon, and pepper steak served on a hot griddle with bean sprouts. the kids love the bright green melon soda, so everyone gets a swig from the glass. forget the swine flu. then, each kid was given their own filled crepe for dessert, and it was a coveted posession. even hunter had one, his toddler hands squeezing out the cream and squishing the pancake between his fingers. i was impressed by how much he ate, even after a full dinner.