My Dream...and My Nightmare

So we had a four-day weekend this week, which was really nice. Unfortunately I spent most of my time studying - I've been in Asia way too long, man - but I did have some time to go out and explore Taiwan some more. I went to the Taipei Zoo, and a market known as Ximending, and they are both very well-known places, especially for tourists. I usually prefer to take the road less traveled and all that, but this was pretty cool, I have to admit.

Right. I'm not trying to give Asia a bad name, but I have to say that zoos here are usually...held up to a lesser standard than in Western society. Sometimes it can't be helped - on the whole, Asia doesn't have as good a quality standard of living as America and co. does, so they don't have as much money to make the zoos all awesome. But the Taipei Zoo is very, very cool. It's kind of far out - we had to take the MRT for almost an hour - but it's worth it. There's an aviary - my favorite part - a section about the animals endemic to Taiwan, a nocturnal house, an African section a Rainforest section...I could go on and on. I took a lot of pictures; they're not posted on here, but you can go to my DeviantART gallery to see some (I love photography.) We spent the whole day there, walking around in the humid Taipei heat, having a ball. The crowning jewels, of course, were the pandas, recently imported from China. There was a parade in their honor; yeah, people are that excited about them. But seeing how Taiwan and China are constantly on edge, it makes sense.

The day after, my sister and I went to Ximending, a sort of market, but not the kind I'm used to. No idea what the word means in Mandarin, but I'm guessing it's something like "the anime/manga lover's paradise." Because that's what it is.

And let me say that I really dislike anime and manga. My sister loves it, so she was totally enthralled by the market, and I was mildly amused and somehow horrified at the same time.

First off: the people. I have never seen people like this before. Little girls with hair dyed so much it was kind of orange, with one-inch nails adorned with lots of glitter, waaaay too much makeup, mini-skirts and high heels? And then me: no makeup, jeans and a t-shirt, no jewelry. I almost died laughing - after I managed to rip my eyes away. And the guys were just as bad, if not worse. Skinny jeans and hair that looked better than mine, and so many piercings I wasn't sure where to begin counting. They're living anime characters, or so they want to be.

Second: The stores. Oh, the stores. I have never seen so many cosplay costume stores in my life. Maid outfits, schoolgirl outfits, whatever - it was there. Then there were these cafes where the waitresses were dressed up in lolita (some kind of anime style) dresses and spoke in whispery little voices. Yeah, to me. I've had nightmares like this. I wish I had taken pictures, but I forgot my camera at home.

Taiwan is definitely different from Shanghai.

Tune in next time to see where I go next, hmm?
-Ari

Exploring

So today after school I decided to go exploring around my neighborhood a bit. Like I said before, I live on a mountain known as Yang Ming Shan, so the roads aren't really very flat. More like steep hills and winding little pathways everywhere. No two houses are at exactly the same height. And it's really quite interesting, because everywhere the jungle is trying to creep back into where we've cut into the face of the mountain. No wall doesn't have budding vines and ferns creeping on it, and all the trees become tiny little worlds all their own. Even with all the tiled houses (some of which are more like palaces) it's obvious that this is a wild place.

And it's actually kind of sad. See, all the houses here are completely walled in, so that everyone is protected - or trapped - from the world outside. Not like in America at all. I don't even see our neighbors. And that raises a question. Why are we even living on this gorgeous mountain if we're trying so hard to keep it away?

Just something to ponder. Let's see what else I can find out.