Return to the Motherland (pt 2)

After just a night or two in San Diego, the family loaded up into the car and drove to Yosemite National Park. My parents had come to Yosemite on their honeymoon over 25 years ago, but Judy and I had never been. So I was so extatic when we came through a tunnel and saw Inspiration Point, pictured above. I knew this was going to be a special trip.

Yosemite is immensely beautiful. And also, since it was winter, it was nice and quiet. We really enjoyed walking around and taking in all the scenery. The picture above is us in front of lower Yosemite falls.

Above is El Capitan, the highest peak in Yosemite. Each year, hundreds of people climb the shear face. Our guide told us it takes about 3 to 4 days to climb, with climbers sleeping in hammock-like platforms that dangle out over the face. Speed climbers can apparently do the climb in 2-5 hours. About 27 people have died trying to climb it.

After our two days were up, we decided to drive all the way back to San Diego in a day (we took two days coming up) with traffic and other distractions, it took over 10 hours. Quite a long trip, but it was well worth it. I recommend everyone to see Yosemite at some point. Winter is ideal because it is not crowded, it's chilly, and really peaceful. I didn't spend much time describing it because you really need to see it to understand.

Back to the Motherland (pt 1)

Judy and I have finally arrived in "the Motherland" - by which I mean my motherland, the United S of A. The plane ride wasn't that bad. We flew Singapore Airlines and it was, all things considered, a comfortable flight, save for the little kid behind me whose mother saw fit to allow him to kick the back of my seat for ten minutes every hour. We both breezed through immigration and customs and met my parents. The next day, a little jet-lagged, Judy and I woke up past 1pm, so our tour of San Diego started a little late. My parents took us to La Jolla, which is down by the Pacific Ocean.


There were thousands of birds and some very interesting rock formations. We took a stroll, snapped a few pictures and then headed out for a nice dinner at a ritzy pseudo-Japanese restaurant called Japengo. Not sure exactly what style they were going for - they had good sashimi, but the delicious cuisine was anything but Japanese. Guess I'm spoiled. The next day, we began our trip north to Yosemite National Park. I'll talk about that in a different post.


We came back to San Diego after a long ride home from Yosemite. We rested the next day; actually, I rested, but Mom and Judy went shopping for 7 hours. Later in the weekend, we toured around some more of San Diego. Mom and Dad took us to Coronado Island, a beautiful island in San Diego Bay. We ate some great Mexican food (boy, had I been missing Mexican food!) and then visited the Hotel Del Coronado, the oldest building on Coronado. It has stunning old wood architecture and a spectacular view of the ocean. That's where we snapped the picture below.


Next, they took us to Point Loma and showed us the old lighthouse that guided ships into San Diego during the 19th century. It has a commanding view of Coronado, the bay, and the ocean. It was lovely and cool, with a nice breeze rolling in from the ocean. After we had our fill, we headed back into San Diego. So far, it has been a splendid trip. We have about a week left in San Diego before we head up to Washington. I'll update the blog with pics and stories from Yosemite next, but I might not get the Seattle pictures up until I return to Taiwan.


DISCLAIMER: I know this blog is supposed to be about my adventures in Taiwan, hence the name "Big Stupid Laowai" (foreigner). So technically, I shouldn't be talking about all of this. However, Judy is with me, and while neither big nor stupid, here she is, like me in Taiwan, a laowai.

Sun Moon Lake

A week before our trip to the motherland, Judy and I had a long weekend and went up to one of the prettiest places in Taiwan, Sun Moon Lake (ri yue tan). I had four days off, but Judy only had two, so I decided to make a short trip by myself first. I went up to Chiayi to visit some friends and then to Yingge and Sansia in Taipei county. Chiayi was fun, as it always is, but Yingge and Sansia were a bust. So, I was elated when our bus rounded the corner and I saw the sight pictured above. Sun Moon Lake is probably the bluest lake I've ever seen. The lake is ringed with lush green hills and the water is almost the same color as the sky. We checked into our hotel room, which had a beautiful view of the lake out of a giant circular window. Then we decided to have lunch and take a stroll. This is where the bliss ended.


Like most touristy places in Taiwan, the stunning beauty is frequently ruined by the stink of commerce. All around the hotel were vendors trying to hustle us into their stores to buy over-priced junk that was probably produced in China. We sought refuge from the junk vendors by heading down toward the waterfront. Here we ran into the most annoying people at Sun Moon Lake, the boat people. The boat people kept trying to hustle us onto a boat tour, or a yacht tour, or a rowboat tour, or any manner of boat that might get us to part with our hard earned NT. Just the presence of commerce is expected of course, but these people would mill around and then relentlessly hound whomever entered their line of sight. We finally caved in and decided to ride a rowboat out onto the lake. At last we were out on the water, taking in the beauty up close - I was rowing slowly, trying to rotate slowly so we could see the whole lake. The serenity lasted for about 30 seconds. Then one of the boat ladies got on a megaphone and started hollering that there was still room on a boat and the boat would be leaving soon. She made this announcement every minute on the minute.


The picture above is me scowling at the lady. After we got back in, we took one of the much-advertised boat tours. The tour actually wasn't bad - the driver of the boat was soft-spoken, very informative, and not anything like the irritating boat people on the shore. He guided us around the lake, detailing the history of the lake. We came back from our boat tour hungry and decided to go to the Lalu for dinner.
The Lalu is the most expensive hotel at Sun Moon Lake, with the average room costing NT$16000 a night (about $500 US). It is supposed to have three great restaurants which were recommended by my Lonely Planet guidebook. If you don't have a car, however, the Lalu is really hard to get to and Judy and I hiked for about 2 miles in the dusk and eventually dark to get there. When we got there, exhausted, we realized the dinner would cost each of us NT$2000. Considering that would usually buy food for a week in Taiwan, we passed and walked back to town. Unfortunately, we ended up in a awful restaurant with microwaved food that still overcharged us.


I was pretty sour on the lake by the end of the day. But fortunately, I woke up the next morning, looked out the window and saw the picture above. It was raining and even more beautiful than it had been yesterday. I remembered at once why I had come. Maybe I'll come back again and bring earplugs.