Sunshine in Taipei

Sunshine in Taipei winter is as precious as a drop of water in the desert for me. Today after weeks of melancholic weather, Sun God showed some mercy on inhabitants of the city. It was as if the whole world was celebrating. My favourite spot of celebration on this sunny day was Daan Forrest park.

With my books, iPhone (for facebook and music), sunglasses and cup of coffee I headed to the park at 11:30am. I thoroughly enjoyed my day soaking in the Sun, walking up and down the park and settling in different spots of the park just like a photographer would do to catch Sun at different intensities and moods. I remembered most beautiful moments of my life and smiled all day. I watched hundreds of people, trees and birds do the same along my side. Every living thing was getting drunk sipping on the Sun potion today.

It was almost 4:45pm when Sun got softer and started to hide behind dense trees and tall buildings. It was cooler now and it was as if sounds of chirping crickets and playing kids were in some kind of intense competition. Taking cue from the colder temperature, I gathered my things, gave one last look on the golden gilded view of the evening and I walked back home.

Welcome summer - June 2011.

Summer sneaked in finally in June of 2011. Spring seemed longer than usual which had actually delighted old and young in the city. But now the temperatures had started to soar and the Sun fell straight down showing no remorse at all. Walking on the streets was forbidden during the noon hours by the mighty Sun. Only fools dared to fight it. Sea of colorful umbrellas, protecting delicate tall and thin doll like women from the UV rays, oozed out of the corporate buildings every single weekday at lunch time in a very smooth and predictable order.

Today was just another early summer day but yet something was different. Sun was fighting to stay strong and wind blew today swaying the sulking green trees on the main road. It was a nap time for the city when Gods decided to wake the city with an alarm. People on the road were on their way back from lunch. And there it was, a loud thunderstorms that Taipei had heard in years followed by the a heavy down pour. It was first of the summer showers of the season which will now make appearance every afternoon for next few months like a clock work. I could now hear giggles under the river of umbrellas on the sidewalk and smooth order of umbrellas was now disturbed as people started to pace up. Heads that usually hung on the desk to nap now rose with chatter and smiles.

Shower lasted for not more than 45 minutes but it made the city so refreshing cool. Everyone was cheerful with a relieving smile. Roads of Taipei glistened and so did every face on that sultry Taipei afternoon of June 2011.

Sky Lantern Festival - Welcome Chinese new year!

What a fantastic way to welcome the new year by sending thousands of pretty lanterns to the Almighty and sneaking in some demands while you alure HIM. Chinese and Taiwanese people are pleasantly sneaky in  getting their demands fulfilled.

We were groups of 6 curious visitors who boarded a train to Pinxi from the Taipei Main Station along with thousands of other folks from all parts of the Taiwan on the 15th day after Chinese New Year. We were amazed and taken aback by a surprise because the excitement and enthusiasm of people around us had not dampened even a little bit despite of constant pushing and pressing of human bodies that were being marinated by body odor and breath of fellow passengers.

We made it to our destination in about 1.5 hours, we were already running out of patience and really hoping that this better be really good. We poured ourselves on to the train platform and contributed to the flood of people. People waited for the train to pass and jumped onto the tracks from all sides just like the river would flood into every open space. In less than a minute platform and track was full of people and I could not differentiate tracks from the platform anymore and colourful lights from lanterns beautifully dotted the sides.

We walked or let me say we got pushed by people in the direction of the spot with best views of sky lanterns and fire cracker show that was organized by the governement every 30 minutes. We held each other tight so that we don't loose each other, we all had phones but how do you explain where you were to your friend when you are lost? Maybe I can say that "hey, I am right outside the lantern shop by the platform? Where are you?" But there were 100s of lantern shops on each side of the platform, where will my poor friend find me. We finally could feel our legs and managed our pace when we got to a spot where the platform ended and the open space began. People spread themselves a bit and we were jsut in time for the fireworks show.  We stood at a good spot and enjoyed the sparkles in the sky. But only when the fumes from the fireworks cleared we noticed something so spectacular. Up in the sky we saw thousands of sky lanterns dangling and floating in the sky.  I was spellbound. Some of the lanterns grouped up and formed beautiful abstract patterns, while others were scattered alone and covering entire length of the sky. It was as if stars had decided to come closer to Earth today so we can enjoy its warmth and beauty! It  This site was mesmerizing and totally worth the long painful travel from Taipei.

I could not wait to paint my own lantern, write all my wishes and send it up in the sky. All of us bought our own lantern and we borrowed Chinese paint brush and an ink pot to write our wishes. We had to buy lantern of specific color for specific wishes. Honestly, I am greedy, I want it all - Money, family, power, peace etc. So I bought a multicolored lantern, scribbled all my wishes with my dear hubby, we lit the candle at the bottom of the lantern and held it for few seconds while the heat from the candle filled its belly before we let it go in the sky. We stared at it in some trance or momentary sincerity to see our wishes fulfilled. We saw it go up and high until we could not distinguish it from thousands of other lanterns. We smiled and hugged, it was a beautiful feeling.

We walked up and down the tracks, tried local delicacies like grilled corn, glazed strawberries and special sweet New Year pastries. When we were tired we looked back at the platform and a train at distance that was leaving the platform and wondered how in the hell are we going to make it in those trains and make it back home!



Chinese New Year preparations!

Chinese New Year is approaching and city is decorated with Red lanterns and tiger shaped designs. Malls are super crowded, people are flocking to every shop and every mall to buy gifts for families and for themselves. All the SALE signs now have been updated to FINAL SALE signs. People at work are busy planning for their vacations for a week long holiday. Some have already taken extended holiday and things are starting to slow down. People have already got their fatter pay check in Dec and January ( love the 14 month pay system instead of 12 months) and there are no inhibitions against confident spending. I love the way culture and economics play along with each other. Now, this scene is no different than the scene you would see in weeks approaching Christmas in US and other Western countries or Diwali in India. Everybody goes shopping and trips when the vacation approaches in any part of the well-to-do world. This isn’t as exciting to me so I have to deep digger and discover more of the local customs and celebrations that differentiates Chinese New year from Christmas.

So I start talking to my peers weeks before CNY and start to get my scoop on real Chinese New Year celebrations. The preparation for CNY will start few weeks before the actual day. It starts with the cleansing custom. House is thouroughly washed and cleaned to get rid of ill-fortune so that it makes space for the good fortune in the coming year. I learn from my peers that on Saturday he and his wife had cleansed his parents house on Sunday they cleansed his wife’s parents house and then following weekend they will clean their own house. This was very common in Taipei and it is considered their duty to clean houses of their old parent’s house. But many times parents live in smaller towns away from the city and in this case their children will make arrangements to get their house cleansed. Now, I do have to say that cleansing custom is also widely prevalent in India before the Diwali times. I remember as a kid we used to help parents every single corner of the house and in exchange we used to get lot of Diwali treats at the end of the day. After the cleaning is completed, they will also paint doors and windows with RED color and put lanterns and paper cut outs on the door saying things like “fortune”, “wealth” and “Longevity”. Oh, so similar to the “Shubh”.”Labh” stickers or cut-outs that we used to put on the doors and colourful designs that we used to paint on the floor right outside our door (Rangoli) to welcome good luck and fortune in our homes in India.

Coming back to CNY day, it’s the day to earn lot of money. People will travel and visit relatives who are eldest in the family and extended family usually parents, grand-parents. Red packets ( envelopes filled with money) are exchanged on this day. Children will receive these red pockets from elders in the family but once children starts earning they will start giving red pockets to their parents instead of receiving from their parents. I think this makes so much sense and it is so practical. Even at workplace all employees receive Red Packets from their employers but bigger companies like us now directly deposit money in your salary account. All the family members will have a grand meal together and enjoy some family entertainment. In earlier days, there will be holiday food prepared at home but these days atleast in Taipei they have chosen a shortcut of ordering food from outside or going out to eat. All the restaurants and hotels are now advertising their CNY family style menu for in-restaurant or take-outs. Reminds me of Thanksgiving meals that people order from outside in US. Afer dinner and entertainment, kids and family members will watch the fire crackers. Taipei city has a dedicated Fire-cracker show put up for the occasion.

On the second day of CNY, married women must visit her parents house. They say that uou cannot go on the CNY day itself as it is considered a bad omen. I did not get a good explaination for what happens if you do that. My guess is that in olden days families lived far apart and it was not practical to visit two sets of familes boy side and girl side on the same day. My peers have warned me to not be too ambitious and travel or drive on that day as I will 100% get stuck in traffic and the whole country or Chinese community in the world will travel to get blessings from the girl’s parents.

This festivities will go on for 15 days and on the last day also called pinyin, families will lit lanterns outside their houses to help wayward spirits find their way home. Other custom very prevalent in Taiwan is to fire the lantern and let it rise up in the air. Messages and wishes are written on these lanterns so that God can read their wishes and help them out of their worries. Thousands of lanterns rise in the air on this day giving it a magical look, I definitely plan to visit the pinyin area and witness this marvellous site myself.

Winter Fashions

Walking up and down the Da-an area is my favourite pass time. Watching people walk, stroll, run, shop, eat and nap is too much fun. Amongst all this action, you cannot miss to notice that the fashion sense of the city is way above normal and it will definitely score very high if there was such a contest among World cities! This early February streets are filled with chic urban women in fitted woolen coats, stockings, long boots and the look completed with desginer accessories like hats, scarves and bags. Unlike NYC or Chicago, I am surprised that this town is still colourful in terms of wordrobe in winter and does not limit to Black and Grey coats. Collection and variety for coats, boots, hats and all the other Winter accessory is great! I am never bored of window shopping be it the fancy malls or the night markets.
Today is another winter day in February, parade of pretty women continues on the road. I notice beautiful cherry blossoms on the street on my way to work. Sun started to break-in and it was refreshing to get some natural light mixed with the wet mist in the air. Is it spring already? I wondered. I check for temperature and it shows solid 75 degrees. I look around and I still see women in long coats and boots and they continue to look pretty but for godsake its 75 degrees! Please shed your coats and enjoy the Sun! .