The End, My Friend(s), This is The End

In the eve of astronomical autumn, I will move from these Oriental skies to the Occidental ones.

Last weeks here were with less travels than I would like, well, two factors worked for that: a) I have to work sometimes, also :-); b) my company in most of the travels went abroad.

But I think I presented Taiwan in best colors for you all who visited these pages. It became one of 'my' places; this half year here I feel as opening the door of Asia (finally) for me. Thanks to the Taiwanese friends, I will come back here in future as to one of my homes. Xie-Xie to all of you, indeed!

Why to come here? a) food. b)food. c) food.
a0) magnificent people
d) nature
e) hectic, high-tech society
f) live religious practices, not museal examples
g) chance to see (and learn) about CHANGES, they are here naked in front of your eyes, NOW.

If Taiwan shows what Mainland China (not to use its rather ideologic name) is to become, then I am not afraid of it. No reason. We, occidentals, are Past Tense already. Europe is museum, nice one, but museum. In meantime when I am here few of my friends came here to earn their bowl of rice. Do not be afraid, you Europeans, yellow ants will not come to you. YOU will come to them! In fact... we are already here. With bowl out :-). But here in Taiwan in bowl are shrimps, noodles and dumplings of various (and taste) kinds, fish and vegetables, pork, beef and chicken in endless combinations, sea-shells and seaweed and... I could continue like that for long time. Only exercise your chopstick skills :-).

Do not expect here sterile world of Japan: it is not. Do not expect order and obeying the rules in the street, or clean air in the cities: it is definitely NOT.

But expect nice people. They ARE.

I will finish this in poetical spirit, with my beloved Cavafy (from http://users.hol.gr/~barbanis/cavafy/ ):

****** Ithaca ******

When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,
pray that the road is long,
full of adventure, full of knowledge.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the angry Poseidon -- do not fear them:
You will never find such as these on your path,
if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine
emotion touches your spirit and your body.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the fierce Poseidon you will never encounter,
if you do not carry them within your soul,
if your soul does not set them up before you.

Pray that the road is long.
That the summer mornings are many, when,
with such pleasure, with such joy
you will enter ports seen for the first time;
stop at Phoenician markets,
and purchase fine merchandise,
mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
and sensual perfumes of all kinds,
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
visit many Egyptian cities,
to learn and learn from scholars.

Always keep Ithaca in your mind.
To arrive there is your ultimate goal.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.
It is better to let it last for many years;
and to anchor at the island when you are old,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.

Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.
Without her you would have never set out on the road.
She has nothing more to give you.

And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you.
Wise as you have become, with so much experience,
you must already have understood what Ithacas mean.

***********************************************
******* Constantine P. Cavafy (1911) ********

Military/civil exercises

St. Reality shows it's signs in Taiwan sometimes. Although a game, how it could be realistic, people who tried The Game, know.

Between 2PM and 2:30PM today here was a kind of NNNI exercise (nothing can not surprise us" in literal translation) we remember from former Yugoslavia: siren, everything stopped in the street etc. for some time-here 20 min-and then again siren and normal life again.

Because of typhoons (my 4th here is just approaching Taiwan), the exercise has been delayed few times already, today they succeeded. I did not know about it, and when heard sirens, my reaction was a bit of "curiosity", which I developed in the real air attacks in Croatia 1991/1992. Means, this feeling of uneasyness in your stomach... interesting it is still here after 15 years!

This reminds one how stupid games of warlords can be sometimes. Fortunately, maybe (MAYBE) it succeeds that 5000 yrs of Chinese tradition (as Meiyunn would say) and some intenational affairs helps that Taiwan escapes the fate of Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia... at least in this round. It does not seem any one (except Big Villain, sure, and our dear Izrael followers of the Nazi "methodology") would exercise that kind of games these days, when it comes for the State openly pursuing it's interests (for the hidden I do not say, there is too long list) by direct killing of the people in the streets.

Let it be that way. You, believers, light some long, fat candles in that name.

Tainan, old capital

2 weeks ago I visited Kaohsiung and Tainan - I did not manage then to write a blog about Tainan, now I correct it. The city is certainly worth it. More than 200 temples-I think I saw most of them :-)!
Weather was beautiful, after the rain, so streets cleaned and air not awfully heavy as it can be in Taiwan.
Not to contaminate the line of the story later, at the beginning: THEY came here also.

One funny front of the building:

Sometimes you really see Taiwan is in Asia. TV is highly Asian, and pictorial information is also explicitly Asian :-).
One new street, but still not straight :-) :

OK, that'd be it, now we start with ubiquitous temples:

This would not go in Europe:

Chihkan Tower (Old Fort Provintia)-built by the Dutch in 1653. Taiwan was first Dutch posession, and in Tainan it is most visible. It is like an outdoor museum.

It is incorporated in the modern city:

Details inside are magnificent, you could go around whole day!

I was there :-)

Interior, except of architectural elements is not anything special, obviously it is more turistical object now...but vota are still here, you can hang a wish and pray for it:

Around the Towers also interesting objects:

Some remains of the old park in front of the old school:

Picture as not from the present time...but you can still see it from time to time in the streets. Usually for tourists.

We went further-do not ask me to describe every temple separately, too much of them I saw that day!
This guy GUARDS! :-)

As I said, LOTS of temples:

In this heat all the time to burn money, incenses etc. is not easy, so at least they try to find shadow for it:

Golden oldies

Collection inside some temples is really impressive.

There is no lack of gold:

Interesting door:

Animals also have its place...

I am curious if this one gives golden eggs...

Something is funny?

As we said, somewhere U must burn all what is to be burnt...

Detail:

All the day there were these annoying 'mosquitos' around, making hell of noise...breaking the sound wall above the city, also...some exercise or what. I never feel at ease with such machines above me.

Not that I could think anything else about this hotel...:-)

Nice one

See the one below...god's pet or what?

This was the tianan-something temple, i.e. the one for The Skies! So it was business trip after all, maybe I should ask Sienny for refunding? :-)
God of the Southern Skies:

God of the Northern Skies:

Meteorological observatory:

A triba je dimit da bi se Bogovi udostojili ...

I zvonit...

A bogmes i bubnjit ponekad...

Attendant said it is only hundred years old...it looks older to me.

"Eternal Golden Castle", old Dutch forts in the 2nd part of Tainan, near the harbour.

You can kill me, but no more temples today! No passaran!