Well, I have a whole bunch of notes I was going to transcribe into journal entries with my free time, but I just read that a guy I knew in high school passed away. He wasn't someone that I hung out with all the time, but we hung out in band class and I enjoyed many a good conversation with him. So, here's to the inquisitive and caring life of David Miller. He sent me a message once saying he liked me photography. So, this next batch of uploads if for him.
These photos include photos from the visit of the President of the Republic of China, Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), adventures at a Chinese tourist trap, making ski lanterns, huge spiders, a farm, and BBQ. And, of course, more good food.
Here's a link to the album: http://picasaweb.google.com/anwilkins22/Taiwan2010#
Enjoy the photos, keep sharing this blog with your friends (thanks for all the feedback!) and I'll try and get some travel stories up soon. I realize they're not as fun when they're not real time, but I'm trying! Take care, and safe travels.
AW
Monday, July 19, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
GIS Day 1 - Conferences, Posters, and Some Serious Heat
If I had to sum up day one in just a few words, I'd choose hot, tiring, and mind blowing.
At 06:40 I picked up the phone closest to my bed (there are three in the room, including one next to the toilet): "This is morning call!" the female, Asian computer announced. I tried to hang up the phone but missed the receiver, so the phone dangled by the bed while I reached for my cell phone to confirm the horrible reality. I've since gotten used to these wake-up calls.
After the most ridiculously awesome breakfast buffet you could imagine, which I'm yet to take a picture of, we boarded another Chinatown Express-like bus for National Taiwan University at 8:00AM. I'm not kidding when I say that every single bus has a karaoke machine on it. I'm also not kidding when I say that karaoke, to Mandarin pop songs no less, is the worst possible thing when you are trying to snooze for 30 minutes before starting a 12 hour day of walking around a city so humid you could swim from place to place.
Taiwan National University, or NTU, is beautiful. Palm trees line all the streets, and tropical sequoia-like trees that have air-roots are placed in huge beds. The cool thing about these trees is that the air-roots, which are intended to absorb moisture, become another extension of the tree when they make contact of the ground. The trees then begin to take on the appearance of those that you see in movies growing around Asian temples. Truly beautiful, and very commonplace. Gotta love the tropical climates.
Here's a shot of the group under one of those cool trees I was talking about.
One element of the campus tour was visiting the major academic departments, to include a zoology museum. We listened to a presentation on different animal sounds, and then a student casually produced a box containing foam/caulk stuffed rats. Their tails served nicely as handles.
We also saw a presentation on the history of their physics department, which included one of the first particle accelerators in Asia (pictured below). Clearly, NTU has been at the forefront of education in East Asia for quite some time.
After the campus tour, we traveled to the National Palace Museum. This is the place where the retreated Republican forces, who were fleeing the Communists following successive defeats in the Chinese Civil War (post WWII), stored a large majority of the treasures from mainland China. They saved thousands of artifacts and pieces of art that represented the entire span of the regions history from the Communists. This turned out to be a huge save later on: during Mao's Cultural Revolution, young Maoists destroyed ancient temples and treasures in their fervor to shun the old and welcome in progress. In a way, the existence of the museum is sad. It was founded by the exiled Republic of China government to store the treasures until they could return to the mainland. They're still there today, representing both the care of the Republicans and the irreverence of the Communists. Pictures weren't allowed inside the museum.
After the walkthrough of the museum, which was quite long, we headed back to our hotel. I quickly donned my complimentary bathrobe, flipped on Animal Planet and listened to a documentary on meerkats interspersed with incredibly loud and raucous Taiwanese commercials (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGxgmwCuKN4).
Hard sleep followed. Life is good.
At 06:40 I picked up the phone closest to my bed (there are three in the room, including one next to the toilet): "This is morning call!" the female, Asian computer announced. I tried to hang up the phone but missed the receiver, so the phone dangled by the bed while I reached for my cell phone to confirm the horrible reality. I've since gotten used to these wake-up calls.
After the most ridiculously awesome breakfast buffet you could imagine, which I'm yet to take a picture of, we boarded another Chinatown Express-like bus for National Taiwan University at 8:00AM. I'm not kidding when I say that every single bus has a karaoke machine on it. I'm also not kidding when I say that karaoke, to Mandarin pop songs no less, is the worst possible thing when you are trying to snooze for 30 minutes before starting a 12 hour day of walking around a city so humid you could swim from place to place.
Taiwan National University, or NTU, is beautiful. Palm trees line all the streets, and tropical sequoia-like trees that have air-roots are placed in huge beds. The cool thing about these trees is that the air-roots, which are intended to absorb moisture, become another extension of the tree when they make contact of the ground. The trees then begin to take on the appearance of those that you see in movies growing around Asian temples. Truly beautiful, and very commonplace. Gotta love the tropical climates.
 |
| From Taiwan 2010 |
Here's a shot of the group under one of those cool trees I was talking about.
 |
| From Taiwan 2010 |
One element of the campus tour was visiting the major academic departments, to include a zoology museum. We listened to a presentation on different animal sounds, and then a student casually produced a box containing foam/caulk stuffed rats. Their tails served nicely as handles.
 |
| From Taiwan 2010 |
We also saw a presentation on the history of their physics department, which included one of the first particle accelerators in Asia (pictured below). Clearly, NTU has been at the forefront of education in East Asia for quite some time.
 |
| From Taiwan 2010 |
 |
| From Taiwan 2010 |
After the campus tour, we traveled to the National Palace Museum. This is the place where the retreated Republican forces, who were fleeing the Communists following successive defeats in the Chinese Civil War (post WWII), stored a large majority of the treasures from mainland China. They saved thousands of artifacts and pieces of art that represented the entire span of the regions history from the Communists. This turned out to be a huge save later on: during Mao's Cultural Revolution, young Maoists destroyed ancient temples and treasures in their fervor to shun the old and welcome in progress. In a way, the existence of the museum is sad. It was founded by the exiled Republic of China government to store the treasures until they could return to the mainland. They're still there today, representing both the care of the Republicans and the irreverence of the Communists. Pictures weren't allowed inside the museum.
 |
| From Taiwan 2010 |
After the walkthrough of the museum, which was quite long, we headed back to our hotel. I quickly donned my complimentary bathrobe, flipped on Animal Planet and listened to a documentary on meerkats interspersed with incredibly loud and raucous Taiwanese commercials (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGxgmwCuKN4).
Hard sleep followed. Life is good.
 |
| From Taiwan 2010 |
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