Taiwan: In case of accidental sunshine – break glass

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My time in Taiwan hasn’t been constant doom and gloom; there may have even been a three day period where  it didn’t rain at all.  That said, even when it’s not raining in Taiwan there is moisture in the air – at least in late summer.  The average high temperature in August is 91F (34C) and the average low is 80F (27C), but that’s only half the story; in actuality that’s 91 degrees with a 50% chance of thunderstorm and a 100% chance of ungodly humidity.  So, in case of an emergency and the sun does come out – what’s a guy to do?

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One Week Later: Taiwan, Taipei, Trains, and Typhoons

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One week after being unceremoniously dumped in Taipei’s city center an hour after midnight, I’ve felt this massive city shrink in scale as I’ve familiarized myself with its public transportation system and started to explore.  I’ve also started to get a feeling for how small Taiwan is itself – taking a 3.5 hour train ride halfway down the eastern coast of the country to visit one of Taiwan’s most scenic destinations …and then a Typhoon crossed my path.

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Short words on the city of Cairns

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Cairns.  It’s quite possibly the second most difficult word to correctly pronounce in the entire Australian vocabulary.  Sure – I’ll admit that I’ve heard grammar rules in my life about what to do when two vowels are together in a word, but I’ve never found any rules about silent r’s being added just for fun.  Subsequently, I cannot tell you why “Cairns” is pronounced as “Cans,” but I can tell you that I hate that stupid “r.”

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Sunken Ships and Broken Things

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“You’ve got to dive this wreck,” Greg says, gushing enthusiastically about the Yongala, “it’s one of the best wreck sites in the world.  Get in touch with YongalaDive and they’ll hook you up with everything you need.”  Thus begins the story of the time I went diving around a shipwreck over 100 years old off the east coast of Australia.  I met Greg at my hostel in Singapore.  He’s from Australia, lives in Indonesia running a dive shop, but happens to be in Singapore on his way to the Philippines where he’s spending a month island hopping and diving.  Greg clearly knows his diving – I write down ‘YongalaDive’ in my notebook with the intention of checking into the company once I reach Australia.  A few weeks later my teeth are clattering and my body shivering – 25 meters below water in a 5mm wetsuit submerged in 72 degree water and cursing Greg …and myself.

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I’ve taken the black on Arlie Beach

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I’m wearing a new pair of black boxers at the moment.  I’ve been traveling with them for 4.5 months and purposely never worn them.  The running plan has been that I would only put them on when I had nothing else that was clean.  Today that day has come.  As a result – today is laundry day.  Fortunately for me, Arlie Beach is a great little town to do laundry in, since I’m not sure what else there is to do here…

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Melbourne – Babe I’m gonna leave you

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Babe I’m gonna leave you.  I wanted to give you all my love, but now I’m just dazed and confused.  There was some sort of communication breakdown – a city filled with an endless supply of coffee shops and restaurants – now I realize you are somethin’ else.  You’ve given me the traveling riverside blues and it’s nobody’s fault but mine.  Melbourne, your time is gonna come – I’m dreaming of a white summer.  Right now though, I’m a fool in the rain and it’s too cold to go down to the ocean.  It’s time to ramble on.

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