8. Today you must see

A minor problem i've been having with taiwan is the sanitation. I don't think the government puts much emphasis on this matter and i'm not so sure why they have not considered improvement. 1. When i walk the streets of taiwan, i will very often be holding a snack in one hand and a drink in the other. Very often, i will find myself holding onto those items for hours, simply because there are no rubbish bins. Most people in taiwan have a heart to do good, but there is a stage where frustration exceeds the sense of doing the right thing. So there is nothing with the peoples' attitudes towards environmentalism, its just that there are no rubbish bins. 2. In the city of taipei, there are many very dangerous drains in which you can drop something and never get it back. Out of those drains, come a smell of unprocessed and uncared-for water, and it covers the entire city of taipei. I'm used to it now, so it must smell somewhat okay. 3. I'm not yet used to the public toilets in taiwan, because sometimes it is just too difficult to use.

This picture shows a view from the outside. Go inside the door and turn right, is an open female toilet i.e. not separated from the male toilet.

At our bus trip toilet break, many people needed to go to the toilet so there was a very big line, of girls inside the toilet. The guys were desperate, but not that desperate. From the urinal, you can also see our tour group in the distance. I guess this is something i will need to get used to, especially in busy light-rail stations where cleaner ladies come in once every few minutes to check up on you. New years eve, i went to taipei city hall with some friends to watch the fireworks at taipei 101. There are hardly any public toilets, so when it really got crowded, people would have had to form toilet lines that extended to even the outside of the nearest McDonalds or KFC. People were beginning to get desperate. I noticed some interesting behaviour, that some girls were lining up for the guys toilets and some guys were lining up for the girls toilets. How is this good? Later i discovered why. The guys' line move a lot faster than the girls' line, and the girls figure that it will be faster to line up in the guys' line for the cubicles. The guys see the girls lining up in their line and they want a piece of it too, so they chinese swap with their wives, daughters, mums, grandmas, whoever is nearest to the toilet. Nobody thinks you're weird for lining up in the wrong line, just put on a blank expression, look up at the ceiling aimlessly and take a step forward every now and then. It cracks me up. An area's culture develops like this: one person starts something and all of a sudden everyone else follows. This will become an integral part of the taiwanese culture if they do not build some more public toilets - quickly.

A feature of taiwanese culture is spontaneity and creativity. The games are a lot cheaper and funner than the clowns and buckets we get back in australia. Here is a few of the selection:

Shoot Snoopy

Catch a Prawn


The aim of the game is to catch a prawn with a fragile fishing net. Once the net breaks it's game over. Notice in the back there is a cooking stand, for you to cook your prize to perfection.

Mechanical Maze

Lead the baton through the moving mechanical maze in the fastest time possible.

Mahjong Tiles

Catch a Turtle

This game sounds cute. If you are good enough, your prize can become your pet! The game i paid most attention to was the Hoop Toss.


There are blue sticks in every row of prizes and to win a prize, just toss a hoop into a stick on the same row. The prizes are huge and so was the number of people playing it. The number of hoops landing next to the prizes can tell a story. I stood there for about 15 minutes watching people play this game. Some people came really close to looping the hoop onto the stick, but no one won any prizes. Finally, after some thought, i declared this game impossible because firstly the stick is much longer than it is wide, so wide that it is even bigger than the hoop. In the back, the chinese words clarify in detail the conditions of a win, i.e. no bouncing off other objects, no half in half out etc. Which is why it is impossible. The stall lady was a busy lady, running around supplying everyone with hoops and collecting lots of money. While i was watching, she approached me a few times to ask if i wanted to play, each time i declined. She should have had a big grin on her face because everybody was giving her business, but she didn't seem happy. She must've been worried that i would ask if she could manually fit a ring onto a blue stick to prove that it was possible. She gave me that 'look' every time she caught my eye. I really was going to ask, but she learnt very quickly to avoid my gaze.

I was reading a book on how owners open up multiple stores in a market to gain an advantage over buyers who'd love to think they've scored a bargain. The stores near the main door are always the most expensive, but when you head inwards to the inside, the stores become discounted. And when bargain hunters see this, they'll say: "yes, lucky i didn't buy from that first store i went to" and will likely buy more from the second store, whose prices could still be relatively high to the owner's cost price. This is the trap i fell into recently. A man aged around the mid-40's came out to greet me. He seemed like a loud man, but also a man of strategy. He showed me three pairs of shoes out on display and asked me to look at another pair which is plastic leather. He showed me how to distinguish from real leather, then came back to the three original pairs and said: "yes, yes, now this is real leather". He told me to try it on and i asked for a few sizes down. Any shoe seller knows that if the customer tries on the shoe, there is a big percentage increase in the chance that the customer will make a purchase. Why? Because people have face. The seller looks like he's in a hurry to go to the storage room to get a new size, but what he really does in there is linger, stand around, look at the watch, because he knows that the longer he takes in there, the more the customer will feel guilty for wasting his time if he does not make the purchase. I tried it on, it was comfortable and it looked quite okay. I asked him questions: "brand", "maintenance", "how long it will last". He tried to avoid my gaze (again) as he answered the questions, and i knew something was not right. But I still bought that pair. The art of selling shoes is unfathomable, powerful in captivating and it had all happened too fast. In reflection, i shouldn't have bought the pair of shoes, but at the same time, i should have. I exchanged a small amount of money for experience, practical learning, a laugh at myself on the way home, and not to mention a pair of leather shoes that can't be so bad. My mum always tells me (and would tell me again and again) that if you buy the wrong pair of shoes - take it for experience, if you buy the wrong car - take it for experience, if you buy the wrong house - take it for experience and feel happy for the seller, if you studied the wrong course - go and study another one, but if you marry the wrong woman - you will need to sit down and think about what a massive mistake you've made. My mum didn't marry the wrong man. But she could take that line out anywhere, anytime i.e. whenever one of us makes a mistake. The science museum in taichung is very good. What i found most fascinating about the museum was the extraordinary botanical gardens. I have never seen such a wide variety of plants anywhere. Even the leaves look interesting. After walking a whole day, i rested on some benches near the gardens and took out a sun cake to eat. I watched as couple by couple of boyfriends and girlfriends came out of the science exhibition, holding hands, talking, and pointing at the sunset. How nice, i thought. Thinking, thinking, thinking, i couldn't help noticing some by-passing insects, that were only by-passing at first but were attracted by my sun cake food scraps i had dropped while eating.

They carried my food away and then they left. How nice. I suppose i can wait.

It was arranged that my aunty would pick me up from taichung train station. While i waited she called me to ask me to go to a less-busy road to wait, because she didn't want to go through heavy traffic. On my way into the less-busy road, i spotted a billboard mounted on a tall building a few hundred metres on the left which read: "shen ai shi ren" (God so loves the world). In my mind, i was thinking about the significance of seeing this sign, and thinking, thinking, thinking it suddenly clicked. I prayed quickly to God to move my aunty to call me once again, for whatever reason. A few moments later, she called me to ask what signs i could see. I said to her: "shen ai shi ren." She replied: "shen ai shi ren?" I responded: "yes." She said: "no i don't know what that is, how about this, walk along that less-busy street until you get to a 'liang mian' (cold noodle) shop, bye" and hung up. I walked and walked and i finally spotted the cold noodle shop on my right, and to my surprise, the "shen ai shi ren" billboard was just opposite. Something in me was curious about something. I lined myself up with the centre of the cold noodle store and i turned around to face the billboard. I was aligned exactly in the centre of the billboard; one step to the right or left would have crooked the alignment. When my aunty arrived, she told me that she has never seen that billboard before in her life. She has lived in that area for 20+ years and she knows that 'less-busy' street pretty much off by heart but she has never seen a sign as clear and as visible as clear and visible get. I know that her eyes must have been blinded for all these years, but today they must see.

7. Kids, Girls, Restaurant Adventures and Healing

A notable characteristic of taiwanese children is their obedience. I've mentioned before about the study life of the kids here and you would be thinking *insane*. So how is it that they have such an extreme study lifestyle? Via obedience to doing everything they are told, probably because they have no idea of any other lifestyle.

In the picture on the left, the girl was studying at the train station all by herself. On the right, the girl was on the train and still studying, but what i found most interesting about the picture was that the train the girl was travelling on was running on a single-stop line, and the time it takes to go one way is about 1 minute. One day, I was playing at a playground that was typical of australian standards. I was sitting on the springy, wobbly, stubby elephant because i wanted to see if i was heavy enough to topple it. A 2-to-3 yr old kid plods in front of me and smiled when i gestured for him to hop on with me. Out of nowhere, i heard a female voice sound: "Bu ke yi!" (no cannot do that) I turned my head around to see a woman in her 40's and i assumed that she was his mum. By the time i turned my head back, the kid's face was sour. He took a few steps back and said to me: "Mama shuo (mummy say), bu ke yi." Wow. To which i responded to the mum: "ke yi ke yi wei shen me bu ke yi?" (can can, why cannot?) The mum didn't seem to know how to respond, but said: "ok lah, ge ge let you go on, you can go on." Maybe she was acting out of politeness thinking that her child might disrupt my play time, but maybe she just didn't want her child to be touched by strangers. Hard to know. But the point is that the kid was very well educated in obedience. Later on, it began to rain, but i wasn't bothered because all my friends were still having fun at the playground. The little boy appeared within sight and told me: "Xia yu le, gai hui jia le." (It's raining, time to go home) And obviously his mum told him to say that.

The taiwanese expatriate tour was an unforgettable experience. I firstly want to thank my mum for forcing me onto this because if she had not done so, i would still be at home feeling satisfied with myself and sadly not knowing what i'm missing out on. I have gained many valuable lessons in this tour, as well as expanded my thinking capacities. Some of you may think that I'm the type of guy who would attend extra activities, go to far away places, and on this occassion go on the taiwanese expatriate tour just to check out the girls available. Some of you think that i'm that type of guy.

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Well i am. Here's my top four:

Anne, 22 from New Zealand


A bubbly personality and always a pleasure to be with. The way she speaks her mind is phenomenal. You can always tell that her thought process is cluttered and erroneous because she frequently uses the word: "bu dui" (no no no), and also because she speaks her mind.



Amanda, 18 from Brunei



This girl is a combination of cuteness and politeness. Think about how a cute and polite person would bargain at a night market, and you might chuckle to yourself. But now, I don't think she likes me very much after I followed her around for about 2 hours inside the night market while she browsed. I must say that it was an extremely boring and tiring experience, but one that must be endured. And just because she thinks i'm weird doesn't stop her from being in my top four.


Sarah, 25 from New Zealand


Sarah is probably my favourite friend out of the top four because she cares and listens and shares experiences with me. She is serious about relationships and is one who would work hard to achieve her goals. I first met Sarah when i snuck into a New Zealand team meeting in which she, being the NZ captain, immediately identified me as a non new zealander. She didn't punish me because she said that i had a cute smile =]. She does not care what other people think of her, so her actions can be quite extreme in a positive, friendly and likeable way.


Angela, 16 from South Africa

The word to describe this girl is "tian zhen" (naive and innocent). She'll tell you the truth no matter what e.g. that's ugly or i like you. Words alone cannot describe wholely but she is a very comfortable and cute and smily girl to be around.
I know it is very difficult to describe someone to the extent of bringing them alive like they are so vividly in my mind. So please enjoy the pictures. My favourites are not the people i hang around often, they're just people whom i think have unique characteristics, which i smile at.

On tour, i hung around people for 21 days straight, and the only time i had the chance to be by myself was when i found an excuse to escape to the internet cafe. The word 'escape' is used here because some of my friends are overly caring, to the extent of thinking that, when i say: "yes i can walk back by myself thanks", i am being poilte in trying not to waste their time. So they would say: "by yourself no good la, i come with you" and follow me. After spending so much time with people, i began to realise the friends who were true and the friends who use me. For example, the friend mentioned above who never wants me to be alone and lonely truly doesn't know about the way i feel and even hurts me sometimes, but in his world, he is doing his best to make me feel welcome. He is a true friend and i cherish this friendship, nothing more to say. But the friend who likes to hangs around me but runs off to find the girls when the situation is ripe, is no good, especially when he doesn't even invite me to come along. These people can't be trusted because of their thoughtful, yet sly motives. You know that I know that everyone has motives, but it all comes down to whether they're healthy or unhealthy. One day my aunty took me out to an all-you-can-eat barbeque restaurant. The way to order is by filling out sheets of menu, ticking what you want, and then handing it to the waiter. You can do this unlimited times and you do not have to get out of your seat. The only limit is the two hour time limit. At first, it was only the three of us, my aunty, her daughter and I eating at the table but with half an hour to go, my uncle came hurriedly from work to join us. The manager of the restaurant is a close friend of my uncle so he offered to cook the meat for us on the table. And while he cooked, he chatted and laughed and cooked and chatted, until suddenly, he overtly snatched away our bill as a gesture to pay for our meal. Of course you could imagine the outcome of such an action. My uncle and aunty were very angry and were rousing him in an unfriendly manner, while the manager just screwed up his face and walked away silently shaking his head. After seeing this, i thought that uncle was very fortunate to have such a good manager friend. He was offering to pay for $1,600 worth of food. But wait, there has to be more to this. The breakdown of the scenario is as follows: three people have been eating for one and a half hours and a man comes to join them for the last half hour. The man has already ordered some vegetables and meat and the manager is about to cook for the customer personally. The manager observes that to the right of the uncle is an eating machine, which has not stopped eating furiously ever since the countdown of the two hour limit, and also notes that the uncle is no ordinary eater either. By taking away the bill, he achieves three goals. 1) He blocks off all further food supply from coming onto the table because he has already calculated our actions according to our character; we would not dare order anymore food since he was paying for it all. 2) He makes us feel guilty if we do not come again as he tells us to. 3) He builds further relationship with customer for future benefits. He seemed like a nice guy, but actually all he wanted to do was to stop me from eating. With such deep motive, he has surely gained in the medium to long run, and it is no wonder that he can become the manager of such a restaurant.

Before the first day of the taiwan tour, my stomach was not feeling so well and i remembered that i used the toilet at the train station which is the meeting place for bus pick-ups. For the entirity of the tour i had not one sickness, but once the tour ended, when we were dropped off at the train station to go home, i felt my stomach at it again. This sickness is some virus which is circulating rapidly around taiwan at this very moment. The victim of this virus cannot digest food, as whatever goes in comes out very quickly, so it is not very comfortable. One night, I went out for dinner to another all-you-can-eat barebeque restaurant. All night i was just sitting there watching my friends gobble down fat juicy pieces of meat because i knew that if i ate, i would not be able to recover. It was a sympathy-drawing experience. That saturday night, when i returned home, uncle had already organized an actioned packed sunday morning. How good of him to do so, i thought. But then i remembered that i should attend church, because it is sunday morning. How should i tell him, i thought, after all his careful planning, would i break his heart? I didn't want to feel like i was dictating what i wanted to do instead of taking his recommendations, especially when he, being my mum's little brother, was sure to be scolded if he did not take me around the place to visit attractions. I firmly made my decision and i took a step towards my uncle's room room. It's all about that first step isn't it? In all things, even if it is literal. Once that step is taken, to retract would simply seem foolish, so in other words, there is no return. The church i went to has three services on sunday, with each service quadripling a packed ICC sunday morning. The service began with praise and worship, a female lead plus seven back-ups. The band was not on the stage. I enjoy attending different churches because i believe that every church has its strengths we can learn from. Before the sermon began, a pastor stepped up and asked those who had stomach or intestinal problems to stand to their feet. I was touched by those words, and i stood to my feet. The pastor's word for me as well as some others was to not worry and look to God, then he prayed for the healing of our bodies. When i sat down, i wasn't expecting to be healed but instead was expecting a time of endurance because of the precise words "do not worry" that the pastor gave. I did however feel an overwhelming peace over me as well as irrational joy. I was happy that I had fallen sick to that virus; it suddenly all became worthwhile.

I ask God each morning to show me something new and give me something interesting to write in this diary. I also ask God for new strengths to take a few more steps forward, especially in reaching out to my relatives, which has so far been interesting. I look forward to the next few days here in taiwan because i know that where God is, interesting things happen. Our God is with us.

Actually, that sunday morning i was healed instantly. God even proved it to me, logically and, personally.

6. A Purpose Filled Trip

He said to me, "Son of man, have you seen this?" Then he brought me and returned me to the bank of the river. When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were very many trees on one side and the other. Then he said to me: This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live.

A few days before i left for Taiwan, Aunty Hooi Hooi approached me and asked me about the trip. She asked me what i wanted to achieve on this trip. I told her that i wanted to meet a lot of new people. Then she asked: "Do you want to meet a lot of new people to have fun or so that you can share the gospel with them?" I haven't tried to remember this question, but i know that it must have touched my heart.

On the 14th day of the tour, I spent some time by myself thinking about the future. 14 days had already passed, i thought, what have i achieved in these 14 days? Then i thought about the remaining 7 days i have and how i should use them to have no regret. What would be my biggest regret? The answer i came up with is not not making enough friends, not not building good relationships, but not telling the people here about Jesus - because only this is everlasting and truly meaningful.

One night, i moved my personal space out into the corridor because all my room mates were asleep. I was planning to do some planning for the near future as well as read some bible verses. I was also thinking about my life as a christian, how i don't take the extra step beyond passively telling others i'm a christian. I thought about how weak that was; i was afraid of something. I've always seen myself as an extreme person, so is it about time to change the way i do things? So I prayed for some boldness. At that moment or a few moments after, out of a silent corridor corner, a good friend approached and said: "I have some things to tell you." Some nice timing, i thought, i also have something to tell you. He sat down next to me on the carpet and began talking to me about his relationship problems, ideas, his religion, friends and also asked me about which girl i like on the tour. I didn't really want to answer that question because some things were always meant to be kept to yourself to prevent misunderstanding and complication. I prayed to God whether he could make my friend ask me about my belief in christianity, and if so, i promised God that i would hit him like he's never been hit before, because i would know that God is with me. A few moments later, my friend asked: "christianity dui ni hen zhong yao ma?" which means: "is christianity really so important to you?" I said 'yes' and i hit him - with what we believe in to what we do to how we spend time together like a family daily, and when i was about to get to the challenging part, a random sticky person came and broke the atmosphere. The conversation stopped there but I know that I had fulfilled my promise, because i had done my best. Something special came upon me at that very moment, it was a piece of boldness. I was like a priest crossing the jordan river (joshua 3:15). All i had to do was take the first step to put my feet into the water, and God will provide the rest. I have taken the first step, and there is no return.

Taiwanese dockets are very special. There is a unique code on each docket e.g. 69108761. At the end of every two months 3 sets of numbers are published and if your docket unique number's last 3 digits or more matches the published numbers, you win prize money depending on how many numbers match. The scheme was initially introduced to catch small and medium businesses from falsely reporting sales figures to reduce tax. With the scheme introduced, customers are more likely to demand a receipt. From an economist's point of view, the failure of this system is that customers have the incentive to buy one thing at a time e.g. buying 10 bananas one at a time to 10x your chances of winning. The up-side to this system is the boost in customer morale. Wherever you are, whoever you are, you are always in for a chance to win the ultimate prize NT$200,000, that is if you match all 8 numbers. Another effect of the introduction of this scheme is that non-profit organizations no longer seek for money donations, instead they seek for docket donations. Once, a non-profit organization represented by two early secondary school girls approached me (or more like i was standing there with my back turned waiting for them to come to me) and said: "Shen shou juan fa piao, jiu jiu zhi wu ren" (reach out to give docket, save brain-dead vegetables). I did not know what a "fa piao" (docket) was at that time, so i said OK and took out a large coin to donate into box because i thought that money was what they needed to save brain-dead people. The bigger girl interrupted my offering and said with an inquisitive grin: "uhhh ni shi na li lai de?" (uhhh...where are you from?) The smaller girl, a little amused but at the same time frightened, slowly took a step back to hide behind the bigger girl with her head poking out. I was confused. I gave them a big frown then a big smile. They responded with a: "uhhehuhe...", turned 180 degrees and sped away quickly, almost stumbling over each other. I felt bad for some time after scaring those two girls. I didn't mean it. Hopefully it would give them something fun to tell their friends about. If i ever scare you, know that I didn't mean it, please understand that i was only trying to be nice =].

During the tour, we played a similar game to the amazing race, held in the busy streets of tai-dong. Everyone begins with the name of a food e.g. "mian bao" (bread). The aim of the game is to find another food to join onto the last word of the previous food e.g. "bao zi" (meat bun) then "zi cai" (seaweed vegetable) until you find 10 foods. All foods that were used must be bought and eaten on the spot. Our team was stuck on "cha ye dan" (tea egg) and we needed the next word to end in "fen" to make things easier. We couldn't be bothered thinking so we decided to make up our own food called: "dan chao mi fen" (egg with vermicelli) and to prove that such dish existed, we ran to the closest noodle bar and ordered a: "dan chao mi fen". She said: "no no we don't have that dish, you can try somewhere else." We said to her: "we don't care, just cook some vermicelli and put some egg on top." The expression on the store owner's face was perfect:

I don't blame her for her stunned expression. We went to another store in search of wontons which was our tenth food item, but the store only sold wonton noodle soup with vegetables. The more we insisted on "just give me one wonton forget about the soup the noodles and the vegetables because we only need one wonton", the more the lady promoted her soup, noodles and vegetables, and talked about how good a feeling it is to eat it all together. No wonder, in such a food competitive place like taiwan, reputation is much more important than a few extra dollars of profit in the short run. The store owner in the picture above must have been thinking the same thing: "If i sell them 'egg on vermicelli' today, where will i hide my face tomorrow?"