花蓮

Spent the weekend on the lovely eastern coast of Taiwan, namely, Hualien City. My cousin set it all up, and there were 10 of us altogether. For most of Saturday, though, I wasn't with them as I was the only one who wanted to tour Taroko Gorge. The others went white-water rafting. So I ended up taking this tour with a bunch of other students from 台大, also doing the MTC program there, as well as some Singaporeans and Malaysians. Ended up having a great time. Taroko is very beautiful, and I wished we could have explored some of the less "touristy" trails.

Anyway, also walked a bit around the streets of Hualien later that night, and early the next morning as well, where I found some graffiti (yay!). Sunday was spent packing, and then dolphin watching (which they advertised as whale watching, which while technically correct is still a misnomer, dammit).

Stinky tofu, and no I didn't try it

Fun with sparklers and my camera's ISO speed

Taroko Gorge tour:

Graffiti along one 自由街, 花蓮
Lunch

Fun with sparklers, part two

non-erstwhile adventures

I'm still working on a composite Thailand post that will be completed sometime, but that is taking a backburner in favor of my latest wandering adventures into the guts of Taipei. Today, I bring you a look at the burgeoning* graffiti culture here:

Tunks Chek: a name I have come to recognize throughout the unguarded walls of Taipei. I first saw his signature along a building near, I think, the 師大一 bus stop. Saw him a couple more times in this little cache of graffiti I went to.

Wall of Graffiti

The famous kitten gets a place on a pillar

The MRT passing above the Wall of Graffiti

Sweet giraffe. There was also great design to both sides, but I couldn't get it all in without losing the detail.

I had been meaning to stop here for weeks now, because I used to see it every day as I took the MRT to ShiDa, when I still lived with my relatives. I took the opportunity today, as I was heading up to the Formosa Fun Coast, had time to spare before the allotted meeting time there with my cousins, and it was on the way there.

Not that I wasn't a little wary of poking my nose around the underbelly of the MRT and Expressway, stepping around broken glass and discarded items in my flip flops, digital camera in hand, and I did get some strange looks, but nothing bad happened.

*Ok, I honestly have no idea if the graffiti culture is burgeoning or in full bloom. I guess I assumed, with the rigidity of social customs and traditions here, that graffiti artists are only just starting to appear. Perhaps I am mistaken. I'd love to hear from anyone with more information though!