georgeous

"don't i know that blurry back from somewhere?" you ask yourself. "i do, i do... from a peaceful place, a frameable place, a... lions gate place." and you are absolutely right. you do know that blurry back-- from peaceful warrior, the film adaptation of the way of the peaceful warrior, released by lionsgate films. my friend george was the back model for the movie poster. and my friend george just passed through taiwan, on a fabulous cruise of east asia. george and i met as teachers in the french caribbean, so it was only fitting that we spend our day together in one of taiwan's most tropical, lush, jungly environs. this is wulai:













wulai is less than an hour from taipei. it is a beautiful landscape of tropical mountains, blue green waters, and sulphur carbonate hot springs. in just one overcast yet sparkling afternoon, george, karin and i took in an abundance of wulai pleasures. among them:










a petite yet provocative miniature train. we waved, we screamed, we faux-conducted, we befriended the actual conductors. there was also:












the street food. a whole roasted pig! a father-and-son candy-pulling team, so glossy, sleek, and long! fist-sized balls of mashed fish and squished taro, chopped and fried! and for our wulai nightcap, we had:

a private hot spring soak at the landis. overlooking the nanshih river's turquoise waters, and a small waterfall set into the mountainside just across the valley. our tub's waterfall mirrored its twin in wild and unpredictable torrents of toasty spring water. it was so good, it was worth missing my train... and the next one... and the next one.

bon voyage, boug mwen!





BONUS: the following clip has nothing to do with wulai, or george, or karin. it illustrates a rock-glowstick phenomenon that captivated me the night before wulai, throughout amei's entire 3.5 hour performance at kaohsiung arena. the glowsticks were there before amei, and they lasted well beyond the extended "on-ko." *amei is taiwan's #1 pop diva, equivalent to kylie minogue or madonna in pop appeal and fan frenzy quotient*