happy dragon boat festival 1: the legend of white snake

once upon a time, on a misty precipice of Emei Shan (located in southern sichuan county, about 130 km southwest of chengdu), there lived a pair of snake goddesses. the sisters weren't satisfied with life as snakes, or as goddesses-- they aimed higher. they wanted to be GIRLS. relying on the good old-fashioned magical incantation of "presto chango," they transformed themselves into earth dwelling maidens named White Snake and Green Snake.


their first step as humans was to check out the scene at the classically beautiful West Lake of Hangzhou (southwest of shanghai on the hangzhou bay). they were not disappointed. White Snake immediately fell for a foxy scholar named Xu Xian, and her green sister helped out by magically conjuring up some matchmaking rain. the sisters promptly stole away with Xu Xian's heart and his umbrella. Xu Xian, for his part, ignored Fa Hai the Monk's sage advice to keep away from this snake-in-disguise, and married the bewitching girl of his dreams.

after the wedding, the happy couple was blissful as can be... until, that is, the day of the dragon boat festival. that day, White Snake noticed everyone on her block setting out sprigs of the traditional magic-blocking ai cao. she got herself home quick as can be, and, against her better judgment, took a healthy slug of the traditional xiong huang jiu that Xu Xian passed her way. she should have known better. the jiu made her pass out and turn right back into a snake, and Xu Xian went ahead and DIED at the sight of his wife slithering and squirming around on the floor. White Snake eventually came to, and when she did, found some special chinese medicine to revive her man. just then...










Fa Hai the Interfering Monk showed up! Fa Hai not only kidnapped Xu Xian, but summoned up a Heavenly General and his crew of Heavenly Henchgods. 5 to 1, they fought the lovesick White Snake in a turf war over poor Xu Xian. at that moment, who should appear? none other than...

yes. MICHAEL JACKSON. in all of his white gloved, moonwalking glory. the heavenly battle came to a screeching, mesmerized halt just long enough for White Snake to lock Fa Hai and the Heavenly Helpers into a pagoda and throw away the key.

White Snake and Xu Xian, of course, lived happily ever after.






photos: billy and angel on Emei Shan; justin as xu xian meets and then marries billy the snake girl; billy snake knocks back a dragonboatini; xu xian keels over; vicky as fa hai gets a little help from the heavens; the smoke machine overtakes GES; happy as MJ; our audience on the edge of their folding seats; bravo GES cast and crew! **set design by chung, costumes by alexander**

ni hao, 紐 約!

after months of big city living back in 紐 約, mike came down with a bad case of the taiwans. he just had to get back to the fruit, the heat, the xiao pengyou, the shushu, and the gugu. so one fine friday night, he landed in taipei for an adventure that would come to include fuming volcanic vents, cinematic glory, and killer monkeys.

the stinky, sulfurous, gorgeously volcanic mountains of yangmingshan were our first stop. yangmingshan national park is a city bus ride from taipei main station, and most attractive for its mountains and hot springs. we did it all: the city bus from downtown, the hike up natural gas-burping mount qixingshan (northern taiwan's tallest), and the hot springs that left my jewelry black and hair sweetly smelling of sulfur for days to come.


our next stop was yehliu village, home of the queen's head rock and other peculiar rock formations. the rocks were stunning, but even more captivating were the packs of tour bus tourists and the rock formations' names-- gorilla rock, bean curd rock, filial-piety rock, and fairy shoe rock. the wind, the sea, and the human mind are all capable of beautiful and mysterious feats.



next was gaoshu. mike loves gaoshu, and gaoshu loves him right back. this time, mike had a serious mission: to make a movie depicting the daily life of students at gaoshu elementary school. i wrote and directed, mike filmed and edited, but of course, the real stars were the kids. they delivered lines in english and chinese, brushed their teeth and took naps right on cue, and in the end made their school look like the extremely fun, child-centered, and kid-powered place that it is.



taiwan would not be taiwan without FRUIT. highlights of the season include pineapple, mango, lychee, and papaya. nearby cishan is always good for its famous banana ice, which is banana flavored ice smothered in sweet red beans and sweetened condensed milk. pictured here is mango ice from "mango's hometown," yujin-- 5 forms of mango in one very lucky bowl.

taroko gorge had been calling mike's name since he last visited. a heavy mist enhanced the intense beauty of the steep and overgrown marble walls. the rivers were thunderous, which was especially exciting when we emerged from a series of claustrophobic and interminable black, dripping tunnels and saw the baiyang waterfall high up in the hills.

by the end of his trip, mike had checked off a lot of boxes on his wishlist. taroko gorge, wax apples, scooter transit, QT with shushu and gugu, coffee with the coffee guys, and a movie about the kids of gaoshu... but no monkey mountain. fortunately, on our last hike up to gaoshu's neighboring dajin waterfall, we got to share the spray with a boulder-chucking formosan macaque high up in the trees. he threw some friendly chunks of slate towards our heads, then swung back and looked on while we got under the falls. ahh... taiwan.

photos: qixingshan @ yangmingshan; geological rock formations; yehliu curiosities; filmmaker mike; my noodle ladies; getting down in mango hometown; banana ice monkey; taroko tunnels; aw yeah jinshan; dajinleen

seoul sister

this year, my dear friend lauren trampe moved to seoul for love. the added bonus of moving to korea for love was finding yet more love just down the way in the east china sea, in the form of me. about a month ago, lauren followed her asian destiny 1000 miles south, to southern taiwan. as should be expected of girls who bonded in a catholic girls' high school, we spent our time joyriding on scooters, slurping up taiwan beer & noodles, and nursing appletinis with taiwanese soldiers and their shattered dreams (just kidding, mike & myung!). lauren is fantastic for countless reasons, among those being that she insisted on a blindfold for the blind taiwan beer taste test (blue trounced green 2-0) and she agreed to sing "take me out to the ballgame" in front of my entire school (rained out, sadly). we hope to hangul out in east asia at least won more time this year, in south korea. stay tuned.
photos: lauren & eileen ride smile; lauren, pony & eileen's windswept photo shoot

pescadora penghu

penghu is a cluster of over 100 islands that forms a natural boundary between the south and east china seas, located about 45 km west of taiwan. penghu also goes by the portuguese pescadores, for "fishermen." my friend adora bravely lives and teaches on the biggest island in the archipelago. by her account, penghu is marvelously hot, welcoming, and beachy 6 months of the year, and fiercely windy, overcast, and grim the other 6. based on half of what adora says plus the basalt rock formations, fresh ocean breezes, and proximity to snorkeling, i entertained fantasies of staying forever... or at least the duration of another contract in taiwan.


finding-my-way-in-taipei karin and i spent a weekend exploring penghu on 50 cc's, with adora and adora's delightful mom. during this time, we learned about some of penghu's trademark distinctions:

penghu's official...

*karin's first time driving a scooter*

--flower: firewheel (gaillardia pulchella)

--tree: chinese banyan

--rock formation: basalt column

--ice cream flavor: cactus or aloe (i prefer aloe)
--cake: black sugar
--stone: agate (or more appropriately, "vein stone")
--festival: fireworks (during the month of may)

--construction material: coral chunk

adora led her guests on an artful tour of her island, penghu, plus baisha and si islands. we witnessed the long and important cross-sea bridge; a giant and ancient banyan tree that could easily be confused for a small forest; a traditional island village built from coral chunks (boasting cedarwood incense and splashy almond milk); a basalt formation called "whale cave" (our favorite theory was the one that says a whale's body was thrown against the rock, thereby punching a whale-shaped hole in it); and a white sand beach.

the weather was mostly gray with occasional sprinkles, but in my final hour, the skies cleared and the sun made a guest appearance. we dashed back to the white sand beach where our friend rod showed us a good and out-of-the-way place to snorkel. the coral was heavenly and both it and the fish glowed with electric colors. rod, who was wearing gloves, demonstrated how to make puffer fish PUFF. once puffed, they roll around the water like poky little balloons... puffer fish, according to rod, are as abundant as ants in penghu. the puffer fish in these pictures are drying, filled with pieces of coral to help them hold onto that timeless puffy look.

transportation options between penghu and big taiwan island are limited to sky (30 minutes to kaohsiung) and sea (4.5 hours). i chose the boat. the tai hwa was like a super-economy cruise ship, with restaurant, mini-casino, observation deck, and little bunks to sleep in (betelnut optional). my favorite parts were the flocks (schools?) of flying fish skimming over the water like nautical swallows, and the sight of a horizontal crescent moon topped off by the bright and beautiful planet venus.

"and then i went to bed."


photos: basalt coastline, tongliang village's 300+ year old banyan, gaillardia flowers & coral walls, us & our 50 cc mickey beasts, coral-crumbly erkan traditional village, drying incense, puffer fish pokers, attractive yet foul tai hwa smokestack, moon view from the 2nd floor deck, anonymous catnap in the tai hwa massage chair

field trips

gaoshu elementary school does many kind things for me. they feed me what may be taiwan's best vegetarian lunch. they invite me to pitch for faculty-student baseball games. they allow me to stage elaborate, lengthy productions during all-school assemblies, no questions asked. they ensure full press coverage when i do interesting things such as perform crossing guard duty. they also strive to help me make the most of my time in taiwan, and so they have been asking me along on recent class trips. in theory, i'm invited along as a chaperone. in reality, the kids don't listen to me AND i generally have no idea what's going on anyways. thank you, GES!

#1: the 6th grade graduation trip

we rode tour buses all over taiwan for 3 days, led by a super cool real chaperone named shao pin. she was no-nonsense, bossy, and a great singer. kind of like a taiwanese mary poppins. here we are visiting the 9.21 earthquake museum that commemorates the magnitude 7.6 earthquake of 1999. the high school where the museum is housed has been preserved in its original condition. we saw a buckled race track, a gashed rice paddy, and a mesmerizing 3D movie about earthquakes and tsunamis.

my delightful supervisor mr. soo also "chaperoned" the 6th grade class trip. he is somehow always in rare form, and this trip was no exception. he demonstrated t'ai chi at the juming sculpture museum, alongside juming's incredibly graceful bronze taichi series. he explained his love for lions by saying that he, too, longs for a life centered purely around sleeping and eating. during our 3 days, we visited the taichung museum of natural science, the earthquake museum, the juming sculpture garden, taipei 101, the taipei zoo, and leofoo village amusement park. my favorite parts were juming's sculptures, the lil rattler roller coaster, and the teacher-student mealtime segregation.

#2: 4th grade swimming lessons

taiwan is an island, yet many taiwanese can't swim. GES is doing its part to combat this problem by sending the kids to the pool for swimming lessons. for 3 hours one fine morning, the 4th graders took to cishan's municipal pool. they had an hour of swim lessons, wherein they learned to kick their legs and lunge for the edge. the rest of the time, they were free to enjoy the water slides, jumbo jacuzzi, wave river, and splash beds (?). i was brave enough to be the lone teacher running in GES's 4K fun run, but i was not brave enough to be the lone teacher in a bathing suit.

#3: the orchid expo in jiouru

this was actually not a class trip, persay, but i went with mr. chung the younger, and he's a teacher at GES, so it was a teachers-only field trip. astonishingly gorgeous orchids can be seen all over taiwan, but the jiouru exp is special: it happens only once a year, it is enclosed in a tent, and some of the orchids are adorned with prize ribbons. the range of colors, shapes, sizes, and direction of growth were mind-boggling. edward preferred the delicate pinks and creams; i loved them all but especially the bold pinks and oranges.

#4: the 3rd grade trip to the amusement park (coming soon)

photos: bronze taichi by juming; an oviraptor a.k.a. "dinosaur with a weird head" at the taichung science museum; baboon hitchhiker aboard the african safari bus at leofoo amusement park; 3D & track damage at nantou's earthquake museum; mr. soo & juming have a moment; mr. soo & the lions at leofoo; zane; sarah's girls; 4A at the pool; splash beds; belle; jiouru epiphytes