Mt. Kinabalu- On Top of Borneo

Imagine this: you wake up at 1am in the morning to climb the last stretch of the tallest mountain in Southeast Asia. The sun rises revealing one of the oldest jungles in the world much like a curtain giving way to the first act of a play. The view rivals that of astronauts looking on from space. You're 13,435 feet in the air sitting on the 20th tallest mountain in the world in terms of prominence. You have to ask yourself- how did you get up here? Well, that story starts about four months prior to this one. So please indulge me as I impress upon you some less than interesting back story to set the mood.

Since coming to Asia, I have developed an unhealthy obsession with life threatening pursuits. One extreme component to that is hiking mountains over 4,000 meters tall. My first attempt was on Jade Mountain in central Taiwan. Our climb was dangerously interrupted when we found ourselves in a bit of a snow squall at the top and had to turn back. Inclement weather aside, I knew mountaineering would be a hobby of mine while residing in Asia.


A quick search showed that the tallest mountain in South East Asia is Mount Kinabalu in Borneo, Malaysia. At this height, it was a prize that had to be bagged. I sent out a message to my friends and told them that in four months time I was to fly out to Malaysia to tackle this beast and wanted to find out who would join me. Two friends heard the call and signed up along side. Two of us hit the gym every day preparing for the arduous climb that laid ahead.

We arrived in Kota Kinabalu, the undisputed capital of Borneo that boast nothing more than an interesting seaside market with waterside restaurants and lazy street strolls. The city, though small and relatively lifeless, reminded me of a Manila that was kept up slightly better. When a nasty storm rolled in, we took refuge in a small "rain forest" cafe for some light lunch. When the rain passed, the cool air and swirling cloud patterns made for a comfortable stroll along the beach front, down to through the market and finally a pleasant rest along the waterfront at a seaside bar. The night retired early as we had a big day ahead of us.


At 6am, we were up and getting ready. Our ride picked us up from our stay in Kota Kinabalu for a two hour long ride through winding mountain roads in the Kinabalu national park. The road climbed into clouds, into sun, into the jungle until the behemoth appeared. Soaring high above anything else around it, Mt. Kinabalu's unmistakable peak jutted out from the earth like an immovable giant devoted to his final resting spot. We braked at a small market for a breakfast of cakes and noodles while we mentally prepared ourselves for the climb ahead.


About 30 minutes later, we arrived at the park entrance to Mt. Kinabalu and registered like good responsible hikers. Starting at about 1,500 meters high, we still had over 2 vertical kilometers of hiking ahead of us so it came at bit of a surprise when our friend who hadn't been working out shot out like a bullet ahead of us. But for every action there is a reaction and about 10 minutes into the climb, he hit a wall (for his part, he did much better going down than me)!


The climb up was long and surprisingly steep. In comparison to Jade Mountain in Taiwan, which has a nice switchback trail system, Mt. Kinabalu was a straight up StairMaster buster of a trail with boulders to climb galore.

The trail was riddled with interesting flora and fauna, some unique only to Mt. Kinabalu. As one of the most biologically diversified ecosystems in the world, I was in a naturalist's playpen with many vibrant aviary species, flora and fauna, and my favorite, lichen (I know, I am so interesting). But the most interesting plant species we came across had to be the pitcher plant which acts quite like a Venus fly trap in that it catches it's prey in it's jaws and then releases an acidic acid to digest the insect within.


Around three PM on the first day, we reached base camp which is called Laban Rata. Surprisingly, this was an amazing accommodation with working bathrooms and showers, a three stay quality lodge with buffet dining and a magnificent lodge overlooking the land below. It reminded me of being in an old time lodge in a New England Ski resort- it was absolutely lovely. After dinner, the three of us sat on the porch viewing the sunset where we met a very good, new friend. His name was Matias from Argentina and he was out travelling in Asia on his own. We were above the clouds at this point, so we were looking out over a see of white, making out shapes in the cloud from the top looking down. There were dogs, star ship cruisers, and other delightful shapes in the stratosphere that night. It was again an early night because of the dreadfully tiring climb up to the top and because were were starting our climb the next day at 1am in the morning.


It's amazing how quickly 1am comes when you're climbing a mountain. But in the excitement of ascending to the top of the world, you aren't too groggy at that time. We woke up, had some porridge and grains to give us energy for a rather high climb ahead of us. As we donned our warmest winter clothes (preparing for near freezing temperatures so close to the equator), strapped our torches to our heads, we were on our way.

The first things you notice at this high in the middle of the jungle are the stars. Coming from a densely populated city in the Taiwan, you aren't privilege to see the stars often, so being able to watch Orion's belt circling above you brings you back to a time of childhood, when you grew up on the small suburban street far away from the bustle of the city and the stars were as common a neighbor as the family living next door.


The hike soon turned from lush tropical to what could only be described as the surface of the moon. It was a barren rock landscape that seemed to run on forever. The air was thin, the night was dark and the temperatures were cold- needless to say it was not an simple stroll. At one point, I will admit that I the thin air took it's toll. One more step felt like it was going to push me down the mountainside. I stopped, breathed slowly and drank some water. After about five minutes I regained my composure and pressed on up the mountain.


Rejoining my friends, we made the final scramble up the last few steps only to find that there was only one other person at the top of the world with us- Matias!


Over the far end of the horizon, the faintest tint of light barely separated the edge of the earth from the sky. The sun was still about an hour away from making an appearance, leaving the found of us on the tip top of the summit to take in the dazzling sky show and the sense of accomplishment that we climbed Southeast Asia's highest mountain.


Before long, the quiet light slowly intensified, like God was gently turning on the dimmer light over Borneo. Jagged clouds formed in the distance and smaller peaks were taking form along the ground. As the dark images eschewed themselves, our sense of height really made itself clear- we were looking down from space.


As we began our descent, the dark barren wasteland of the climb up revealed itself to be a rocky playground, a moonscape of indescribable formations that seemed out of this world. It was sharp and ragged at its finer details, but also flowing and smooth in a grander sense. The mountain revealed herself to be striking and staunch, everything we had hoped.


Before climbing this behemoth, we had a decision to make on how we wanted to get down. I suggested something called the Via Feratta, or Iron Road, to get down and my friends immediately jumped at the opportunity with me. The Via Feratta is a essentially an obstacle course that goes down a cliff side starting at 3,800 meters high (which, for those of you keeping score at home, officially makes it the worlds tallest Via Ferrata).


Imagine this, you're in a harness, hooked onto some wires (barely) and shimmying your way down a vertical cliff side above a tens of thousands foot free fall. The adrenaline is pumping as one wrong move would give you the fright of a lifetime. The obstacle course took us along ridges, over the world's highest suspension bridge (that's right, if you want to see the world's highest, you have a bit of a climb ahead of you), down straight edges, through jungles, over rocks, and everywhere in between. All the while, there is a massive free fall between you and the ground 3 vertical kilometers below you. At least you would have plenty of time during the fall to review your improper footing and determine just where you went wrong.


At the conclusion of the Via Ferrata, we regrouped for lunch at the "resort" and began our long trek down the mountain side to civilization. For those that think going down is easier than going up- you are dead wrong. I have never been in so much pain in my entire life as I was going down that mountain side- there must have been at least ten differently succinct pains running through my body. But persevere I did and in five short hours I made it back. We received our certificates of completion, slept for the two hour car ride back to Kota Kinabalu, got some delicious dinner at a local canteen and finished it off with a foot massage at a local shop to heal our aching feet/calves/thighs.


From your acrobatic swinger high above the clouds in the land of Borneo- Michael.

A Photoessay of Motorcycle Trips

I would like to share with you some photography taken on some recent motorcycle trips taken throughout my last few months in Taiwan. And yes, photo essay is just another term for "I'm too lazy to write anything". Enjoy!

A View from the Top of Pingxi

Fish Market near Toucheng

Jessica and Katelin Practice Kungfu near Kwan Yin Dripping Water Cave

Jessica and Katelin break for Lunch at the Graffiti Wall

Katelin Looking Out over the Pacific Ocean from Jinshan

A Wedding at the Golden Waterfall

Steve Contemplates his Life's Direction While Looking Really Cool

Steve Looking out Over Baishawan Beach

A Sea of Clouds Settles over Northern Taipei

The Northern Cross Island Highway

Taiwan is crossed by three main arteries from East to West. On my major bike ride around the island, I did the entire Southern Cross Island Highway and half of the Central Cross Island Highway, but I did not even touch the Northern Cross Island Highway. I had been planning to do the Northern with my friend Steve on a weekend trip only to find out he already did it... in a day! Not to be outdone by my good friend/ arch nemesis, I decided I would have to take off for the Northern as well.

I woke up early on a Saturday morning and put all my essentials into one basket. I got my atlas of Taiwan, water, locks, rain jacket, gloves, helmet, snacks and a hunger for the open road. I went downstairs to the local Taiwanese breakfast joint near my house and ordered my Zwa Bing and hot tea, per usual before a bike trip. I chatted briefly with the shop keep about what I was intending on doing that day, and like all Taiwanese, she thought I was crazy. I'm used to that by now.

Well, the sun was coming out and I put on my gear, revved up my bike and headed south toward Xindian. I followed route 110 down to Sanxia, which is a quaint and delightful little drive if I have ever seen one! After reaching Sanxia, it was a quick turn over to route 3 and finally route 7 and the start of the Northern Cross Island Highway.

Immediately starting out, there is an offramp that goes into a nature park. It seems to follow the river a bit and had I more time, I would probably explore that pathway. But continue on the road I did and my views weren't spoiled by that missed turnoff. The river waves and the road turns around bends and cliff sides, climbing through small towns before entering the mountains completely.

The Northern Cross Island highway begins in Dasi, not far from Taoyuan really and a great day trip for those interested. Home to some quaint old streets and traditional Taiwanese snacks, this was a delightful starting point to my journey into the tip of the central cordillera. Dasi is also quite close to Chiang Kai Shek's burial place, and momument sprawling with visitors and tourists alike. Going past this little momento of presidents gone by, the traffic let up tremendously leaving me on a small, one lane road in Taiwan. Hardly a highway by any stretch of the imagination.

At this point, you are squarely in the mountain range of central Taiwan, and there is no turning back. Here and there, the trip is paused for a roadside picture or a little hut with food. My favorite picture spot was at this enormous purple bridge, just next to an antique, pedestrian red suspension bridge. Shortly after, I too found a nice little hut on the side of the road worthy of stopping for a baozi and fried rice.


The afternoon saw no rain and plenty of sunshine. The air was dry and cool, a nice change for Taiwan indeed! The road went high and low, left and right, upside down and inside out before finally stretching out into Ilan. At this point I was basically home free as I have driven to Ilan on many occasion before. After take a break to rest my sore butt, I climbed back on and drove back into the rolling mountains and tea plantations of Pingling.


A full, 6-8 hour bike ride at least (with minimal stopping) but one that should not be passed up by any motorcyclist living in the Taipei area. A simple, elegant and entertaining ride with little technical difficulties. From your man in the clouds, biker of the North, Michael.

Tuesdays On the House

While taking Chinese lessons two hours every day Monday through Friday, I found spending time with friends during the week a rare occurrence. Maybe a late evening here or there, or the occasional typhoon day allotted some moments to meet up. But it wasn't until I finally stopped studying full time that I found a more balanced schedule to study, work, exercise, and be with friends.

One special day of the week for me is Tuesday night, when two friends of mine, Jessica and Katelin, join me at my apartment to watch the most recent episode of House, MD. I am not much of a TV watcher and this is in fact the only show I watch, so it's nice to share this common interest with two good friends.


Well, the midseason pause came up and without a new show to occupy our interests each week, we decided that we should go out and try a different restaurant instead. Our culinary explorations took us to new and exciting eateries throughout town. We have frequented the posh and ultra hip People Restaurant and Lounge where you need to stick your hand in a hole to open the door. We have had the famous noodles of a Tainan noodle maker. We have dined in some traditional "little eats" restaurants around town, including the one near my apartment, Din Tai Fung, and most recently a Dim Sum restaurant close to the colorful combat zone (for Dr. Jessica). And last Tuesday night we stayed in and failed miserably at trying to make our own dumplings from scratch!


This Tuesday will mark the final dining excursion of this intrepid trio as Jessica will be heading for colder climates back in NYC. We intend to embark on a small bike ride to the tea plantations just south of the city in Maokong. With Tea Fried Rice, the best tofu you could ever hope for and views of downtown Taipei that are unmatched, it will be a fitting sendoff and proper finale to our Tuesday night gatherings.

From your Tuesday night fatso, Michael.

The Beehive Rockets

Ever year on the Lantern Festival in a small town just north of Tainan called Yanshuei, local residents pour into the streets to fire rockets. No, this isn't a centuries old feud or a localized war zone, it's just an ancient remedy for healing the blues. In modern times, the celebration is used to ring in the final days of the Chinese New Year celebration. In Taipei, sky lanterns are released into the heavens while in Yanshuei it's a free-for-all rocket extravaganza bound to wake up the neighbors. In the next city over.

Eight intrepid volunteers, not quite understanding what we were in for, congregated at 7.30am outside Taipei Main Station on a Sunday morning ready to board a bus that would take us to the other side of the island. Coffees in hand, The China Post folded squarely under our arms, we hopped aboard and set forth on a five hour bus ride to Yanshuei. We arrived in the town just a little after noon, with still enough time to explore this unique village.


Yanshuei's fortunate proximity to Taiwan's former capital, Tainan, allows this village to boast some truly extraordinary architectural relics. We were able to tour some splendid homes, venerable temples, and one unique and antiquated "old street".


This old street was a short but windy stretch of cobblestone street lined with wooden structures dating back hundreds of years. Some were opened to the public with old fashioned Chinese goods decorating the inner halls. The highlight was a still functioning blacksmith that was out on the street producing his wares for onlookers to witness.


Around the corner was a unique structure- a mansion house of sorts made entirely of wood. The layout of the grounds reminded us of a wooden temple. Inside housed some contemporary and classical Chinese art which made for a rather surreal experience.


The city itself was lined with quaint old buidlings mixed with modern ones, making for some rather pleasant strolls around town. The temple of Guan Gong was perhaps the most densely populated with worshippers coming from all walks of life to pray. The temple was decorated with bright, warm colors, while heavy looming incense burned through the air.


But the lighthearted strolls through the city were suddenly halted with a preminisence of things to come- a rare glimpse into what was to be displayed later in the evening. As we were walking, we noticed a group of people bunching into a tented area taking pictures and murmuring amongst themselves. We walked up to the crowed and peered into the canopied structure: inside we finally saw our first Beehive Rocket Structure.


As far as beehive rockets go, this one would be considered small to medium sized. It's height was about one "me" and a half, and it's length was roughly equivalent to that of a car. It had about 15 or 20 rows of little rockets stacked neatly next to one another. All in all, there were thousands of rockets on this contraption. All we could do was look at this and say, they're gonna shoot those at us? What?


Oh, right, did I forget to mention that the rockets are shot at the crowds rather than up in the sky? That's an important detail and I think it should be mentiond. Yes, these little puppies are lit on the tail end and then go buzzing into the jumping spectators and burn, srape and explode all over the crowd. That is why we were instructed to bring safety equipment with us.

As the sun was setting and the festivities were starting, we returned back to the bus to don our evening armor. We had to wear a non flammable winter jacket (in 90 degree heat no less), a full faced helmet with a towel fastened around our neck, gloves, long pants, and shoes. Not a millimeter of skin was exposed. Dressed like knights, we strolled into the starting gates where waterfalls of fireworks were raining down. My friend and I danced back and forth through what was probably melted iron as far as we knew, until finally the first bee hive rocket appeared.

As the fuse was lit, everyone started jumping up and down. Initially I thought this was to prevent rockets from hitting you head on. (For some strange reason when rockets are being fired at you, your initial reaction is to jump up and down.) But actually, the jumping is part of the history of the festival. In years gone by, namely in the middle ages, southern Taiwan was struck with the plague. With no proper medicine to handle the epidemic, the local townspeople resorted to explosives. In what I can only imagine to be a primitive display of bombs going off around the locals, the idea was to jump up and down and shake out the bad spirits causing the plague. Evidently the ritual was a success and the bad spirits are warded off annually with loud noises and TNT.

Well, the festival began. Not knowing what was going on, and thousands of Taiwanese jumping around me, I had no choice but to jump along with them. And without warning, along came the rockets. They whizzed by me, sounding like a firefly pumped up on amphetamines and PCP. On rather frequent instances, the rocket would land on you and, what do rockets do? They explode! So, you would be standing there, crammed in with jumping Asians, dressed in full winter gear in the summer heat being bombarded by rockets exploding all around you. It was easy to lose your orientation and just wonder how you got in the predicament you were in. Realization soon came upon you that retreat was impossible.

After a minute or so of this barrage, the crowd went on the move. Essentially the crowd would parade through the streets and anticipating shop keeps would bring out their beehive rocket cages and fire upon the crowd. After some aimless parading, the mob came to a halt. At this point, people set off loud firecrackers in the streets while the firework waterfalls went off in two separate locations. It's as if they were corralling us into a ranch like cattle. Well, after about fifteen minutes of these boomers going off, a silence fell upon a crowd. And then, with much suspense, an enormous garage door opened slowly and the darkly lit room inside did not reveal what was in store. The crowd watch on in hushed anticipation, as if King Kong himself were to come storming out and wreak havoc on the streets. But the reality was much worse.

From the depth of the shadows emerged a contraption so large, so complex, it put all notions of previous beehive fireworks to shame. There, parting the crowd in two, stood a beehive firework box the size of a mac truck, loaded with tens of thousands of rockets aim directly at us. Being only about ten feet away from the behemoth I knew I was in for a dangerously close encounter with the beast. If this thing couldn't ward off the bad spirits, I don't know what could.

What followed was a good twenty minutes of continued rockets flying, bouncing, exploding and all of the above all around you. This puppy was the reason my body was covered in bruises and burns when the night was out. It finished with an impressive firework display of setting off even larger rockets into the night sky. After a good half hour of this, and drenched in sweat, we decided a recuperation period was needed to nurse the wounds inflicted by this behemoth. Speaking of injury, perhaps the most interesting was one rocket found it's way up into my friend's helmet and burnt a little hole in his hair!

At this time, we met up with another friend who wisely slept in and took a train down to meet us. We put on our gear, caught back up with the parade, and jumped with the best of them. The remaining rocket cages ranged in sizes from a refrigerator to a compact car; but each one placed one hell of a punch. It should be noted in the photos that some of our clothing obtained small burned holes. One interesting anecdote was came after a particularly close encounter with a set of rockets. As I was walking away, my friend started patting the back of my head. I asked him what he was doing and he said my back was on fire. I told him to continue putting it out. As he was doing this, someone was behind him patting him on the head too. Turns out he was on fire as well!


The night was a complete riot of an evening. It was like bombs were going off at every turn. Sometimes fireworks would misfire and explode in the street, and those really smart when they hit next to you. Ambulances were going off all night, and we stopped counting after ten. But I think the most remarkable aspect of the evening was that, in a town with such historical old buildings all made of wood, it's a wonder that it hasn't burned down yet.


From your plauge shaking, pyro blasting, fire smoking beehive rocket knight of Yanshuei, Michael.

The Year of the Tiger

It is effect- ively my third Chinese New Year here in Taiwan. It also marked probably the worst week of weather I have ever seen. First- everybody didn't have to work this week except me. Second- everybody left Taipei so I was stuck in this city by myself. And third- It was nothing but downpours of rain, constantly, 24 hours a day, every day of the week. It was the Perfect Storm.


But the cold weather outside wasn't indicative of the warmth celebrated with my family for the second year in a row over in Banciao. I met up with Yuhsin's sister, her parents, brother and sister-in-law and their new daughter Jacqueline, and her two neices whom I absolutely adore. The evening started nice enough- I arrived just in time for dinner. On the menu was the whole fish (which is not eaten) white carrots, jellyfish, chinese coldcuts like sausage and fisheggs, bamboo and turnip soup, etc. I tried it all and they were delicious.


After dinner, we retired to the living room where we played a dice and punishment game. (Taiwanese love punishments! Basically, you can't just "lose" a game, you have to be punished as well.) The game was played simply, there were a set of die underneath a bowl and only one person knew the number underneath. The rest of the group had to guess numbers and whoever guessed the number was punished. Basically, if you won, you really lost! For the punishment, there was a box with a number of compartments- think ice tray. Then on top of this ice-tray like box was a paper covering. You poked through the paper and inside the compartment was a piece of paper containing your punishment. The punishments consisted of varying degrees of tourture- including giving massages, pushups, and smelling baby diapers.


After the punishment game, we broke out the karaoke. I impressed everyone which my only Chinese song I can karaoke which is called "Freedom" in Chinese. There was also a deck of card so we played some card games and I dazzled the youngsters with my magic tricks.


Chinese New Year culminates about 15 days after the new year celebration with the Lantern Festival. Every year, Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall and City Hall host a number of lantern sculptures to ring in the new year. This year the theme was, of course, the tiger and the lantern sculptures resprestend that.


In the center of the sculpture gardens is a giant tiger which lights up, spins and goes along with music. The tiger, cartoonish in nature, is giving the thumbs up. When first conceived, however, the angles on the hand were a bit misleading and it appeared that instead of the tiger giving a thumbs up, it looked like it was flipping the bird. As an event for families, the sculpture was of course revised.


Alas, thus culminates my third Chinese New Year in Taiwan. I have to say, this was probably the best one yet. Although, it could have been made better had my cousins Stevie and Yuhsin, and their daughter Tia come as well. From your rrrrrrrroooooooooaaaaaaarrrrrrr, Michael.

Charlie and the Dumpling Factory

When you think of the signature voice, you think of Frank Sinatra. When you think of signature cigars, you don't think too far from Havana. Now, when you think of signature Chinese cuisine, if your in Asia, think Din Tai Fung. I have written numerous posts about the quality and scrumptious taste of their dishes, so I don't need to get into that in too much detail. Instead, today I got a first hand glimpse of the behind the scene magic that goes into each and every dumpling.

I arrived at the primary store in Taipei and met up with the owner of the company. Along with two other American girls (relatives of the owner) and the CEO of Burger King (bizarre, I know), we piled into his private car and were chaufeurred over to the central kitchen in Yonghe, about 30 minutes away.

Upon arriving at the central kitchen, we were promptly shown into the small temple in the office where we briefly prayed, in Chinese called "bai bai". After which, we donned masks, hairnets, boots, and smocks that made us look like we were being prepared for a tour of a nuclear facility rather than a food factory.



Our first stop was the dumpling room. Actually, the first stop was the disinfecting room leading into the dumpling room. Only two people were allowed into this room which was essentially a giant vaccum cleaner followed by a sink adjacent to a disinfectant pool. If we weren't clean already, we were now!


We then entered into the dumpling room where we saw the doughs rolled and the meats packed. It was like watching a dream come true, seeing all these dumplings at once.


After that it was over to the noodle room. The owner doesn't trust other noodle makers to make his noodles for him, so he makes his own!


Here are some more shots from around the factory, including shipping, basket storring, meet preparation, EVA Airline preparation, and specialty prep.


A man who believes in cleanliness was present all day. The factory had more cleanliness regulations than you could imagine and you can rest easy knowing you are getting the cleanest, freshest food possible when eating at Din Tai Fung. From your golden ticket holder, Michael.