New website!!!

Please check out my pictures on the Taiwan based wretch.cc website:

http://www.wretch.cc/mypage/johnlu83

I will be moving to this new site, so all new items will posted there. I hope you enjoy it!!

Taiwan and Hong Kong: some pictures

I have too many pictures to play with right now, so here are a few from the past few weeks.  I'll let the pictures do the talking.  Let me know if you have any questions!  I'll be happy to entertain them.

TAIWAN

Kenting: southern Taiwan.  We went on an off roading expedition.  

Kenting at night.

Hualien: we were on a paddle boat with a penguin as our captain.

Temple: Chijing Island, Kaohsiung.  Saw this on our bike ride around the island.

Kaohsiung.

View from the Love River, Kaohsiung.

Love River, Kaohsiung.  

Chijing Island, Kaohsiung.

"85" - tallest building in Kaohsiung.

Night show at Hualien.

Beach side at Hualien.

The mountain side of Hualien.

HONG KONG

Water side of Kowloon.  Olympic decorations were up.

Hong Kong Island.

Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong Island

View of Hong Kong Island from Kowloon, HK.

The Peak, Hong Kong Island.

Taiwan: Day 6 - 9

It's been a little while since I posted, so let me try and remember what I have been up to.  We departed on a trip to visit the southern part of Taiwan.  I forgot to bring my camera memory card adapter, so I won't be able to post any new pictures from our tour of Taiwan.  I had my first experience on a high speed train, something America desperately needs.  The train traveled up to 300 km/h (186 mph), which isn't the fastest but was very impressive.  It wasn't loud and it effortlessly brought us to our destination: Kaohsiung.  However, our final destination was Kenting at the southern most part of Taiwan.

Kenting is a very small town and is more of a tourist area.  We went on a crazy off roading trip in a beefed up Jeep Wrangler.  We stood most of the time (the top was chopped off) and held on for dear life as we navigated the steepest paths I have ever seen.  It was easily 45 degree angles on turns.  During the tour we saw a lot of the beautiful scenery that is Taiwan.  During the evening, the main road transforms into a city alive with small vendors and lots of people.  It's beautiful to see empty streets become filled with so much activity as the sun sets.

The following morning we went to the Kenting aquarium before we went back to Kaohsiung, where we stayed in a hotel for 2 nights located next to the Love River.  We walked a lot in order to find the night market, only to find out we walked in a big circle.  It was worth it though.  The foods, smells and massive amounts of people and excitement should never be passed up, even if we are tired.

The last day we spent in Kaohsiung was incredible.  We rode bicycles on Chijing Island for 3 hours (Eric is super red now, like a rojo lobster), saw many beautiful views of Kaohsiung, visited Kaohsiung Sky Tower (85 floors, looks like what Emperor Palpatine's building would look like) and had dinner at the Dream Mall.  On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by Sanfongjhong street, an old and traditional night market that specializes in dried food.

If you read all that I just wrote, I'm quite impressed.  I apologize again for the lack of pictures.  I will work on a publishing them when I have time, which unfortunately will be a while.  Enjoy!

Day 5: Beach and food

I'll start off with a night picture for the month long midsummer ghost festival.  This festival is very famous in Keelung.  It's a time for everyone to treat the ghosts, so people bring food, pray and celebrate the ghosts.  This particularly building shown below was set up for the occasion.

During the day, 6 of us went on a trip to Yilan, a popular beach where locals hang out and surf.  Here's the surprising thing.  Most of you know I don't know how to swim.  Guess what I did???  I surfed!!  I hung out where the water was about waist high, but it was just fine for surfing.  The waves were small, the water was warm and very salty.  I managed to catch a few good waves.  Standing and balancing isn't too difficult (to go straight that is).  The hardest part was finding the right wave and gaining enough speed to meet it.  It was fun and I never thought I would have ever done that (and not drown).

We had dinner at a traditional Taiwanese restaurant.  Lots of fish and different foods I've never had before, including shark.  The seafood is very fresh here and the price is low.

Sashimi seems to be everywhere for a fair price.  It's difficult to pass on such a delicious feast.

I also had taro, red bean and peanut ice cream, which is a special dessert in Taiwan.  Also on the list was Taiwanese sausage (super good, especially with a bite of garlic) and of course Taiwan beer and oolong tea.  There are lots of 'small eats' here for under 1 USD, but taste better than anything in the US.  I'm not sure how I'm gonna enjoy American food and prices when I return...

Day 2-4: Danshui, Ximending

I'm gonna start by describing some differences that I found between the US and Taiwan.  The cultures are drastically different.  I learned a lot by simply watching the traffic.  The roads are shared by cars and scooters.  There are about 100 scooters per block and much fewer cars.  Scooters go wherever they want.  In fact, they trickle through traffic and fill any gaps to be found.  I imagine it as sand finding its way into every crack.  People honk a lot, but not because their upset but because they warn others that they are there as to not cause accidents.  There isn't any road rage, people go about their business.

I've seen dog's riding on the scooters with their owner, kids standing on scooters without helmets and people carrying a trunk full of stuff between their legs.  Every man, women and child rides a scooter.  It's just the way it works because their are simply too many people for everyone to have cars.  

Life doesn't stop here when the sun goes away.  In fact, it picks up in many places and is more lively than the day.  Night markets, street vendors and stores all thriving at night.  We walk down streets where scooters drive right by us, using the same road.  They miss us by inches.  Because this place is sooo dense, I sensed that taking pride in ownership is not as prominent here as it is in America.  In fact, America feels rather cold, where people want space when their walking or driving and will get extremely upset if you get close.  I'm more hesitant to talk to people in America because everyone is much more defensive.  Here in Taiwan, everything is shared.  From the roads to the stores, the lack of space forces people to be close to each other.  Everyone goes about their business but are happy to help each other.  They all know how hectic life is here and understand when people need help.  People don't appear to hold grudges here. 

So what have I been doing lately?  I went to Danshui, a beautiful area on the water, for Valentine's Day.  I went to Ximending which is where my mother grew up.  I also had dinner with my Auntie and Grandma in Taipei.  I visited Taipei 101 (2nd tallest building in the world, formerly 1st).  101 is a huge, towering building with no building remotely its size in the vicinity.  I saw The Dark Knight at the IMAX (again).  When the lights went off, it felt like I was in the US.  Lights turned on, definitely not in the US.  I also went on a big ferris wheel (I was actually kinda scared).  I visited more street markets and ate stinky tofu (yum!).  I had a traditional Taiwanese dinner with family members, which included seafood and pig intestines (also yum).  Thats it in a nutshell.  Later!

Taiwan: Keelung Day 1

I'm officially 15 hours ahead of everyone now, which means I'm posting from the future.  I'll let you guys know whats up, especially if the world is coming to an end.  The plane ride to Taipei went by quickly considering I was able to sleep for most of the time.  So far, I don't feel the jet lag, since I had a red eye flight and was able to sleep.  My brother and I arrived in the morning the 'next' day, so our rhythm isn't too much out of wack.

When first arriving at the airport, I didn't quite feel like I was in a completely different country and culture.  I did not have a window seat and the airport itself was very user friendly.  On the way to our home in Keelung, I began to notice just how different this place really is.  The surrounding environment is lush and green, almost like something out of Jurassic Park.  The weather was incredibly muggy, even though it wasn't hot I felt like I was in a sauna due to the high humidity.  The buildings, I noticed, are significantly different than what I'm used to.  There are huge complexes raised everywhere.  Things just appear to have sprung out of the ground when needed, with no pattern or unity among buildings.  It was a beautiful sight.

Just standing on a street corner in the morning made me realize just how different this place is.  There are much more scooters than cars on the road and the amount of users on the road surpasses that of New York.  There is an incredible amount of people living in a small place.  While US cities feel somewhat cold and highly individualistic, Taiwan felt more like a living, breathing creature.  There were many intricate parts, from the scooters sharing the road with the buses (and no one follows any traffic laws here) to people crossing the street to greet vendors.   People have specialized jobs here.  Someone excels at procuring a certain type of fish while another is an expert at crafting goods.

I spent some time in downtown Keelung, there are hundreds of scooters on every block.  I got a glimpse of the harbor, the haunted house and also the fruit and seafood vendors who shared a space with parked scooters on the sidewalk.  Later that day, we went up to the gold museum, where we were able to get a spectacular view of the harbor, huge temples and the lush mountains.

In the same area was Jiou Fen, a famous vendor area located on narrow streets in the mountain.  The first thing I noticed was the smell.  Rarely have I gone to a place and was able to catch the scent of so many different flavors of food.  It was an attack on my senses, one that I would welcome any day.  Some smells were great, others were scary, but it added to the incredible experience of being there.

The day went on and we were tired, but we made it to the Keelung night market to pick up some food.  We didn't spend too much time here, but I'd love to come back another night.  It was just getting dark, which made for an amazing view.  When US cities get dark, everyone goes home and gets ready for work the next day.  But here, the evening breeds a whole new life.  Everything is incredibly social here.

At times I felt like I was living in Blade Runner or the anime Tekkon Kinkreet.  This was just the first day and it was already more than I imagined.  And its incredible to think my family originated from this country.  What a beautiful thing it is to see what the world looks like when I've been living in America for so long.

UPDATE: for some reason the links to larger versions of the posted pics above are not showing up.  So here are the direct links:

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q5/Pdl2thmdl/prettyview.jpg

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q5/Pdl2thmdl/keelung-downtown-nighttime.jpg

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q5/Pdl2thmdl/jioufen.jpg

SDCC: Wed through Sat

The highly anticipated San Diego comic con kept me busy for the past few days. Having been there before, I was quite prepared for the massive amounts of visitors, celebrities and long lines. Wednesday preview night was very successful. Considering there were no panels, I was able to secure all the items I wanted to purchase.

Thursday was a mix of panels and exploring the exhibition hall. I attended the 20th Century Fox panel, which began with the reimagining of The Day the Earth Stood Still. Guests included Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly. They showed some footage, but I wasn't really excited for this movie to come out. The second movie discussed was Max Payne. Mark Walberg and Mila Kunis entertained the audience of 6500 people. Mark was very funny and an energetic speaker, which made the panel very enjoyable. Although the panel was scheduled to end at this point, a special guest speaker was announced: Hugh Jackman! He just got off the plane and was here to promote Wolverine, which he pumped up the crowd for and presented a special trailer. What an exciting movie! It even showed Gambit and Deadpool. This has potential to be, as Hugh put it, badass! Later in the evening I attended Dexter. The cast was there and the questions presented by the audience were very intelligent. I never seen the show, but it looks very good.

Friday I was able to meet two of my favorite artists: James Jean and Gary Baseman. Both went better than I can have imagined. James had a print for sale that was of one of my favorite images from the Prada line. This was my most favorite item I got this entire weekend. Gary was very friendly and took the time for each of his fans. He even doodled in my book. It was an absolute honor to meet both artists.

Saturday was a major panel day for me. The line up was Heroes (entire cast), Dean Koontz, Dollhouse (Joss Whedon, Eliza Dushku and Tahmoh Penikett) and Battlestar Galactica (much of the cast). We were fortunate enough to watch the entire premiere of Season 3 of Heroes: Villains. It was incredible!!! This is what makes SDCC so wonderful. The Dollhouse panel was extremely entertaining. It was both funny and informative. And of course this is possibly the last time we will see the actors and creators of BSG together in public. They spoke about the last season, but mostly they spoke of memorable moments. It was very bittersweet and it was obvious they were all deeply good friends. The emotions were high and at the end, they received a standing ovation and even a chant of "So say we all!"

There is still one day left, but it will be dedicated to the exhibition hall and saying goodbye. I wish this convention would never end. I grabbed quite a few items including three autographs from my favorite artists, Ugly Dolls and a yellow Domokun.

Day 24: SDCC preparation

The past few days has been family time and relaxing. Tomorrow is the big day to San Diego, where I will reside for the next 5 days. San Diego Comic Con will consume my life and time for these days, so it will be unlikely I will be able to find time to post updates of the events there. I will post things when I have time though.

Day 21: Cars, Huntington Beach and The Dark Knight

Saturday. This means Cars and Coffee again! I felt that last weeks turnout was a little better. But there were still a large amount of beautiful cars. I think going to these shows can make one spoiled. I posted some pictures of cars that made the turnout.


After the show, Mavis and I went to Huntington Beach aka Surf City. I can feel the surf culture the second we got close to the beach. They love it here. It was nice to see so many people outdoors enjoying the company of others. At Venice and Santa Monica, there were few surfers, maybe 10-15. Here at Huntington, there were at least 100. Not to mention, the US Open of surfing was going on as well. We saw some professional surfers, although I'm unfamiliar with their names, we could definitely tell they were darn good! The weather was overcast, but very pleasant.

Lunch was delicious spicy miso ramen from Santouka in the Mitsuwa Marketplace. The marketplace gave me an idea of what to expect from Japan. Great food and fun merchandise.

We quickly left for the Edwards Ontario IMAX theater for an afternoon showing of The Dark Knight. An hour and a half early and the line was already long. It was worth the wait. The movie was spectacular. It was everything I hoped it would be. The IMAX experience was quite unique. Many of the city shots and several action sequences were filmed in IMAX format, which meant it was hi-res and filled the whole screen. Amazing experience.

Day 17: Galleries, Tesla, Rodeo Drive

My goal today was to visit several art galleries unique to LA. The ones I made it to are Thinkspace, Carmichael Gallery, Copra Nason, Project: Gallery and BLK/MKRT. All were open except Thinkspace and Copra Nason. The exhibits were welcoming and fresh and I was introduced to some new artists. For those of you who watch TV or like tattoos, LA Ink was located right next to Carmichael Gallery. I had no idea!


The following image is of the gallery BLK/MRKT. I believe this 'person' sitting on the rooftop was the result of Mark Jenkins. Look him up, he does some great stuff =D


I found myself near Beverly Hills, which made me recall that the artist James Jean recently collaborated with Prada. The Prada on Rodeo Drive was suppose to be designed according to his images.


I'm not quite sure how to describe Rodeo Drive other than ridiculous. Being on Sunset Blvd earlier and seeing the environment shift to Beverly Hills is astounding. Every shop at Rodeo Dr had 'secret service' type people at the entrances to 'greet' you. Not a single store wasn't designer and a simple credit card wallet at Prada was well over a hundred bucks. The famous designer Bijan had his yellow Rolls Royce parked out front of his store. This area is fun to visit, but I can't see myself ever living here or in this lifestyle.

My next stop was Tesla Motors, the makers of the Tesla Roadster. The Tesla Roadster is a $100,000 electric motor sports car. It has zero emissions, full carbon fiber body and runs off of rechargeable laptop batteries (a lot of them). The car has 248 hp and 210 lb-ft of torque at 0 rpm. 0-60 mph in 4 seconds. Other interesting facts: the battery weighs 900 lbs, it can travel 230 miles on one charge, is a one speed, has a 13k redline and the torque is present throughout the rev range (so the car pulls like a bat out of hell at all times).


I had a really good experience at the dealer. The company isn't trying to make money, but rather stimulate a movement to show the world that electric cars have a place in the future of automobiles. It might not be cheap or practical, but the technology is there to make an electric car faster than a Ferrari. I had the privilege of visiting the only dealer in the world (currently) and they even let me sit in one. I spent a good 30 minutes chatting and drooling over the car. These guys are great. Best car dealer experience I've ever had.

Day 14: Cars, Coffee and LA

The first weekend in LA was action packed, starting by waking up at 6 am in order to make the Cars and Coffee weekly show in Irvine. Cars and Coffee is a car show where car fanatics bring their cars to show others between 7-9am every Saturday. The catch is this: exotic and classic cars only. They are mostly personally owned (some dealers bring some) and many have been customized. I parked in the spectator parking lot along with a Dodge Viper and Ferrari F430. What did I see in the car show? There are about 400 cars, here are just a few: Porsche Carrera GT, Ferrari F430 Scuderia, Nissan GT-R, Lamborghini Murcielago, Ford GT and others that cost more than your house.



The show was very relaxed, just a bunch of people looking at cars, taking pictures and chatting. Most of cars, despite being Porsche and Ferrari's, had expensive modifications done. The pictures shown were a small portion of what was there. I'd love to post pictures or answer questions concerning what I saw.

The second portion of the day took my cousin, Mavis, and I to downtown LA. Our goal was to hit up several specialty stores. We managed to find everything just fine. We were able to visit KidRobot, Giant Robot, Beverly Hills H&M and several stores along the way.


Perhaps the strangest and now funniest part of the day was when we ate crepes at a small Japanese store. The store front was plastered with signs saying strange things, such as don't come in unless you know exactly what you want. It followed up by calling us kids or idiots if we didn't. It was ambiguous whether his signs were meant to be funny or if he was serious, but it made me wonder how he got business. We were confronted with more signs as we stepped into the store, which was the size of a closet because a counter blocked off the rest of the place. We saw a person, but only his hand and torso, cuz his face and everything else was blocked off by signs. When Mavis handed him money, he instructed her to put the money on the counter (as one of the signs instructed) as opposed to his hand. When I payed, he gave me 75 cents back, in the form of lots of dimes, nickels and pennies. The good news is the crepes were good.

Since we were downtown, we decided to visit UCLA as a part of my campus visits. UCLA surprised me. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but the campus was very beautiful. The buildings were mostly red bricks and the grass was actually green. Like most schools, the campus was large. It wasn't too difficult to navigate and it felt separate from the hectic LA culture surrounding it.


The final leg of the day led us to Mulholland Drive. Famous for its twist and turns and beautiful overlooks along the way. The drive was fun and we were able to see downtown and even Universal Studios. LA doesn't have a very appealing skyline, but the look is still very unique.


The evening ended with some good food and frozen yogurt. I was pretty exhausted by the end of the day. On a side note, I saw Hellboy II yesterday and it was great. Funny, visually stunning and the action was superb. Go see it!