Random Art

So apparently this little fellas name is Stuey, and he gets around. The picture on the left I see by my house each day coming home from school. But the one on the left I saw for the first time yesterday while on  huge bike ride. And the two Stueys are a good distance from one another. I hope to find some more in random parts of town.

This is so damn clever, and I just love it BECAUSE... “加油”（jiāyóu）Is a term heard nearly every day, and it means,  "Go For it!" or "Way To Go!" or "Good Luck!" It is often used when cheering on sports teams or people in general. But its literal use and meaning is used when talking about cars because “加” means “to add" and ”油“ means "oil"
Ah Tin-man, you're debilitatingly rusted body is cause for laughter even in Chinese.

A family of flower pot people out side of an elementary school.

Das ist nicht Meister Yoda!!!

Dinner At 月牙泉（Crescent Moon Spring）

I went on another one of my walking tours in which I walk in no particular direction for a while looking at all the interesting things I can see just trying to get lost, then finding my way back by talking to the locals to find my way back home. It's a great way to meet new people. While I was in the neighborhoods behind the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall I walked past this small hole in the wall looked looked good. Ends up it was great, and the folks that worked there were amazing people too! 

I got this delicious chicken soup with thin noodles and hot peppers, basil, tofu, and a bunch of other things I couldn't identify. As well as cold green tea. About the time I finished my meal the owners friend had walked in with branches of fresh Lychee which she just started handing out to all the patrons (me and one other girl) and it was the perfect desert. 

I started a conversation with the three ladies, and went through the usually topics of who I was and why I was in Taipei. Then they started making fun of me for studying Geography, because I won't ever make any money, ergo, never find a wife. But even if I did make money with Geography, no Taiwanese girl would ever marry me because I had a beard. They didn't believe me that I was 27. They guessed I was about 35. A beard adds a lot of age in a beardless country like Taiwan.

A Note On Beer-Can Shrubbery

They can be somewhat top heavy. They tend to get blown off the ledge by the wind, breaking limbs and spilling soil. I need to attach a wider base to them, or find a way to brace them so they don't keep falling. 

Poor little fellas... They don't stand a chance against a Typhoon.
Damn Typhoons.

Here is the Taiwan flag with the Oakland Oak Tree. Why? Because I love and miss Oakland, and I'm in Taiwan, thats why.

Today Taipei Bike Polo was supposed to head south a few hours to the city of Taizhong, but a big ole typhoon came along and washed our plans clean out. We were still unclear up until this morning when the Taipei capt. gave Taizhong a call to see if'n it was raining or not... it was. So now what am I to do all day. It's pouring ass rain here in Taipei too. I was at a club last night call Club Wax, its $600NT for fellas, about $20US, then its all you can drink for the rest of the night, which is nice. I not really used to going to these kind of clubs, seeing as I never go to them in the States, but in Taipei there aren't any Eli's Mile High kind of bars, so if'n I want to hang out and drink, the club it is. The music pretty much sucks, but I guess you don't have to like the music to be able to shake yo booty to it. And seeing as I never go dancing in clubs till now I have realized that dancing and sweating for hours allows to drink A Lot of Booze before getting tired. So maybe it is for the best I don't go play a bike polo tournament today, I got home pretty late this morning, and I'm tired now.

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Trees and Green Walls

Trees like this are Everywhere in Taipei! They engulf what ever they are growing on. This is not the best example, but of many of these tree it can be hard to tell which limb is a low brach growing upward and which is a root growing downward. I have seen a branch starting from just above the soil that then wrapped around the whole tree like a vine, then grew back Into the truck of the tree. Very interesting. This picture was taken on campus.

Another example of that wild tree.

綠牆 "Green Wall" Very popular kind of horticulture/art seen all around Taipei. This Green Wall is on the outer wall of campus.

Bicycles and Bike Polo

This is the bike my good friend James lent me to use for bike polo and to get around the city. It is very nice, but the heavy winds in Taipei make the disc covers a bit of a pain in the ass when I'm not playing polo. In this picture its locked up outside of campus.

An awesome bike I saw while walking around in Ronponggi district, Tokyo at 3am. The down tube has crazy zig-zags, and I feel the world needs more that.

At our friends bike shop before polo I test rode the craziest bike contraption ever! Look at the size of the wheels! There are two chain rings!!!

My first night of polo in Taipei. You can see the awesome polo court in the back round. But we play on astro-turf, which is kind of weird.

The polo court is shared by other interests groups. There are usually people playing with dogs. In this picture people are dancing, but we just start playing while they are still there and eventually they will leave, and everyone wins, and nobody gets upset. Its a very different mind set here.

Taiwanese polo players.