taipei: a retrospective

i left taipei this morning munching a sizzling fried egg from a plastic bag with chopsticks while listening to taiwanese-american transplant lee hom on my ipod. it was a fitting end to my short few days in formosa. taipei is a cool place and i wish i had some more time and energy to venture outside the city, but i see myself coming back. as the hallyu or korean wave enjoys its last gasp, i cant help but think stylish taipeiers might be the ones to pick up the slack.

speaking of which you should be pleased to hear that rather than taking a pout nap the other day, i ventured next door and got my hair did at the taiwanese equivalent of supercuts. 'krazycuts' was an adventure given the 100% language barrier with my stylist and her lack of talent... what do u expect for us $12? i dont think ive been more stared at in my life. that said she looked phenomenal and her attempts to give my mexican-textured locks the taipei friz were appreciated. once i obsess that my hair is too long, hell nor language barrier will stop me from chopping it off. a similar episode in 12th grade left me bald for 5 years.

sporting my new coif i spent the next few hours cruising taipei on the back of a moped, which was awesome if only a bit scurry. victor took me for yummy dumplings and to the palace museum- an impressive complex of buildings that house the over 400,000 chinese artistic treasures chiang kai shek pilfered from the forbidden city (dont be upset prc. comrade mao would probably have destroyed them as decadent relics of bourgeois excess... plus the renegade province will be reunited with the mainland soon... right!?). heavy on perfect ceramics and gorgeous ancient books, yall chinee should be proud. how someone takes a single piece of ivory and carves eight remarkably intricate balls (each one inside the other, so that each can spin independently) is beyond me. the much-loved jade cabbage and slab o meat made of jasper were refreshingly playful. the exhibit on ch'ing dynasty efforts to record taiwans aboriginal people was also interesting.

i closed out my stay pocket calling sissy back home and then followed up with a real chat while buzzed and waiting for my hosts in houshanpi. minutes earlier i had met lucky at 'funky' to see view very cute taiwanese guys and listen to bad american music. too bad i left before the chinese pop started. when jiao-long + co arrived we headed to the 'follow me' party, which was a huge series of rooms filled with half-nekkid mens on ecstasy, including our friend hk model man. i left around 4 and found myself wandering around in an eerily empty xiamen.

and there i was just a coupla hours later at taipei main station (said in the american + british + australian accented female monotone of the mrts taped announcement, which i love and would enjoy immitating for you) and boarded my airport bus. ill miss taiwan. what i wont miss is this pollution cough thats developed and the spontaneous rash on my back, thanks to toxic detergent and my inability to read chinese washing directions.

so i leave just as ive finally perfected my ni hao! and xie xie!. im on to the nanny state of singapore for another short stint before more ambitious viet nam plans ensue. of course, silly sloppy half-korean kisses to all my tpe homies: jack (for letting me stay at his glam digs in yuanshan), jiao long + mankub (for being my rosetta stones to local homo-ness), lucky, jimmy, cheuk, kenji, chris and victor. keep in touch and come visit.