C-Bikes

Long time no blog.

A week has gone by and I haven't given you any entertaining updates on my Taiwan existence. Oops! That really means I have nothing exciting to report... sorry.

But as a filler, here's something that I passed by a couple weeks ago and found kind of cool.

It looks like Kaohsiung City is "going green," both literally and figuratively, in a new program that's like Zipcar for bicycles. The lime green bikes could catch anyone's attention:

Basically, in an effort to promote both eco-friendly travel and Kaohsiung tourism, the city is setting up these bike rental locations all around the city and developing tourist-friendly bike trails (which I'm hoping are not, but I'm guessing are, largely composed of scooter lanes on major roads). Here's the kiosk by the Cultural Center:


The rates are fairly cheap... NT $30 for the first half hour, NT $15 after that. So, an hour of biking costs you less than US $1.50. Plus, you get to ride around in an awesomely lime green bike. What could be better?

For more info, check out the C-Bike English website.

My new(ish) bike

You may remember a post from a month or two ago referencing my spontaneous desire to buy an electric bike in the context of other spontaneous desires. Well, I've become well-known here for my follow-through. In early November, after lots of price-checking and research, I found a used electric bike on a craigslist-esque Taiwanese website, contacted the owner, checked it out, and got myself a new toy.

The bike is about a year old and is the same size (maybe a bit shorter) than an average bike. It's equipped with a lead-acid battery that weighs about 25 pounds, which would render the bike totally impractical if it didn't so handily fit in my building's elevator. With the battery off, you ride it just like a regular bike. With the battery on, you can "rev" the "engine" to about 15mph without pedaling. All this for a mere 5000 TWD (about $165 US).

This means that I can now ride to work sweat-free and fee-free in about the same time as the bus would take. I pass most of the regular bikes on the road, except this one stubborn old man who pedals furiously and manages to pull just ahead. This is by far the best mode of transportation for me. I plug it into the wall for a few hours at night, and voila, I have four hours of battery. An efficient and effortless way to get around, it doesn't require a license and doesn't emit any form of exhaust. The best part? People here think electric bikes are extremely nerdy, so it will probably never get stolen.

And now, a grainy picture of my electric bike.

我的日常生活

I remember from my earlier Chinese classes, one of the most common topics for essays (aside from 自我介紹 ) was 我的日常生活. So, true to my Chinese Ba/Bb roots, I thought I'd make a post on some of the things in my daily life here that are far different from my daily life at home (Berwyn, Cambridge, or otherwise). I've broken it up into a few categories...

Food
Because of the size and (lack of) appliances our kitchen has to offer, in addition to the fact that eating at restaurants is very inexpensive, we have yet to cook a meal for ourselves. So far I've taken to eating most of my lunches and dinners at a restaurant right next to our apartment building. Though she has a more extensive menu, I've only gone for 湯麵, 乾麵, and 餛飩麵. Until we officially exchanged names and phone numbers, I referred to the young woman working there as "Noodle Lady." The other day when I got 乾麵 for the third time in a row, she gave me a hard-boiled egg "on the house." I'm not sure whether she was trying to be friendly, or gently reminding me to vary my diet.

But more on "Noodle Lady" another time. Spoiler? She is a great friend who has been immensely helpful in my settling in here in Taiwan.

A common form of food is the 便當, which is what they fed us for lunch every day of orientation. Every 便當 is different. I could explain it to you, or I could just show you a picture. This picture is of the best meal I've had here, from a vegetarian buffet one night. In the large compartment there is white rice and some sort of tofu, and on the right there are green peppers (top), lima beans (middle), and corn/carrots/eggs (bottom). Few can relate to my deep appreciation for lima beans... but trust me, these were amazing, thus earning it the "best meal" title.



Finally, in an effort to save the environment and guard against unclean restaurants, most people carry their own set of chopsticks around. Here is my chopstick carrying case:



Transportation
Because the traffic here is dangerous and Kaohsiung is currently spending a lot of money on new public transit, our program directors are strongly advising us against buying scooters (the most popular mode of transportation). My roommates and I all bought bikes to help us get to and from our schools and other places in the area. While Dan went the fancy new road bike route, and Dani and Vicky got some nice standard mountain bikes, I decided to go in another direction. I wanted a foldable bike so that I could take it on the MRT (subway) or buses for free (can't do that with big bikes). Again, a picture is worth a thousand words, so instead of explaining the ridiculousness that is my bike, here's a picture.

Folded:


Unfolded:


Yeah, this thing doesn't even have gears. Also, the basket has an elephant on it. In case you couldn't tell.

Also, the seemingly "Asian" thing to do is to wear one of those facemasks around to protect yourself from airborne disease, or pollution, or something. Though I initially thought this was ridiculous, after riding around on the back of Susan's scooter I realized that not getting stuff in your face as you ride in traffic has its perks. Alas, I bought a facemask:



(The little pink dachshunds on it are an homage to my two dachshunds back home.)

The Little Things
It's really, really humid here. So every closet, cabinet, and hamper needs some sort of dehumidifier. I hung a dehumidifying pack in a small closet when we first got here, and after a month, it was basically a Ziploc bag full of water. It's a little hard to tell but... on the left there's the bag I just removed (flat on top, full of water on the bottom), and on the right there's the new bag (full of dehumidifying stuff on top, empty on the bottom):



Also, I have a fish. This is not unlike my life at home, my summer apartment, or my dorm room, really, but um, it's a different fish? His name is T-Rex.




Well I hope you all enjoyed yet another glimpse into my Taiwan life. Sorry for the post of novel proportions... we're going for a Fulbright conference in Taipei tomorrow, so this post, like my very first, is just another effort to avoid packing.

Talk to you Sunday, when I get back from Taipei!