November 8th, 2009 by hari
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Back in July 09, a little over a month after I came to Taiwan, Ling and I decided that we should check out one of the nearby attractions. It was around the same time that her professor moved to the US, giving us his trusty old Ford. I was keen to take the car for a test drive, preferably for a longer stretch of time and distance than what driving in Taipei city affords. Incidentally, one of her lab-mates suggested that he has been to this wonderful place called Jioufen and he knew the way to get there and more importantly get out of there.
So on a Sunday morning, think it was July 19th, we set off to Jioufen.
Jioufen is a little hilltop town that is known for its breathtaking views of Taiwan’s northern tip and the Pacific. It’s a little over an hour’s drive from Taipei and is also supposedly renowned for a narrow street adorned with shops on either side. Apparently, looking through the shop’s front windows, one can see the Pacific Ocean through the window at the back. I frankly didn’t know to what to expect, as I was more keen on testing the car on a hilly road, but once I got there, the views blew me away. Without me rambling too much, I’ll let the pictures speak the cliched 1000 words.
The last picture is a composite of three images shot separately. I tinkered a little too much with the color balance and the disastrous results should be evident even to the blind!
There isn’t much you can do there (at least to my limited knowledge and research) besides trekking through the hills and wandering around the narrow alleys soaking up the view. I read in another post that there is a nice place to stay and dine that provides the great view all the while.
How to get there
Besides driving, one can get to Jioufen by public transport as well. There’s a city bus from Taipei that goes all the way to Jioufen. I think it’s number 1062 and it plies along Bade Road(八德路) and then Nangang Road(南港路). An alternative is to take the suburban train to Riufang(瑞芳), another small town close to Jioufen, and then take a bus from there.
October 24th, 2009 by hari
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That’s correct — A.R.Rahman 3CD pack, containing his popular works is featured in Taipei’s premier bookstore – Eslite!
A.R.Rahman's Music 3-CD Pack
I say ‘featured’ and not ‘displayed’, as I saw it NOT on the CD racks by the wall together with scores of other Indian CDs. Rather the CD was displayed prominently on a table facing one of the entrances — prime retail real-estate!
I walked around the book store a little bit more and happened see the catalog for the 2009 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival. And guess what — the festival is showcasing 5 of his movies (movies for which he has composed music) as a tribute to him. Here are the movies being shown:
- Ghajini (why oh why..?)
- Lagaan
- Zubeidaa
- Dil Se
- Roja
I hope to catch Roja and Zubeida. I have seen Roja thrice already (first in a cinema and twice on tele), but don’t mind watching it again. Music is awesome and Mani Ratnam’s composition is a sight to behold. I’ve never heard of Zubeidaa, but being a Benegal movie, it should be worth its money.
Perhaps featuring the CD in the store was no coincidence, but the point is he definitely seems to have a following in this part of the world.
October 16th, 2009 by hari
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Well, I too have a BLOG! Duh!
Am I trying to tell the world what I think about the stuff that goes on around (which is not much) me?
Do I hope to receive lots of hits and subsequently turn this BLOG into a commercial venture?
The answer to the above questions is a definite NO! But it is without objectives that I am embarking on this project. Broadly, my goals behind this website and the BLOG can be outlined as below:
- Get a feel for this BLOG phenomenon that has been going on around me for almost a decade and which I have ignored, almost on purpose. See what it entails and see where it takes me.
- After I moved to Taiwan couple of months back, we were hit by Typhoon Morakot. Within a couple of days I got a few calls and emails from worried souls asking me if I’m okay. I hope to share some bits of information about my life here through this BLOG. Hopefully someone will bother to check on me occasionally too see what I’ve been up to and realize that though little is known about Taiwan and Taipei in India, it really is one of the better places to stay in Asia.
- To create a mini dairy of sorts, like the one that I kept for half a year while in college in Sulur. I recently read that dairy again and it was such a thrill! I hope this platform can deliver the same feeling a few years from now.
- Act as a knowledge base for myself. Through my years of loneliness while in Singapore, Internet has been a constant companion. Without being bashful, I’ll admit that one of my favorite pastimes was (and still is) is reading Wikipedia articles. Mostly stuff that has absolutely no use whatsoever (does which countries have nuclear submarines count as useful info? I don’t think so!), but some useful bits as well. I hope to log some of the information that I come across here so that I can (and anyone else) retrieve them should I need them.
- Lastly, I feel that over the years while my technical skills have improved with every project, my writing skills have not kept up. In fact, I think it’s much worse than what it was when I was fresh out of college. Why else would I dread documentation and why else does it take me so long to write an important email? I hope by writing more and by inviting people to read them, I’ll expose myself to criticism and through these criticisms I can improve my writing skills. I’m not aiming for a career change but hope to improve my writing skills which I’m sure will come handy often in the future.
So that’s it folks, when time permits, take a peek here. You might even find something interesting.
