Delectable Taipei

the tourists

During the All Soul's Day holiday in Manila, the three of us decided to head out to Taiwan.

Its not easy to travel with a lawyer and a banker since both are very, very busy. If I didn't ask what the plans were, we wouldn't have any place to stay and probably spend time looking for a travel agent. Thank God for the web! I was able to research and short list possible sites combining what these two busy bees want - basically, spend more time outdoors.

For the tours, it was a toss up between the customized itinerary offered by a local guide from Tours by Locals.com or book the  package tours offered at Viator. The latter, by the way, is the best-value site for booking trips but a warning though - it's a hit and miss with the tour guide. Our guide for the city tour may be a bit burned out because he barked "I'm here everyday, why don't you walk down to see the shrine and I will wait for you here."

125th birth anniversary of
Chiang Kai Shek on October 31

Anyway, I ended up booking with Viator. We had two half-day tours on the first day - a city and a night tour- and two out-of-town. Another warning: all the tours include a stop in a handicraft or food shop or both.

For first timers like moi, its good to get your bearings by joining a half-day city tour. The tour started at Zhangshou district's Presidential Building, then stop at a traditional Taiwanese temple, the massive Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall to see the changing of the guards (note: the guards do not blink for an hour, I kid you not),  a handicraft center, the Ming Dynasty architecture at the Martyr's Shrine and the last stop  was at the National Palace. We should have skipped the handicrafts center and spent more time in the museum. If I heard the guide correctly, in the 1930s, Chang Kai Shek transferred 3,000 crates out of China or over 600,000 pieces of anicent Chinese artifacts and artworks belonging to the Imperial family.

The night tour started with a Mongolian barbecue dinner (yes, i know - why on earth eat Mongolian in Taipei?). After dinner, we drove to the western side of Taipe to visit the Lung Shan budhist temple. It was packed with locals praying and burning incense sticks.

Snake Alley 

I guess the Taiwanese love to eat because there are 14 night markets in Taipei!!!  From the temple, we walked next door to Hwashi famous for its snake alley. Meaning, snakes - the meat and the blood, including other whatnots are sold in this special market. None of us were adventurous enough to try ordering snake or turtles and even alligators but we ate everything else outside snake alley.

To cap the tour, we headed to Taipei 101, the second tallest building in Asia.

At Yehliu Geopark 

The next day we booked a half-day North Coast tour which took us to Keelung City and the famous Yehliu Geopark to see the rock formations. Another warning: do not go on Sundays, lots of  tourists and also locals.

Taipei averages about a hundred earthquakes per year. Well, we didn't feel the 6.5 magnitude earthquake that hit Keelung at 11:38 that day. I guess we were on the road. Our guide said that Taiwan is located at the intersection of the Eurasian and Philippine Sea plates and thus, seismicity is extremely active.

Must visit Shin YehJ apanese buffet

Back in Taipei, we decided to venture on our own. First stop was the highly recommended Japanese buffet  in Shin Yeh which was only two blocks from our hotel. The restaurant is listed as one of the five places to eat in the Miele Guide 2009/2010. The fare is unlimited!! There are separate food stations - from the makis and shushis, the noodle station, cold appetizers with gigantic oysters and shrimps, the tepanyaki grill, the prime rib and roast pork, pizza (yes, pizza!), hot dishes and dessert. I especially liked the drink station which served fresh juices (kiwi and guava were my staple), beer, calpis (uncarbonated soft drink, tastes like Pocari Sweat), coffee and even home-made ice cream. Another warning: favorite of locals too, go early.

local fare at Shinlin night market

After lunch, we decided to check out Beitou which is 20-min via MRT and dip in its natural hot spring. Some of the main bath houses are still in the Japanese style with tatami mats. A short historic note: Taiwan was ceded to the Empire of Japan by the Qin Empire after the first Sino-Japanese war in 1895. Anyway, the best hot spring is located in Wailu where the waters are odorless and colorless. In Beitou, there are two kinds - the clouded almost white with strong sulfur odor and the green color.

After Beitou, we stopped at Shinlin night market, the biggest in Taipei. Must try are: oyster omelette, grilled scallop, the sausages, the gigantic chicken, fried pao.

Taroko Gorge 

The next day we were up early for the Taroko Gorge Tour in Hualein touted as Asia's 7th wonder. It's a 25min flight from Taipei. Its a must-see! If I were to do this again, I'd stay 2-3 days and do the trails like the .Old Jhilu Road in the Swallow Cave area.

We were able to do Shakadang Trail, the Gorge, Eternal Spring Shrine, Swallow Caves,  the Tunnel of the Nine Turns (left photo), Tienshiang Lodge and the Chi Hsing beach at the back of the airport.

The last fourth day was some shopping and  to taste the celebrated xialong bao (steamed pork dumplings) of Din Tai Fung. Three people recommended this - Dedet, Cyrenee and Rae, not to mention the german couple with us. So we trooped to the original branch at 194 Xinyi Road, A bit pricey but I enjoyed the crab roe and truffle and the double boiled chicken soup.

I might go back next year and do the Taroko Gorge Marathon and stay longer for the trails!

Gina Lopez wants No Go Zones in mining

"In this country, for some reason, what moves and makes it happen is People Power" Gina Lopez declared at the 20th anniversary of Maalala Mo Kaya's  (MMK) premiere of "Palawan".  Gina is referring to the 10-million signature campaign that she has launched in February this year that would convince the Philippine government to finally say no to mining in Palawan.

Gina claimed that she is not against the mining industry per se and instead wants to set up No Go Zones. Meaning, there are key biodiversity areas in the country that shouldn't and must never be mined. She cited specifically the islands.

The islands are defined as [quoting Gina] "where you have a mountain, forest, coral reefs, mangroves and farmlands. It's not large tracts of land like Canada or Australia where, if you have an accident when you mine, no one will suffer. In islands like Palawan, Rapu Rapu, Manikanin and all these other islands.. if you have one accident, it goes to the ricefields [destroys farmlands], goes to the sea and kills the coral reef .. what we want is to have certain areas in the country as No Go Zones, please don't mine there because tourism and agriculture [option] is much better. The way it is now, you can mine everywhere."

The No2MininginPalawan Movement is a multi-sectoral alliance of different concerned civic groups to raise awareness and to stop current and upcoming mining activities in Palawan and in other key biodiversity areas in the Philippines.

Todate, the  campaign has acquired over 2 million signatures and has 8 million to go.  She urged everyone "if each and everyone here takes it on and realizes deep in your heart like Bogs [referring to the MMK episode], what future do we give our kids? Do we have to travel overseas to experience nature? Why can't we protect what we have here? So mining I feel is a real threat , they have a track record of suffering and destruction and in the meantime, we have economic alternatives that show there is another way."

Palawan directed by Brillante Mendoza

"Palawan" is the first television project of 2009 Cannes Film Festival best director awardee Brillante Mendoza. The story is about Bogs Villanueva, a mother who fought her way to stop nickel mining in her hometown in Calatigas, Narra, Palawan and in the process, lost her sight and almost lost her family. As of this writing, the government has stopped the nickel mining in Calatigas.

Gai's Paleo Challenge: I accept!

From paynowliveafter's youtubevideo

Today is D-day! I accepted Gai's Paelo Challenge and will now eat like a caveman for two months.

Paleo is short for Paleolithic referring to the Stone Age era where basically, at that time, hunters gathered fruits, nuts, some vegetables and protein. Yes, this diet means no grains because there was no agriculture then.

I joined Cross Fit Manila last week. It's a strength and conditioning fitness program that combines weightlifting, gymnastics, powerlifting, kettlebell training, plyometrics, rowing and medicine ball. The workouts are pretty intense - limited to 4 to 8 (like my first WOD, left photo) for a total of 20-minutes. The key is to do as many rounds as possible or AMRAPS within the time allotted.

Paleo seems to be the defacto diet for these lean and strong CrossFitters since everyone in the gym  is on it.

Here's Gai's challenge starting today, 10.10.11 until 12.10.11:

The No-No's:
- Anything containing gluten, including beer.
- The five major culprits: rice, bread, pasta, potatoes, dessert
- Grains, legumes, beans (including their sprouts), corn, soy (including tofu and soy sauce)
- Dairy
- Sugar (including raw sugar and honey)
- Processed food/drinks (including Knorr cubes, sinigang mixes, etc. Trick: if it comes in a packet, it's out)

What I can devour:
- Meat - If grassfed is an option, choose grassfed.  (Note: I guess I can eat Prado Farm's organic lechon). 
- Seafood
- Eggs - including the yolk.
- Vegetables, with a special emphasis on green, leafy vegetables and cruciferous veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage)
- Fruits - If having watermelon, try to have it separately from anything else and within a few hours of eating other things. You should digest this on its own.
- Nuts
- Seeds
- Salt, pepper, dried and fresh herbs
- Tea
- Oil - for cooking, use lard or coconut oil. For salads, use olive oil.

Negotiated, Concessions:
- Vinegar - Balsamic, apple cider, red wine, tuba, etc. Read the label and choose one with a few additives as possible.
- Fish sauce, bagoong - Read the label and choose one with a few additives as possible. (Note: I seldom take any of these sauces, should re-negotiate).
- Dark Chocolate - minimum 70% dark, 2 bars per week. (check ingredients for any gluten content. If it contains a hit of gluten, it's out).
- Red wine OR tequila OR vodka (as shots, on the rocks or with soda water) - one night per week
- When you are dining out, inform your server that you cannot have anything with flour, milk and sugar. Avoid saucy items on the menu as you cannot tell if mixes were added to it. As much as possible, order anything grilled or roasted with roasted vegetables or a salad (all gravies, sauces and dressing on the side).

The Exercise:
- CrossFit minimum requirement first month: 3x a week (at least one on the weekend)
- CrossFit minimum requirement second month: 4x a week (at least one on the weekend)
- Mandatory: 2 days rest per week (doing absolutely ZERO workouts) with recommended fasting a bit. Do NOT eat if not hungry.

Points per week: 50

Bonus Points:
- No cheating (including dark chocolate and alcohol) per week = +10 points
- Eight hours sleep within a 24-hour period = +2 points per night
- >Rx Cross Fit = +1 point for 4x, +2 point for 5x (Second month: no extra points for 4x a week but +1 point for 5x).

Minus Points:
- Zero exercise = -10 points
- <Rx CrossFit (1-2x per week) = -3 points
- <Rx rest = -10points
- Consuming ANYTHING with gluten (including beer) = -50 per incidence
- Consuming ANY of the five major culprits = -50 per incidence
- Consuming legumes, beans, corn, soy, dairy, sugar = -5 per incidence
- Consuming more than the concession for alcohol = -5 per evening

If I score lower than 200 points per month, I owe Gai a bottle of Grey Goose or Patron XO per month. And If I fall off the wagon, I owe her a very expensive steak din.

Alors, for moi - if I make it, she guarantees that I will lose my targeted 4-kilos and hence, can fit back into my clothes. Wish me luck!

Claro Ramirez's Wanted: Tubero

Kudos to Claro "Chitz" Ramirez's 10th solo exhibition called Wanted: Tubero, which is now ongoing at Finale's video room until October 27, 2011. This is his mini version of what will be exhibited at the Jakarta Biennale this December 2011.

The installation features television monitors depicting works of other artists and including Chitz's; that are connected with the PVC pipes. Wanted Tubero "emphasizes the imporance of engagement, participation and community." Hence, visitors are invited to connect and join the PVC pipes. The involvment process will be documented and become a part of the evolving work.

The show, curated by Clarissa Chikiamco, is the third offering of End Frame Video Art Project 3, a project of the non-profit organization "Visual Pond."  The project focuses on the video art practices of selected contemporary artists in the Philippines.  Prior to Chitz, Tad Ermitaño and Manny Montelibano were featured; and will be followed by Kiri Dalena, Yason Banal, Kaloy Olavides and Maria Taniguchi.

Chitz is a consultant for artistic direction of exhibitions and new media projects for the Lopez Memorial Museum since 2005. He was awarded the Cultural Center of the Philippines thirteen Artists Award in 2000. A graduate of UP Diliman and UST, he has exhibited internationally, through grants and invitations in Korea, China, Denmark, Spain, Poland, Romania and USA. Aside from Jakarta, he is the Philippine curator for the Goethe Institut's international project Riverscapes in Flux 2011-12 (Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and the Philippines).