Tianmu: Travails, Tribulations, and Triumphs

One day. One day is all I ask to have things go according to plan and smoothly. One day where I can look at a map, have the destination be in precisely the right location, signs pointing in the correct direction. One day where I'm in, out, and on my way sans any sort of complications.

One stinking day.

In case you haven't picked up on it by now, today was not that day.

My morning began with a full and ambitious agenda that honestly, if everything went perfectly, would have been hard to accomplish. However, I didn't really expect that as much of it would get chopped off as it did.

I left around 11:00, with my first stop at the Botanical Gardens. It was in an area of town that was rather desolate (not necessarily dangerous, just a bunch of government buildings that appeared to be ghost towns on the weekend) but after wandering for 10 minutes, I finally came to it. It was a peaceful place and I thought by enlarge nothing spectacular until I got to the lotus pond, which in my view made everything worth it. The pond was more of a small lake covered in lotuses (or lotii?) that, when graced by the wind, swayed in tandem giving the illusion of waves in the sea.

View of the lotus pond.

Close-up of lotus and flower.

Following the stroll, I hopped on over to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall to order a concert ticket. Ever since I found out about the concert hall, I have really wanted to see a show there, especially at night with the building lit. And the coolest part was Fourplay was coming, and they were to play on Friday, August 11th. How cool, I thought. And what a perfect show to see.

Sold out.

Pissed at my luck and at the fact I wasted time, I made my way on to my next stop, Taipei Main Station, at which I had an agenda of two seemingly simple stops: Sun Yat-Sen Memorial House and Chengen Gate. In, out, and on my way.

Nope.

I took the exit that the MRT map showed to get to the memorial house, which was supposedly a 'two-minute walk.' Instead I walked for about 20 minutes until I found myself at the next MRT station, at which point I decided to turn around. Starving, I picked up a Chinese lunchbox from your typical streetside vendor, and with each passing moment I became more and more determined to find these places. It wasn't even because I really wanted to anymore, but just because I vowed I would not be beaten. On the way, I found the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) of Taipei, which had been on my to-do list eventually, so I decided to go inside seeing as I was there and desperately needed to feel like I accomplished something. I did enjoy it immensely, although some of the art still has me scratching my head. But I guess that's what good art is supposed to do?

Outside lead-up to MOCA.

I finally found the memorial house, and yes, it really was a two-minute walk if one happened to leave the precise exit in the precise direction, which obviously I hadn't. There is little room for error with these things. As I entered, I saw a small hut. I went inside, and there was one giant room partitioned into two, one part with a statue of the head of Sun Yat-Sen, and the other part with a few manuscripts and books.

I trekked over an hour for this?!?!?

A picture inside Sun Yat-sen Memorial House. This is really all there was. Whoopee.

Rrrrgh. After checking that off the list, I made my way to Chengen Gate, 20 minutes in the other direction of Taipei Main Station. The MRT tourist site describes Chengen Gate:
"Commonly known as the North Gate, the Chengen Gate is located where Zhongxiao W. Rd., Yanping S./N. Rd., Boai Rd., and Zhonghua Rd. meet. Although surrounded by a viaduct now, this Qing dynasty structure still preserves its original splendor and historical value. Listed as a Class 1 historical site, the gate will reward a close appreciation."

Chengen Gate. I walked through it, took a picture, and left. Notice the strategically placed freeway behind it.

ShiKong Tower and Observatory, which I passed on my way to Chengen Gate. Until Taipei 101, it was the tallest building in Taipei and people could ride to the top (I think they still can, actually). However, if you see them both, ShiKong doesn't even come close to 101.

Nice word choices, folks. I like how they casually tossed in 'although surrounded by a viaduct' and 'close appreciation.' Translation: It's located next to a freeway and it's decrepit-looking, but since it's so old we couldn't tear it down.

I got there, walked through it, took a picture, and left. I might be acting a bit harsh. I mean, it is cool to see something from the Qing Dynasty, but this country has such an insanely long history, it would be impossible for me to avoid seeing things from the Qing Dynasty even if I wanted to. But that's how it goes, I guess. It was pushing 4:00 and I had to get back to the MRT station so I could make my desired destination at 5:05 (hahaha, like THAT happened).

After some investigating by my own devices (and me translating a Chinese website, yay!), I found out that two Chinese Professional Baseball League (or CPBL) teams were playing Saturday and Sunday night, so I went to check them out. It was the Tianmu Brother Elephants (whatever the heck that means) vs. the Tai'nan Lions. I didn't know where the stadium was and it wasn't on a map, so I hopped off at the Zhishan MRT station hoping that their in-depth wall map would have more information. Did it? Of course not!

All I knew was that it was in Tianmu. I didn't know where Tianmu was, how to get there, or approximately how long the ride was. However, under the map a list of numbers caught my eye, and they corresponded to buses and their ultimate destinations. There were a few with Tianmu, but which one to choose? I idiotically asked this youngish guy working at the MRT counter for help, and then he said, 'Do you understand?' and I said yes, even though I had no idea. Because I've found that if you say no, they just repeat exactly what they just said, and then they say, now do you understand? No variation in speed or word choice, so basically it would just highlight my ignorance and make them feel bad. I did get from his gestures where I should go to pick up a bus, which was a help in itself, but I had to choose from the plethora of options on my own.

I ended up going with a bus that simply had 'Tianmu' as its endpoint. There were probably four or five Tianmu stops, and I had no idea which was which, but I figured if all else fails, the last one is still Tianmu, so I can always backtrack. As we drove, my instinct told me to get off at Tianmu Square, the hub of a bunch of Western stores, which I should have, but seeing as I had no idea where the stadium was, I just kept going. I stayed on all the way until the bus terminal, and then wondered what I was going to do. I started making my way down the long hill back to Tianmu Square when suddenly something caught my eye.

It was a glass case with some flyers, mostly advertisements, but a decaying old hiking map. I figured the least I could do was have a look as it could only help me. And whammo! There it was. I took out my map and circled the vicinity of the ballpark viciously, and while it was a long walk (as they all are when you don't know what you are doing), I got there without any help in about the top of the second inning. No one had scored yet and I bought my tickets (which were right behind home plate!), got some ice cream, and sat and chilled as the sun started to go down.

It was an interesting game. Tianmu won 3-1, and there were exciting points. There were also times that I swore I was watching extras in an Asian version of 'Angels in the Outfield.' It's definitely not SportsCenter material, but I give props to Taiwan for having a professional baseball league at all. The music was provided by pep bands (although the loud speakers did play a very timely 'Ice, Ice, Baby' in between the sixth and seventh innings), and the stadium was fiercely divided into yellow and orange sections, with not a soul in between. (Think Sharks vs. Jets but with loud plastic megaphones instead of knives.) The fans were enthusiastic and while I think Taiwanese beer is sold, no one drank any. It was a very family-oriented atmosphere and the cleanest ballpark I had ever seen (I almost felt guilty for leaving a piece of trash under the seat). Check out the videos of the overview of the stadium, hard-core fans, loaded bases, players boarding the bus, and the 'entertainment.' (Yeah, I thought the last one was weird, too. I prefer dot racing.)

Tianmu Baseball Stadium.

Tianmu is at bat. The game has begun!

After the game, I decided it was time to go home. I didnt particularly want to retrace all my steps to Tianmu Square because that was kind of far away, and I didn't want to just get on a bus without being 100% absolutely positively sure I was going in the right place, so I walked. And I walked and I walked and I walked. Idiotically, I took a shortcut. And by shortcut I mean a circuitous route that triples your walking distance and somehow gets you back to where you started (or further behind). I was really mad at myself, seeing as I'm pretty freaking good with directions without maps, and throw a map in and it should be a piece of cake. I guess last night I wasn't feeling it, and I walked around for about an hour at pace until I finally found the station. The glow of the tracks at that point gave me the same fuzzy feeling that watching the fireplace does at Christmastime.

So all in all, not an awful day. I have found my days start comparatively lousy and end up rocking by the end. The baseball game made up for all the wrong turns and wild goose chases, and the lotus pond was quite peaceful. Here's to a hassle-free day tomorrow.