In the search for fun spring inspiration for window displays and remade, I came across an article on the Billabong website about a girl's surf trip to Taiwan. The article isn't the most inspiring, but it's pretty honest and upfront, and hilarious at times... So now I will share it with you... Well at least I'll share parts of it with you... Do you really care about how high the waves were?? I think that while in Taiwan, I will try to learn how to surf. At the very minimum, I will spend much time in or near the ocean. Mmmmm... ocean.Written by: Teasha Curren
Photos by: Joe Curren
Recently I went on a surfing expedition to the elusive Island of Formosa (meaning: beautiful island), more commonly known today as Taiwan. The small island is home to more than 8 million manufacturing facilities that have probably produced at least some part of almost everything I own, including such items as: dollar store junk, my teapot, the lock on my storage unit, the after market bumper on my truck, the computer chip in my cell phone, my sneakers and even my board bag. America is familiar with ‘Made in Taiwan’, but surfed in Taiwan?
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September 15th, 2005 At the tail end of the typhoon season we crawl off the airplane delirious and raccoon eyed after catching the red eye from LAX to Taipei, lucky it was an un-crowded Singapore airlines flight. Having heard stories about how much the Taipei airport resembles a cold prison, I am pleasantly surprised to find a newly remodeled terminal with floors so polished you could see your reflection. Travelers are wearing surgical masks looped around their ears with elastics. Perhaps they know something I don’t. It is early. Nothing is open. There are signs and arrows for rental car booths but none to be found; freshly hung signs point to dead end hallways. Pay phones do not cooperate and we get suckered into hiring a ride to the train station. Rob, Peter, Joe and I are headed to Kenting National Park. Dan is going to meet us in a couple of days on his way back from Indo. None of us can speak a word of Mandarin and forget about looking up a Chinese character in a dictionary. Surfboards and luggage get stuffed in one van and our weary bodies in another. Weaving through the back alleys of the nation’s largest city we hope to meet up with our bags at the train station. Luckily, our surfboards arrive shortly after we are cast out on the street corner and Joe is handed a piece of paper with a Chinese character on it. Our next clue…
As westerners traveling light (4 giant board bags, heavy camera equipment and luggage) our group unintentionally makes quite a spectacle on the train platform. Perfect timing, it is rush hour and through gestures and head nods we learn that there is no way our surfboards are going to be allowed on the train. A uniformed saint arrives, adopts us and for the next hour through a trilingual conversation we try to persuade the TWR officials to make one exception. As a native Mandarin speaker and having Spanish as a second language, this helpful man becomes our translator by converting Mandarin Chinese to Spanish. We translate to the best of our ability the Spanish into English, and then attempt to speak Spanish which is translated back into Chinese. Our efforts proved unsuccessful and the officials would not budge.
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Peering out the bus window on the drive from Taipei to Kenting, it appears Taiwan is a urban and industrialized nation haunted by environmental issues which were created during the countries “amazing economic recovery”. Overcrowded cities are stifled by smog and soot that is trapped by surrounding mountains and tall buildings, explaining why Taiwan’s 11 million scooter drivers wear surgical masks strapped to their ears with elastics in addition to helmets. Semi-Trucks are hauling fat hogs piled on top of each other to the slaughter house. Outside of the air conditioned bus the weather is hazy, hot and humid. Hepatitis, parasites and apparently traces of arsenic are lurking the tap water. Water pollution is noted to be a problem due to agricultural run-off, coastal aqua-culture, industrial effluents and domestic sewage. It was disturbing to find out that an inadequate sewer system covers only 10% of the country. I feel lucky that there is a fairly new sewer system and treatment plant located in Kenting. The ocean water there feels clean and looks beautiful. On a brighter note, Taiwan has recently created an Environmental Protection Agency and is making a valiant effort to preserve the unspoiled parts of the island and to fix the existing pollution problems.
Taiwan isn’t third world, but it isn’t first world either. If there is such a thing as a second world nation, Taiwan would be a perfect example. There is 97% literacy rate, yet there is an inadequate sewer system. Even the locals don’t drink the water without boiling it. A fancy sports car is parked against a crumbling sidewalk. A family in matching outfits walks a pedigree beagle, and I was chased down the street by a pack of half-starved mangy dogs (similar to Balinese strays) looking to steal my breakfast this morning. Sophisticated technology is developed and manufactured here, yet cities are dirty and polluted. This country is a land of contradictions and is truly the strangest place I have ever been.
Taiwan has a convenience store culture, which is direct product of a rushed and hectic life style. There are more 7-11’s per person than anywhere else in the world. It is not uncommon to find 7-11’s across the street from each other and then again around the corner. These 24 hour stores sell items such as rice balls, traditional noodles, dried squid, asparagus juice, thousand year old eggs, flip flops, phone cards, incidentals, T-shirts and much more. When there is a typhoon approaching the computer screen on the cash register tracks its course. Resembling both Kuta and Coney Island, complete with the golden arches of McDonalds and the green crown of Starbucks, Kenting is a popular tourist destination for the Taiwanese who wish to escape the hectic city life. Never in my life have I seen so many tour buses. It is a family vacation mecca with at least 14 independently operating go-cart tracks all situated in a line. Night clubs, bungee trampoline jumps, karaoke and resorts with swimming pools and activities keep the tourists busy. Loud pop music is piped out into the street and even out onto the beach areas where tourists frolic in the surf and catch a ride on the banana boats. One night we actually saw a man techno dancing on a table outside of a bar wearing daisy dukes, white Doc Martins, bare backed with a cowboy hat. He was trying to attract patrons to the bar and it seemed to be working. One of the surfers I met in the water told me that he, “surfs all day and sells underwear at night”. Only in Taiwan!
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Kenting is home to a vivacious night market and once the sun goes down neon lights come on and people crawl out of the woodwork to shop purchase items from street vendors and snack at the food carts. When it rains the products are covered with clear plastic tarps and business continues. Night market food carts are rumored to prepare some of the best food in Taiwan. The carts lining the street display things like fried duck heads, grilled quail eggs, prawns, squid on a stick, pig ears, various parts of a chicken, fresh tropical fruit and even ice cream. The Taiwanese are resourceful and anything seems to be fair game to end up on your plate; some of the tidbits do not appeal to a westerner’s palette. One morning I read in the newspaper that a restaurant in northern Taiwan got busted for illegally selling tiger meat. However, it turns out that the restaurants fines were lessened because they were actually selling donkey meat soaked in tiger urine, which was not an endangered species. After reading that article I was careful to avoid mystery meat. Eating things such as dog, rat, donkey or even deep friend endangered baby birds does not appeal to me.
Hoards of Taiwanese tourists escape the cities to enjoy the natural beauty of the southern tip. Kenting is famous for white sand beaches, gorgeous cliffs, hiking trails, tropical vegetation, wildlife, both lava and coral reefs and crystal clear warm water. Our group is interested in scouting out the area’s surfing potential. Surf culture appears to be taking over the world, even in Taiwan. Being a capitalistic society, all of the hard core locals have opened their own surf shop and most even have their own clothing line. Some run surf tours and offer lessons to the tourists. One of the most popular breaks is a fun and playful right point break over a spongy reef where the turquoise blue ocean water is swirled with the effluent waters of a nuclear power plant. Cruising down the line, I tried not to think of the possibility that radioactive particles were commingling with the water molecules. User friendly breaks in and around Kenting are crowded with beginners who luckily become spectators when large swells come up, and there are other shallower reef and slab breaks nearby that remain un-ridden. If the swell picks up too much, officials close the beaches and it is actually illegal to enter the water! If you violate this law (and get caught) a hefty fine awaits upon exit of the water.
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Dan arrives and it goes flat. In the mornings we explore and then end up spending the afternoon in our air conditioned rooms playing Balderdash to escape the sweltering heat which is almost unbearable. Garbage trucks broadcast songs as they drive by sounding like the ice cream man. One morning we take a hike in the National Park to find exotic plants, stalagmites, birds, the biggest spider I have ever seen (it was evil), a cute monkey and bright yellow mountain crabs scampering across the trail. I had no idea that there was a species of crab that lived in the on dry land in a humid forest. There are warning signs posted for poisonous snakes and wasps. Fortunately, the only snake we come across is about six inches long. Another flat day is passed checking out the national marine biology museum / aquarium which is really cool.
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Taiwan is without a doubt the strangest place I have ever been on a surf trip. The early Portuguese sailors were right, the Island of Formosa is one of the most beautiful places in the Pacific, if you can get out of the hectic cities and overlook the widespread environmental devastation caused by rapid development. I found the Taiwanese people to be friendly and helpful. The surfers we met were warm, welcoming and generously shared with us their knowledge of surfing in Taiwan. In conclusion, to answer everyone’s’ question: YES, THERE ARE POWERFUL WAVES AND BARRELS IN ADDITION TO PLAYFUL SURF IN TAIWAN. ....even if you don’t catch the wave of your life Formosa is still an interesting place to visit. The water is warm, the people are friendly and as long as you know what you are eating the food is delicious.
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