Taiwan, Taipei, Week 1!

After about 2 months, i have finally been able to go on a decent length trip again. I've come to Taiwan for 1 month, to sight see, work and learn Chinese! It's the end of my first week and i've had a great time so far, i've sampled local food, beer, night clubs, visited temples and squat villages, played a piano on whilst on the toilet, got hit by a firework, lost numerous times and learnt some Chinese!

Taipei is a huge city and there's always plenty to do day and night. On my first few days, i took the underground to various places. I didn't have a map so i just got on a train and hoped for the best. This worked out quite well as there's something different at every station. In the day i'd visit temples, such as Longshang temple, which is full of people praying or just sitting around relaxing and by night i'd check out the night markets where you can buy all sorts of local dishes, a hearty meal costs around £2, so i never go hungry.

2 days ago i went to treasure hill artist village, it was an amazing place and used to be the home of hundreds of squatters, there is various street art throughout the alley, mainly stencils. In the village, there was a small cafe where we went for an afternoon beer, my favourite part of this cafe was the toilet, the toilet itself was fairly bog standard (bad pun) but next to it was a small piano, which was great to play, needless to say, there was a queue when i came out.

The other night, i went to a night market and had my first near death experience. Every night in Taipei you can hear fire works going off. This particular night, there were more than usual so we went to check out where they were being set off, it was in the middle of a night market and was not cordoned off at all so you could literally stand right next to the fireworks as they were going off, health and safety in England would have a fit if they saw it. There were also guys dressed up in traditional clothing who ran through big patches of fire crackers, it was crazy. We watched the fireworks for a about 10 minutes and then turned around to go find a bar, as we turned round, the fireworks must have  fallen over because the next think i know is fireworks firing into the crowd and me getting hit on my leg and ankle by one. Luckily we were facing with our backs to them so we didn't get too battered. I'll keep my distance, possible had behind a box next time i go to see some.

Next week, i'm doing some work to earn some cash and planning some day trip to various places in Taiwan. I'm also doing two hours a day of Chinese lessons which are going well but it really difficult. It feels like its going to be a very good trip.

A quick visit to Spain!

Yesterday i returned from a short two day trip abroad to a small village in Catalonia called Granyena. The reason for this trip was to meet two of the farmers from the village who i am now selling olive oil for in the UK. Granyena only has a population of 150 and relies mainly on the production and sales of olive oil. I decided this year to take on the task of setting up a business to selling the oil and other products produced in the village.

Granyena

Me Stood next to an olive tree over 1000 years old!

I'd spoke to them by email before going to Spain but felt like i needed to visit to learn more about the oil and where it came from. So that's what i did. I was taken of a tour of the mills and the olive groves which went on for miles and miles. As well as the olives and oil, they also produce almonds which grow between the olive trees and organic honey made by there own bees. It was a great trip and i could tell that Xavi and Cisco (the farmers) were extremely passionate about what they were doing which has made me want the make this business work even more.

The Old Mill

The Old Olive Grinder

These used to separate the water from the oil

The Old Reservoir for Granyena

An Old Well, still fills with water when there is rain

Cisco cutting down an olive branch so more sunlight gets to the tree

The farmers use tools as a pose to machinery so they do not damage their trees

Cisco, Me and Xavi

Me, Brian (Irish Translator and farmers friend), My Dad, Cisco & Xavi

I've set up a website from where i'm going to sell their products (www.prima-oliva.co.uk). This summer, as a way of promoting the site, i will be touring around the UK in a van attending various agricultural shows and also visiting delis and farmshops to try and get them to stock the products. I'm also on the lookout for anyone who knows and celebrity chefs to try and get them hooked too.

I'm back in England now but not for long; tomorrow i will be flying out to Taiwan where i'm going to do some sight seeing, some work and hopefully learn a little Chinese. I'll be travelling by myself which might be quite different as i only know how to say hello and thank you in Chinese, this could pose a problem. It's going to be extremely different to what i'm used to but should be a bit of a challenge, i can't wait!

Big Snow Festival 2011 (March 13th-20th)

Last week i  finally got to travel again! Me and a mate went to Andorra for a week on skiing/ music festival. Andorra is great for a few reasons, firstly its tax free which means you can buy litre bottles of vodka for 3 euros which makes for a cheap night out, and you can also get a bit of skiing in which is always a bonus.

As you can probably guess we were feeling a little delicate most morning, especially day one where we decided we'd get in a full day of skiing even if it meant we only had 3 hours sleep. This was our first mistake as we made it until around 12 and then could ski any more so went for lunch and pint to perk us up!
We did learn from this mistake though and from then on, we got up at a sensible 10am.

The best day for me was the Wednesday, where the party started at 6pm up the mountain. There were 3 acts that evening, Goldie, Devlin and DJ Fresh who performed in the snow on a stage about 2000ft up a mountain,  a surreal experience to say the least.

There's not much else to say about the trip because everyday consisted of waking up, feeling a bit rough, skiing until we were feeling better, do some apres ski (drinking), go for dinner and then go back out again to watch some bands. It was a really good week and has got me ready to travel again. My only regret was that i didn't buy and cheap booze and cigarettes to sell when i got home. There's always next year though.

Back Home!

I've been back home now for just over two weeks and i think it's safe to say that i wish i was back in OZ. For starters i miss the heat and i'm now well on my way to looking pastey again and secondly i don't have any money and have to beg my parents for money. Borrowing money of my parents when i was in Oz was part of the experience but now its just depressing and i feel like a tramp!

On the bright side i'm going skiing in 2 weeks to a music festival in Andorra which should be good. This isn't really helping the money situation but i'm trying not to think about this! On an unrelated I also heard about the recent earthquake in Christchurch and now realise that i was extremely lucky that i was there for the 4th september earthquake. They're not having much look at the other side of the world this year.

I also seem to have alot of spare time nowadays and find myself planning my next excursion, so far i've half planned a month trip to Taiwan to learn Chinese and a months road trip round Europe.

I don't really have much else to write about being home although it is good in a way to be home and i enjoy not having to wear the same things for weeks at a time. I'll try keep updating my blog when and if anything interesting or exciting happens.