Saturday, November 30, 2013

New York Summer Clouds/紐育の夏期の雲/紐約夏天的浮雲

I have reason to think wistfully about my hometown of NYC at this time of the year, even though I actually don't particularly like NYC's dark, cold weather at this time of the year.  I came across these photos from last summer though, and it made me miss the place a bit.
今年の夏に撮ったニューヨークの写真だ。こう見たら、凄く綺麗なところに見える。実は今ニューヨークに住んでいる皆は寒くて暗い冬を耐えているところだけどなぁ。夏はめっちゃいい。
夏天我在紐約拍的照片。這樣子紐約看起來很漂亮!其實現在很冷、、、



Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Almost Brands/だいたいブランドになっている/差不多名牌

Here's a truck for Yamato Black Cat, a major shipping company based in Japan.  (Think: the UPS of Japan)  They've also penetrated the Taiwanese market pretty well.
And this truck?  Well, close enough, right?
黒猫、、、、じゃない。黒犬って何それ?
差不多黑貓宅急便的車子。
And here's Family Mart, a major Japanese convenience store chain.  They also have a very strong presence in Taiwan.
This store on the other hand... 
ああ、ファミマーをみつ、、、え?違うこれ!誰、あのペンギン?
差不多全家便利商店。

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Technodelic School/サイケデリックな学校/迷幻的學校

A particularly garish school in Tainan.  They light it up like this every night.  I think it's a private school.  ($$$$$$)
近くにある学校だ。毎晩こんなライトアップしている。私立(資立)学校だと思う。
這座學校每夜開著燈。看起來很漂亮、可是也應該花很多錢。

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Houtong (Guangfuli) Village/猴硐村(光復里)/猴硐(光復里)

After going to Keelung, I stayed at a friend's house in Taipei and then headed to Houtong the next morning.  First, let's look at some photos of Taipei.

基隆に行ったその日、友達の家に泊まらせて貰って、翌日猴(石+同)と言う村落に行ってみた。正式名前は光復里になっている様だが、駅名が猴(石+同)になっているので、そっちの方がよく使われた名前なのではないかと思う。さきに、台北市内の写真が二枚ある。

去基隆那天我跟朋友住,隔天去猴硐。先看這兩張臺北的照片、再看下面猴硐的照片。

Houtong (as far as I can tell, the official name of the village is "Guangfuli", but Houtong was the name of the mine there, and is still the name of the train station there, so it seems like Houtong is the name everyone actually uses.)

以前猴硐有礦場,但是現在煤炭都沒有了。現在猴硐的人靠觀光生活。也有關於礦場的東西,也有很多貓。
以前この村に炭鉱があって、今は閉鉱になっているので、観光業が主な産業になっているみたいだ。昔の炭鉱関係の設備と野良猫がポイントだ。
Houtong used to be a mining town, but the mine has since closed down.  Now, the town seems to rely mostly on tourism.  They've made the presence of old mining equipment, as well as the current abundance of cats in town into their selling points.



Let sleeping cats lie.


CAUTION: CAT CROSSING
猫飛び出し注意
Not dead, just sleeping.
沒死,只在睡覺而已。
なんか食っている。



More cat crossing








The town sits on a river in the mountains to the east of Taipei.




Cute kitten!
めっちゃ可愛い子猫もいた!
貓咪好可愛!

And that's it for my short trip up north!
短かったけど、終わりだ。
說完了!

Monday, November 18, 2013

Keelung/基隆/基隆

I went to Keelung two weekends ago for a short trip.  Keelung's confusing spelling is yet another example of how established spellings of place names stick around, even if they don't meet newly established standards.  In Mandarin, Keelung is pronounced more like "Jee-lung" and should be spelled "Jilong" according to Pinyin spelling rules.  The English name, however, is based on the Taiwanese Hoklo pronunciation of the name--which is also close to the Japanese pronunciation which was the official name for 50 years--so it has a K instead of a J, or a CH, which is what you would expect it to have if it used standard Pinyin or Wade-Giles spelling rules.  Keelung is Taiwan's second biggest port after Kaohsiung, and it has some historic sites of interest, it being one of the northern areas of the island settled relatively early on by outsiders (Spanish, Dutch, Chinese, etc.)

二週間前、私は基隆に行ってきた。(普通は日本語で「キールン」になっているが、マンダリン語の発音は「ジーロン」の方が近いかな。日本語の読み方はたぶん台湾語の影響を受けて決まったのではないかと思う。)基隆は高雄に次いで台湾二番目に大きい港だ。昔から先住民が住んでいて、後でスペイン人、オランダ人、中国人、そして日本人と琉球人が住み着いた。

上上禮拜我去基隆。為了看關於歷史的地方我去。因為有大大的灣、所以基隆向來是國際貿易很多的地方。
It's like Hollywood!
It was mostly sunny this day, but there were some cool clouds as well.
この日は基本的に晴れていたけど、面白い雲も沢山あった。
ローマ字の「チビ戦争」でウケた。

An old house built in the Japanese era.
日本時代の民家。
The French Cemetery.  During the Sino-French war, Keelung was one of the places the French invaded (along with the Pescadores, about which I have blogged previously).  The bodies of French soldiers who died in this war are interred here.

清仏戦争の時、フランスは澎湖にも基隆にも侵入してきた。そのため、戦争で亡くなったフランス兵士の墓地がここにある。

基隆有一場法國墓地。以前清法戰爭時、法軍進基隆來了。為了安慰過世了的軍人、設備這場墓地。







ヨーロッパ風のお墓が椰子の木に囲まれた風景は面白い。

雖然墓地是法式、可是旁邊的氣氛看得出來是熱帶的。
The graves all are European style, and they're covered in French, but the surroundings are all thoroughly tropical.




Some old houses nearby.

Some fruit I found on the ground.
何かの実。
我看到了這個果。我不知道是甚麼的。


和平島という島がある。橋で本土と繋がっている。和平島の名物は「藍さん」というおばさんみたいだ。
和平島的特產是叫名藍的歐巴桑嗎?
We walked over to Heping Island next.  Heping Island is a small island just off the coast of the mainland and connected by a bridge.  There were some Doraemon heads painted by the local elementary school kids on they way.
國小生做的哆啦A門。
地元の小学生が書いたドラえもん。







Murals!
髪ヤバい!
禿頭游泳
なにこいつ、イルカみたいに水から飛び上がって来た。
像海豬一樣跳出來了。

Keelung is still a very active port, and there were lots of shipbuilding cranes all over.
こんなの見掛けたら、長崎を思い出す。
Part of the island was blocked off and appears to be a military base.
軍用基地


There was a monument to Ryukyuan sailors here.  During the Japanese period, Keelung was the site of a Ryukyuan settlement.  The Ryukyuans lived here, and in exchange helped transmit knowledge of sailing technology to the locals (aboriginal people and Chinese people) who had been living here already.

日本時代に、琉球人の村が基隆にあった。琉球人はここに住んで、以前から住んでいた先住民と中華系の人に航海術を教えたと書いてある。
這個碑是關於日本時代住在基隆的琉球人。當時、有一個琉球村落。琉球人帶來了很多跟海航有關係的知識。
This is what this island is known for as much as anything.  The rocks here are wild.
和平島のもっとも知られたところはこの地形だ。
這裡的地形很棒!


A cave, originally used by the Dutch when they first settled here and set up a trading company.
昔、オランダ人もこの洞窟を使用したらしい。
The sign next to the door says "Do not Enter".
立ち入り禁止と書いているのに、、、




Another island off the coast.





Some sort of small shrine.
小小的寺廟
小さな廟
A crab
蟹がいっぱいおった。
螃蟹!
タモリさん!?!?!









There are these neat outdoor pools on the island.  They are built right along the waterside, so they just use the seawater as their water source.

海水を使ったプールもあった。こっちは浅くて子供が遊んでいた。
在海邊也有一些海水的游泳池。這裡是比較淺的。

A girl playing in the wading pool.




Run!


This is one of the deeper, swimming pools.
こっちはもっと深くて水泳が出来る。水泳おじさんいっぱいおった。
這裡是比較深的。


Frightening animals.
怖い乗り物。
More to come next time!
また今回!
下次!