Thursday, February 13, 2014

Dazhishan and Plums in Meiling/梅嶺の梅と大智山/梅嶺的梅花和大智山

After leaving the Minnan house I wrote about in my last post, we headed up to the mountains to see the plum blossoms.  The people I went with had been there the previous week, and they said that was actually the peak, so unfortunately, I was a bit late and many of the blossoms had fallen already.  Still, some trees looked pretty good!

前回のポストの閩南式の民家から離れて、山の方に行った。車を出して呉れた友達によると、ちょうど梅の季節になっていると。山に着いたら、時期がほとんど過ぎて、花が散ってあると分かったけど、まだちょっと見えた。

前次我說到閩南的房子。離開那裡之後就去山上看梅花。但是好像一點遲到了。花朵大部分都已經落下了。




These are some jujubes.  This is yet another fruit I never really ate until coming to Taiwan, but I've fallen in love with them since getting here.  I've always eaten green ones like these, but I found out recently that when they mature a bit more, they turn a darker color and look more like dates.  If you eat them when they're still green, they're a lot like apples, texture and taste-wise.  We picked some of our own at this roadside field here.

下の果物はナツメだ。台湾に来るまでは一度も食べたことはなかった。まだ緑になっている間に穫ったら、食感も味も林檎みたいな感じだ。

棗子。在路旁有地方可以自己拿。雖然我來臺灣才第一次吃過棗子,可是現在我很喜歡了。
There are lots of palm trees in the mountains in Taiwan.  They're betel nut trees.  They're planted by people for the nuts which contain a mild stimulant.  They're pretty, but not so good for the mountainside soil.

台湾の山にこういう椰子の木が沢山ある。これは天然なものじゃなくて、人間が植えたものだ。「檳榔」(びんろう)という実がなって、中には弱い覚醒剤が入っている。タクシーの運転士や工事で働く人の間では人気があるが。

檳榔的樹。

We also visited a Buddhist temple in the area called "Dazhishan".  Below we can see a very content god with a lump of gold.

梅嶺にある廟にも行ってみた。「大智山」という名前だ。

這座廟叫「大智山」。是在梅嶺。
And a forlorn looking god with only a peach.  (Hey, I'd be disappointed too if my friend got a lump of gold and all I got was a lousy peach.)

上の神は金の塊を貰って、納得していそうだけど、下の神は桃しか貰っていないので、寂しそうな顔をしている。

上面的神拿著金塊,看起來很滿意。下面的只拿著桃子而已,難怪看起來不太高興。
Bats are lucky in Taiwan because the word for bat sounds like "luck".

蝙蝠(コウモリ)は縁起のいい動物とされている。この字:「蝠」は「福」に似ているのだから。

Lanterns up for the lunar new year holiday.

旧お正月のランタン。
Some Buddhist gods are pretty metal.  Look at this guy taming the crap out of these demons.
I thought these stone sculptures were adorable!

石像はめっちゃ可愛い!

我覺得這些石像好可愛。

本当に石だ。








Buddhas in various poses is a thing I see a lot in Taiwan.  They're called "Arhats", and they are guys who achieved nirvana.  I don't know a whole lot about Buddhist theology, so I don't entirely understand what their deal is, but statues of them are popular in Taiwan from what I can tell.

阿羅漢(「羅漢」ともいう)の石像が廟に集まっていた。前にもこういう羅漢を見た事がある。このジャンル(色んなポーズをしている羅漢)は台湾に人気がある様だ。

以前也看過這樣的阿羅漢。像在臺灣蠻紅。
God of...Popeye?
表情めっちゃ穏やか、、、
I've seen this Raise the Roof Arhat before.  I don't know what his deal is, so I've decided he's the god of parties and totally rocking out.

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