Poagao's Journal

Absolutely Not Your Monkey

Jul 15 2005

Our first typhoon of the season appears to be on i…

Our first typhoon of the season appears to be on its way. Even if I didn’t have the Central Weather Bureau website on my favorites list, I’d have known about it from the moment I looked outside today. Typical pre-typhoon weather, breezy and extremely bright, good photography light that made me wish I had a good zoom lens. Usually Taipei is so dense and hazy one doesn’t really need to do much zoom shooting, but I could have used one today.

I’m meeting Duncan, Blair and Zoe at the train station tomorrow morning so we can go down to Tainan. Hopefully I’ll be back before the typhoon hits, but if not, I will at least have my washtub with me for cover and, if needed, flotation. Last night I went over to The Shannon to hear the band play and get a better idea of the bassline in some of the songs. Also, it was Creepy Susan’s last performance, and I’d never heard them before. They’re really loud. Whereas I had had to strain to hear Tarry Bush, I had to move back in the bar to hear Creepy Susan.

Alas, I was also reminded of why I don’t particularly like The Shannon. The crowd didn’t seem at all interested in the music; they seemed to think it was just background noise for them to shout over. This isn’t really The Shannon’s fault, but it made listening to the music a bit of a chore. I took some pictures for Alita and left early to catch the last train home.

Speaking of trains, I’ve realized that, in order to prevent people from rushing to trains that are about to leave, the MRT stops showing the time remaining before a train leaves and displays instead “Welcome to the MRT system” on the time-remaining sign. Now, whenever I see “Welcome to the MRT system”, I run even faster, because I know the train’s leaving soon. Well, no, I actually don’t. I just sigh, shake my head, maybe mutter an expletive, and get out a book to read while waiting for the next train.

I had an appointment in the city this morning, so I had some time to kill before work. I decided to splurge on NT$20 ticket to see the map exhibit at the History Museum on Guanqian Road. It was pretty cool to see how Taipei in particular developed into the shape it’s in today. I had no idea that the Japanese basically changed the course of the Keelung River, and that it once flowed right under the cliffs where Jiantan Station is today. Facinating stuff. They could have had more posters and postcards with old pictures, though. I’d have definitely bought some. Instead, they had the “Magic of Zamfir” or some such music for sale. Brilliant marketing strategy, that. “Hey, I’m in the mood for some pan flute, let’s go to the museum of history!”

The stars are out tonight, thanks to the approaching typhoon. Someone turned off the lights on the suspension bridge, perhaps so we could see the stars and moon better (though it’s more likely that someone just screwed up). I might try and get up early tomorrow to get more pictures. Yeah, right, sure I will.

posted by Poagao at 5:27 pm  

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