Sunday, May 14, 2006
What to Do?
Well, Saturday was the first day in a long time that I have felt like going out and doing something in Taipei (something besides the bookstore or seeing a movie). This was probably due to the weather: It was overcast all day, around 25 degrees with a nice cool breeze caused by a nearby typhoon (first of the season: yeah for typhoons!) And, since I had been craving the zoo for about a week I decided to go there. Now how can I explain the craving? It's very similar to my Big Mac or beach craving.
Big Mac craving: Once every couple of months I absolutely have to have a Big Mac. This stems from the month I spent in Hong Kong in 1998. I was with a large group and they found it easiest to feed us by taking us to McDonald's for two meals a day, every day (peanut butter and jam for breakfast). There were only two options coming home from a diet like that: never eat at McD's again, or a lifetime obsession.
Beach craving: Once every year or year and a half, I am desperate to sit on a beach. The things I love about a beach are the peacefulness, the sounds and the water (not so much the sun and sand). I think this comes from high school too: every summer when I went on a mission trip, we usually spend time in a beach area. Five years of habit are hard to break.
Needless to say, my brain is very programmable. So I don't know exactly why I needed to go to the zoo, but I figured a cool day in Taipei was perfect. The zoo here is great. First of all it's cheap (about $2 CAD) and has lots of animals. In fact, many animals that I have never seen before. Fascinating.
My favorites as always were the gibbons and random cute animals. Like this little guy: the lesser red panda. Not really a panda, they had to give him his own taxonomic family. As for the gibbons, I happened upon the ones with the pouch under their throat. Actually I heard them before I saw them. It was a mixture of a humming, a yelling and a drum pounding. I thought it was strange music, but it was two gibbons marking their territory. They made a beautiful rhythm (but it was really loud).
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Good Contribution, Kathleen.Thank you.(1) Also I always appreciate the pictures you give us of your inner self.(2) The culture differences of the country are always amusing/enlightening.Great work!