Craig March 17th, 2008
The final stage of the 2008 Tour de Taiwan was a 60 lap criterium around Taipei City Hall. The race was opened by Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (éƒé¾æ–Œ) who led the VIP ride before the race itself began. The stage was won by Polish cyclist Marek Wesoly of Merida Europe Team in a time of 1:22:10.
Craig March 17th, 2008
Stage 7 of the Tour de Taiwan saw riders engaged in a 58km criterium made up of 40 laps in the streets around the new Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center (å°åŒ—世界貿易ä¸å¿ƒå—港展覽館). The newly built exhibition center was holding its first event, the Taipei Cycle Show. An action packed stage, featuring fast racing, a number of breakaways and numerous crashes, was won by Kam Po Wong of the Hong Kong Pro Cycling Team, giving him his second stage win of the tour.
Craig January 30th, 2008
Some more photos from the hockey tournament. For a full report, take a look at the previous post about the 2008 Taipei Cup International Hockey Tournament.
Craig December 21st, 2007
Notes From the Other China is the first book from author Troy Parfitt. Originally from New Brunswick, Troy traded in Canada’s oldest city for Seoul, South Korea, where he taught English as a Second Language for nearly two years. From there it was on to the “renegade province†of Taiwan, Republic of China, where he has done the same for almost a decade.
December 15th saw Troy launch his book in Taiwan, with a reading and book signing at the PS Cafe in Taipei. A good crowd turned up to see Troy and congratulate him on his success. I have just finished reading the book and can definitely recommend it. It’s a very entertaining look at this part of the world, and Troy has deservedly been compared to early Bill Bryson. What follows is the official product description from Amazon, where the book is available.
By turns irreverent, informative and amusing, a dauntless young man captures the experience of the expatriate in Asia. Notes is a humorous yet insightful romp based on the author s decade-long experience as an English teacher in Taiwan (the other China ) and Korea, with expeditions to other parts of Asia. With a lively appreciation for the absurd, he cuts through the frustration to moments of splendor, friendship and stirring human warmth.
Part travel narrative, part cultural exposé, Notes is based on the author s decade-long experience as an English teacher in the less-traveled parts of Asia. Taiwan, or the other China, takes center stage, while Japan, the Koreas, the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal and Vietnam also play their parts.
Steering clear of politics, Parfitt focuses on the individual humans he meets. This is a glimpse of real life in the shadow of China, neither a dry-as-dust academic treatise nor a heroic tale of surviving the Cultural Revolution. He takes a look at Korea s fever-pitch nationalism and gives an assessment of the world s only Chinese democracy, has a run-in with a Nepalese rhinoceros and one or two equally volatile Vietnamese tour guides. Most of all, he ponders the actions and reactions of the people he encounters as he finds his way in an alien world: the man on the street, in the pub, in his adult language classes and sometimes weirdest of all his fellow Westerners. Simple people greet the author with everything from spontaneous gestures of friendship to sudden slaps, from openness and warmth to rock-headed obtuseness.
Parfitt endures the jolts of traveling where there is no travel industry, touring where there is no tourism infrastructure, and teaching map-reading skills where there is no Western-style logic and adults freely admit they can hardly find their way to work and back. He shares it all with the reader over a beer, and all is well again with the world. Then he s off to look for more. A picture emerges of a fractured, diverse humanity muddling along and still getting by together in spite of all.
Naturally, I was on hand to shoot a few pictures, so here they are.
Craig December 17th, 2007
The 2007 ING Taipei International Marathon was held in the streets of Taipei yesterday, December 16th. A record 110 000 runners took part in the various races, with 22 000 running in the full marathon. Kenya’s Hillary Bett won the international mens division in a time of 2:17:01, finishing ahead of Tanzania’s Disdery Hombo (2:17:35) and fellow Kenyan Elijah Chemwolo (2:18:03). Zimbabwe’s Tabitha Tsatsa took the womens prize with a time of 2:33:01, with Kenya’s Anne Chelagat at 2:38:19 and Merima Benboba, also from Zimbabwe, at 2:49:14.
In the domestic competition, Wu Wen-chien won the mens in a time of 2:32:13 and Hsu Yu-fang the womens, posting a time of 2:50:45.
Bett, a 27 year old farmer competing in his third professional marathon, received NT$666 666 (US$20 000). He said afterwards, ” I am very happy because I just turned pro in April and this is my third marathon since then. I will use part of the money for training and part of it to buy land to plant tea.”
Tsatsa also won NT$666 666 as winner of the womens section, plus received an additional NT$1million (US$30 000) for breaking the Taiwan record by almost 7 minutes. She said, “I will rest for a while and then will start preparing for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.”
Wu Wen-chien and Hsu Yu-fang both received NT$100 000 for being the first Taiwanese runners to finish.
The marathon attracted runners from 40 different countries, including a group of sumo wrestlers from Japan. As well as the 42.195km marathon, there was a 21km half marathon, 9km road run, 3km fun run and a 1km children’s run.
Organizers estimated the event would generate up to NT$200 million worth of economic benefits for Taiwan in transportation, food, accommodation, and other services. A team of 2000 volunteers was on hand to assist in the smooth running of the event, as well as 20 doctors and 50 nurses.
