It's quite interesting… There is a big typhoon approaching Taiwan from 200km out in the Pacific Ocean. If the typhoon hits tomorrow (Friday) then we will be stranded in Hualien because the trains will stop. If the typhoon hits on Saturday then the 2 best gigs we have lined up will be cancelled because they are both outdoor ones. If the typhoon hits on Sunday then all flights out of Taiwan will be grounded and we will be stuck here. It seems our decision making process will have to make allowances for this turn of events! I have peace though. God has been taking such good care of us thus far and He will continue to do so and work things for the good.
The Taiwanese seem to be very geared up for typhoons in the same way as the Swiss are geared up for snow. All the beaches are being closed by the police and there’s an extra buzz on the streets as people are getting all the food they might need for a couple of days stuck in the house. Right now it’s just like a small English gale blowing. The palm trees look like a giant hairdryer is blowing them and the sea has turned grey. The waves are seriously powerful - maybe 7 or 8ft (maybe 2ft in Si’s book). Which reminds me…
Yesterday Jimmy, Sunny, Going Nowhere, Sui, Julianne and I all went to eat hotpot together. I won’t describe the food in case it isn’t tea time for anyone reading this (please see earlier blog episode), but it was very tasty. After the meal we rode in Jimmy’s 4x4 down to the beach and onto the sand. The moon lit up these massive waves which were tearing the beach apart. I’ve only seen that kind of power in Hawaii when I was 6! (I’m sure Mum will be happy that I remember that). The 4x4 did well until we got near to the line of seaweed on the beach. Then it got stuck… disaster…. so massive waves… big tide coming in…… and the 4x4 isn’t so 4x4 anymore. We all got out of the car and Jimmy tried to drive the car back up to the road. Except it wasn’t so easy. The tyres dug into the wet sand and he had to reverse and drive forwards 3 or 4 times just to make 10m. Cue us asking silly questions like “Shall we call the RAC?” and then “do you have the RAC in Taiwan?”. Then the 4x4s engine blew up. Lots of smoke billowing out of the engine like a Ferrari F1 gone wrong. I could almost hear Murray Walker screaming “and he’s ooooout! He’s gonnnnnnnnne! This blowout is the most spectacular thing I have ever seen since Jesse’s infamous formula micra write off !” The radiator had exploded and lots of plastic bits were the engine. The sound of the waves seemed to grow louder in our ears, especially as lots of people had lost their cars on this beach before. It would be a sad way to end a good day. We poured drinking water onto the radiator, prayed that Jimmy would make it and watched as he revved the engine up. lots of spraying of sand…lots more smoke from the radiator…a few inches forwards and then suddenly a good bit of grip and the car jerked forwards off the sand and onto the road and to relative safety. Goodness, that was a close one!
By this time it was 2am. Our friend Going Nowhere proved to be the hero of the hour and came to drive us all home. What a star! His first words were - “first Jesse’s fishball blew up” (I forgot about the star shaped pattern of soup on my shirt from earlier) “and now Jimmy’s engine’s blew up…why everything blew up today?” All’s well that ends well, the car got fixed today for £100. Not bad…and we live to fight another day (or maybe a typhoon).
Earlier in the day we spent our time driving through a huge gorge called Taroko Gorge. Then we had breakfast after swimming in this clear mountain river. I would say it’s the most beautiful place I have been in Taiwan. It was near deserted, the water was semi rapid and very pleasant to swim in. I also decided that it was good to copy the lizards. As soon as I got cold in the river I lay on these river rocks and soaked up their heat. The only other people who we saw were a tribe of aboriginees who had just caught a wild boar. They offered us a leg if we would go up into the bush and help carry it down. Another day and with more time, we may well have accepted the offer.
It’s good coming to Asia. It is so different from the West. It’s like being underwater culturally here. People behave in a different way towards things and towards each other. There’s a lot of respect, which I suppose used to be in England 40 or 50 years ago. There’s a different way of thinking as well.
I must say I’m looking forwards to coming home. I’ve loved it here, but I need time and space to think and review my priorities. I think it’s so important to be making a difference in the world and using our music, but it could be easy to get on a touring treadmill and find that we have no new ideas or songs in a years time. Also friendships need time to be built. 2 days after I got diagnosed with diabetes I’ve been on the other side of the world playing lots of shows. Ha ha ha ha. I need to assess what toll it’s taken on me. We’ve done 25 now. At least I’m much better than 1 month ago and have a lot more confidence. I’ve enjoyed it to be honest. Much better medicine than moping around at home.
No comments:
Post a Comment