Day 1

For Craig and I, the trip over was about 18 hours and full of the usual ups and downs. The 12 hour time difference meant that we didn't have to reset our watches (that's good), but the inflight entertainment was "The Alamo" and a Frazier marathon (that's bad). We got to see Anchorage, Alaska (that's good), but it was so early in the morning that the snow wasn't even open yet (that's bad).

This is me and Jocelyn at the airport. She looked after us for the duration of our stay.

Day 2

Mark, Sean, Lee & Anne arrived the next morning just in time for breakfast. Their flight over was just as long but they seemed less exhausted than we had the day before. They had "Pirates of the Carribean" on the trip, though, so perhaps it was the B.B. Thornton movie that wore me and Craig out.

Later that day, Jocelyn took us around to see some sights. Memorials, temples, markets etc... The subway was clean and cheap. The food was . . . cheap . . . and delicious. Today I ate only foods on sticks. This was easier than I though it would be.

The Album Leaf showed up later in the evening. We went out for a beer (this was harder than I thought it would be) before we all ran out of steam and cabbed it back to the hotel.

This is the Taiwanese pool shark that ran the table at the bar. Her english was great, but the only phrases she knew she must've learned from a real asshole of a pool player. Shit like . . . "You sit down, little boy," "I take you to school now," and "Did you like what I do to you? Did you like that, little boy?" The table was free . . . but you had to pay to turn the light on ABOVE the table. But that didn't matter. She also knew, "OK I can beat you in the dark if you want." Hey . . . check it out y'all . . . there's a foozball table over here.

Day 3

The festival was awesome. It was on the grounds of a children's discovery center in the middle of town. Like a cross between a camp and a theme park but without organized fun or rides. I didn't know exactly what to expect, but it definitely wasn't this. This was easily the biggest show we'd ever played and it felt great to play for so many people.

Dave Brown's photos. Thanks Dave.

AK, get ON that jumbotron!

Day 4

Ok . . . sure we got to the airport to find that we didn't actually have return flights booked (they did only say they were flying us OVER for the festival . . . read the fine print, Kenny), but all said we had a great time in Taiwan.

This is a short video diary I made with a borrowed digital camera

Enjoy!