I went for a walk to Stone Lake in the south of the city. I went with Lydia and we decided to meet at Lindun Lu Station but after I told her I had arrived she said that she had told me the wrong station and so I jumped on the metro and travelled the two stops to meet her.

We then used the metro to make our way to Stone Lake and then we would change to a bus for the rest of the journey. After a few minutes on the train I realised that we were going to wrong way, I haven’t done that in a long time.

We arrived at Stone Lake and then headed to the small garden behind where you can go and see the gold Buddha at the top of the hill. The park was not really busy and it was good to get out in the fresh air.

I think this Buddha looks really happy and very fat and he does have a good view of the lake.

We didn’t stay to long because by the time we got there we were both getting hungry and there was no place to get anything to eat. A couple of years ago there was a market and you could buy snacks but it’s long gone.

So we decided to head to the spicy Chongching restaurant and had the numbing spicy beef noodles. After we ate it was around 3pm and so we headed home and then it was time for coffee and of course all was well until the poor crayfish were mutilated and stripped of their appendiges by Sissi’s mother, but that is the other story from today.

Sissi’s friends are staying for a few days and tonight they are cooking. One thing on the menu is crayfish and I told them that I would rather let them go than to eat them. I look at these poor wee critters in the sink having no idea of their fate but at least when they get thrown in the hot pot they will die pretty quickly, it’s not something I want to witness though.

Sissi’s mother comes home half way through the preparations and decides to take control of the cooking of the crayfish. She picks the first one up and rips off its claws and tail and throws it into another bucket to sit for a while as she works her way through the other fifty or so creatures in the sink. I am absolutely shocked and disgusted by the lack of consideration for these creatures. To her they are just food with no feelings, they don’t feel pain they stress just delicious.

I asked them to kill them and then pull them apart but they just laugh at the big sissy foreigner. What’s so fucking wrong doing it this way. My stomach is churning, I am so so angry at what I have just witnessed and I don’t know if I can look at her mother again or the rest of them for that matter. In the market I see them killing chickens and frogs and fish and they kill them swiftly, but to pull a poor animal apart like this when it’s still alive I find utterly repulsive.

I can only hope that they crayfish get the last laugh somehow, maybe they might choke when they eat one, get diarrhoea or food poisoning. I hope Karma pays her back for what she did tonight.

About 45 years ago or so when I was listening to Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Thin Lizzy and many other wonderful bands of the 70’s I bought an “Ankh”, the Egyptians called it the “The Key of Life”. The origins of this has been debated for years but to me it was known as a “Peace Cross” and any hippy worth their soul had to get one and so I did. I don’t remember where I bought it, but I do know that it is made of Pewter which is quite a soft metal and so the small circle at the top would often break and I’m very lucky that I still have it in my possession and so because of this I decided to get one made from silver.

At the bottom of Moss Street in Paisley there used to be a jewelers and this is where I went with my pewter Ankh and asked them to make me a silver one. After a week I went back to pick it up and to be honest I was a little bit disappointed because it was bigger than the pewter one and I felt that it was too big but I said nothing and stuck it on my neck. I have always enjoyed this simple symbol along with the celtic cross but I chose this basically because it said I was a hippy and it made me cool.

In 2016 I set out on my big adventure and a few weeks before I left I lost by silver Ankh of 40 years or more somewhere on the Brisbane bike path from Fig Tree Pocket to Southbank. When I got back to my car the silver chain was tucked inside my shirt but my Ankh was nowhere to be seen and so I hope whoever found it has taken good care of it and I hope that it will look after them as my Ankh looked after me.

A few weeks ago my gold chain that I got from my mother broke and so I took it to get fixed and at the same time asked how much it would be to have a new Ankh made. I gave them my old pewter original and a week later they presented me with lovely replica in silver and it actually is a replica this time. I’m very happy with the outcome of this and it looks as delicate as the original, my last one had been made that bit bigger and to be honest I always felt that it was always a little too big.

After my Ankh was made in the 70’s I went back to the jewelers some time later and I got another trinket made up and this was very controversial, it was “666” In 1976 the movie called “The Omen” came out and freaked many folk out. Damien was the devils child and he had 666 on his skull. Iron Maiden released an album called “The number of the Beast” in 1982 and so by this time my Devils number had become more mainstream.

When I went to party’s it would sometimes cause a stir for the religious fraternity. Now what I used to find hilarious was that the crucifix wearing individuals were the ones that wanted to kick my head in because I had the devils number around my neck and these are the same folk that preach peace and love and the like on a Sunday. The hypocrisy of religion was on show for all to see and I used to take great delight winding them up, maybe I was the evil one after all. I think my “666” necklace was definitely one of the best conversation starters that I ever had. But this too disappeared shortly after I arrived in Australia in 1988, I have no idea when and where I was when I lost it. One day it was there and then the next thing you know I realised that it was gone. I wonder if anyone ever found it………..

Over the years I have seen many versions of this picture but I think I have finally seen the genesis of the idea that has been exploited by so many over the centuries…………..the truth really is out there and you just have to be lucky enough to find it and who would have thought a trip to Taipei would have brought me this little gem…………………

Last night on the way home, I had something in my head and just couldn’t shift it……

I went to Taipei for the weekend, this was my first visit to the country and everybody has told me that it is a great place. The food, the people, the culture and the very nature of the society and of course nature itself. When I boarded my flight at Shanghai it was all done in a very dignified manner. Everyone queued quietly and there was no jostling for position, we just waited in line. We boarded quickly and as bags were put into the overhead compartments passengers would quickly move out of the aisle to clear the way for the next passenger. It all went like clockwork and before you know it in no time at all we were packed and ready to leave. I’m sure my mouth was hanging open a little through this process because this is very different behaviour as to what you might expect when boarding a flight in China. Throughout the boarding and most of the flight for that matter, there were no raised voices, people talking on phones as we taxied down the runway. In fact we all behaved ourselves rather well.

These I presume are mostly Taiwanese passengers onboard heading home after visiting China. And so this was my introduction to Taiwan, it’s very obvious that China and Taiwan are very different places but the difference between their citizens are worlds apart.

The flight is less than two hours and of course you get free wi-fi on board which I like to use from time to time. I like that I can use Flightradar to track my flight and see where I am in the world and to see who is up here with us, but I don’t spend too much time on the phone, I do enough of that the rest of the time.

It’s only a short metro ride from the airport to the centre of Taipei and I quickly found my hotel using Google Maps, no firewall here. Taiwan does not embrace censorship to the same levels as its big brother. The only censorship I saw was when I was watching a movie before going to bed and the scantily clad women in the movie had her torso blurred out and there was also a hand gesture censored, mind you, even American TV censors hand gestures from time to time. So I can use Google Maps, Facebook and my phone runs at warp speed in comparison to when I’m in China, this in itself is very refreshing.

I stayed in Ximenting which is not a place I would recommend, it is a place where there is nightlife and too many people and too much noise for me. On my first night here I could not sleep due to the noise and so I asked my hotel for another room and they were happy to oblige and so for the remaining nights I managed to sleep. I had many things planned for my Taipei trip, I was going to go hiking and go up to the top of Taipei 101 and go to the national Museum but because I hardly slept on my first night, when I awoke in the morning I was knackered…………I was so tired that I felt sick. And so I went for plan B which was to go a short distance across town to the Fine Arts Museum which I wrote about before.As I mentioned before there was some art here that would be a little bit confronting for some, for me it was great to have your mind stretched once more trying to think what planet these artists were on when they were creating. No predictability here, diverse content and some surprises were on offer almost everywhere. I doubt very much that you would get to see many of these exhibits on the mainland. These artists minds are free to think and to explore and to confront the very fabric of society, not conform en masse and accept what you are fed by the large propaganda machine.

Poofs and Dykes were all over the place and openly showing their affection for each other. Women were smoking and there were tattooed youths. The older members of society looked trendy and I didn’t see one shiny belt buckle hoisted high holding up the bottom half of  business suit. No trendy man bags, in fact people here they dress more casually and act more casually. They talk slower and quietly, act in a more dignified manner, they are aware of their surroundings and others. It’s so easy to transition from China to Taiwan. One thing that I did find a bit of a nuisance is that I had to use money again. China has sold its soul to the devil for convenience by using Alipay and Wechat Pay and it is very convenient, however you do leave a digital trail just like your credit card. Taiwan uses Apple Pay and Line and you can also top up your metro travel card and buy a few things with that, but I must admit going back to a pocket full of money is not something I enjoy either………….I too have sold my soul to the devil and I like it.

In Ximenting there is a strong Japanese culture and there are Manga characters and the like. Graffiti covers many walls and you can see the same tags. Some of the art is really good and of course the content expressed in this art is very different from anything you will see on the mainland. In Suzhou for instance most of the “Graffiti” has some cultural connection and does look rather good. Taiwan is famous for its food so they say, but I did not really enjoy much of the food on offer. There are more noodles than rice and the food just does not have a strong enough flavour for me and so I will say I prefer the Chinese food.

I also noticed there were many Filipino’s and Malaysians here, a lot of them I think are domestic workers and if you go to Hong Kong you will also see many there. Because of this then you will also find that more people have some English. There are also many cafe’s and small specialised coffee shops where you can buy all the accoutrements for making coffee. The coffee is also cheaper than China and for the most part they seem to understand the coffee-making process better. With little or no explanation I got a half decent coffee.

And so it’s definitely chalk and cheese between these two siblings and both have their thoughts about each other but I won’t get into that here. I will hopefully return to Taiwan in July for my next visa run and I will also make sure that I leave a few days earlier than I need to. I was a little worried at the airport when I was leaving China because the immigration official was making a meal out of counting the number of days between my last trip and then I said to her “Tomorrow” and she smiled at me and returned my passport. I’ve noticed that on the last few trips they seem to go through this little dramatic sequence that I guess is supposed to make you feel a little bit uneasy. It’s happened a few times to me but then again maybe my name has been flagged by Big Brother.

As I board the plane to return to China the mood is very different. The Chinese heading home display the usual behaviour of being noisy and selfish. Standing in the aisle after they have put their bags away in the overhead locker. Getting up as the plane begins to taxi. Wanting to go to the toilet seconds after they have been told that the toilet is closed at the moment. Talking loudly on the phone. All through this of course the aircrew just get on with it because they have seen it all to often.

I only took a carry on bag and so when the plane landed I was through immigration quickly and then it was on to customs control. In China most of the bags are scanned as you leave the airport and of course this is where we have to queue up once more. The person behind invariably wants to be your friend and will stand beside you and way too close. One dirty look later and a muttering of “for fucks sake” under my breath, said person moves back behind me and further away. Excellent. We arrive at the scanner and I wait for the aircrew to put their bags through and then I put mine in the scanner. As I walk to the other end of it the guy behind me jumps in front of me…………”are you stupid or what?” Does he really think that his bag has miraculously jumped over mine in the scanner and will emerge before mine…………what a fucking idiot………..this is what you have to contend with when you return to China. Words fail me at times. I push him out-of-the-way, politely of course and pick up my bag and exit the customs area.

I’m feeling sad, for the first time in a long time this behaviour is wearing me down. A few days in another world, a more relaxed world makes you realise that life in China is very different but then I came here to get away from the western lifestyle for a while and for the most part it’s OK. I will stay a little bit longer, but at least where I am living is usually  OK. I get the bus from Pudong back to Suzhou and I’m once more reminded that I am in China. Two people a few seats in front watching videos with the volume turned way up. The Taiwanese people are more considerate of others, dare I say more civilised. They cover their mouths when they cough on the bus, they use headphones, they queue for the metro in an orderly fashion and let others leave the train first. They stand on the right of the escalator, the driving is so much better and here to they are considerate of others. I only heard a horn being used a couple of times.

There are many differences between these two countries and if you have been to both then you will understand what I am talking about. If the day ever comes that Beijing exerts its rule of law here then I think it will be civil war once more. The freedom that the Taiwanese have allows their culture to grow and allows diversity to grow. I’m not ready to move back to the west any time soon but moving to Taiwan would be a bit of a half way house and so I think that this is something I will look at doing in the future. I will stay in China until next year at least and then maybe things may change. of course I will have to start again with everything which is not an easy process but a little pain might be worth it.

And so when I was speaking to my Asian friend he said to me that the reason for behaviour of many of the Chinese is because many are only one generation away from being farmers. The second generation Chinese will behave in a different way but these first generation people are just like farmers with business suits and you know this explains it very well I think. You get many fake goods in China and these people are trying to make themselves look the part but their behaviour lets them down badly and so it might be another few years before the they have learned many of the skills that many of us take for granted. I of course do my bit here to try to educate some of them. On the metro last night I told the guy who sat next to me I did not want to listen to his phone, get headphones. If they stand in front of the door as I exit the metro I push them out of the way if they don’t move. I do a merry dance to stop them from jumping in front of me as I wait for the people to exit the train…………..some days it can be fun but other days you just want to go postal…………………………..