[Jody Wong's 1992 Chientan TraveLinks]
ChienTan
Kenting/Oulanpi 1992

Geez.. has it been that long already?

It's been so many years. Hmm.. lessee.. what do I still remember? (in a loose chronological order)

The Tour!
Albert saying, "No nametag.. no service".. Please do not FRUSH.. Showers with no hot water.. Steamed dumplings.. Humidity.. Air conditioning breaking down.. Going up to The Grand Hotel that first day with Tofu, Richie, Radar, White Feet, Fong Pee, Booger, Itchy, FOP & Veronica.. Buying a tiny yogurt for $4.00 CAN from the Grand Hotel.. Not knowing how to cross the street cause of all the cars.. Canadian and proud of it! Yeah baby!.. Kai Joe snoring (Good Lord!).. Dave moving out the first day leaving 2 people in a room for three.. Anne Wong! You American you! Where'd you move to?.. Swiping one of many flags lining up the way into C-T but you didn't hear it from me. (Thanks for the assist, 'Richie'!) Winnie's knee digging into my spine during the pyramid at the beach.. Going to Water Slide Park.. Going rollerskating the next day with Darwin, Bill, Selene, Arline, & others.. Going to Night Market that evening.. Being sick for the next two days due to exhaustion.. Kai Joe kicking a massive cockroach out of our room & into the room across the hall.. Taxi driver making a u-turn in the MIDDLE of an intersection on a one-way street.. Bus Stop Beer Garden & drinking Taiwan pi-jiu inside an old repainted school bus.. Music blaring out of the speaker right above my bed early in the morning during flag ceremony the morning after the Bus Stop beer garden.. *ack*.. Disconnecting speaker for the previous reason.. Showing up for Bed Check in dress shirt and shoes.. Sneaking out of ChienTan by climbing up the big pipe. (What were we? Nuts?!).. Having some girl's foot kick my glasses about 5 feet away while helping her down from the aforementioned pipe.. Having at drink in a room with a fake coffin and a skeleton "as the table" at Gorgon's.. The mini-keg of San Miguel.. MmMMmmm Noodles for late night dinner again.. Chow Mein flavoured chips.. Everyone from the '92 tour getting into Kiss La Boca disco for free for the length of the Study Tour because Ron Pei's relative owned the place.. Midnight ping pong with Bill & Ellen.. Sherman wiping out during the baton-relay.. Ron offering me the best Orange Juice I've ever drank in my life from the Night Market (After 4 weeks.. it sure tasted like it)..

Trips South/East
Switching to Group C from Group B for the trip South & East with CM81111. (I was BM81111. What are the chances?).. Speaking of which, I remember Counsellor Joy called me 111 for almost the whole tour.. Bus going r-e-eeealy fast along the winding road with about 2ft to spare on either side of the road at Koroko Gorge.. Elaine spraining her ankle hopping from rock to rock.. Cockroach with a chopstick stuck through it.. Marathon shopping in one afternoon with Selene & Arline.. Roaming around Chientan taking photos of escape routes with Alvin M. Lee.. Going for some KTV'ing with Philip Joung, Kathy Yu, Paul Chen, Ronald Chen, Jennifer Chiu & Bruce Wong.. Playing Mah Jong with Bill Sun of Anaheim & Ellen at 2am... Leon Li fighting with his deadly fan technique in the Bus C fight.. Me fighting with my deadly rolled up sock technique in the same Bus C fight.. Al Lee of California & myself having a heck of a time asking for directions to "Mc-DO-NALD'S!" in Taichung.. Karen Chung taking a photo of Al Lee, John Co, Jennifer Wang & myself climbing a tree crawling with ants *shudder*.. David S. Shen's l'il boat at the beach at Kenting.. Zhong Ai Wo Yi Sheng - by Alex To.. Riding motor-scooters down the most Southern point of Taiwan while in Kenting.. Taking photos of the Bus-singing contest with 10 cameras on my arm.. Candlelight ceremony.. Clearly hearing someone hurling in the bathroom in the next room at the Kenting Youth Activity Center.. Sleeping outside in the courtyard cause it was so hot inside.. Waking up the next morning with a kid staring at me..

Last Few Days
Submitting negatives for 360 reprints my photos to the development place. (At 5 cents/reprint.. it only cost me $18 Canadian).. The Japanese restaurant at the Night Market having no futomaki & not finding out about it until 45 mins later.. Mongolian BBQ.. Meeting a Cauc-Asian named Cyrus from Atlanta.. Can you sign my yearbook? Can you sign my flag also?.. Chuckling at newcomers who can't cross the street.. Falling asleep & sleeping a whole night on a bench on the 2nd floor of the 'mother house'.. Canadians - The first to arrive & the last to leave.. "I'll keep in touch."..

Good-bye, Chientan! Thanks for the memories...

Well.. that's about all I can remember without dusting off the yearbook or taking my photos out of storage.
"Whooo.. I'm surprised that I still remember so much after 4 years." (Jodeman - 1996)

Forgotten Memories

Mother House
MmmmMmmm Air Conditioning.. I took this photo on a hot day that we had off before heading off on the trip East. It was taken while standing on roof of the Monestary. Pretty good photo, if I do say so myself. *ahem*

Group B Counsellors
The Group B Counsellors got together for a rare group shot while visiting the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial.

The Puppy
Anyone who was at Chientan for the '92 tour would no doubt remember the puppy. Everyone took care of him. I'll bet that he probably ate better than many of us. Heh..

Sun Moon Lake
Hangin' around the fountain. That's Alvin & myself waiting around to board the bus & leave Sun Moon Lake.

Bunch of Canadians
A few Canadians from Group C and A. The two groups ended up at the Aboriginal Village on the same day. I won't bother with names.. you know who you are.

Monkeying Around
At some museum in a city which I've forgotten the name of are Selene, Arline, Dave (one of the many that I met), Deanna, (I forgot.. sorry) & me at the bottom.

Mongolian Barbecue
Mighty tasty.. go easy on the spices, tho'.. From left to right, Jody, Jonathan (kneeling), Corey, Darwin, Eddie, Steve, Bill, John's sister Jennifer and John.

The Forbidden Activity
At Kenting on a hot sunny afternoon in 1992 are, from left to right, David S. Shen, Selene Won, Arline Hong, Richard Chang (I think), Jody Wong (Me), Philip Joung, (Don't remember.. think it was Jenny.), Paul Chen, (Don't know.), James Yeh, Kathy Yu & Ray Han. Nine motorscooters roaring down the highway down to the Lighthouse at the most Southern Tip of Taiwan. Yup.. twas a fun afternoon..

At the beach
Earlier that afternoon, at the beach in Kenting are, from left to right, Ronald Chen, Philip Joung, me (crouching), Paul Chen, James Yeh, Kathy Yu, Eumene Ching & fellow Canadian, Jonathan Lee.

Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial
One of many photos taken at the CKS Memorial. From top to bottom, Jewel Ting, me, Bill Shaw, Darwin Chan, Lisa Chong & Grace Wu.

Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial - Side Corridor
Photo of Lisa taking a photo at the CKS Memorial.

If you're in any of the above pictures, please feel free to e-mail me. Heck, or better yet, send me a letter. *grin*

BOOKS ABOUT TAIWAN AT AMAZON.COM


Lonely Planet - Taiwan
Insite Guide Taiwan
Taiwan
Lonely Planet
Mandarin Phrasebook
Chinese in Just
10 Minutes a Day

Web-counter says (??) have visited me.

Drop me an e-mail at jody_wong@hotmail.com!

Just wondering...

  • What compels so many people to use up so much film on photos of other people eating & sleeping?
  • Was there anyone who was lucky enough to avoid developing a cough at one point on the tour?
  • Just how DO you say "McDonald's" in Mandarin?
  • How do you expect people to keep in touch if you don't reply to your letters/Christmas Cards or write some in the first place?
  • Just how are people supposed to keep track of you if you move without giving a forwarding address?
  • Why is the heat and humidity so unbelievably overwhelming when one walks out of the CKS Airport that first day in Taiwan?
  • How long is the rumour that "Next year is going to be the last Study Tour." going to be floating around?
  • How come there are no CT webpages created by people who went before 1992?
  • Did you have the "Chientan Blues" when you returned home?
  • How many times did you go to Chinatown in the 2 months after returning home?
  • Where can I get a can of Safari Club Tea around here?

Other Notable Study Tour Pages

These are as many Chientan related sites that I could find, with the help of BigFred & others from the ABC Flash Study Tour Page. If you have a page to be added, feel free to e-mail me & I'll include it my list.