TAIWAN: XI

Here are some more from Green Island, off the eastern coast of southern Taiwan. Green Island is a short twin otter flight from Taiwan proper, about 40 min, and when you arrie it is like you have been taken to another land. It is a dramatic change, although you are aware that you are sstill in Taiwan and the chinese/polynesian culture, you have beentaken away from the modernity and transferred to the more subtle and aware lifestyle. Orchid Island, a little further out in the Pacific Ocean than Green Island, is a further testament to this. More on that one later.

Us, wading around the tidal zone of the island - contemplating and breathing in the beauty of evolution. Absolutely amazing. There are not words to describe the first sights of starfish, crabs, fish, inverts, etc, in thier natural tropical habitat. The next day we went snorkelling and saw even more spectacular things. Nature is never more beautiful than it is in Taiwan.

This is me, post ferry ride spent vommiting, trying to eat food agian to replace what was lost during our trip to the island. Nothing like fish and rice in the morning.

The inside of a typical restaurant in Taiwan. Anywhere, Taiwan. X

The bottle of unmarked slop above the "X" above is hot sauce, the glorious miture of chillies and unknowns into a conglomerate of taste and satisfaction. Although cognizant of the fact it never leaves the tables in the +30c weather, and further cognizant of the fact that at said +30c it is deplorable to even think of adding heat in any form, this stuff rocked my world. There was a "good" kind and an "amazing" kind; this was the latter.

Check this one up close. Kind of appropriate, no? Check back to the posts about religion. I will sum up some stuff here:

1) Every culture has its beliefs, mythologies, that they use to describe their natural world and their place

2) Historical beliefs that are now outdated are called myths, current beliefs are called religions.

3) Religions are outdated, knowledge has moved on. They have maintained, and the world, encompassing all life human or not, suffers because of it.

4) Science has become the voice of belief, as it is the first methodological prospect that uses evidence as it's source of information, not blind guessing. Science poses answers, myths pose stories, fables.

5) Humans were not created to control Earth, God is not a reality, organized religion is an outdated mechanism for belief.

Jesus was just a guy who in todays world would be understood as a quack; in his time he was misunderstood as something important.