Moving to a different place means having to learn new things. I’ve learned something about fireworks I’d like to share.
Fireworks and fire crackers of all kinds are always on sale on the side of the street in Kending. On night, a few of us decided to buy the biggest one we could find. The kind that looks like a small rocket.
So, we brought it back to the campsite eager to watch this thing go. Attached to the small rocket, there is a long stick which is used to brace the rocket in preparation for its flight.
We didn’t know that so we firmly planted this stick in the hard ground pointing up thinking we were about to experience Taiwan’s culture at its fullest. Problem is the bloody thing was stuck in the ground so it would never take off. Soon after I light it, a taiwanese man whose tent was near was rushing to his tent in a panic. Upon noticing that the grass was burning about 6 feet away from two tents, I yelled at my friends"watch out! It’s going to blow!" And it did…BOOM! It was georgous but a little too close. We light a palm tree on fire and almost burned down our tents. No one got hurt. :loco:
Going on a daytrip event that was supposed to be cultural (got dragged there by a friend), and it turned out to be an actual job. We had to sit around and look foreign, and drink tea at the same table as the mayor. In the end he said that he felt too uncomfortable sitting with us and asked to move to another table (he couldn’t speak English and we had all just arrived here).
I never fell for any of those things again, but I did meet the mayor whatsitsname and get a hong bao stuffed with cash. Felt like a sacred cow on display all day, though. Not my thing.
[quote=“bobepine”]Moving to a different place means having to learn new things. I’ve learned something about fireworks I’d like to share.
Fireworks and fire crackers of all kinds are always on sale on the side of the street in Kending. On night, a few of us decided to buy the biggest one we could find. The kind that looks like a small rocket.
So, we brought it back to the campsite eager to watch this thing go. Attached to the small rocket, there is a long stick which is used to brace the rocket in preparation for its flight.
We didn’t know that so we firmly planted this stick in the hard ground pointing up thinking we were about to experience Taiwan’s culture at its fullest. Problem is the bloody thing was stuck in the ground so it would never take off. Soon after I light it, a Taiwanese man whose tent was near was rushing to his tent in a panic. Upon noticing that the grass was burning about 6 feet away from two tents, I yelled at my friends"watch out! It’s going to blow!" And it did…BOOM! It was georgous but a little too close. We light a palm tree on fire and almost burned down our tents. No one got hurt. :loco:
bobepine[/quote]
That’s nothing, my father did that back home on a balcony with all the other fireworks exposed. I was 10 at the time, and had tried to warn him for the approach… Anyway, we got into safety and the old house (buildt 1926) didn;t burn down - just some black panel and smashed windows…
Stupidest thing in Taiwan:
Getting involved in a minivan-taxi car accident - fighting 3 of the mini-van guys afterwards.
Probably many during blackuots in taipei pubs.
Buying two expensive cars, hoping to bring them home tax-free, and they change the laws back home.
Not making a decision to buy a place, and still renting - for more than 12 years…
Got a job teaching at the military base through a private student’s father who was high in rank there. Thing was, I had already been overstaying my visa. They needed my passport so I gave them a copy of my visa that I doctored to make it look like my visa expired later. I forgot, however, tochange the written date (numbers) part on the top. I handed it to the guy and he got a puzzled look on his face and started to point at it and I quickly realised what it was and snapped it back and told him I’d just bring in my passport. I finally made an excuse that it was too early to teach that class. They needed the passport info so they could tax me. I told them that they couldn’t tax me and got them to pay me cash with no deducitons. Met two naval officers outside McDonalds to get my cash and sign for it. They were looking at me in disbelief and they had knowing looks and smiles. Continued to teach long after that and at that student’s home. That was scary. Especially going on base with the soldiers and the rifles. I was using me Canadian driver’s license as ID to get in.
[quote=“bobepine”]Moving to a different place means having to learn new things. I’ve learned something about fireworks I’d like to share.
Fireworks and fire crackers of all kinds are always on sale on the side of the street in Kending. On night, a few of us decided to buy the biggest one we could find. The kind that looks like a small rocket.
So, we brought it back to the campsite eager to watch this thing go. Attached to the small rocket, there is a long stick which is used to brace the rocket in preparation for its flight.
We didn’t know that so we firmly planted this stick in the hard ground pointing up thinking we were about to experience Taiwan’s culture at its fullest. Problem is the bloody thing was stuck in the ground so it would never take off. Soon after I light it, a Taiwanese man whose tent was near was rushing to his tent in a panic. Upon noticing that the grass was burning about 6 feet away from two tents, I yelled at my friends"watch out! It’s going to blow!" And it did…BOOM! It was georgous but a little too close. We light a palm tree on fire and almost burned down our tents. No one got hurt. :loco:
bobepine[/quote]
Definitely a …
[b]“Hold Muh Beer!”
[/b] moment.
I have a firework one too. About 12 years ago there was a bar called Oz owned by some friends of mine. One Halloween (I think it was), I had acquired a few of those professional-type fireworks. They were BIG. Plain brown paper wrapper, one was about the size of a bowling ball and the other was about two feet long and six inches across.
So anyway, Oz was in a narrow residential alley – the perfect place for over-sized squibs, I’m sure you’ll agree.
So we placed them on the ground outside the bar, (not knowing, naturally, that they were designed to be fired high into the sky from a mortar gun-type thing).
Lit the blue touchpaper and retired.
Well, those things didn’t go anywhere. Just sat there on the ground for what seemed like 20 minutes but I’m sure was much shorter, spewing out soccer ball-sized fireballs in an attractive variety of hues that launched to about the fourth-floor level before exploding with a rich, deep, resonant BOOM! The ones that landed on peoples’ balconies gave a much sharper, more defined explosion, but they were harder to hear amidst the sound of shattering glass sliding doors.*
Not all of them actually launched, of course – a few just kind of flopped out and rolled down the alley, where they stripped the paint cleanly off one or two car doors.
By this time, we were inside the bar with the doors and windows locked and shuttered and the lights out, waiting until the police had left.
They never did pin it on us. But I wasn’t allowed to bring any fireworks to the bar after that.
*Parts of this story have been embellished for dramatic effect. We only actually broke one door.
[quote=“sandman”]
*Parts of this story have been embellished for dramatic effect.[/quote]Mission accomplished! I haven’t laughed at a post like that in a long time! :roflmao:
