Let's Go, Movies!

That's the 53rd Asia Pacific Film Festival catchphrase (53APFF). We're here in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, along with delegates from another 16 countries including Taiwan. Tonight is the Awards night and Papadom has been invited to be in competition, but I am unsure as to what award it's up for.

Check out my photo blog at goldenorolooksout for pictures of our trip. As my phone settings changed somehow when I tried to post via mobile, updates may be sketchy! Also, check out Hubby's blog here later today for more picture heavy stuff.

Taiwan is very interesting. I travelled here with my family when I was very young, I think not yet ten years of age. Back then we marvelled at how similar the cultural heritage was to our Kadazan background. Some of the traditional costumes are very reminiscent of local tribes such as Lotud and Murut - dark natural dyes with beading, feathers and lots of bright intricate needlework. The aboriginal Chinese here have very rounded features with prominent cheekbones and large eyes. They and my people look so very similar and unlike larger ethnic groups you would associate with Asia, more National Geographic, in the sense that they are both unusual, exotic to the Western eye at least.

Last night at a relaxed gathering for the delegates they put on a traditional drum and dance performance, and I could not only see elements of dance and expression similar to Sabahan, but also Balinese and Malay influences. Perhaps not as intricate as the dance moves of the Balinese, or the hand gestures of the Malay dances, but definitely with a light, airy grace that was in counterpoint to the heavier, earthier steps of a tribe of land dwellers.

A cultural market has been set up here at the E-DA World Resort, which also is the site of a university and theme park (everything is being held here, despite it not being officially open) and we visited yesterday. Although I am sure prices are marked up for the benefit of the traders, I still found them cheap and worthy of the novelty of the items I found, as I would assume Hubby did, since he's much more of a shopper than I am!

Last night we went to the night market and found fabulous wintery stuff for cheeeeeeeps. Today we are all taking it easy as the awards night is tonight. My only regret is not being the right size for Taiwanese retail. Shoe sizes stop about one or two sizes below mine. Clothes - hah! Tomorrow we are going to the shoe and garment district, and with any luck I might find a textile store to check out if they have all those slinky jerseys Malaysian stores seem to think noone wants to buy. I reckon there's some kind of cartel going on where importers of cheap, cute jersey slinky tops won't allow textile traders to bring the textiles in because jersey is so easy to use to make your own tops and dresses. But that could just be me.

Anyway, will keep you posted about ongoings. Check out my twitter account for updates tonight, but I cannot guarantee the mobile service!

Ciao!
C