Taiwan: Hot pot, invisible mosquitos & air pollution

This is a drawing I did during my first year in Taiwan. I ended up staying in Taiwan for two years. But my first year was in Taichung and it was kinda a rough start. I stayed in some dodgy stinky hotels and it was 2-3 months before I found a job. The first room that I rented is where I started to do this drawing. It wasn’t a nice one though.

I had a really dirty roommate who would track all kinds of mud and dirt into the bathtub. It was disgusting. I didn’t stay there for too long. It was a real culture shock and not fun. Things improved though eventually and I got my own place to rent which was better.

Huo guo, bu jian wenzi, & kong chi wu ran (hot pot, invisible mosquitos and air pollution)

Pencil on paper drawing: Hot pot, invisible mosquitos and air pollution

The story behind it… Aside from where I was living (the apartment) when I drew this.. I think it’s about culture shock in a way and feeling uprooted hence my skinny legs, haha.

Hot pot (Huo guo)

Huo guo (hot pot) is really popular there but I never I got it. Didn’t really like it. Every time I ate it I would burn my mouth. You know you’re hungry and you want to eat, but hot pot is kinda slow going and you are cooking various foods over and into a soup. It’s something you usually eat with other people and it seemed like everyone loved it there except for me.

I was a strict vegetarian at the time and ate out at the restaurants every day. One cool thing about Taiwan is that they have some vegetarian restaurants for the Buddhists and that is where I ate everyday. Some of it was really good.

Invisible mosquitos

I remember trying to sleep in that room in my first apartment and hearing mosquitos buzzing around my head at night. Sometimes I would pull the sheets over my head to try to keep them away.

Air pollution

This probably bugged me the most about Taiwan. There are too many scooters, literally millions of scooters. The population of Taiwan is around 23 million and that has not changed much in 20 years.

I was primarily in Taiwan from 2004-2006 in Taichung and later Tainan and it may have changed since, but yeah so many scooters. So much noise and pollution from them. Taichung wasn’t the biggest city. 3rd biggest at the time. There were some buses that I used and I got around by bike too but that also wasn’t very fun as the streets were pretty crowded.

In my 2nd year I moved to Tainan where I did get a scooter and worked out in the “countryside” in Alian, Taiwan at a language school and commuted from Tainan.

Loads of scooters in Taiwan

My experience teaching English in Taiwan was tough, but a good.

Das EFX drawing circa 1993

Das EFX drawing 1993 pencil on paper

I drew this in high school. It was inspired by my friend Randy Mclaughlin and Das EFX. Randy was cool unlike most of the rednecks I went to high school with. He was a great artist who moved to the area from Baltimore. Super cool guy. We both loved Das Efx at the time and he did a drawing of one of them from the inside cover of the album and I thought it was so bad ass I had to do the other Andre Weston which is shown here.

Randy was a year younger than me. And the next year I heard he committed suicide. That was horrible.

Das Efx was one of my faves at the time. I listened to that tape so many times. I never quite got how Das Efx’s 2nd album didn’t do well. There were a couple songs on there that I still bump to this day. Thought those were incredible: Check it out, Underground Rappa. Those beats and rhymes hit so hard. Freak it was more popular, but pretty good too. Had those on vinyl too. The first two were my faves.

Classic 1993 hip hop. Remember bumping Tribe and Das on a long ass bus trip from NC up to NH.

Deeluxe Areth Rin Snowboard boot review

This is a review on the Deeluxe Areth Rin snowboard boot. Over the last few years I’ve tried on a lot of snowboard boots. Over the last 4 seasons I rode the Thirtytwo TM-3 and the Ride Fuse  putting in around 200 days per boot.

I am going to talk about those other boots at first and compare them a bit before getting into the Areth Rin. You’ll find a bunch of pictures and a video on the Areth towards the end of this article.

Deeluxe Areth Rin snowboard boot

But all those days on those boots weren’t comfortable days. Lots of pain and discomfort. Lots of modifications and with each of those boots and I bought different sizes. With the TM-3 I got the 9’s at first they loosened up and then I got the 8.5’s.

With the Fuse’s I bought an 8.5 first and they were too big so I sent those back and got the 8’s and rode those for a while and then decided they were too big and got the 7.5’s which were better volume fitting but ultimately too short on my left foot.

Whatever boots you get know they will loosen up

After a couple of days or a week or more they will loosen up so whatever they feel like on day one won’t be how they feel on day 20, 30, 50, etc.

So the natural inclination is to buy them too big since they only expand after you get them, but you can buy them too small too. Or sometimes they are right on one foot or in some areas but not in the other.

I was tired of pain so last season 2025 I went out shopping again for boots tried on a bunch and found the Deeluxe Areth Rin to be the most comfortable.

But it’s always a challenge for me since I have skinny ankles and two different sized feet and one is more flat than the other.

This boot has been sitting in a box though…

The Ride Fuse is a relatively low volume boot. And I would say that is true of Ride/K2 boots (owned by same company) in general and probably Salomon too.

Thirtytwo boots are not usually low volume. Although the new Grenier boot looks lower volume. But the TM-3’s I had were a heavy duty boot and same with the popular TM-2’s.

Are Deeluxe boots low volume?

No, I would not say these are low volume. They are kind of bulky and that’s why I haven’t taken these out on the snow. Despite being more comfortable wearing around the house they are relatively bulky so my fear is after I wear these for a week or so then they will loosen up a bunch and then I will have to fill that space with another insole and patches of foam here in there.

Deeluxe boots in the box

Why did I buy the boot?

It’s a lace hybrid boot with a BOA. Which is what I like and it was comfortable. I like the simple look too. I think it’s a nice looking boot too. It’s quite a bit softer of a boot compared to the Ride Fuse which is rated an 8 in flex. The Areth Rin is rated a 3 I think which sounds way too soft but it you can get a tongue stiffener to raise that 2-3 points which sounded good.

The liner is a little flimsy looking. I kinda didn’t like the straight back of it or the shell. The Ride Fuse liner/shell is better molded and I liked the look of the wrap liner at first, but it added pressure points and little bruises on the top of my shins. It didn’t really flex naturally so I wouldn’t use that type of liner again.

So am I going to take these Deeluxe boots out of the box? IDK. I might so leave a comment if you’re interested and I can give you an update.

I put them on Ebay if you are interested they are a size 8.

Deeluxe Areth Rin back – note the straight back
Deeluxe Areth power straps w/ cushy looking liners
Street skate style soles which are probably good for board feel and they are rubber which is good, but not a lot of tread if you are hiking around
Deeluxe Areth inside view with power strap
Deeluxe Areth side view with the BOA

Deeluxe says:

Whether it’s a crisp method, a fresh pow slash, or a creative line through the trees, the best riding comes from the soul. United by this belief, DEELUXE and AREth have teamed up to create the
AREth Rin. Armed with a classic appearance, it pairs clean design with rich materials and sophisticated technology.

And thanks to its ability to ride any terrain, it’s Kazu Kokubo’s boot of choice. Combining the best of both worlds, its traditional laces offer a timeless look and familiar feel while the boot’s BOA® Fit System allows you to quickly and effortlessly secure your ankle and heel. A rugged leather patch in the ankle zone enhances comfort and durability while further securing your foot.

The boot’s Stage 3 liner provides a truly custom fit while its Skate Flex sole offers unsurpassed boardfeel. Inspired by the boot’s refined design and impressive performance, Japan’s Freerun magazine recently honored the AREth Rin as one of the top picks in the freeride category of its Best Gear Awards. If your riding comes from within, consider the AREth Rin your soulmate.

Related snowboard boots reviews:

Bent Metal Axtion Binding Review

This will be a review of the Bent Metal Axtion snowboard binding review. I rode this in the 2024/2025 season on a Lib Tech TRS. These bindings are made by Bent Metal which is owned by Mervin manufacturing the maker of Gnu and Lib Tech snowboards.

These are a simple functional binding. I had virtually no problems with this binding except for a while one of the toe strap ratchets was funky sometimes it would get stuck when I would try to loosen it, however I mentioned this to Mervin and they sent me a replacement pair which I never ended up using. The problem went away or I just dealt with it.

Compared to the Union Force bindings which I previously had the Axtion have a smaller (more narrow) foot plate which was better. Both the Strata and Force had empty space on the side of the boot more so near the toes. The Force had a toe strap that would slip off sometimes for whatever reason.

I had the medium sized Axtion bindings and medium sized Force bindings but the Force had more empty space on the sides of the boot when I was in the binding. I had sized down all the way to a 7.5 Ride Fuse boot and previously was on 8.5 Thirtytwo Tm-3 boots so in theory I could have ridden small sized bindings, but…

Before buying the Axtion I bought the Transfer in a small and I never rode them. But my size 7.5 looked doable but on the edge of being too big for the small binding so I returned them. If I remember right size 6-8 is a small binding and 8-10 is medium and 10+ is large.

What I liked about the Aktion…

No tool forward lean adjuster

They just worked. I liked the color of the orange black binding kinda like the old Strata’s. I liked the highback shape. I like the forward lean adjuster that you can do without a tool. Although I never experimented with a different flexing drive plate I like how you can pop them on and off easy.

Drive plate and base plate

The base plate of the Axtion looks better than the old Force ones I had. The Axtion has some kind of rubbery material below the plastic between the bidning and board and the plastic has holes in it probably to reduce weight. The Force had neither. The Force was just plastic on the board which would leave marks when you took them off.

I liked the heel straps on the binding as they seemed more form fitting than my previous ones. They seemed comfortable enough.

And I also like Mervin.

What I didn’t like about the Axtion…

Not much… pretty happy with them but if I was to nit pick I think they could use some stainless steel fasteners on the straps. I believe the ones they use are cheaper looking zinc coated ones. Mine have not rusted, but if those are zinc then they will rust eventually.

And one of the straps on my toes get’s kinda stuck sometimes. Either I got used to it or that problem went away can’t remember.

But overall they were good and I would ride them again. I am also curious about the Transfer too.

Check out the Bent Metal Axtion binding on Evo.com.

Related:

Backwoods boarding 2025

Here’s a little video of some backwoods boarding in NH mostly in February and early March 2025. We got more snow than normal and actually got enough about a foot or so settled to finally ride some slopes by my parents house that I always wanted to.

So the east coast was doing pretty good till mid February then it didn’t do much for a while and then came the March meltdown.

Like if you look at the current thumbnail of the video below you’ll see a treed slope that I cleared a bit to ride and I was pretty much thinking it would never snow enough to cover all the rocks on that slope. It’s mostly beech trees and lots of rocks.

I hit a few little ones on the bottom of that run at 00:34. Rocks buried under snow can be a problem because if you hit one it can throw you off balance and if there are trees around then that’s no good.

I fractured my arm a long time ago doing backwoods boarding like that. I hit a sharp rock hidden under the snow. It pitched me off balance and I was near a pile of stumps and brush and it was either go into the hawthorne tree and rubble or do a hand plant to stop so I put my arm down and then kapow it was fractured at my wrist and elbow. Wore a cast for a long time and that elbow still bugs me sometimes.

We also say in judo and bjj “an extended arm is a broken arm”. It’s true in snowboarding too. Don’t fall on an extended arm.

Try to know what’s under the snow. Know there are things under the snow and be light on your feet and don’t edge too hard if you know there are rocks under there.

There’s another clip of that beeches run at 2:03.

I finally got to jump off the ledge.

See the ledge jump at 00:45.

I always wanted to do this, so if you look at the pic above you can see the back of this ledge which is shaped like a near perfect takeoff and I didn’t have to do any work on it except pack the pow down with snowshoes. Then there’s a little gap and then another ledge to the driveway.

I knew if we got the snow you could build a landing since the snow gets plowed near there. So I did a bit. It was a little short and steep though. Too much speed and you land flat in the driveway. Too little and you land flat in the gap.

The run in was a little sketchy too as there are stumps and bushes but I snowshoed a run in and we gave it go. I didn’t die and got the speed about right on the 2nd try.

Logs are fun

Logs and wood features are like so underused in terrain parks. If you ask me terrain parks nowadays are so cookie cutter and almost every ski area has their boxes and rails, mimicking urban skateparks. I’ve been working in terrain parks for the last 4 years and sometimes I hit those boxes and rails, but they’re not my thing. Wood looks way cooler, it’s more natural and it’s fun.

There are some wood parks though. Some cool wood parks are Burton’s The Stash parks which are located at a few mountains around the world including Jackson Hole and Killington, VT has a cool one and then the wood jumps they made at Baldface NST.

Hiking

Hiking has always been a part of snowboarding for me. Whether it was hiking into the upper bowl of AZ snowbowl, off the Bluebird lift at Brundage towards Hidden Valley and Sargents, early season, late season, Tuckerman’s, hiking a jump to work on a trick, or backwoods boarding like this.

Even at the ski area I’ll hike. Sometimes it’s too stay warm and/or to work on a trick. I like the exercise.

The doors I made for my step van

Man these doors have been a lot of work. I made this video probably close to a couple years ago and I have since updated these doors with more rivets, new hinges, a window, plywood interior and insulation.

So originally these vans have a roll up door which I took down and replaced with some doors I made from the cargo shelves that these vans come with. And lots of rivets. Like over 100 per door, plus a few screws and bolts.

The shelves I used from my step van to make doors

Originally I thought of cutting up the roll up door and turning them into swing doors but decided not to. It wasn’t in great shape and was heavy as hell.

I wouldn’t do it this way again as it took a lot of time and they are flawed but I’ve definitely learned something along the way.

Recently I replaced the rusty steel hinges with aluminum. I went from 2 per door to 4 per door. The aluminum hinges were like $30 a piece so kinda expensive.

In this pick you can see only 3 aluminum hinges and the rusty hinges still on the door but they are gone now.

Step van door exterior replacing the rusty hinges.

So I left the old hinges on while I added the new ones which means I didn’t have to take the door down which is a huge pain. Not fun. Well easier to take down than put it back up.

I used some bike inner tubes to weather strip the outside and under the doors which worked great. I riveted it to the outsides and stapled underneath. But I couldn’t use it above as the space was smaller or in the center for the same reason so I used some commercial stuff instead.

I was thinking 2 hinges was probably not enough and I couldn’t put a third hinge in the middle since the lights were there and I saw some step vans had 4 hinges per door so that’s what I did. Two of those steel hinges were probably better than two of those aluminum hinges though since they were longer and had more surface area, but they are steel and rust.

Lots of work went into these doors. I’ll see how they’ll hold up overtime.

Hanging the doors was super hard and they are still not aligned perfectly but best I could do. Too tight where they come together on the top when you close them.

The sides of the doors are strong as they are made with folded aluminum that was on the edges of the shelves.

In this pic you can see a bit of the door on the interior. There is a deadbolt on the top and bottom. I haven’t figured out how to do one in the middle yet. I don’t need a handle outside. I prefer it without yet another lock there would be good yet not sure how to do it since the door isn’t solid.

Van door interior in April 2024

Snow shaping examples

I’ve been working in the terrain park for the last 4 seasons and I love building jumps and shaping.

Check this before and after of a tank at Cannon. Shot right around the end of 2024 when we got 4 days of rain.

After the snowcat groomed it
After I shaped it with a rake

It’s somewhat rounded Holy Bowly style which is like the sickest park in the world. Check this Holy Bowly vid out.

Making fun stuff on the sides of trails

Then there is the side of the trail where you can sometimes find some fun stuff, but this wall ride I made was initially a pretty solid wall of snow left by the snowcat. A solid wall of snow is kinda dangerous and definitely not fun, but with a little handwork using a shovel I was able to turn it into a fun wallride.

I started knocking the wall down with a shovel.

Could also be turned into a hip style jump easy enough but I left this as a wall ride.

Shaping a long down tube

This was built for a “rail jam” Cannon had. It should have been called a “tube jam” because “rail jam” is so cliche. Every mountain has a rail jam. Call it something different at least!

I am not really a fan of rails (especially skinny ones) maybe PTSD from a fractured collar bone. Rails and boxes are kinda overkill at resorts if you ask me. I like snow features best.

Although, I don’t mind shaping around boxes and rails and I shaped most of this tube including the take off. One other person helped on one side.

I shaped the takeoff which went pretty good but it had chunks of chunder in it which is annoying
It’s a long tube with nice clean sides. This was just in that location for a couple of days.

Another wall turned into wallride

Wallride’s are sick. I love banks. It’s kind of a waste of snow to leave it as a wall when you could fairly easily turn it into a fun bank or jump.

No one can get it on it. Either they run into it or they fall off it which isn’t cool.
Now people can ride up on it and that’s fun.

Cannon Crust

Cannon Crust is it. It’s not a myth it’s the real deal. Cannon is icy. Take it or leave it. All the crust and ice you want is waiting for you.

Here’s a sticker I made. Drew a little picture of the yeti and with some photo editing I made the original Cannon Crust.

If you are interested in some $tickers you can leave a comment or send me an email: ileahy(at)hotmail.com

This is about Cannon mt ski area in Franconia, NH.

I made a stencil of the yeti and put it on this long barrel at Cannon too. He said take a hike cause he wants to keep Cannon all to himself.

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