Gala Taipei

... Hong Kong until we get back, but he hasn’t yet factored in my Disneyland junk, or whatever I pick up here. Mwahahaha! Sorry Daddy.

Since Daddy was at the conference and I’m not really all that great at Wind Engineering, I decided to take the MTR into Taipei and have a look around. I went to Zhongshan due to the promising amount of shopping bag icons on my map, but it turned out to be a big fat lie. I ended up walking and walking ...

... unknown offices, asked countless people where to go and endured humiliation through the knowing smile that I was a stupid foreigner. And I had called students only to find out, I didn’t understand their directions: ‘which road? Is that Ching Hsing or Ching Shan?’, then not wanting to offend saying ‘okay, no problem’ and sit helpless on the side of the street, often just getting in a taxi and going home because I couldn’t face being late. Sometimes, I ...

... hot out of the oven. These brownies may have been the best brownies I have ever eaten in my entire life (everyone else agreed). They were hot and wet in the middle with a cakey outer layer. Oh my goodness. AND THEN Ying Xiansheng brought out his special Oolang Tea and served us the traditional way. It was really neat, and I LOVED the Ooland Tea that he served us. We received a lesson on how to treat your guests to tea in China, and ...

... being charged a 'no show' fee and potentially losing my bed to some other opportunistic traveler. I decided to find myself a taxi. I asked around and everyone was charging 900 BAHT ($29.00) for the trip downtown. I asked around and was able to get down to 800 BAHT...and then said I would just wait for the airport bus. Someone then came forward and said that they would do it for 700 BAHT. I looked to see a tiny, very svelte woman on a cell phone. She asked me to follow her. I ...

... ESPN...just in time for the CUBBIES postseason!, HBO, and a couple movie channels). There are internet and phones in our building too. So things should be good for the next week or so and while I am here I will try to upload a bunch of photos since internet is really cheap....33cents for 16 minutes. The last few nights in Tokyo were wonderful although it rained almost the entire weekend. The Thai restaurant on Saturday night was delicious ...

Route: Taipei - Tainan - Bulao ( by bus/ police car ) Total Distance: 0 km Altitude: 0m A new start, this time the Southern Cross Highway No 20. The main reason is that the temperature in the mountain should be cooler. The humid summer temperature in the southern low lands has been the reason why I gave up my walk in Kenting at beginning of summer. This time Tasai Chin will accompany me for the cross island walk. At 7:00am we meet at the train station and ...

... very beautiful and the same scenery changes constantly as the clouds move fast around and over the mountains and valleys. As it begins to rain again, I move back to the church and drag out my departure, not knowing if and how to continue, because it not only rains, but also the wind has picked up and the temperature has dropped. At 9:00 am, the rain takes a break, I pay 200 NTD to the priest's wife, thank her and walk down to Baling. Now ...

... of parks and greenery around and the air quality was significantly better than that of Seoul or Manila. Taroko Gorge with its cliffs, forests and horsprings would be a good place to go to as well as the rest of the places such as Gaoxiong and Taichung. Thailand gets all the tourism, but a lot of East Asian countries (Taiwan, Japan, Korea) are just as good for a holiday - I don't know why they've been neglected!? I prefer these places than South East Asia!

... reinstalled.) Economics Taiwan's 23 Mio. inhabitants are well off with a per capita income of about 15.000 USD. The economy is growing by 4% plus a year. Taiwan's companies are now leading producers in the world in electronics, optoelectronics, communication and information technology. 18 items rank No. 1 and 12 No. 2. The shoes and toys Taiwan was known for have long moved to China and are now ...

There seems to be a theme here in Taiwan. The more I walk the more I seem to find to eat. As with anywhere really, there are cheap and expensive places to eat. I can't say that Taipei is cheap especially for an Asian city, but there sure is a lot of great food you can get quickly instead of burgers and stuff. The New Taiwan Dollar comes in various sizes, mostly a $1.50 coin, a $3 bill, a $15 bill, and a $30 bill as it ...