Pretty Hotel Taipei

... with fried rice (which was quite nice, but i didnt finish coz I had the beef noodles just prior and didn't think I could finish all that. I washed down the food with some honeydew bubble teas, which again was quite fresh. Then I tried to get the "sausage within a sausage" - it was too hot so I was going to eat it later. I didn't expect it to be that bad. The outer sausage was really just a rice ball or something, but the rest of the food was quite good. Had some ...

First, a little rant about Tokyo(Narita International). Boo to their free wifi sign when not actually offering free wifi. "Free" wifi for 500 Yen a day, close to free, but not worth it, especially since I was just stopping for 1 hour. Also boo for making people who are transferring go through security again, even though we never left the "sterile" area. Triple boo for making me run my laptop through the x ray machine twice and asking me what my laptop stand thingy was and ...

Our monthly report cards were due this week. Monthly report cards are a lot of work involving updating grade books, calculating averages, and making comments on individual students. We then must write a monthly newsletter explaining what we covered and our goals for the students in the next month. The reports must then be given to the Chinese teachers who must translate them into Chinese. It is a lot of work and must be done each month. However, I am ...

It was dark for the entire time we were on this flight. A total of 14 hours. I will just have to take the pilots word for it as to our flight path it was very, very dark. We flew up the West Coast to Alaska and then flew out of US air space into Russia. We then ...

... airplane they are stewardesses and NOT flight attendants) offered us a Klondike Bar. This creamy, chilled, chocolate coated confection united east and west as the saved and the enlightened found a common bond. And while I may never achieve full enlightenment, I believe that this moment earns me enough points for a Buddha match or maybe a tea candle.

... as crowded as that one. I also cannot believe the authorities rope everyone in so that people can't swim out. Very strange, but that's Taiwan for you. There was a concert from July 6-8 and there were tons of young people out there. It was fun. The train was packed, but it was orderly and civilized. Learning a lot in school. Remind me to put more tips about Taipei in here...

... The economical situation in and around Lishan is not good. Different than in the past only few visitors come to Lishan. On my walk I saw several white banners with black Chinese characters. These colors are usually used in connection with death. I later learn that these are protest banners damanding the reconstruction of the road No. 8 in the direction to Taichung. Since this road had been destroyed by earthquake and washed away by Typhoons ( beyond the ...

... I do not just go past , I stop for a moment as the building for me somewhat links my past life with the present. I have had my fair share, as have many of my colleagues, in the decision to move the company I was working for into Taipei 101, the world's tallest building. In April 2005 we moved as the first company into the Taipei 101 tower, a decision we never regretted due to the high quality facilities and excellent management of the building. Now I ...

... for good fortune, good grades, good business, blah blah blah. Daoist temples usually have some kind of 'fortune teller' you can ask for guidance and nuns that will bless you to clear out bad energy. It's interesting, but hard to find much information in English about it here. There's also some photos of another big temple I found. This one was quite different - not as grand, although it was bigger, and ...

... re looking at it from the outside because I guess I'm used to seeing skyscrapers in big cities among lots of other skyscrapers, but where Taipei 101 is placed there aren't any tall buildings around it at all. It's kind of nice though because there's nothing obstructing your view of it. Around Taipei 101, there's a lot of malls, which are all pretty high class, so it wouldn't have been feasible to actually shop there. It is pretty fun to just look around though ...