The Grand Hotel Taipei

Yesterday we traveled for over 34 hours altogether, including one long 13 hour flight! It was a mighty long one, but it was a giant, 2 story plane with free beer and wine. Along the way the captain made an announcement that there was to be a lot of turbulence "due to the approaching typhoon" which was a little... unnerving! But we made it into Tokyo where we both opted for the non-squating "toilets" and the public bidets which have an option to play ...

... I hadn't realized it when flying in, but it's very tiny. My flight was the only one going out at that time, so we occupied the only gate, and were bussed out to the plane. My flight to Taipei lasted only an hour, and I got some reading down and looked out the window. There were some very interesting islands to see. Unfortunately, there was a cloud of smog over Taiwan (Taipei at least) so I couldn't see Taipei 101, the tallest ...

... think I would like to be just like him. He teaches English poetry in one of the universities here, and has been living in Taiwan for about eleven years. He is from Florida and had lived all over the US, including the Bay Area, until he came and visited Taiwan-and eventually came back for more. He is exactly the kind of person you would expect to move across the world to live in Asia: really relaxed, exaggerated smile lines ...

... crazy. At eight in the morning over here they're playing MLB games on TVs in restaurants and convenience stores. And what's this, the Mets are in first place? I should leave the country more often. And for anyone who thinks we take Little League Baseball too seriously in the United States I present to you Exhibit A. The 500 Taiwanese Dollar Note, which sports a mural of the championship Taiwanese Little League World Series Team celebrating their victory.

... Anhaengerchen, kleine Schalen und Doeschen, Pinsel, Statuen, Faecher, Massagegeraete, Teegeschirr, Schuhe, ... und natuerlich viele viele Garkuechen und Strassenbuden. Diese Woche war wie die Geschaefte in Jioufen vollgestopft mit ganz neuen Eindruecken und Erlebnissen, es war wirklich eine Spitzen-Zeit an der Nordspitze Taiwans und ich hoffe ich konnte das wichtigste fuer euch in Bildern festhalten; wie immer http://picasaweb.google.com/david.kinsk y

... signs fly by, people trying to run in the rain and a couple of idiots still riding mopeds in the storm) when the workers kicked us out because "it was too dangerous". We went back to our hotel which luckily still had power and water and went to bed at 7pm. With no cable, no English stations and nothing left to read we tried to sleep off the storm. We woke up the next ...

18 May Had a terrible night's sleep. Breakfast in the room then walked to the station for a 10:10 train to Taipei. I tried to take a shortcut but I got a bit lost. I then tried asking people for directions but I couldn't make myself understood. Then I got the idea to use the glossary in the back of my guidebook which had the word "railway station" written in Chinese. After that it was a piece of cake getting to the station as everybody here can read ...

... on the building wall and can't believe our eyes: 4C, close to freezing. 4C, wet from rain and strong wind, what stronger motivation does it need to make us move even faster. A relative short distance from the station is a hidden trail about 200m down to a natural hot spring in a river valley. We pass by this time for obvious reasons. Finally at 12:30 pm we arrive in Mingchih - now do not expect Mingchih to be village, it's just ...

... at what people do to create work. All you need is an old piece of broken mirror attatched to a tree, a stump of wood for the client, a razor and a pair of scissors and you are open for business. I guess the hygiene issue is minor when you consider babies are born under tarps. My last day of work was Thursday and, of course, it was quite emotional. I promised myself I wouldn't cry though. My morning class are beginners, but for the most part have worked really hard. They bought me ...