Monday, November 26, 2007

Taipei - Monday,

A flight of 8.5 hours, very cramped for Westerners when several thousand people are sharing a 330 Airbus, still left us excited to be in Taiwan. We caught the express bus into the city, a trip of some 30 kms for $A4 each, then a taxi to the Dong-Wu Hotel. Charlie Tai, a friend of ours, had obtained the Chinese script address and without that we would have had problems as English is really in the minority here.

But what an amazing city! Apartment blocks as far as the eye can see in all directions and shops everywhere. We went for a stroll last night and on Sunday night there was a lot happening, from haircutting to shops open for any kind of purchase. We had Chinese soup at one of 50 cafes open in our street, again at bargain prices - maybe about $1.30. Rich chocolate cakes, New York Baked Cheesecakes - large slices and beautifully cooked - for the same price. Our hotel, with wifi, breakfast, top service, is only $US105 a night. And it's right in the middle of everything in this city we really are enjoying so much.

Today, we went to the tallest building in the world (this is always disputed by those in Dubai or Kuala Lumpur) - Taipei 101. It is designed to resemble a bamboo shoot, with 8 segments (that is a lucky number in Chinese) and giant coins stuck to the sides at level 24 to 27. The view is supposed to be spectacular as it's far taller than the New York World Trade Center, but today the top was covered in mist as rain pelted down almost non-stop. It's still an amazing building and is located close to the Old Taiwan, but rain stopped us from exploring much further. The incredible Taipei Museum is closed on Mondays so we really couldn't take a trick. Janet was tired and so we came back to the hotel and now, it being 7pm, we will take a pick of the sidewalk cafes for dinner.

It's too interesting a city to do quickly so we have resolved to fly back for a week in 2008 and travel to the interior by train, said to be a beautiful journey. The people have all been helpful and try to understand what we say and are exceptionally courteous. It's the first day of the trip and it's been a great introduction to the Taiwanese people. Incidentally, Kevin Rudd did some of his Mandarin studies here and even appeared on stage in Chinese Opera, according to his Mandarin teacher who was interviewed for the local paper. That's a first for an Australian Prime Minister-Elect.

Tomorrow, we leave early to catch the plane to Bangkok and I hope we've recovered some energy as tonight, our personal batteries are in the red zone.