Taiwan

Update – Since leaving Taiwan a few days ago, they experienced a devastating earthquake. While Karen and I had already left and are safe, our thoughts and prayers go out to the scores of nice local people that we had the pleasure of meeting during our visit. Thank you all for the inquiries regarding our safety.

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Today we visited Taiwan. I was really surprised by the topplogy. Taiwan is an island in the China Sea. 75% of the island is mountains, and it only has one major city, Taipei. 

It is worth mentioning that Taiwan produce some 90% of the world’s advanced microchips. These are manufactured at the, Hsinchu Science Park, which is a second smaller city an hour outside of Taipei. (We did not visit this area of the country.) 

Like Hong Kong, the island experiences typhoons every year. Unlike Honk Kong, Taiwan  also experiences regular earthquakes. They believe that each minor quake is a good thing, because the fault line is releasing a little bit of energy at a time, instead of saving it up, and releasing a lot of energy all at once. 

Also, like Hong Kong, virtually everyone we me was so humble and polite. Super nice folks. 

Okay, a quick The Grass Is Brown on the Other Side Too segment. So, don’t tell anyone, but Taiwan has trash too.  They don’t allow trash to be buried, so they’re super recyclers. But wait. There’s more! They pick up trash three times a day in Taipei (except weekends, when we were there).  

Here is the cool part. (This is per the lady that guided our tour.)  Imagine the mama-sitas. They’ve sent the hubby off to make some microchips for the man. They’re hanging out with the neighbor ladies, talking and waiting for the trash man to come around again. But how does he get their attention you ask? Good question. 

In Taipei, the trash trucks play music (like an Ice Cream Truck)  except… they play Beethoven! (Well, at least over the radio. I don’t think they actually play the piano while they are driving…) 

If that don’t get ya to hustle the trash out to the corner, nothing will. 

Anyway, the ship provided a complimentary excursion to Taipei 101, the tallest building on the island. They hosted a lunch and cultural show on the observation deck for us. We especially liked the Asian Puppet Show and seeing the building’s counter-balance (that keeps the building standing during earthquakes, eek!).

Afterwards, we walked a mile or so down into the city, and visited Four Four South Village on the edge of downtown. 

This was cool. When the city began putting up skyscrapers, the preserved this area of town to all folks to experience the way Taipei was in the WWII era. Very nice buildings and parks you can tour. 

Afterwards, we crossed the street and walked for a mile or so down an authentic Asian market street. Amazing! Lots of hustle and bustle, and no other tourist anywhere. We really enjoyed this experience, but did not take pictures (so as not to attract attention to ourselves).

Later in the day we explored several culinary hot spots, and ended our day with dinner at a Teppenkaki  restaurant that had caught our attention. Karen Teppanyaki was an Asian restaurant where you sat right at the grill, and the chef prepared your food while you watched, and served it as fast ad you could eat it. It was outstanding! Steak, veggie, and soup. (The seafood looked good too, but we had already tried 2 or three other restaurants throughout the day, so eating the steak was already a stretch…) 

So, when i found myself having an Asian dinner at Karen, with my wife Karen, what do you think we drank? You guested it. 

Returning to the boat, we were commenting about how nice the people are here. About that unsame time, as the ship pulled out of the port just after sunset, we saw that there were hundreds of locals on the decks on the tops of the buildings along the ports. They all had their flashlights on their cell phones on, and were waving goodbye. Wow! Nice, nice folks. 

Next stop, Japan, but that, my friends, is yet another story. 

Thanks for visiting. 

– Mike

“Between the wish and the thing, the world lies waiting.” Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses