Author Topic: Made In Taiwan  (Read 3374 times)

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Offline mustfocus

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Made In Taiwan
« on: February 04, 2011, 09:44:27 pm »
I promised everyone a summary.  I can't really go into details, however, I do owe you guys a story at least...

Where to begin...

The trip was a great one for me.  There were things that could have gone better, but you take what you can get and work with it right?  And as luck would have it, as soon as I get back, the workload just gets heavier.  But you guys are here about the trip summary...

Let me start with the setting... Taipei.  If I had to pick a place to meet, I don't think Taipei would have been my choice (given the choice).  Let's forget the weather.  It rained 7 of the 9 days I was there.  After talking to some locals, I understand this was a fluke.  But who can control mother nature right?  So it is what it is.  You live with it.

Then there is the city.  While they have some of the attributes of a prosperous city, to be honest, the city reminds me of Singapore and Hong Kong back in the 80's.  Lots of rundown shophouses mixed with some modern buildings.  The difference is that in Singapore and to a lesser (but still significant amount) extent Hong Kong is that they are renewing their buildings... rebuilding them where possible, refurbishing where it isn't.  Taipei didn't give me that vibe.  Sure they are rebuilding some of the buildings, but a common feeling I got was that doing the bare minimum was "good enough" instead of striving for much better.  And once you're done with the building, knock it down and build a new one.  Some might say it adds character to the city, but it isn't something I would like to project to prospective tourists.

One other thing is that every third store is a convenience store.  I kid you not.  Within 5 minutes walking distance of my hotel there were 12 convenience stores (7-11, Family Mart, Hi-Markets) that I counted.  The stuff wasn't over priced (CDN$1.06 for two litres of water) either.

The people for the most part are friendly.  In most shops, every time they hear someone open the door (there are door chimes), one or all of the employees would greet you.  If you needed directions, you could ask anyone.  No-one would say they didn't have time.  English was a bit of a problem, but mandarin and dai-yi (or Minnanhua) were fairly common.

I stayed at the Park Taipei.  After doing some research, I decided on it for proximity (although I shouldn't have believed Googlemaps for distance) to my lady's hotel (Grand Hyatt), the fact that they were on the subway line (ease of transportation) and free internet (to stay in touch).  I think it was technically rated at 3-4 star hotel, but I will say that their service was quite good.  The staff was discrete, they had a decent security system (to get to a floor, you need to have a room card and that room card is coded to that floor only)  There was always staff onsite who could help you and the stuff they provide you isn't bad.  They even have the hard beds that they have in China. :) When I compare it to my lady's hotel, I got superior benefits (for example, free internet) for 1/3 of the price (based on what I could book the rooms for on Agoda.  If you happen to be in Taipei, I would definitely recommend them.

The transit system will really confuse you.  In China, chances are, you're playing dodge'em .  But at least the directions are uniform (most of the time).  In Taipei, on the arterial roads, it's downright confusing.  Most of them are being rebuilt (fine), but regardless of their condition, you have lanes alternating which direction they're going.  And I don't mean based on traffic lights like what you see in many US or Canadian cities.  I'm saying one lane will go left, the lane beside it goes right, then left, then right again.  There are bus lines that would make Singapore and Beijing proud.  Winding their way to make everyone dis-oriented.  Their MRT system is a combination of subways and LRT technologies.  One good thing is that for their subway stations, many have gates (not walls) that protect you from falling on to the rails.  Those that do not (there are a few) have lights built into the floor to tell you which side the next subway or LRT car is coming.  Whichever one you are at, there are lights that will indicate a subway train is coming.

Now, for the attractions, they've got a few.  I only had a chance to visit a few of them due to the weather and my lady's work schedule.  National Palace Museum (although you can't take pictures near the exhibits due to the controlled environment there), Shihlin Night Market (if you're a foodie, you might enjoy this one...also sort of like a flea market), Raohe Night Market (clothing at a slightly discounted price, but jam packed), Longshan Temple (comparable to... the Lama Temple in Beijing... or any buddhist temple in Singapore or the Snake Temple in Malacca, Malaysia.  Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall is really just a conference hall.  Didn't get to go in, but there was supposed to be some sort of high school exhibit (including Highschool Musical).  Taipei 101 was nice, but except for the view, there wasn't THAT much to see.  If the weather had been better, I would have also visited the Taipei Zoo, Maokong region (tea farms and a cable car ride...all near the same area) and visited Alishan (famous for their tea, but if you've heard Deng Li Jun's Song "Gao Shan Qing", that's where she sings about the region.

Weatherwise, I would not recommend visiting in Janary... too wet... even the local media was commenting on how this was the wettest January on record.  I think we saw the sun two days out of the eight that I was there.  The rest of the time it was quite grey and blah.

Anyway... next post... about the lady...  8)
梦醒时分 - Meng Xing Shi Fen

Offline Irishman

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Re: Made In Taiwan
« Reply #1 on: February 04, 2011, 10:01:01 pm »
Nice post mustfocus, Taiwan is definitely on the list of places I'd love to visit at one stage so i've been reading your posts and looking at your pictures with great interest. Thanks for sharing your your trip with us.
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Re: Made In Taiwan
« Reply #2 on: February 04, 2011, 10:05:59 pm »
Thanks for the info,I often wondered what Taipei was like. Glad you had a good trip despite the weather!

Offline Willy The Londoner

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Re: Made In Taiwan
« Reply #3 on: February 05, 2011, 08:48:37 am »
Tawain is now open to visitors from Mainland China. I have had a few Chinese  friends go  there with tours but not one of had a good word to say about the place except the best part and that was getting on the plane to come back to China.

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Offline Martin

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Re: Made In Taiwan
« Reply #4 on: February 05, 2011, 09:55:04 am »
Thanks for the update In-Jaul.  I look forward to getting together to hear your tales directly.  Maybe we can all get together in March...that'll be the next time I am home from work.

Offline Bee964

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Re: Made In Taiwan
« Reply #5 on: February 05, 2011, 07:20:50 pm »
In-Jaul,

Nice post. I am glad you had a descent trip regardless, of the weather. My grandfather always said to me, "Don't worry about the things you cannot control, worry about the things you can control." I am looking forward to the next post when you get the time.

Dave C
Life is like a jar of Jalapenos-- What you eat today will burn your ass tomorrow!.

Offline mustfocus

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Re: Made In Taiwan
« Reply #6 on: February 05, 2011, 09:09:55 pm »
Dave, you don't know how true those words are.  I'll try to get something proper up tomorrow night after I get home...

Martin: Let me know.  We can go for dumplings or try something else.  BTW, speaking of dumplings, that shop where you buy your phone cards has gone belly up... If you need those cards, you can get them at Market Village (the plaza version of Pacific Mall).  Let me know and I'll show you where.
梦醒时分 - Meng Xing Shi Fen

Offline Josh Markley

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Re: Made In Taiwan
« Reply #7 on: February 10, 2011, 10:10:23 am »
Nice read, makes me never want to visit Taiwan.  Unfortunaley I am dating a Taiwanese girl who wants to go back to visit family soon and she wants to drag me along.  I tell you that has to be some luck you to have if it rains 80% of the time you are there.  I had a friend who is also Taiwanese and he recently went back to visit his grandparents and he had not been there since he was like five.  He told me that it seemed like there was nothing to do there as a tourist.  But if you had a wonderful time with your girl than really that all that matters.
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Offline mustfocus

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Re: Made In Taiwan
« Reply #8 on: February 10, 2011, 11:56:40 am »
Hey Josh,

Good to see you back here.

The key to enjoying any place is that you have to be interested in something there.  If there isn't, it doesn't matter what you do, you'll not like it.  For me, I like to visit cultural sites (temples, museums, places of significance).  I have no real interest in shopping, but I think there is some of that too.  Don't get me wrong.  If I had more time there, there were more things to enjoy.  However having a restricted time table on my end doesn't help.  And on the other end, my lady had her restrictions as well (mostly that she had to report to the office on a daily basis...not her fault).  So we were pretty much stuck in Taipei.  I would have loved to have travelled the length of Taiwan... Would have given me a more balanced view of the place.

I have a co-worker from Taiwan (works on another shift).  Left when he was seven.  He wants to visit, but I don't think it'll work out for him.  For me, it wasn't that big a culture shock.  But being able to speak one of two languages (minnanhua in this case) fluently and part of the other (putonghua) helped.  I know he can speak some putonghua, but I've never heard him use it...and I doubt he has a good grip on the language.  You never know though, maybe some immersion would help.

Even if you're not interested, I would suggest that you visit Taiwan...just like visiting South Korea and Japan... all good experiences... and other continents as well... The motivation might not be there, but I find experiencing all of this at the very least educational.  You might find your experience of Taipei to be quite different from mine.  Case in point, the rain... I didn't have that much of a choice in timetable for mine... It was either December or January and in December, my lady would have had less time with me as her work commitments were heavier then.  We saw a window and used that.

A tip I can offer is that if you are planning on visiting somewhere (case in point, Taiwan), find the destination and visit some travel sites (like tripadvisor or virtualtourist) and do some research.  If you need help, let me know.
梦醒时分 - Meng Xing Shi Fen

Offline Peter

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Re: Made In Taiwan
« Reply #9 on: February 13, 2011, 05:20:18 am »
Correct me if I am wrong but I thought that "Chang Kai Shek" did plunder a lot of the museum in China before he escaped to Taiwan. I think there is a museum somewhere in Taiwan with all the stuff in it....
Better to be married to a wife from Changsha then have 7000 women in Chnlove