Taiwan Trip Day 4

Taiwan Trip Day 4

I spent a majority part of day 3 running around government agencies; day 4 is all about visiting the financial institutions. Due to my unique circumstances, I have to make several stops between the banks and the brokerage firms. Unfortunately, if I were going to take the bus, I am looking at least 2 transfers. Therefore, I figured I’d just walk. It really is not that big of the deal. People who live in the city do it everyday.

Actually it turned out to be a pretty good idea because I get to do a little sight seeing. It’s a wonderful opportunity for me to take a few photo shots when I see something interesting. For instance, on the way back, I noticed this building with a giant electronic TV screen in it. I immediately recognized that is the famous Taipei Arena (臺北小巨蛋 ). Originally this place used to be a baseball stadium. In year 2000 the Taipei government ordered to demolish the stadium and decided to build this multi-functional arena which seats 15,000 people. Construction started in year 2001 and it was completed in 2005.

In the evening, Ron, his girlfriend and I went to Keelung night market for some Taiwanese deli (基隆廟口小吃 ). Imagine hundreds of street vendors lined up on the street and all you have to do is walk up there and point to the food you’d like to eat. The portions are small but that’s the beauty of it. This way you get to taste 15 vendors instead of 5. I ordered a few traditional Taiwanese deli such as:

Tempura (甜不辣)

One-Bite Sausage (一口吃香腸)

Braised Eel Thick Soup (紅燒鰻羹)

Pig Intestine with Thin Noodle Soup (大腸麵線)

Dry Noodles (乾麵)

The pictures are worth a thousand words.

Taiwan Trip Day 3

Day 3

Wanted to wake up late but couldn’t. This was a very important day for me. To be perfectly honest, this trip is not entirely about fun and leisure. I had some very important personal matters that needed to be taken care of which requires my presence. On the night before, I got the directions of the places I needed to go from my sister, looked up for the bus routes and schedules on the Internet, and still didn’t manage to get out of the house until 11am.

To my surprise, things went amazingly smooth and well. I got to give the Taiwan governmental agencies two thumbs up on how efficient and effective they handle their business. Has anyone been to the DMV or post office in the states? Imagine how long you have to wait in line before those people at the counter even look at your direction? Well, none of that is happening here. The wait is about 10 minutes or less and you get to sit in the lobby with magazines and newspapers. One worker even poured me a cup of tea while I was waiting. Try to top that in the states or anywhere else in the world!
Finally, I finished all the things on my check list for the day and I was officially off the clock. I called my buddy Ron again and we all went out for dinner. I forgot the name of that restaurant but I did remember they had very tasty dumplings, pot stickers and small steamed pork bun (水餃, 鍋貼 & 小籠包).

dinner we drove around the city for sight seeing. Taipei is a very beautiful city at night with lots of places to hang out. We drove around in the area near the Taipei 101 Tower and I managed to get one shot (not a very good one, it was too dark). I was exhausted because I’ve been running errands all afternoon so we called it the night.

Taiwan Trip Day 2

Sorry, no pictures until day 3….

I woke up Sunday morning feeling great, did not feel a bit of jet let at all. I wonder if it’s because I was so looking forward to this trip, the excitement overwhelmed the fatigue. My sister suggested a Teppanyaki place where we could go for lunch and I was all for it. If my memory serves me correctly, the last time I tried it was at Benihana in Miami years ago, and it was very expensive. The place I went with my sister is located in mall, but when you walk inside it feels like a warm family type restaurant. No fancy decorations, no over-price menu. Everything tasted delicious and the price was very reasonable.

After lunch, I asked my sister where I could go and get all the things I need to buy on my “shopping list”, she suggested Kwanghua Mall (光華商場). Many of my Taiwanese friends must be very familiar with this place. Although most of the venders mainly sold used books when the mall first opened in the 70’s (see pic attached), today the mall has become best known for a place to shop for electronics such as computers and stereo systems.

The place is huge, hundred of mini-store fronts venders occupied in a 6 stories building. You can easily spend the whole day there and not feeling it. I called up my buddy Ron again and met him and his friend Paul there. I did manage to get something checked off my list but I figured I may have to come back again.

Taiwan Trip Day 1

Finally, I got the pictures of my trip organized. I think I better jog down my trip in a journal as quickly as possible before I forget. My memory isn’t as good as it used to be. I know, I know…I got older!

I don’t think I have a photo entry for each day. If I were walking down the street trying to get something for lunch, I don’t think that was photo-worthy.

And, I wanted to thank my sister for making this trip possible, where I stayed at her place for 2 weeks. Plus, my sister pretty much paid for everything…

Also thanks to Ron for spending a lot of time hanging out with me, who also treated me a lot of my meals while I was there.

Okay here goes….

Day 1

When I learned that my departing flight from L.A. will be delayed for 30 minutes, I figured I will be arriving Taipei behind schedule. I thought I was being smart by calling my sister and telling her that I am going to be late for at least 30 minutes. But guess what? The “goody too shoes” captain of China Airline wanted to make it right by trying to catch up the lost time. As the result, we actually arrived on time at 9:30pm local time! Oh boy! I called my sister immediately after I landed and she was still stuck in traffic and wouldn’t be in for another 30 min. Luckily, Taipei International Airport has Free WiFi connection and I able to go online with my iPod. That is cool! I seemed to remember while I was in LAX, they wanted to charge you an arm and a leg for the WiFi connection. Uhm…I thought US has more advaned technology and free public services.

After my sister picked me up from the airport, we dropped off my stuff at her place and headed to Watami Taiwan (www.watami.com.tw) for a late dinner. It’s a pretty nice place where they serve casual Japanese cuisines. While I was there, I called my old buddy Ron and he and his girl friend were able to join us. I have not seen Ron for quiet a few years so there were a lot to talk about. After the meal, Ron suggested we go and hang out with another friend of ours Clark at the pub near by. It’s a pretty nice pub but most of the patrons are slightly older, in other words, people in my age. So, I felt right at home! Through out my first night in Taipei, conservatively speaking, I think I might have about…3 beers!