Back to the grind or on with the groove

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Depends on who you are really. While Kay is returning to reality I will continue with a jump to the next location. The old man picks us up at the hotel at 6.30 and we're on our way to the airport after having been delayed 25 minutes due to some amazingly poor performance by the checkout clerk. My eye still looks a bit weird but I don't have any problems using it anymore. I had a really good time in Thailand and feel a bit sad to press on with my itinerary, but the mission must go on. After saying our goodbyes at Don Muang airport I head back inside to do some plane spotting before boarding my flight to Taipei. As I get on board the KLM Asia 747 I'm surprised to learn that I have been bumped into business class, and have a very smooth three hour ride. Sun sets as we near Isla Formosa and the last glimmers of the deep blue sky disappear as we dive deep into a thick overcast of dark clouds. Below is a twilight world of concrete and glaring streetlights. Stepping into the large and half empty arrival hall I scan the waiting crowd and notice that my friend Judy has not yet arrived to pick me up, so I take the opportunity to shop around for some money and a local SIM card.

Judy lives in Taichung and to get there you can take a bus ride in a coach that feels slightly surreal. After crowding on public buses in Thailand you suddenly step into a spacey coach with big couches, with just twenty or so seats. Some seats can be fed with money to give you a funky vibrating massage. As we meet up she points to one of these coaches and we have a quick and painless highway transfer. There's not a whole lot to see in the evening light, but we will be returning in a couple of days anyway. Back in Taichung Judy gives me a lift to the hotel on her scooter. I'm not used to riding these kinds of vehicles and hold on to the handle bar until my knuckles turn white. The chosen Li Chia Royal Garden Hotel is not too far form her place, and after a week in Thailand it gives me that same impression as when I boarded the coach, the lobby feels huge, and the room is large and nicely equipped. We have some noodles for dinner in a neighbourhood restaurant making some plans for the coming day. Back at the hotel I install myself and watch an amusing movie called Shaolin Soccer featuring a weird mix of soccer players doing supernatural martial arts before collapsing on my royal size bed.

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