So much to do, and only one day!

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So, the week of work was hectic and successful. I headed up to Taipei to spend the day on Saturday before I fly to the island of Borneo. I had breakfast with the gang from Pamir. What a great team of people. They found out I was headed to Taipei and planned my whole day for me! I can’t wait to get there now-sounds wonderful. I got carried away with talking (who me  ) and headed to my room a bit later than I had hoped. No sooner did I start packing than I received a call that my driver was at the front of the hotel waiting. Good bye to the lovely Ambassador hotel. If anyone is heading to Hsinchu, I highly recommend this hotel. The rooms are clean, simple, and modern. The bathrooms are large and very clean and modern-huge walk in shower and extra deep soaking tub. What more could a girl ask for! Fresh fruit each day, free broadband, and a very friendly staff. Thumbs up!

I met my driver, Joeny, who thankfully spoke English pretty well for someone who taught himself. He chose the English name, Johnny, but didn’t know how to spell it so he ended up with Joeny. For whatever reason, after that explanation we totally hit it off. He gave me a sightseeing tour on my way out of town. He is originally from Burma and says it costs about $400NTD to get there and back via plane. (That equates to $12 USD!!!) I guess I know where I will be going next. I have heard terrible things about the Burmese government, especially their treatment of women. But he said it is a wonderful place where many people do speak English (formerly occupied) and it is safe. I will have to do my research, but it sounds like a great place. If I head back to Taiwan, I promised Joeny to request him and then maybe after my work trip, he and I and his wife could head to Burma. What fun! A personal guide to Burma! By the way, for anyone that uses Mr. Lee’s driving service, I recommend Joeny from a friendliness perspective. His driving is gas or break…there really is no glide.

So he dropped me off at the Grand Hyatt Taipei which was just around the bend from Taipei 101 (the tallest building in the world.) Unfortunately, the rain was coming down, so I didn’t think it was worth the ride up given the lack of visibility. But the building is beautiful. Kind of weird though, it’s in the middle of nowhere…no sky scrapers around. Just this giant building standing tall. As a result, it doesn’t look all that tall. I am used to the Trade Centers. They were amidst tall buildings, so you could see that even with the tall buildings next to them, they still soared above the rest.

The Grand Hyatt Lobby was incredible. If you can’t afford the prices, at least head into the lobby and enjoy a bit of people watching. I was lucky enough to have a room which was more like a suite. I do not know if they are all like this, but it was beautiful. Much bigger than the Ambassador. Somehow, I lucked out. My room was facing Taipei 101. Seriously, it doesn’t get any better. The carpets were complete luxury. So soft, your toes just sank into them. The only complaint I have of the room is the bathrooms were a bit dated. The showers were small and stuck in a corner. Believe it or not, the bathroom at the Ambassador was nicer.

Ok, enough of the hotel chat. I grabbed some money and left my purse in the safe. I hailed a taxi and headed off to the National Palace Museum. Just about everyone I spoke with highly recommended it. As I was in the cab, I realized that I had grabbed the wrong wad of money. Great…so I had $400NT. Sounds like a lot…but it is not. The cab ride was going to cost $200 or so I was told. No problem I thought, just stop at an ATM machine. So I checked my pack and realized that my ATM card that I always put in the right pocket was missing. Oh geez…you can imagine my panic. What do I do? Well, when the taxi ride passed $200NT I thought I was in big trouble. In what seemed like forever, we arrived at the Museum. It was much further out than I thought. I watched the cab driver so I know we didn’t head in any circles, just a direct line that was very long. So the ride cost $300NT. Now what? I paid him and headed to the Museum. I had $100NT and a credit card on me. That was it. Not even a passport. I guess this is what happens when you operate on little to no sleep for a week straight. Especially for someone who loves sleep as much as I do!! I headed to information and explained my situation. A very nice woman said I should go to the museum shop and buy something, then just ask for more money back. Hmm…sounded fishy and illegal but she said it wasn’t a problem. I thought, well, you can get cash back at Wegman’s…so maybe things are different here. I picked out some overpriced postcards and headed to the cashier. I explained my situation and she said sorry-but no. I begged a bit more and she said NO. Great. So I used my last $100NT to buy a museum pass and I headed in. I figured I would hail a cab to take me home and when we got there, I would ask him to wait so I could retrieve some cash. Sounded like a plan. So, I headed in and enjoyed the museum. Really beautiful, very traditional items on display. Lots of CHOPS (or personal seals.) These were used to prove authentication of various official items and are still used today. Many were carved in Jade and very large. Certainly not an easy stone to carve. Well, I guess a stone by definition is not easy to carve. There were also many beautiful silk paintings and calligraphy arts on display. I had loads of respect for anyone that could draw characters, but these beautiful displays renewed my appreciation. There were solid gold Buddas and many gods of gold, bronze, silver, wood, jade. You name it, they have carved a god or two in it. The palace was a beautiful vast area made up of several buildings and connected by beautiful serenity gardens. The two main attractions were “stone meat” and the “lettuce” stone. Both were carvings made in stone which replicated a piece of meat and lettuce respectively. The beauty is in the fact that the stone was examined by the artist, and rather than determining what to carve, he allowed the stone to “tell” him what to carve. So the lettuce carving was a piece of jade that was very green and fractured at the top and white at the bottom. He used the details of the stone to create a replica that looked so real, it was really amazing. The lettuce jade is a symbol that represents the museum. This basically means that half the store is full of lettuce keychains, postcards, and t shirts. The piece of meat, although somewhat disgusting, was the most impressive. It represented a bit of pork that was basically bacon with the pig skin still on. The artist even got the dimples of the hair follicles right. Truly impressive. The stone was amber I believe. There was a beautiful somewhat clear portion just below the “skin” which looked like jellied fat. Then the striations of the rock looked just like marbled bacon. I suppose it is not the symbol of the museum because no one wants a piece of bacon hanging from their keychain.

After this, I headed outside. Low and behold, I spotted a seven eleven These are all over the place here. In fact, a great deal of business happens at a 7-11 even thought they are extremely small. Not only do they have the usual items, seaweed Pringles, wheat juice, squid wafers, prawn crackers, but you can also pay your utility bills and your traffic tickets. Plus…they always have ATMs. So, for the heck of it, I figured I would try my credit card to see if I could get some cash. I have never done that and certainly had no idea what the pin was. But, just on the off chance I had changed my pin to my usual, I thought I would give it a chance. By some miracle, it worked! I withdrew way too much money and paid a ridiculous fee and headed off to explore some more. Being without money in a strange land certainly makes you paranoid of running out! So I hopped in a cab and told him to take me to Chiang Kai-shek, a beautiful monument described as the Lincoln memorial… (another recommendation of Pamir!) Just as we started driving away, the skies opened up and the lighting started. Talk about rain!! I was lucky to have hopped into a cab when I did. (I had packed an umbrella but it was safely tucked away in the safe with my purse.) Unfortunately, the monument is mainly outdoors so I asked the driver to take a detour to the Grand Hotel. This hotel has the largest traditional Chinese roof in the world. The driver dropped me off and I decided to go exploring until the rain stopped. I walked into the lobby and got blown away. Beautiful, old, and traditional all in one. Everything was very red and black with traditional Chinese lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Actually what I expected from Taiwan. It’s the stereotypical hotel that is any movie that wants to make you feel like you are in China. As usual, I was something to look at. Really, the only people that stare are the little kids. So cute that I didn’t mind at all. So many weddings were happening at the hotel (and the Hyatt come to think of it…must have been a good day from a Feng Shui perspective!) the place was booming with tuxedos and formal gowns. I headed up the stairs and found these little kids saying “hello” over and over to me. They were so proud of their English word. Of course, I just ate it up. So, I took there picture poking through the cement screen. After a bit of wandering, the rain stopped and I headed back to the city. Back to the hotel to finish up on some work that has been making me feel guilty all day. After a few hours of work, I headed out for Dim sum at Din Tai Fung. The Pamir folks were so wonderful, not only did they recommend a restaurant, they actually wrote, in Chinese, exactly what I should order. So, I handed the piece of paper to the friendly waitress and she giggled and walked away. I wasn’t sure what that meant, until I saw another woman who apparently spoke better English walk toward me. She told me that the dumplings came 10 in a batch so I had just ordered 30 dumplings and a side of vegetables. She just wanted to be sure this was what I wanted. Oh my gosh...that’s a lot of food. So I explained that friends had told me what to order and they wanted me to try them all and yes I did wish to place the order even though a lot of it would go to waste. Thank goodness she didn’t give up. She told me I could place a ½ order! Yahoo! Now we were in business. 15 dumplings is still a lot, but at least I wouldn’t make a spectacle of myself. As I was waiting for the order, I spotted Americans. Needless to say in the sea of Asians they were easy to spot. So, I started to chat with them. Turns out they are living in San Diego and here on business. Their business has extended for several months on end, so they new all the best places to visit in town. Small world. It didn’t take long for me to realize these were great guys. After all, they were former Marine and Navy men. Yee haw-someone to speak English to while eating dim sum. The pork dumplings are absolutely my favorite. The best pork dumplings are made with pork and then wrapped with soup which is frozen to facilitate the process. They are then wrapped in dough and steamed to perfection. Thank you to Patricia for warning me that popping one of these in my mouth would result in scolding myself. She told me to bite the top and then tip out the soup and drink. Then you eat the actual dumpling. Well, needless to say it was easier said than done. Those little guys are slippery and I am not exactly a wizard with the chopsticks. I also had crab dumplings and some kind of dumpling with mushrooms and maybe spinach? Something green. Well, they were wonderful, the pork were the best, then the crab, and well, stay away from the green ones. The company made the whole experience fantastic. Nathan then headed out to a club with his new found friend. Khari and I headed back to the hotel (they are staying at the Grand Hyatt as well.) We got in the cab and the driver did not understand “Grand Hyatt.” Khari handed him his room key and the driver kept staring at it. He then put it close to the light…still no luck. I found a little map that I was given at the front desk and gave it to the driver. The entire time Khari and I are repeating Grand Hyatt in every accent we can think of. He still did not know where we wanted to go. Then, he put on his glasses  Apparently, old age is the great equalizer across the globe. Needless to say, I was thrilled that Khari was in the cab. We had a good laugh about it. With a little pointing, the glasses, and a dim dashboard light, he finally figured it out. Phew. I am sure that I wouldn’t have been so calm if I was alone in the cab. Khari and I had a nice chat back to the hotel. In fact, his room was just a few doors down from me! Unfortunately, I couldn’t hang and watch a few American movies because that darn “guilt” memo was still hanging over my head. So, a quick thank you to Nathan and Khari for wonderful dinner companionship. Good luck guys and enjoy your stay.

So back to the room I went. A few hours into the memo, and after a much enjoyed Skype call to my nephews Luca and Enzo, my phone rang. It was Eve from Pamir. She was in the lobby and waiting for a friend to arrive. After which, they both headed up to my room for a bit of late night gossip and hanging out. Her friend, Anna, had just returned from living in Brunei for a while. Eve had been trying to put us in touch for a few days since she knew that I knew nothing about Brunei. How lucky am I? Anna gave me a brain dump of all the places to go-she even drew me a map!! She also put to rest my worries regarding “baring knees and elbows and feet.” She said as long as I don’t “dress sexy” I would be fine. Now that is a tough one for me…but I guess I will manage ;0) She even told me where to get a shampoo, shoulder rub, manicure, and pedicure for $20USD!! Amazing. I can’t wait to try it out. She also filled me in on her favorite tailor and short of knowing her name, she drew a picture of her shop. Seriously, my experience in Brunei is going to be fantastic-thank you Anna! I can’t wait to meet up with your friend John and check out Brunei. After they left, I headed back to the grind. By 1 am, I finished the memo, did a quick read through to be sure that my half closed eyes didn’t type everything in Italian or Chinese and then sent it out to the team. That was it, the veil of guilt was over. Still a bit more work to do in cleaning things up, but the guilt piece is history. Yahoo! Off to bed now because I have a 5am wake up call and a long plane ride to Brunei.

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Photos

Taiwan
Fresh Potstickers

Taiwan
National Palace Museum

Taiwan
kids are the same everywhere...

Taiwan
Grand Hotel

Taiwan
Beautiful detail

Taiwan
View outside my window at the Grand Hyatt

Taiwan
View outside my window at the Grand Hyatt

Taiwan
This is for Bill...