observations

Here are some general observations we have made thus far in our stay.

*We reserver the right to retract our comments/opinions at any time in the event we find out we are wrong or change our minds.

1. On average, Taiwanese are taller than we thought they would be. I have found that I am pretty average height compared to the rest of the females here. Brian is tall but, only by a few inches. However, Brian's size 15 feet are still very impressive to the locals.
2. The "good" weather we were fortunate to experience our first few days here, is not normal. Our first few days here were clear and sunny skies. Coming from California, we didn't think anything of it. Brian even started to comment on the humidity. We learned from the local english radio on Monday that the great weather we experienced over the weekend was some of the best weather in Taipei, ever. The last two days have been overcast with light showers and pretty humid. I suspect this type of weather is what we can come to expect.
3. There is not high demand for early morning coffee drinking. Over the weekend I was still adjusting to the time change. I was waking up at 2:30am and 3:00am. I would hang around the apartment trying to sleep until about 6:00am when I figured some stuff would be open. However, the coffee shops do not open until later in the morning (7:30am, 8am or later). The only thing that I have found on my walks from the apartment to be open that early are.... McDonalds. They even have a doughnut shop here (Mister Doughnut) but, it does not open unil 11am daily.
4. Symbolic value trumps monetary value. Our bus tour included a stop to the National Palace Museum, NPM. You can see some of the featured items displayed at the following website, www.npm.gov.tw. One of the most important items there was a jade carving of a cabbage. This is one of the favorite pieces because it took so long to carve, three generations, and is symbolic of purity and offers blessings for bearing many children. Lions are pretty popular because they are the guardians, they will fend off evil spirits. The two most common lions are a male lion with a ball under his front paw, which represents the male lion as the protector of the world. The other is the female lion with a baby cub on its back which represents the female lion protecting the children.
5. You're nobody unless you have a scooter. It seems like everyone has a scooter here. Some people will pack themselves on, such as three to a scooter. This seems like the most preferred way to travel, regardless of rain, because you can move up to the front of the line in traffic.
6. Taiwanese are not big fans of salad. So far, I have not seen a salad on any menu. I get the feeling it would be hard to be a vegetarian here. I have seen some fruit salads but not a lettuce/green salad. On the other hand, if you a fan of waffles and tuna salad, you're in luck! I have seen it in several places now, when you order waffles you have the options of getting with whip cream or tuna. 

Day 2 and 3 - Getting Acquainted with Taipei

We spent the last two days wandering farther from our apartment to get a better idea what was around us, where the stores were, what alleys and smells to avoid, where the train stations were, etc.

After waking up, having breakfast and then doing a nice conference call with the US headquarters, we headed for a long elevator ride to the QuickLogic office (3 floors below our apartment). We met up with the local sales manager, David, and he drove us to the Taipei 101 shopping area to meet up with his wife for lunch at a Thai restaurant. They weren't aware of Asami's affinity for hot, spicy food, so we soaked her tongue in her water glass while I chomped away at the papaya/pepper salad and chicken curry. Yummy. :-)

David and his wife then drove us around the Taipei City area to show us some of the major sites and transportation options. At this point, we are comfortable getting around the few square kilometers of neighborhood within walking distance of the apartment.

Since we've adopted the "no shoes inside" policy of Taiwan, we needed to find slippers that actually fit Brian. This proved to be a significant challenge - one that we haven't solved yet. but, we did get a pair of slippers that allllllllllllmost fit. Good enough!

We decided we would take a city tour the next day, so we stopped by one of the American hotels here to sign up. After signing up we had a nice bowl of fruit and a coffee. Good way to pass the time and figure out what to do next.

Asami still isn't over her jet lag yet so she fell asleep around 7 pm. That left me alone to either a) watch a Taiwanese soap opera on TV, work on my laptop or read a book. I chose the latter two, alternating until I was sleepy enough to pass out. We are pretty close to the street below so I could hear the cars, trucks and scooters revving by for a while.

Today we got up early to take the tour. We walked back to the American hotel in time to meet the minivan full of other tourists (Americans and Euros). One couple was from Amsterdam; the husband owned a business that supplied plumbing to shipbuilders. Another pair was a father and son from LA. The father had worked in Taiwan for 4 years about 25 years ago. The son had never been here and was touring with his dad before taking a couple month backpacking trip to Thailand. He ain't seen humid and mosquitos yet!

The tour was fun and short. We saw Chiang Kai-Shek's memorial. It was very much like the Lincoln Memorial in the US. In fact, there are a lot of parallels between Taiwan and the US. Taiwan wanted its independence from China to be free of communist rule. They are a democracy today and very capitalist. And, they have a pretty short history similar to the US. Oh, and they have all of the luxuries of home like Starbucks, Costco, and Mos Burger... oh wait, we don't have Mos Burger.

We also saw their memorial shrine. It has several guards that stand up straight and don't speak a word during their watch, similar to Arlington or even the guard in England minus the enormous hats.

After the tour, we explored a little more and had lunch in the Taipei 101 basement food court. TONS of food shops, with menus we couldn't understand. Thank god for pictures!

We did some shopping at Costco tonight (g-pa would be proud). The food court there had the usual items like coffee, iced coffee, chicken sandwich, caesar salad, ice cream, churro, seafood pizza, etc. did I say seafood pizza? Yep.



Anyway, I go back to work tomorrow and Asami is going to check out the American Club to see what amenities they might have.

More to come!

Day1

We arrived in Taipei at 6am after a 13 hour flight. We got settled in to our place. We were a bit surprised by the size of the apartment. 

It is smaller than we thought. There is a small kitchen area with one stove range, microwave, mini freezer/fridge and storage. The kitchen opens into the living room area which has a small sofa and chair. From the living room there are sliding doors that open into the bedroom.

 There is a loft area which is not quite tall enough for Brian to stand up in. I guess it is all relative; this place would be huge if it were on a cruise ship or a train. 

The most interesting thing was the bathroom. I had a hard time finding the shower...

We live a few blocks from the tallest building in the world, Taipei 101. When you lay down in bed you can see it from the window.

Although it is a fact this is the tallest building, it didn't seem that big to me. Maybe because the city does not seem that big, there are not a lot of skyscrapers surrounding it. 

I felt kind of like mom, who is 5'0" but, thinks she is just as tall as Brian.