What a past few weeks it's been as far as journeying: New Zealand, Tahiti, sailing to Pitcairn Island (and back), Mo'orea, hitchhiking the California coast, filming in LA, and a lot in between. Since I wanted to go back to Australia, I explored options for getting back there. Hawaiian Airlines had a sale that would have allowed me to spend a couple of days in Hawaii but when I went to book it, I missed the sale by one day! After some research I found a ticket from LA to Taipei for only $318, so I went for that.
Taiwan was the only country I hadn't been to in this particular corridor; I had already been to China, North & South Korea, Japan, Macau and Hong Kong, therefore Taiwan was the blank spot on that area of the map...until last night. After my passport was partially chewed up by my friend Javier's dogs, I was nervous. He gave me a lift to the airport, and I really can't thank him enough for hosting me whilst I did my filming. Nobody else would put me up at their home, and he stepped in last week only two hours before I arrived in LA.
The flight from LA to Taipei, with a brief stopover in Hong Kong, took 18 hours. I was still fuming about the LEGO Taj Mahal I wanted to buy at the duty free shop in Hong Kong, but I simply couldn't carry it. Arriving after midnight I was concerned about how the officials were going to react about my passport but I was stamped in quickly and I was on my way. A young man named Erwin agreed to host me via CouchSurfing, but it was very late and the MRT doesn't run after midnight so I opted to stay at a hostel near the airport. After taking an Uber I discovered the hostel's reception closed about 15 minutes earlier, and the door was locked. In a dilemma I was: I just finished an 18 hour flight with very little sleep, so I sat bleary-eyed at 7-Eleven with a Red Bull and pondered my options. I could have waited a few hours and got the first train but I decided to bite the bullet and book an Uber. It was $38 (US$) but I got dropped off right at Erwin's doorstep, and he was up late studying so it was no drama turning up late. After all that flying I was really exhausted, and I fell asleep instanteously after rolling out my sleeping mat.
Despite how tired I was, I only slept a few hours last night. I just had to get out there! As in Japan and Korea, 7-Eleven outlets are ubiquitous as well as being really awesome!. With seating, free wifi, and all sorts of other perks, 7-Elevens in the region put those in the US and Australia to shame. Spaghetti and coffee would be my breakfast, and I was intrigued by the little bag they gave me after heating up my meal. Erwin was still awake studying math whilst I thought about what to do. I wasn't in any particular hurry to rush off and see the must-see sights; I wanted to mostly take it easy on my first day. I opted to do some geocaching and see some sights in the Xindian area (Indian with an "X" in front). First I'll talk a bit about Taiwan. Officially it's the Republic of China (ROC; hence the capital letters in the title of my story) and sees both Taiwan and the People's Republic of China (PRC) as belonging to one another. Until 1949, both the mainland and Taiwan were regarded as the "Republic of China" but to this day, Taiwan sees itself as the "real" China whilst the PRC regards Taiwan as being part of its territory.
I wasn't in a huge rush to get on the MRT and make a B-line for downtown Taipei; I'll do that tomorrow. Although it was a slightly wet day, I opted for walking nearby to see what I can see.
As in Tokyo and Busan, you can walk round serendipitously and see something interesting wherever you are.
Erwin is new to CS, and lives in a very small place. He only has one pillow at his flat so I bought him an extra pillow for CSers to use. I find it rather difficult to sleep without a pillow. At night I went out in search of something to eat...
...and in Taiwan you're absolutely spoiled for choice. I had such a hard time deciding on what to eat but I settled for some delicious Taiwanese vegetarian food.
A multitude of vegetables and colours you see here. Eggplant is one of my favourite vegetables, and one reason I really look forward to Asian cuisine. Back at Erwin's flat I shared some mathematical comedy with him as he's working on his M.A. in math. Did you hear about the constipated mathematician? He worked it out with a pencil. What did the mathematician pay for a meat pie? $3.14. If I thought hard I could do a lot more mathematical comedy. For the next week I'll be in Taiwan, and I reckon this is a wonderful place already.
