Taiwan ROC

Taiwan - Portuguese for Beautiful Island.  I arrived in Taipei on March 2010 to commission machinery for a food processing company,  I was greeted at my hotel by our wonderful representative Mr. Colin Chen and his son Mr. Gary Chen. After a meeting with the customer, we were told to return the next day since they were not quite ready for us.  The Chen's then graciously took me sightseeing.

Gary & Colin Chen

First stop was the Yung Ming Mountain National Park in the Taipei area.  It was nice to escape the snow and frozen lakes of Minnesota and enjoy a relaxing walk through the fragrant park with friends.     

Sigh.....

During the week, I enjoyed a good working relationship with my customer and we accomplished much.  Soon the plant was operational.  A few bugs needed to be worked out of the system as expected.  Almost every day we stopped at a roadside vendor and enjoyed fresh fruit.  My favorite was Star fruit which is tasty, crunchy and good for you. 

Fresh fruit and veggies!

After a full week of work, I moved from my hotel near the Taipei airport to the Victoria Hotel in closer to downtown. On Saturday morning we hiked in the DaLun Wei mountains near Taipei.  Every time I'm in Asia I realize how out of shape I gotten as we vigorously hike mountain trails.  My good buddy in Beijing is honest with me and tells me to lose some weight. Thanks David!   

We  grabbed a water bottle and we headed up the trail to tame the mountain.  A beautiful spring day with heat and humidity.  The jungle was thick along the trail and I couldn't image how difficult it must have been for our boys in Vietnam.  Loaded down with ammo, boots, water, food and an M-16.  Not only did they have to watch out for the VC, but also snakes, trip wires, booby traps etc.  Thank you Vets!!

Jungle Stairway

We made it to the top under a steady pace without too many excuses to take in the view.....and breathe........  Near the top Mr. Chen pulled out of his bag of oranges, water bottles and Snickers bars.  Sounds like something we'd eat on a hike in the States.  Snack done, time to move on.  Soon we came across a metal shed some dude used as a snack shack along the trail.  Too bad we'd already eaten.  

Bamboo!

We finally reached the top and enjoyed the cool breeze as we sat in a gazebo.  A group of people walked past heading towards a remote gazebo.  Soon I heard gospel music being sung in Taiwanese.  I knew the tune and words in English and walked over to introduce myself to this group of strangers.  Many spoke English and we enjoyed a pleasant conversation as we realized we were brothers and sisters in Christ!! It was a wonderful time speaking to these dear folks. When I left, I told them we see each other again in Glory. PTL!!

Brothers and Sisters!

Back on the trail we enjoyed a pleasant hike down the mountain and into Mr. Chen's Lexus.  Then off to check out his new condo at the base of the mountain.  Plenty of nice cars in Taipei.  BMW, Lexus, Ferrari and even a Bentley or two.  Of course scooters where everywhere.  The Chen's have two nice scooters but were afraid I'd get run over so we stayed in the Lexus.  

Scooters!!

Now time for lunch.  As in every country, I want to eat as the locals eat.  Lunch consisted of cold Coke  for me for me plus hot tea, noodles, cow's stomach  for protein and  many types of vegetables.  The meal was great.  Oops that was Sunday's meal.  Saturday we ate lunch at a Thai restaurant.  Excellent!!   However before lunch we visited the Taiwanese Honor Guard at the Martyr's Shrine.  These young soldiers keep a constant vigil. Too bad young men are sent into battle.  It would be better to send us old men to do the fighting.  Let the young guys live and raise their families.  Us old guys will fight the battles.

Honor Guard

The Martyr's Shrine was very beautiful with many flowers and paintings of various war scenes.  Many people  and families came to pay their respects and to observes these young solidiers. The young enjoying the day while the older people realized the sacrifices of many worldwide who have fought and died for their countries. 

I was impressed with the presentation grade M-1 Grande Rifles these young soldiers carried. A distant cousin to the M-1's carried by US soldiers in WWII and Korea.



Martyr's Shrine

Soon they dropped me off at the hotel and I enjoyed a steak dinner and watched the lights of Taipei along the river. I stayed in the Victoria Hotel which is in a great location close to shopping and restaurants.  On Sunday we planned to rent bicycles and drive along the river and then enjoy the sights from the 88th floor of the Taipei 101 building.  At the time of this story it was the tallest building in the world.

Biking along the Keelung river in Taipei

We rode bikes along the river for about 2 hours. The city has a nice paved trail along the river which passes  an area with numerous athletic fields populated with soccer, rugby, American football and baseball.  We stopped and watched the game. Soon a vendor stopped by selling coagulated pig blood on a stick. His little three wheeled cart had an automated recording that yelled out "come and get your pig blood on a stick".  Back on the bikes until we came across a few guys fishing for catfish in the river.  They had a cooler full of cats weighing about 2 kg each.  The river water did not look too appetizing - similar to the Mississippi near New Orleans.

Cooler full of Channel Cats

We returned the rental bikes and headed "home" to relax before dinner and tour of the Taipei 101 building.  It was a foggy night when we visited the 101 and took the elevator to the 88th floor to look out upon the city.  Too bad it was foggy but the view was still impressive.

Taipei 101

The 101 was quite the building.  To get to the observation deck, you had to pay about USD 20.00 and wait in line to board the high speed elevator. Once on board, the elevation gets you to the top in about 15 seconds.  Ears pop, kids squirm and everyone giggles when the elevator slows down and your body keeps going up.  The view was good, but hampered by clouds.  The building is stabilized by a huge ball held in place by large cables.  When the earthquakes hit, this ball moves to counterbalance the movement of the building.  Works great.

Magnificent hotel along the Keelung River

On Monday we hit the road as we traveled to central Taiwan to meet with a few customers.  The highway was excellent as we cruised along in the Lexus.  After a 4 hour drive we checked into our hotel in Gra-l City.  As we waited at a stop light near the hotel, the car began to shake.  The shaking lasted about 3 seconds.  I asked Mr. Chen "why did the car shake?"  Oh just an earthquake. The light turned green and we drove into the underground parking lot of the hotel.  Then into the elevator up to the lobby.  Hmmm this doesn't seem like a safe location after an earthquake, but these guys weren't concerned so I let it go.  Like an idiot I walked onto the balcony of my 17th floor hotel room and looked over the edge. No more earthquake.

Soon a dinner of sushi  and a walk through an overpriced mall before bed.  Malls, they're the same anywhere in the world - overpriced, full of clothing stores and full of young kids.  A great place to hang out as a kid.

No one seems concerned with the quake

The next morning we drove to a large chemical plant to discuss the ins and outs of our machinery. Soon one more plant and then the long drive back to Taipei.  Mr. Chen took me to the western shore of Taiwan along a large seawall.  Waves pounded the wall with strong winds allowing me to lean into the wind at about a 15º degrees without falling.  Along the shore the Taiwanese have installed numerous large windmills.  In the heavy wind they were churning out the kilowatts. However Mr. Chen indicated that the winds blow in the winter/spring, but when summer arrives and they need the electricity, the winds are much less.

The Chen men fighting the wind

Back in the Lexus headed north to Taipei.  We drove through a few small villages along the way and finally stopped in a little town to see the Buddhist temple and have dinner at a local diner frequented by the Chen's. We ate tons of good seafood, talked with the locals and back to the road.  As we neared Taipei we entered the expressway.  The expressway on Sunday night was fantastic without potholes, traffic jams or drivers in a rush to get home.  Many of the roads in Minnesota are full of the above due to temperature extremes (up to 38ºC in the summer and -31º in the winter) and too many people running late to where ever they're going.  Life is hectic in the States.  The Chen's dropped me off at my hotel near the airport.  In the morning I flew to Tokyo, then on to Minneapolis and the tail end of winter.