Getting Settled in Hsinchu
Taiwan Travelog #3
Sheraton Hsinchu Hotel, Hsinchu Taiwan - Tue 28 Sep 2010 - 10pm
It's been a long day but I'm finally settled in at my hotel in Taiwan. My flight landed around 9pm. Hsinchu is about 50 miles west of Taipei. The airport is between the two cities, not terribly convenient to either one. You have to take a shuttle bus to a train station and then a train (high speed or regular) to get to a city. It was late and I was tired so I cheated and took a taxi straight to the hotel from the airport. It was a pleasantly quick ride at about 30 minutes.
I don't have much of an impression of Taiwan so far. There was little to see from the freeway at night. The one thought I have is that Taiwan is like a mashup of China and Korea. The act of driving is like Korea, where things are generally well sorted and there aren't random bicycles going the wrong way down freeway ramps, as there are in China. But the road signs are all in Chinese.
The Sheraton hotel I'm staying at is pretty nice. It opened just a few months ago so everything is shiny and new. There's polished granite everywhere, and the lobby is big enough for arena football (go Sabercats-- or whatever the home team's name is, if we even have one anymore).
Before turning in for the night I headed up to the lounge to meet my colleague Freddy, to discuss plans for tomorrow. Freddy is based in Hong Kong now and is my engineer for the Asia-Pacific region. Freddy wanted to hang out a bit longer but I was only good for one beer. Though it's only 10pm local and I napped on the flight from Tokyo, 10pm here is 7am California time. My body is telling me to shut down.
Fortunately my room looks very comfortable:
As seems typical for modern upscale Asian hotels, the bathroom is especially fancy. The shower and bathtub are separated from the sleeping area by a glass wall. A motorized shade lets the bather choose privacy or a show.
It's all very opulent. Too bad most of the time I spend here I'll be unconscious.
Sheraton Hsinchu Hotel, Hsinchu Taiwan - Tue 28 Sep 2010 - 10pm
It's been a long day but I'm finally settled in at my hotel in Taiwan. My flight landed around 9pm. Hsinchu is about 50 miles west of Taipei. The airport is between the two cities, not terribly convenient to either one. You have to take a shuttle bus to a train station and then a train (high speed or regular) to get to a city. It was late and I was tired so I cheated and took a taxi straight to the hotel from the airport. It was a pleasantly quick ride at about 30 minutes.
I don't have much of an impression of Taiwan so far. There was little to see from the freeway at night. The one thought I have is that Taiwan is like a mashup of China and Korea. The act of driving is like Korea, where things are generally well sorted and there aren't random bicycles going the wrong way down freeway ramps, as there are in China. But the road signs are all in Chinese.
The Sheraton hotel I'm staying at is pretty nice. It opened just a few months ago so everything is shiny and new. There's polished granite everywhere, and the lobby is big enough for arena football (go Sabercats-- or whatever the home team's name is, if we even have one anymore).
Before turning in for the night I headed up to the lounge to meet my colleague Freddy, to discuss plans for tomorrow. Freddy is based in Hong Kong now and is my engineer for the Asia-Pacific region. Freddy wanted to hang out a bit longer but I was only good for one beer. Though it's only 10pm local and I napped on the flight from Tokyo, 10pm here is 7am California time. My body is telling me to shut down.
Fortunately my room looks very comfortable:
As seems typical for modern upscale Asian hotels, the bathroom is especially fancy. The shower and bathtub are separated from the sleeping area by a glass wall. A motorized shade lets the bather choose privacy or a show.
It's all very opulent. Too bad most of the time I spend here I'll be unconscious.