I didn't die in a plane crash! (yet)
I've just arrived at the hotel in Taipei. Its pretty awesome! :D
Let me back track a bit and talk about the trip...
I took a shuttle to the airport. Some crraaaaazy guy was driving. Got to the airport, walked around and finally found the check in place for Singapore Airlines... There was nobody in line for the business class, I go up and they give me a sticker to put on my chest. Its basically a sticker which represents how much more awesome I am than all of those 'other' people. I hand my bag to the x-ray guy and then this guy takes me and walks me over to the express security line, bypassing about 100 'other' people lined up. After going through the usual security junk I get on a bus which drives us to the other side of the airport.
Once on the plane I'm seated in a chair about the size of a SMART Car. It is able, and this is not an exaggeration, to completely lay flat. IT TURNS INTO A BED. I've slept in my fair share of beds before, but this one has some particularly nice amenities. Firstly, a very attractive asian girl comes by frequently to ask if I would like anything to eat or drink. I had a drink called a Singapore Sling (the boat which I go sailing on is called the Singapore Sling after this very drink), a variety of juices, and some water. I'm probably more happy about the food though. Lets go over just exactly what I ate....
First course, seared tuna tartar on lettuce with thousand island dressing
Second course, noodles with shredded chicken and mushrooms with garlic bread
Third course, a plate of fresh fruit with a crescent roll
Fourth course, corn flakes
Fifth course, a small steak with an egg, a cooked tomato, and hash browns with holindaise sauce
Needless to say, I'm pretty stuffed after this flight!!!
Upon getting off the plane, getting my visa, and picking up my bag at the baggage claim area, I went through customs which consisted of me walking down a hallway and them giving me the hand signal "You're white and we don't care what you bring into our country", which seems to be a theme. Everyone here is so excited to stare at my pale freckled skin! Lots of people kept talking to me while I was just standing there waiting for my bags. Not in a bad way at all, they are all very friendly and spoke good enough English that I could understand them.
After walking through customs I see a guy holding a sign with my name on it, who after I wave at him, rushes over, grabs my bags, and begins running out the door. Luckily he grabbed the biggest bag and that slowed him down, and I was able to keep up with him. He tossed the bags in the Mercedes and we were off. Taiwan is a beautiful country! The drive was about half an hour, maybe longer, and I got to see a lot of the scenery outside of the city. Its very green here and its sort of like being in a rain forest. Things are very much western influenced, all of the cars are regular cars (though I noticed some are called different names). One funny thing that caught my attention was how a lot of the buildings here aren't "lined up". In the US, pretty much all buildings are at 90 degree angles to each other. Here, they dont seem to care. There could be one building one way, and the other at a 30 degree angle to it, just chilling out. All buildings here have big shiny metal cylindrical containers on top of them, which I THINK is water, but I wasn't able to ask the driver since he didn't speak English. Another thing I thought was cool was the huge number of Vespas there are on the streets. Not so much motorcycles, just motorscooters. Lots of people are driving them and have hankerchiefs over their faces. They also drive like fucking crazy fuckers over here. There seem to be stop lights and things, but nobody obeys them. If the light is red and you think you can make it, you just go!
Anyway, once I arrive at the hotel I am given a quick tour. Its currently just before 10am here, and they are serving breakfast in the lobby. My room is very nice, in particular the bathroom is awesome. Its got one of those fancy toilets with the bidet and heater and fan and stuff built in. As soon as I give it a shot I'll report back how my butt feels about it.
The guy I'm meeting from the SOE Taiwan studio is supposed to swing by here in a few minutes and give me a quick rundown so I don't get stabbed or shot while I'm here.
So far so good :)
Let me back track a bit and talk about the trip...
I took a shuttle to the airport. Some crraaaaazy guy was driving. Got to the airport, walked around and finally found the check in place for Singapore Airlines... There was nobody in line for the business class, I go up and they give me a sticker to put on my chest. Its basically a sticker which represents how much more awesome I am than all of those 'other' people. I hand my bag to the x-ray guy and then this guy takes me and walks me over to the express security line, bypassing about 100 'other' people lined up. After going through the usual security junk I get on a bus which drives us to the other side of the airport.
Once on the plane I'm seated in a chair about the size of a SMART Car. It is able, and this is not an exaggeration, to completely lay flat. IT TURNS INTO A BED. I've slept in my fair share of beds before, but this one has some particularly nice amenities. Firstly, a very attractive asian girl comes by frequently to ask if I would like anything to eat or drink. I had a drink called a Singapore Sling (the boat which I go sailing on is called the Singapore Sling after this very drink), a variety of juices, and some water. I'm probably more happy about the food though. Lets go over just exactly what I ate....
First course, seared tuna tartar on lettuce with thousand island dressing
Second course, noodles with shredded chicken and mushrooms with garlic bread
Third course, a plate of fresh fruit with a crescent roll
Fourth course, corn flakes
Fifth course, a small steak with an egg, a cooked tomato, and hash browns with holindaise sauce
Needless to say, I'm pretty stuffed after this flight!!!
Upon getting off the plane, getting my visa, and picking up my bag at the baggage claim area, I went through customs which consisted of me walking down a hallway and them giving me the hand signal "You're white and we don't care what you bring into our country", which seems to be a theme. Everyone here is so excited to stare at my pale freckled skin! Lots of people kept talking to me while I was just standing there waiting for my bags. Not in a bad way at all, they are all very friendly and spoke good enough English that I could understand them.
After walking through customs I see a guy holding a sign with my name on it, who after I wave at him, rushes over, grabs my bags, and begins running out the door. Luckily he grabbed the biggest bag and that slowed him down, and I was able to keep up with him. He tossed the bags in the Mercedes and we were off. Taiwan is a beautiful country! The drive was about half an hour, maybe longer, and I got to see a lot of the scenery outside of the city. Its very green here and its sort of like being in a rain forest. Things are very much western influenced, all of the cars are regular cars (though I noticed some are called different names). One funny thing that caught my attention was how a lot of the buildings here aren't "lined up". In the US, pretty much all buildings are at 90 degree angles to each other. Here, they dont seem to care. There could be one building one way, and the other at a 30 degree angle to it, just chilling out. All buildings here have big shiny metal cylindrical containers on top of them, which I THINK is water, but I wasn't able to ask the driver since he didn't speak English. Another thing I thought was cool was the huge number of Vespas there are on the streets. Not so much motorcycles, just motorscooters. Lots of people are driving them and have hankerchiefs over their faces. They also drive like fucking crazy fuckers over here. There seem to be stop lights and things, but nobody obeys them. If the light is red and you think you can make it, you just go!
Anyway, once I arrive at the hotel I am given a quick tour. Its currently just before 10am here, and they are serving breakfast in the lobby. My room is very nice, in particular the bathroom is awesome. Its got one of those fancy toilets with the bidet and heater and fan and stuff built in. As soon as I give it a shot I'll report back how my butt feels about it.
The guy I'm meeting from the SOE Taiwan studio is supposed to swing by here in a few minutes and give me a quick rundown so I don't get stabbed or shot while I'm here.
So far so good :)