Taipei is amazing!!
I'm so loving it here!!
Right now I'm sitting in the bar in the hotel, enjoying a smoke and some lovely scotch (Glenmorangie 15 yr sherry barrel). Surprisingly, there's lots of English conversation around me. I've decided to speak German if approached by anyone icky. With my luck, the ickies will speak German...
The flight wasn't so bad. I don't remember much of it thanks to the Xanax the doc prescribed, which allowed me to drift in and out of sleep throughout the 12.5 hour flight. I managed to get an exit row seat, which was nice, and bonus: the seat next to me was empty. They served two meals - one was supposed to be dinner and the other breakfast, but I honestly couldn't have told you which was which. Both were lovely, though - Asian for sure, which gave me interesting condiments and mysterious meat products.
I was met at the airport by a very sweet little Asian man holding a sign with my name on it, and he escorted me to my LIMO!! I got to the hotel around 4 PM or so on Saturday (that equates to 11 PM Friday Seattle time - I'm 15 hours ahead of y'all), and they brought up champagne about 30 minutes after I settled in. CHAMPAGNE + JET LAG = SLEEEEEEPY DEE. I had every intention of staying awake until at least 9 PM so I could get myself on schedule here, but kept dozing off. Stumbled in to bed around 10 and slept fitfully until I could stand it no more around 6 AM.
My hotel is insanely posh. SO beautiful and fancy!! My room is HUGE - I'd bet it's only about 100 square feet short of my apartment. I have a living room that's about the size of my apartment's, with a nice flat panel TV and a very comfy sofa. The bedroom (which also sports a nice flat panel!) is WAY bigger than mine back home, and the bed is just shy of ROCK HARD, which is perfection. They have cute little slippers, nice robes, my very own umbrella (like I'd use the umbrella that has my hotel's name on it - I brought my own, thank you - but still cool that it's there!), and every thing you could possibly forget in the way of bathroom stuff. And the shampoo, conditioner, lotion and body wash are all BVLGARI!! Which means super-posh and lovely-smelling. They even have this cool razor that has a shaving-cream dispenser in the handle! I'm so stealing all that stuff! The bathroom is the size of my apartment's second bedroom, complete with a tub larger than any non-Jacuzzi tub I've ever seen - I could easily lie down in it, whereas at my height (5'11.75") it's next to impossible to be in a tub without either my feet or shoulders out of the water. And they have bath salts. I brought some spiffy bath stuff of my own, but the fact that my hotel has provided me with fancy bath salts says I have to use them at least once. In addition to the massive tub, I have a massive shower. The toilet's not much to write about, but it's Western in nature, so I'm happy.
The toilet bit brings me to a side-note. When I arrived at the airport, I had to use the potty, so I found one and got in line. I'd heard horror stories of what toilets are like in Asia, so I was curious as to what I'd encounter. Well, in this restroom, there were four stalls. Three had pictures of a normal toilet on the door, and the other had what looked like a bed or something, so I assumed it must be the one with a baby-changing station. The tiny little Asian woman who exited that stall did not have an infant with her, so my curiosity was instantly piqued. It was my turn, and that was the open stall, so I went for it. Turns out that icon indicated that it was basically a men's urinal lying horizontally on the floor, and I was to squat over it. I don't quite remember, but I think I laughed out loud. Being all for embracing the culture I'm visiting, I hiked up my skirt and decided to half-remove my undies to prevent idiotic wetting, and then I went for it. Wasn't so bad. No wetting incidents, no damp feet, no problem at all really. I figured even if they were all this way, I'd be totally fine. Luckily, from what I've seen thus far, most of the toilets are of the Western variety, so I'm safe either way.
Back to the posh hotel... Instead of the shitty little coffee maker most American hotels provide, I have this AWESOME hot water thingy for tea. It's not a kettle by any means. I've seen some fancy stuff in my time, but this takes it as far as hotel amenities go. It's made by Zojirushi (sp?), the folks who perfected the rice makers, and it's pretty much the same thing, only no rice and the ability to keep water warm enough that it will boil up for some tea in a heartbeat. It's very swanky as hot beverage gadgets go. I want one. Rather doubt I'll fit it in the luggage, though, so it'll be off to teh Intranetz when I have cash again...so in like 4 months.
Today I decided to venture out a bit and got myself VERY lost. Also found that few people wear halter dresses out here - the one I wore is rather revealing and I got quite a few cat-calls. It's hot though - around 90 and VERY humid, so there's no way I'm covering up with a hoodie!! Would have been just fine dressed as such back home, but there's a level of modesty here that I'm just not familiar with...even though I'm from Kansas and all that crap. ;)
It was a beautiful experience though. I wandered up and down allies instead of taking main roads so that I could see all of the *real* stuff - the interesting restaurants and strange stores. Once lost, I decided to make my way back to the main streets where there were lots of street vendors - kind of like the streets of NYC, only replacing kebabs with dumplings. I think I had the most fun at a 7-11. They're friggin everywhere!! I couldn't read anything, but I knew that I needed some kind of coffee beverage I could take back to the room since all they have in the room is excellent tea and bad instant coffee. I also needed some water, as I've been reminded repeatedly to be very careful of local water. I probably stared at the refrigerated beverage case for a full 15 minutes. Surely the girl working there thought I was a completely retarded American. She may be onto something.
I'm sad to admit that the most relaxing and enjoyable part of the day (aside from sipping my Scotch, smoking my smokes, and writing this rambling report for all to read) took place at a Starbucks. I know. The gasp you just uttered probably registered somewhere in my subconscious, which means if I'm teaching at the moment, I probably just stuttered for no apparent reason. Given the time difference, it is most likely that when you read this I'll be sleeping, so perhaps you'll visit my dream to deliver a hefty smack to the back of my head. At Starbucks, I indulged in something I never get simply for posterity's sake - I feel that the presence of such a menu item in a coffee house (even if it *is* Starbucks) is a complete abomination and an insult to the art of coffee itself. I got a Frappuccino. But not just any Frappuccino. A Red Bean Frappuccino. If you've ever had any of the more interesting Asian deserts, you may have encountered this awesome ingredient. As I understand it, red bean paste is simply sweetened, fermented soy bean paste. And it's awesome. I've had sticky-bun thingies filled with it, so I knew that blending it with milk and ice would be an act of genius. I had to partake. So I did. And I loved it. I plan to have at least one every day. In fact, I may go back over there after dinner tonight to have another - if they're still open, that is...Taipei seems to keep odd hours. About half-way through the wonderful delight that was my Red Bean Frappuccino, I realized that the ice would have been made with local water. Which means I may have been exposed to something that will rattle the very core of my digestive system. But hey, what else is new?
Alright then. That about sums it up for now. I know, it's a pretty damned long post, and I hope you made it through (if you read behind the cut, that is). I'll be posting again as the week progresses to share my experiences, but I truly wish I could magically jaunt you all here so you could share them in person. To be on the other side of the world is one thing. To be enjoying it this much, but without anyone to share it with is somewhat bittersweet.
Tomorrow morning I meet my clients. Our email exchanges thus far have been very pleasant, so I hope all goes well and that they surprise me by being more intelligent than the usual dolts I work with.
Hope all's well on the other side of the Earth...
Right now I'm sitting in the bar in the hotel, enjoying a smoke and some lovely scotch (Glenmorangie 15 yr sherry barrel). Surprisingly, there's lots of English conversation around me. I've decided to speak German if approached by anyone icky. With my luck, the ickies will speak German...
The flight wasn't so bad. I don't remember much of it thanks to the Xanax the doc prescribed, which allowed me to drift in and out of sleep throughout the 12.5 hour flight. I managed to get an exit row seat, which was nice, and bonus: the seat next to me was empty. They served two meals - one was supposed to be dinner and the other breakfast, but I honestly couldn't have told you which was which. Both were lovely, though - Asian for sure, which gave me interesting condiments and mysterious meat products.
I was met at the airport by a very sweet little Asian man holding a sign with my name on it, and he escorted me to my LIMO!! I got to the hotel around 4 PM or so on Saturday (that equates to 11 PM Friday Seattle time - I'm 15 hours ahead of y'all), and they brought up champagne about 30 minutes after I settled in. CHAMPAGNE + JET LAG = SLEEEEEEPY DEE. I had every intention of staying awake until at least 9 PM so I could get myself on schedule here, but kept dozing off. Stumbled in to bed around 10 and slept fitfully until I could stand it no more around 6 AM.
My hotel is insanely posh. SO beautiful and fancy!! My room is HUGE - I'd bet it's only about 100 square feet short of my apartment. I have a living room that's about the size of my apartment's, with a nice flat panel TV and a very comfy sofa. The bedroom (which also sports a nice flat panel!) is WAY bigger than mine back home, and the bed is just shy of ROCK HARD, which is perfection. They have cute little slippers, nice robes, my very own umbrella (like I'd use the umbrella that has my hotel's name on it - I brought my own, thank you - but still cool that it's there!), and every thing you could possibly forget in the way of bathroom stuff. And the shampoo, conditioner, lotion and body wash are all BVLGARI!! Which means super-posh and lovely-smelling. They even have this cool razor that has a shaving-cream dispenser in the handle! I'm so stealing all that stuff! The bathroom is the size of my apartment's second bedroom, complete with a tub larger than any non-Jacuzzi tub I've ever seen - I could easily lie down in it, whereas at my height (5'11.75") it's next to impossible to be in a tub without either my feet or shoulders out of the water. And they have bath salts. I brought some spiffy bath stuff of my own, but the fact that my hotel has provided me with fancy bath salts says I have to use them at least once. In addition to the massive tub, I have a massive shower. The toilet's not much to write about, but it's Western in nature, so I'm happy.
The toilet bit brings me to a side-note. When I arrived at the airport, I had to use the potty, so I found one and got in line. I'd heard horror stories of what toilets are like in Asia, so I was curious as to what I'd encounter. Well, in this restroom, there were four stalls. Three had pictures of a normal toilet on the door, and the other had what looked like a bed or something, so I assumed it must be the one with a baby-changing station. The tiny little Asian woman who exited that stall did not have an infant with her, so my curiosity was instantly piqued. It was my turn, and that was the open stall, so I went for it. Turns out that icon indicated that it was basically a men's urinal lying horizontally on the floor, and I was to squat over it. I don't quite remember, but I think I laughed out loud. Being all for embracing the culture I'm visiting, I hiked up my skirt and decided to half-remove my undies to prevent idiotic wetting, and then I went for it. Wasn't so bad. No wetting incidents, no damp feet, no problem at all really. I figured even if they were all this way, I'd be totally fine. Luckily, from what I've seen thus far, most of the toilets are of the Western variety, so I'm safe either way.
Back to the posh hotel... Instead of the shitty little coffee maker most American hotels provide, I have this AWESOME hot water thingy for tea. It's not a kettle by any means. I've seen some fancy stuff in my time, but this takes it as far as hotel amenities go. It's made by Zojirushi (sp?), the folks who perfected the rice makers, and it's pretty much the same thing, only no rice and the ability to keep water warm enough that it will boil up for some tea in a heartbeat. It's very swanky as hot beverage gadgets go. I want one. Rather doubt I'll fit it in the luggage, though, so it'll be off to teh Intranetz when I have cash again...so in like 4 months.
Today I decided to venture out a bit and got myself VERY lost. Also found that few people wear halter dresses out here - the one I wore is rather revealing and I got quite a few cat-calls. It's hot though - around 90 and VERY humid, so there's no way I'm covering up with a hoodie!! Would have been just fine dressed as such back home, but there's a level of modesty here that I'm just not familiar with...even though I'm from Kansas and all that crap. ;)
It was a beautiful experience though. I wandered up and down allies instead of taking main roads so that I could see all of the *real* stuff - the interesting restaurants and strange stores. Once lost, I decided to make my way back to the main streets where there were lots of street vendors - kind of like the streets of NYC, only replacing kebabs with dumplings. I think I had the most fun at a 7-11. They're friggin everywhere!! I couldn't read anything, but I knew that I needed some kind of coffee beverage I could take back to the room since all they have in the room is excellent tea and bad instant coffee. I also needed some water, as I've been reminded repeatedly to be very careful of local water. I probably stared at the refrigerated beverage case for a full 15 minutes. Surely the girl working there thought I was a completely retarded American. She may be onto something.
I'm sad to admit that the most relaxing and enjoyable part of the day (aside from sipping my Scotch, smoking my smokes, and writing this rambling report for all to read) took place at a Starbucks. I know. The gasp you just uttered probably registered somewhere in my subconscious, which means if I'm teaching at the moment, I probably just stuttered for no apparent reason. Given the time difference, it is most likely that when you read this I'll be sleeping, so perhaps you'll visit my dream to deliver a hefty smack to the back of my head. At Starbucks, I indulged in something I never get simply for posterity's sake - I feel that the presence of such a menu item in a coffee house (even if it *is* Starbucks) is a complete abomination and an insult to the art of coffee itself. I got a Frappuccino. But not just any Frappuccino. A Red Bean Frappuccino. If you've ever had any of the more interesting Asian deserts, you may have encountered this awesome ingredient. As I understand it, red bean paste is simply sweetened, fermented soy bean paste. And it's awesome. I've had sticky-bun thingies filled with it, so I knew that blending it with milk and ice would be an act of genius. I had to partake. So I did. And I loved it. I plan to have at least one every day. In fact, I may go back over there after dinner tonight to have another - if they're still open, that is...Taipei seems to keep odd hours. About half-way through the wonderful delight that was my Red Bean Frappuccino, I realized that the ice would have been made with local water. Which means I may have been exposed to something that will rattle the very core of my digestive system. But hey, what else is new?
Alright then. That about sums it up for now. I know, it's a pretty damned long post, and I hope you made it through (if you read behind the cut, that is). I'll be posting again as the week progresses to share my experiences, but I truly wish I could magically jaunt you all here so you could share them in person. To be on the other side of the world is one thing. To be enjoying it this much, but without anyone to share it with is somewhat bittersweet.
Tomorrow morning I meet my clients. Our email exchanges thus far have been very pleasant, so I hope all goes well and that they surprise me by being more intelligent than the usual dolts I work with.
Hope all's well on the other side of the Earth...