Day ??? - Where the heck am I???

I am really not sure what day it is or where I am, although I think it is still Vietnam!

OK, it has been too long since my last post. Believe it or not between eating my way across Asia, I have actually had to work!! Today was the last fair and the last day of work and I am officially on vacation....yippee!!! Of course, you all know that Chris is leaving Saturday to meet me in Bangkok and we are both very excited about the next leg of my trip to Thailand!

Right now I'm in Hanoi and I suppose that I better update you with everything that has been going on here. I guess I better start back in Ho Chi Minh City with the last meal. First of all, let me just say that shopping is like nothing you can even imagine here. I already mentioned a bit about the markets, but really, you can buy anything here and you have to bargain for everything which is such a novelty! I, of cousrse, probably pay way too much, but still there are deals to be had. The clothes that I had made arrived at the hotel the night of the fair and naturally they fit perfectly. They will be wonderful on my trip to Thailand. Two shirts and one pair of pants-custom made- for about $30 in total!

My friend, Maritta, and I ate at one of the most famous restaurants in HCMC called Hoi An. It was marvelous and I am glad that we treated ourselves. It was a little more expensive that what we were used to paying but definately worth it. All the furniture looked like it was right out of a colonial house...the heaviest chairs you have ever seem. The food was spectacular. Seven courses of very traditional, but also very fine Vietnamese food. What a wonderful end to my time in HCMC.

Except...................................................

I get to the airport the next day with another girl from the fair, Fausta. We are walking around and all of a sudden..........................I'm not feeling so good. So I politely ask her to watch my stuff while I head to the bathroom. Well, I am not even going to begin to describe how sick I became after that point. There were a few moments where I thought that there was no way that I could get on this two-hour flight. "Tieu chay" is what they call it here. You may be more familiar with "Montazuma's revenge" or "Dehli Belly" depending on where you are in the world. I thought that I was going to die. The whole trip I spent doubled over in my seat and rushing to the back of the plane. I have to mention something at this point. When you travel in Asia, there are a collection of little tips that you pick up along the way. For example, you always carry your own tissue because you never know when you will hit a bathroom which doesn't have any. Well, it is a good thing that I learn from the past because there is nothing like having a good case of Tieu chay with white pants and realizing that there is no toilet paper!!! The other thing that you learn is that when you travel you always carry Zithromax and Immodium. Except now I have learned that it is best not kept in your checked luggage, but rather in your carry on. Note to self.

Anyways, with the help of Fausta, I did make it to the hotel in one piece....barely...and got checked in. Suffered for a few more hours in the privacy of my nice hotel room and then slept for 3 hours. I really didn't eat much, but by 10pm I was super hungary after losing all those fluids and not eating. Went to the bar downstairs where they brought me the most heavenly bowl of pho!

The next day I was feeling much better and decided that I wanted to see a bit of the city. So all immodiumed up and ready to go, we headed off to see Hanoi. What a beautiful city. It is somewhat less busy that HCMC and definately prettier. This is what is in the movies. Colonial buildings everywhere, big parks with lakes...of course the view is somehow diminished by the incessant sound of horns honking and scooters... but really beautiful! Small little streets lined with silk stores and women walking through with two baskets on their shoulders. Since I have been here, I've tried really hard to take a video of the streets, but it just doesn't capture the feeling that one gets of the chaos. Fortunately, someone else did capture it and he will email me the video..if I can post it on the blog I will, but otherwise, you'll have to wait and see it for your self!

Fausta and I spent yesterday wandering around the streets of the old quarter and did a bit of shopping. Things here seem to be a bit more expensive, but perhaps it is because it was in the shops as opposed to the market. Tomorrow I will try to find the market here which is sure to have some good deals! It really is a shopper's paradise. As far as sights, we saw the magnificent Hoan Kiem Lake and the water puppet theatre...I am hoping to go and see the show tomorrow at some point. We stopped at a cafe for a cafe su da (ice coffee with sweetened condensed milk...basically like a Starbucks Frapucinno except it tastes really good) and then came back to the hotel. Today was all work. Set up my booth at 7:45 and the headed off for a meeting at 8:30. When I came back we had the fair all day. Finally tonight, it was all over. Work has ended and I am on vacation! Tomorrow I will get my stuff organized and packed up and then Monday off to Bangkok. We are aparently going to have the computer in Thailand, so I guess I should be able to update you at least a couple of times to let you know where we are. Miss everyone at home.

Day 18 - Tour of the Mekong Delta

I will try to describe a little of what I saw, but hopefully the photos will give you a better idea. My friend, Maritta, and I rented a car and driver and went on a tour of the Mekong Delta. Most of our day was spent on 3 different boats travelling between the islands in the Mekong Delta, which is the "rice basket" of Vietnam. It was a beautiful day and the breeze on the water was very welcome! We drove about an hour south of HCMC and then boarded our own private boat where we began our trip.

The first place we visited was Unicorn island where they have bee farms. I actually stuck my finger in a honeycomb filled with bees!! Aahhhhhh. Fortuntately, no stings. We drank a wonderful mixture of fresh honey, bee pollen (very good for you), lemon and green tea. It was delicious. We then walked a short distance to a coconut thatched roof building where we had a sampling of maybe six different types of tropical fruits and listened to some traditional music.

Then it was off in a row boat through the tiny canals. We then went to another island where we visited a coconut candy factory....factory being another thatched roof building where they make the candy by hand. It was really delicious....like a type of taffy. Watched them for a little while and then back in the boat to the next stop. We floated through mangroves and watched the kingfishers fly by. I don't know what the place is called, but it is where some eccetric monk lived--he survived for 3 years on coconut alone and built some strange kitchy structures. It was very strange indeed.
Our last stop on the trip was to a restuarant where they have king prawns and fish...can't describe it, but take a look at the photo. They fry the fish, caught moments before, and then they the flesh cut it off and wrap it in a rice paper with fresh basil and lettuce which you then dip in a sauce. It was delicious. Basically, that was the end of the tour. We then drove back to the city. What an amazing day...hopefully the photos will be more descriptive than I am.

Day 17 - Good Morning Vietnam!! (how could I not use this title!)

Vietnam is truly different than anything that I have ever experienced before. Right now I am in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) in the south of Vietnam. I really don't even know where to begin. First of all the weather is hot and humid beyond your wildest imagination. It is like walking through thick air. Speaking of the air, it is also probably the worst I've ever been in...it is no wonder with the millions of scooters that buzz around. In fact, there are very few cars and everyone travels by scooter. Which brings me to the traffic here. Utter Chaos is simply not an adequate description to capture the essence of the roadways through the city. If I ever complained about traffic in any other country in Asia, I take it all back. The mass of scooters and taxi drive through the streets here en mass and there really are no rules. There are a few street lights, but they are hard to see and no one pays attention to them. They drive on the right hand side of the road unless there is someone slower that them in front and then they just move into the other lane...with oncoming traffic! When coming to an intersection, everybody just honks, like that somehow warns people that they are coming through. If you can imagine an intersection where no one stops, rather, they weave between each other and pass through. When crossing the street, you choose a time when there are the fewest amount of scooters passing by and then just start walking slowly....while you are crossing, they pass through and around you like water. No sudden movements because it might throw their ryhythm off. I guess they can predict where you are going to be and just swerve around. It is so terrifying that my heart was racing. Literally, you are walking into oncoming traffic. Waiting by the side of the road is often not possible because you would never get across. Taking a picture of this would be impossible because it just wouldn't show what it feels like. Traffic circles are the busiest sections of the road with scooters, taxis, bicycles, cyclos (the bicycles with a seat on the front where they carry passengers)... people veer in and out and I cannot for the life of me understand why they don't hit each other. I wonder if it has to do with thinking like a group as opposed to being an individual. No one speeds through; almost everyone goes the same speed. OK, enough about the traffic!

The city itself is pretty dirty and run down and it is obvious that poverty is everywhere. We are staying in a nice hotel, but just across the street from the lobby you can see people sitting on the street and kids playing in an alley. There are reminders everywhere that you are in a country that was ravaged by war, although along the street I noticed a few Nokia stores and internet cafes, reminders that Vietnam is becoming as capitalist as their Asian neighbours. No familiar stores or restaurants here....like in Korea, Taiwan and Japan where Starabucks and 7-11s are on every corner, here there is nothing famiiliar and almost nothing in English.

I've met up with a lady from the fair and we are spending time together as neither of us had meetings yesterday and my meeting for today was cancelled. We visited the Reunification Palace, the former presidential palace of South Vietnam and the War Remenants Museum. I don't know enough about the Vietnam war, but looking at the devastation to the country because of it was disturbing. The photos on the wall force you to question how human beings can treat each other like that. Horrific is the only decription I can give. Agent Orange, among other chemical warfare, had devastating effects on the people and environment, leaving children severely deformed and the environment that used to be lush and green, barren. At the end of the tour, you walk through a gallery of paintings done by Vietnamese children. Many of the drawings showed kids crying and fires burning, helicopters drawing bombs. However, in most of the pictures you could also see doves flying and people holding hands. I don't know how you could leave there with dry eyes.

After the museum we headed over to a market where everyone is selling and everyone calls out to you, "Madam, madam, you buy from me". The prices of the goods are criminally low. I bought 3m of beautiful silk for about $15. In fact, it is no wonder that this a backpackers haven, the prices here could allow you to travel for months on almost nothing. We ate dinner at a popular upscale restaurant where we enjoyed a feast fabulous food, two Tiger beers, and the price for the two of us was less than $15.

OK, I have gone on for far too long. It is morning now and because my meeting was cancelled we have decided to rent a car (and driver of course) to take a tour of the Mekong Delta. More about that later on!! Hope everyone is well....I miss you!

Day 15 - Goodbye Seoul, Hello Saigon!

I arrived later last night and spent my last night at the Seoul Plaza. Most of today was spent repacking luggage and sending a box back to Vancouver with many of the school materials that I have received in Taiwan and Korea. After checking out I wandered around one of the shopping districts here and picked up a few last minute items including a very cute dress for a little girl I know and a pair of sunglasses for Thailand. Also, Bronwen, thanks for the tip about the ginseng chicken soup...it was my last meal here and it was delicious!! Now I am relaxing in the hotel club lounge drinking a delicious cappuccino and winding down from the busy week here in Korea. My flight for Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, leaves tonight at 8pm so I will take the shuttle bus to the airport in about an hour.

Someone told me a funny story which I thought that I have to leave you with:

A Korean priest and a Korean taxi driver both arrive in heaven at the same time. The priest was feeling very confident about his chances of getting into heaven. The taxi driver was having a smoke while he was waiting. God lets in the taxi driver without hesitation and then pauses at the priest. The priest complains and asks, "Why are you letting him in not me!" God answers back to the priest, "Every Sunday when you deliver your sermon, all your congregation does is fall asleep...they don't pray any more. When people get in to the taxi driver's car, the first thing that they do is start praying to me!"

Hence, I am taking the airporter bus tonight!!

Day 14 - Gwangju and the Outback Steak House

Today was the day that I gave in. For one week straight I have enjoyed the delicacies of Korean traditional meals including kimchi, bulgogi, all the while, sitting on the floor cross-legged and using metal chopsticks! As much as I have enjoyed the food of my host country, tonight I just could not face negotiating which restaurant I would eat in and not being entirely certain what I would get when I point to the picture on the menu. I broke down and went to Outback Steak House! Steak tenderloin and steamed veggies and a good ole' glass of Wolf Blass have never tasted so good. And naturally, all enjoyed with a fork and steak knife. Nevertheless, I still felt somewhat guilty that I had given in to the temptation of Western cuisine.


I cannot stress enough how much people here have bent over backwards to assist me. They will not allow me to pay for meals, and they consistently ensure that I reach my desired destination by providing some kind of transportation. This morning I was picked up today by one of my contacts at Chosun University where we had a fabulous meeting discussing the program that their students will attend in April. The meeting was followed by a lunch with the whole office at a traditional Korean restaurant where the host brought out a record number of dishes on the table. There were so many that at one time, we actually had to put some bowls (for the empty seashells) on the floor, which is never far from reach, of course. You simply cannot imagine how many dishes were on the table....this photo is only one third of the table!!!

The afternoon was spent at Chonnam University, the site of the May 18, 1980 masacre of students and citizens when they demonstrated against the government. It was fascinating walking around the campus where there was so much tragic history. I wish that my schedule had allowed me time to wander around the memorial museum. Again, my meeting was very productive. It is such a treat to meet people with whom I have had such extensive contact through email. After the meeting and campus tour, the university car (and driver) drove me to my new hotel which seems to be in a district that is a little busier than where I was last night.

The idea of staying in a hotel is romantic, but sleeping in a different bed everynight is a little strange. Certain things become a bit of a habit. For example, when I arrive at a hotel, I like to head out to the nearest Minimart to pick up a bottle of OJ for the next morning and a beer which I drink while I am busy typing this blog! I have to say that I am growing somwhat tired of the CNN station which seems to have their programming on a loop. I am fully up to date with the world of soccer, the earthquake victims in Pakistan, Saddam's trial and hurricane Wilma. I miss hearing about local Vancouver or Canada news, but I guess that is part of being away. Another thing that I have gotten used to is being stared at while I walk down the street. I always have the feeling that I have toilet paper hanging off my shoe or that I am doing something wrong because where ever I go, people stare at me--who knows why???

Tomorrow morning my contact from Mokpo university is driving an hour an a half to pick me up here in Gwangju (see what I mean!). He refused to let me take the train and also made a reservation on the train for me to get back to Seoul tomorrow afternoon.


ps. I don't have an English spell-check...so appologies for any errors!! Also, thank you so much for posting comments...they make me laugh and I am so happy to hear that people are actually reading my blog and keeping me company on this long journey!

Day 12-13 - Taxi across Korea

The past few days have been incredibly busy which is why I haven’t had the chance to update you with the travels. Korea is a really interesting country. The people are incredibly friendly and seem to want to take you under their wing and help out in any way possible.

First of all, I can’t upload any photos because I forgot my cable in Seoul packed in my big suitcase…will get them up on the weekend though. Monday was busy with meetings, all very productive. Actually the day was uneventful as far as my usual travels here. I didn’t get lost, nothing embarrassing happened…wait this doesn’t sound like me!! My lunch was probably the highlight of the day. I was treated for a wonderful lunch by an agent who took me to a very traditional Korean house. It isn’t actually a restaurant by some type of place that prepares food for Korean weddings. We sat in a private room…on the floor, of course… I can’t really describe the dishes as courses because they bring the food out in multiples of about 8 dishes at a time. At one point, there were 35 small dishes on the table. I didn’t know where to begin. My guess would be that there were at least 10 types of kimchi! I am not even going to try to explain the types of food, but I did have some interesting ones…jellyfish for one. There was raw octopus, multiple soups, meat, fish, vegetables,….It was really amazing. Joel, the girl who took me out, didn’t even know the names of all the dishes because she said that they are all traditional and are not commonly eaten anymore outside of ceremonies. Basically with your metal chopsticks and metal spoon, you take a bit from each dish. There is no possible way that one could finish everything, so I guess it is a matter of testing everything!


The next morning I was up very early and caught the train to Pusan. The KTX here is similar to the Shinkansen (bullet train) in Japan. Very comfortable seats and very reasonably priced. Three hours later I was in Pusan on the other side of the country. An agent picked me up in a car with a driver and met another guy who actually lives in Vancouver, but is also here for business. I was whisked away to meeting after meeting and in between we saw a few sights and had lunch. At the end of the day the agent took us out for an amazing dinner at a famous restaurant in Pusan where we sat on the floor…again…man, my legs will never get used to this. Finally, off the to the hotel, the Westin Chosun Beach. My room overlooked the beach and the waves crashing on the rocks below. If I weren’t so tired I would have been able to enjoy it, but instead I enjoyed the view while I caught up on some work. The next morning I pretended that I was back in Vancouver and took my coffee to go and a croissant and sat on the sand and watched the water. After being treated to, yet another, delicious traditional Korean meal (they are really spoiling me here) I headed off by taxi to Gwangju….4 hours away. Of course, the normal mode of transportation would be Express bus (no trains or planes come here for some strange reason). The driver of this taxi, the same one who drove us around all day yesterday, has some connection to the agent…he used to be the driver for his father who was some well-known person in the city and now works for the agent as his driver. So we hit the road…I sat in the back and napped as usual. Arrived safely in Gwangju, but the hotel is a little bare. It is kind of up in the woods and out of downtown which as a foreign traveler is not the best of locales. Also, the hotel is a little shabby. I am going to switch tomorrow to a hotel downtown. Two meetings scheduled and then tomorrow I will travel to Mokpo which is at the southernmost tip of Korea. That is it for me. I am giong to try to catch a movie if I can find any English stations!

Day 11 - Day off with Gene

Last night I enjoyed some fantastic Korean BBQ with Nate and his wife La. They took me to a great little restaurant where you sit on the floor with a grill onthe table. We cooked (OK, it was La who did the cooking and kindly showed me exactly how to make a wrap with the beef, garlic and lettuce leaves) and it was fantastic! The flavours of the grilled beef and kimchi were to die for! After dinner we got Starbucks beverages and went for a walk up a hill to a pagoda where we viewed the city and chatted.

Today I enjoyed a wonderful day off in Seoul. Gene met me at the hotel and we headed off for a full day of sightseeing. We started off at the Deoksugung palace that is right beside the hotel. It was a secondary palace to king Seojo, the last emporer of the 500 year old Joseon dynasy. Next we headed to the main palace called Gyeongbokgung. It was the principal palace of the emporer until 1592 when it was burnt down by the Japanese invasions. It was rebuilt in 1865 and is quite impressive.
While we were there, we also watched the changing of the guards which was interesting to see because of the traditional costumes and sense of ceremony.

Our next stop was Insadong which is a pedestrian mall filled with shops selling all sorts of crafts. Reminded me a bit of Gastown. Many of the stores had really nice merchandise, although there were also a lot of stores flogging the typical tourist souvenir gear. We stopped for lunch at a small Indian restaurant for some curry and then were off to Dongdaemun which is a market area so big that I have no words to describe it. Stall after stall of stuff. They sell everything you can possibly imagine there from bulk underwear to suitcases, shoes, outdoor wear, hats, books...every 2 meters there was another stall and this goes on forever. I got a great photo of a woman digging through a mountain of running shoes that were being offered by the salesman with the microphone for 5,000 Korean Won which is about $7 CAD!! Talk about bargain hunting! I managed to pick up a pair of pants and a small suitcase for a total of about $45 for the two! Not bad, I'd say. The other day I thought that I was in this area when, in fact, I was in Namdaemun which is another similar type of market except smaller.

It was getting late, so we headed back downtown to Seoul station where Gene had to catch his train to Suwon which is about 30 miles away from Seoul. I really have a much better sense of Seoul after today.

Day 10 - Land O' Kimchi

For those of you who don't know what kimchi is (probably the Calgary contingent), it is a delicious Korean mainstay made of spicy pickled vegetables with lots of garlic. Here in Korea, the main course is always soup, rice and Kimchi and the meat and other vegetables are the condiments. Now, I must be an expert in Korean food now that I have been here for almost 24 hours. Actually, I haven't yet eaten any Korean food and I have no really good stories for you today. My mouth is watering to try some of the yummy treats here, but alas, it will have to wait for tomorrow. I had two meetings today and am now back at the hotel preparing for the fair tomorrow which I suspect will be quite busy. They are expecting over 5000 students! Fortunately I have a translator and another ex-ELIer to help out. It will be from 8am until 6:30pm and so my dreams of eating kimchi will have to remain just that until after the fair. For lunch I was taken out by one of the universities that I visited and we ate sushi which was delicious. The professor that I was meeting was very busy preparing for a Ministry inspection next week, so he sent his assistant to take me out for lunch. She was very sweet but was terrified of speaking English, so needless to say, it was a quiet meal. I tried to ask lots of polite questions, and start a conversation, but she was just too shy to ask me anything or keep the conversation going.

Here is a photo from my room at night..a little hard to see, but there are lights everywhere and enormous tv screens on the buildings that play ads for various cell phone and electronics companies.
It is a lot cooler here, which is a bit of a relief after the heat and humidity of Taipei. Actually, it is almost chilly outside and I had to put on an extra sweater before going out. The only thing of interest (as a tourist) that I did was go to the Namgdaemun market which is across the street from the hotel. This huge wholesale and retail market seems to sell almost everything under the sun and was truly buzzing with activity. Just looked this time, but next time I will have to try to pick something up just for the experience of bargaining. I also talked to Gene and we made plans to meet on Sunday to go see some of the sights of Seoul.

ps. I added a few more photos to a couple of the last posts

Day 8 - 9 Birthday and Anniversary

My birthday started off with a meeting which went really well, after which I did a bit of wandering around in a neat shopping district of Taipei called Xinyi. It is uber-modern with lots of big-name handbag stores. I also headed over to the university district where I wandered around a really neat area called Yongkang Street which is filled with restaurants and stores. It reminded me of Europe with a tiny cobblestone street, but modern stores.

So what did I do to celebrate my birthday. Well, of course it has to involve food and as usual there is a story involved. I chose a Shabu-Shabu (hotpot) type restaurant that was bright with lots of people. I asked if they spoke English and sure enough the lady/manager said, " a little". Good enough for me. Looked really clean and so I ordered the sukiyaki which actually means that they put a pan in front of you on a hot plate that is filled with a delicious-smelling broth and onions. This is sort of a self-serve set up so you have to go over the wall and fill a plate with veggies that you will cook yourself along with the meat that they bring out. The beef looked excellent and I filled up a huge plate of yummy veggies. Then you have to choose your sauce. I wander over the sauce table and the lady comes over and motions to the bowl of raw eggs and says "sauce". "OK" I say, not really getting what she meant, and started to look at the other sauces. She said "No" and pointed to the eggs again. Then she decided to show me what she meant, so she cracked an egg into a small bowl and handed it to me. "This one better" she says. Back to the table with "sauce" in hand and I begin to cook my food. She comes over to my little table and says, "first meat", then she points to the egg and motions that the egg is the second step of the process, then points to the veggies and motions "3". Got it. So in goes the meat and it all starts to bubble and smell really good. Then goes the egg, also starts to bubble. Finally I dumped in the whole thing of veggies and a nice concoction began to cook. Suddenly she runs over to my table and starts yelling...OK....she wasn't really yelling, but it sounded like it and she was obviously distressed. What did I do wrong I wonder to myself?? She points at the egg, "NO, NO, NO!" I just looked at her with my big red eye and stared, not having any idea what she was on about! So after much sign language and motioning It turns out that the egg is not supposed to go into the broth, but rather you are supposed to dip your cooked meat into the raw egg as a sauce. Hmmmm....not sure about raw eggs, but however, I was happy that I had cooked it. She really was just trying to ensure that I got the most out of my shabu-shabu experience.

Oh forgot to mention, the funniest part of this was the family that was sitting across from me probably thought that I was some freak. The father, who belched and horked the whole time, stared at me and my eye, and then turned to his family and started to point at his eye while yammering on in a disgusted voice. Then they all laughed. Ha ha ha. Anyways, I thought the whole thing was rather funny!! The meal, even with the cooked egg, was fantastic and only cost about $8.00!


The best part of the day was going out for drinks at a swanky place called Champagne. Rusty and Emily and another ex-student, Anne, took me out for a birthday celebration. The place was really cool and loungy, much like a Yaletown "Afterglow". Had a great time!

Today I packed up and flew to Seoul where I now sit at the Seoul Plaza hotel. Seoul reminds me a lot of Japan with big neon signs and TV screens on the buildings. I got in late, so I haven't had a chance to wander around at all. Fortunately, the temperature seems to be a little more reasonable here and not nearly as humid. Did I mention that Taipei is the only time that I have ever seen condensation on the OUTSIDE of the windows!! That is all for tonight...I have a busy day tomorrow and have to be up early. Talk to you tomorrow!

Day 7 - Conjunctivitis

Not a great day. Woke up this morning with pink-eye! Uggghhhhh. And why do they call it pink eye when your eye actually goes bright red. It is really a horrible condition and I am sure that people are walking a little further away from me because of it. I had to try to explain to room service that I wanted salt so that I could rinse my eye (same principle as gargling when you have a sore throat I guess). Obviously, this is not the standard request, so I can understand that it took a while for them to figure out what I was trying to request. And the fact that I have no voice doesn't help because not only can they not understand my words, but it is hard to hear me as well. Rinsed with salt water a few times today and made it to a pharmacy where, thank god, he spoke English fairly well. Aparently pink eye is really common here, so he gave me special antibiotic eye drops and sent me on my way. I also managed to find a supermarket where I found salt. Hopefully a good night sleep will cure both my raspy voice and the bulging red eyeball! Good night all.

Day 6 - Double Ten National Day

It was a national holiday today, so there were no meetings and I was free. Met up with Amanda and Dave and off we went to do some shopping. Found the Taipei Handicraft Promotion Center which was 4 floors of pottery, traditional crafts, souvenirs, toys, teapots......It was great to wander around. Bought a few small things, but mostly it was just fun to browse through everything. We then walked to a shopping street near the hotel where there was an enormous electronics bazaar. Started to price out some electronics and they seem to be slightly cheaper than at home, but no really good deals. Tonight we are going out for one last meal (they both leave tomorrow) and we might check out if there are any fireworks tonight. Have a feeling it will be an early night--tomorrow is a busy work day!

Day 4 - 5 - Education fair and snake alley

The past two days I have been incredibly busy with the fair here in Taipei and as a result I have been a bit out of touch. My dogs are sure barking and I am definitely wearing my running shoes all day today and the evil high heels are locked away in the closet until next weekend. As far a fairs go, this one was not as busy. There were lots of requests by people who can't speak English for the usual graduate programs, but on the other hand I also spoke to several prospective students who likely will come to Canada and hopefully will choose UBC. I won't go into detail describing the fair because it is much like any trade show that you will have seen except that I had a translator beside me. Our booth is always mobbed with people, so actually the translator ends up just describing the programs by herself and I talk to people who are more comfortable speaking English.

I should begin by saying Happy Thanksgiving! Hopefully you are all enjoying some turkey--I had mine last week. Today is actually the National day here in Taiwan (like Canada day) and so the official offices are closed. Businesses are open and I get the feeling that it is actually just a national shopping day--which is precisely what I did!

Perhaps I'll start with Saturday night. After the fair ended, two friends that I met here, Amanda, Dave (....by the way Alex Sto.....you know Dave) and I ventured out for dinner and to Longshan Temple. Dinner was Mongolian BBQ which was fantastic after which we caught a taxi to the temple. It dates back to 1738 and is really quite beautiful. There is an oasis-looking waterfall and coi pond just inside the entrance to the temple which was all lit up. The courtyard is a filled with red and gold and carved stone columns. Bronze incense burners are just outside the temple. You purchase candles and incense at the door and then light them and deposit them in the burners while praying to one of the many deities represented inside the temple.


After the temple visit we ventured down a road looking for snake alley, one of Taipei's most famous night markets. Night markets, besides being tourist meccas, are also really practical for buying all sorts of things. We didn't try any of the food stalls, but did wander in to a couple of stores and bought some funny straw hats which we wore for the rest of the night! Some of the alleys were a little tawdry and we figured that we had stumbled into some sort of red-light district. All in all, it was a great evening of wandering around except that we weren't able to find snake alley. Apparently, had we turned down the other alley we would have found the snake charmers. Darn....missed that one.....as you can imagine, I was so disappointed!!!



Sunday's fair was busy and afterwards I took Rusty (the ex-ELI staff person who helped at the fair) out for dinner. He chose a super-hip Japanese restaurant called "Dozo" where we feasted on sashimi and all sorts of other treats. Really yummy. Back to the hotel, I called up my friends and Dave was up for going out. So off we went to a place called Brown Sugar. It is a swanky jazz club in the Xinyi district (around Taipei 101...the world's tallest building). Sunday nights is Salsa so we had a few cocktails, watched the people tearing up the dance floor, and chatting. Of course, not wanting to miss anything, we stayed until the bar closed and then started to walk home at which point it started to absolutely pour rain. We found shelter....sort of under a tree....and then eventually when it let up a bit we caught a cab back to the hotel. We walked into the entrance looking like drowned rats! Got to bed super late, but it was definitely worth it to catch a glimse of Taipei nightlife.

I have no idea what this is and , no, I didn't eat it!!!

Day 3 - Lost in Taipei

Several meetings kept me busy today. And of course, there is always the business of being perpetually lost which takes up enough time in the day that you could consider it a meeting on it's own! There are a few things that one must never leave the hotel without: 1) a card with the name of the hotel and map on the back showing where the hotel is, and 2) a card showing where you are going in Chinese-map is also helpful, and 3) a phone card. I had three meetings today, all consecutively and timed so that I could go from one to the next seamlessly. The first meeting went really well. Got there with no problems (they had provided me with a map and the taxi pointed out the correct building). At the end of the meeting the fellow asked me if I needed any assistance going to my next appointment or getting a taxi. "No problem" I say, "I travel quite a bit and shouldn't have any problem." Besides, I was running late and so I wanted to get going. Ha.

I get downstairs and as I pull out the address that I have written down I realize that I have it written only in English. I try a couple of taxis to see if they understand English. No go and time is ticking. There is a phone booth on the corner and I had the foresight to purchase a phone card when I first arrived. Look to pop in the card, but it is only a coin machine. Good, I have change. So how much does it cost to make a call? I'm not sure...it is probably listed on the phone, but in Chinese! So I tried to put in a few coins and dial the number, but every time just before I enter the last number, a message plays...probably saying something about having the wrong number or not enough money. If anything I thought that I would just let my appointment know that I was going to be a bit late. So now I am late and lost. And much too proud to go back upstairs to get some help from my last appointment.

So what does one do when you can't figure out where to go? Go to Starbucks! Well, not for coffee, but I figured that there must be someone in there who speaks English. Sure enough after asking around the tables if anyone speaks English, I found a student whose English was passable. I asked him if he could please write the name of the address in Chinese for me. He did so, very happily. The staff all thought that this was hilarious and kept giggling the whole time. So out I go and now have am in a cab, trusting that he actually can actually figure out what this stranger has written and that I am headed into the right direction. I arrived safely at the destination, which I actually recognized from last year and then looked at my paper and realized that the appointment was for 20 minutes later than I thought...phew...not late!

As for food adventures today, I went to a wonderfully traditional restaurant...sorry no name...where we sat on the floor on mats and ate hot pot that was fresh food cooked in tea. Very yummy and wonderful company! Only two things: I had to sit cross legged for over an hour...obviously my yoga hasn't been that successful...and the temperature was so hot in there that I was quite worried about how profusely I was sweating (Neil, you know how much I like sweat!!) and not wanting to be rude by mopping up the drips. After we were finished the server came around with a remote control and turned on the air conditioning.....hmmmmm...is this a test or something??

First day in Taipei

OK, I already told you a little bit about the first day, but here are the details of yesterday's adventure!

First of all, going to the grocery store...or 7-11, as would be the case here, is a relatively easy task that we do several times a week. You walk in, go to the section that you want, pick up your items and pay for them. When traveling in a country where you don't know the language, this routine task becomes more challenging. Small digression--there are millions of 7-11 stores everywhere here. On one corner I could actually see three different ones from where I was standing! OK, so I go into the 7-11 which isn't too big and I start looking through the refrigerator for a carton of milk to put into my room. I think that I found what looks like milk--it is in a carton at least, but it has pictures of different things on them...apples, unrecognizable foods, and they are all different colours. Finally I spot one that has just a cow on it, and I am certain that it is just plain milk. But what if it is homogeneous milk? or whipping cream for that matter? There is no way to tell what % of milk it is. So I go with the light blue one hoping that it is skim.

Then there is shopping in the department store. I was trying to take the elevator to get to the womens lingerie department (forgot to pack sport socks). There are three elevators, so I push the button and wait for one of the doors to open. The one on the left opens and a girl wearing a cutsie uniform stands there holding the door open. I motion the number "5" and she starts shaking her head and pushing (well, motioning for me to leave) the elevator. OK. Let's wait for the next elevator. The one on the far right opens and the same thing happens. Do I smell? I figured out after a while that in between the Chinese characters the numbers seemed to indicate that certain elevators only went to certain floors. So I wait in front of the elevator that seems to indicate 5-13Fl. And I wait, and I wait.....and I wait. I pushed the button, but the only elevators that seem to be working are the two that I wasn't allowed to take. After about 5 minutes I gave up. Who knows how one gets to the 5th floor.

So as I mentioned, yesterday my friend Tess and her husband met me and took me out for sightseeing. We decided to go to the beach because it is further away on the MRT (subway and train system) and I probably wouldn't venture out there by myself. In fact, the place is quite similar to White Rock or Steveson, only a lot bigger. It took about 30 minutes to get out there on a train. It is called Danshui. It smelled like the ocean, and it is where the Danshui river meets the Pacific ocean. A boardwalk stretched along the water and the smell of salty air was mixed with the smell of food from the stalls that lined the street. Tess' goal for me on this outing was to try as much food as possible, so we decided not to eat dinner, but rather to try all sorts of little things. The first stop was a stand where they sold deep-fried shrimp on a stick. MMMMmmm. It was very yummy. We also tried plum drink and "iron eggs". Don't ask.



After taking a short ferry trip to a place called "Fisherman's Wharf" and returning, we walked around the small streets and alleys that ran parallel to the boardwalk. Here we ate a bowl of fishball soup...which was also delicious!

Back onto the MRT which took us to the Shilin Night Market. Here we wandered through crowded arcades of people. The smells were reminiscent of the Stampede midway, but then mixed with the pungent smell of different things cooking. A lot of the food stalls seemed to sell the same things: 1) Frog eggs drink (it is not actually frog eggs, but rather a drink with gelatin bubbles....hmm...not my favourite; 2) Omlette - fried oysters, egg, lettuce, and something unrecognizable but gelatinous; 3) squid soup with mushrooms (OK, but not that flavourful); and 4) grilled sausage with garlic....very, very yummy!! At this point, I was so tired that I actually wasn't feeling that well, so we headed back to the city.

I guess anyone who has travelled in far and away places will understand, but in order to truly experience the place you have to suspend your judgement on what you would normally turn your nose up at. Whether it is judging others based on what is considered to be polite at home, or eating from stalls that would surely be condemned by the Canadian health department, you just have to go with it and accept it. Can't wait to see what is in store for today! Talk to you tomorrow.

Arrived safely

Here I am in Taipei! Arrived safely. Managed to sleep for about 5 hours on the plane, so I actually felt pretty good. I knew that I wouldn't sleep right away so I went to the gym and for a swim. Today I don't have any meetings set up because I knew that arriving at 5:30 am would mean a pretty unproductive day. The hotel is really fantastic...Sheraton Taipei...so of course it is nice!

Walked around a bit by myself, but the city is hard to get a feeling for direction. Every street has lanes off of them and then every lane has alleys, so it is incredibly easy to get yourself turned around and going the wrong way.

A friend from a university here, Tess, very kindly met me this afternoon with her husband and they took me around to some really interesting places that I would not have gotten to as a tourist. I will write much more about them tomorrow morning when I am not exhausted! Signing off for now.

Getting ready to go

Hi everyone!

Here I am at the airport at 11:33 pm, Monday night, and I am all ready to go. Got to the gate and of course my luggage was far too heavy, and I had to remove 5 kgs of books (no I'm not exagerating). Once the items were safely placed into a plastic Eva shopping bag which I got to drag through duty free along with my other carry on luggage...I swear, one day I will figure out how to travel and not have sore shoulders from carrying stuff. I am now sitting inside the lounge where they have free internet and drinks and snacks! I have to wait about an hour and a half to board, so hopefully there is something good on TV to keep me occupied. I'll post again once I land in Taipei and get settled.