MiSAdveNtUrES oF rAtUgYm iN TaIwAN pArT OnE

First Impressions

It’s not as though it was completely unexpected. Generally it was as I had expected but I never thought it was something I would be excited about or even like. Taipei is a busy, bustling city full of life and vigour. What struck me most was how alive everything seemed to be. It is a city of contrasts, from atypical Chinese town, to a somewhat cosmopolitan feel of the city buildings. It’s the combination of old and new that makes Taipei in a class of its own.

I arrived on Monday night all set for a somewhat miserable time, I am here to work after all and that can’t be very exciting…. But I am normally full of enthusiasm about new places but somehow I didn’t manage to get too excited about this particular trip. The weather forecast alone was discouraging – scattered showers. And worse, it has just come out of typhoon Melor, which did nothing to erode my general pessimism about the place.

The ‘Lai Lai’ Sheraton Hotel was undergoing extensive renovation, which from my observation is long overdue, for the feel of the hotel was not unlike those old 70’s Bruce Lee films. Very traditional Chinese symbols interspersed with so-called western influences were present in the hotel’s fixtures and fittings. But my room was pretty comfortable, with nice comfy bed and firm pillows.

As I mentioned, I arrived here not really expecting to like the place, what more enjoy myself. But I guess it’s been a while since I’ve had some ‘ME’ time in a foreign land, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that, “Hey! I kinda like this place!”.

To me it has a little bit of everything, I am particularly struck by the obvious contrasts – the new co-existing with the old. I mean this in everything, from the buildings – 70’s art décor to old Chinese architecture and modern skyscrapers like the tallest building, the 101 Tower; to the people – the young in their western ways with pink hair and blonde highlights, to stooping old women in traditional costumes. The myriad of colourful banners and signboards in the Chinese script appear almost in-synch with McDonalds’ “I’m loving it” logos and the numerous 7-Elevens in every street corner. Yeah, all that, plus they have Starbucks too. so I’m assured of my supply cafe americanos….heh heh..

Food-wise have not had any problems coz they seem to have plenty of seafood about. Of course our hosts are also very sensitive to this as well, so that helps. I’ve heard scary stories about the food here and since I’m not fasting this week, I’ve brought along with me a large consignment of Brahim’s instant food, pot noodles to last a week, cereal bars to stave off hunger pangs, travel-size packs of cream crackers and err….a can of tuna. And so far have only opened one pot noodle (on the first day) and a couple of packets of the cream crackers.

Yeah, another thing, never expected this but the bakeries here are to die for. Walking past them is a tough lesson on self-discipline, all those chocolate muffins, buns and cakes are so tempting! There also seems to be a variety of local fare sold, too bad they’re most probably pork-based, otherwise would definitely have had a field trying all of them. Surprising eh? That’s what I like about this place, it’s full of surprises!