Taiwan comes from the Chinese word meaning “Land of many 7-11’s”

My two-week vacation at the end of April brought about a 10-day trip to Taiwan to visit my cousin Mechelle Ramos, who has been teaching English for the past four years, and to see some more of my former students from KGIC, the International College I taught at in Toronto!

I landed at Chang Kai Shek airport on Sunday, April 23 and met up with Mechelle, who lives in the rather unremarkable town of Hsinchu, about and hour and a half south of Taipei. Mechelle confirms reports that she is indeed five months pregnant and she also is getting married in Hong Kong on May 27 (more on that later). Unfortunately, her fiancé Matthias Zorn was in Germany to set up their impending living arrangements, so I didn’t get to see him on this trip.

The first day saw dinner with Mechelle and several drinks with Matthias’ colleague Olaf, who also lent me a cell phone. Oh yeah, there was a small earthquake that day. If anyone’s never been on the 20^th floor in even the mildest earthquake, take my word for it, it’s a bit scary!! The building swayed from side to side and the walls shook slightly for about a minute. This will not be the only earthquake on this trip…

On day 2, I got on a bus and headed to Taipei. Taipei is a chaotic, yet relatively clean Asian city. I rode the MRT, did some shopping and then met up with Ping Chou, a friend from the KGIC days. We had a dim sum dinner (not Taiwanese, but very good). We walked around the night market for a while then decided to meet some people for a drink.

Ping and me

Ping, like almost everyone in Taipei, drives a scooter but she didn’t have an extra helmet. So, I bought a NT130 helmet – about $5 Canadian – at the night market and got on the back of Ping’s scooter.

Now, I’ve lived in Manila, where traffic is terrible. Granted, Taipei’s traffic isn’t as crowded as Manila, but it is much scarier than Manila. Taiwanese drivers are insane! Taiwan is the first place I’ve been truly afraid for my life while being a pedestrian. Now try putting that fear onto a small scooter with a woman who is about 45 kg and 150 cm tall; while wearing a toy helmet...

We met up with another former student Ruby Tsai, who lives in Taipei, and her friend Sarah, a Korean who is visiting from Vancouver. It also turns out that Miwa Yang, another KGIC student who lives 3 hours away in Taichung, was also in Taipei visiting with her friend Genie, so it ended up being an impromptu reunion of sorts.

Ping, Me, Ruby, Miwa and Genie

After Ping went home, we all went to get some street food (amazing BBQ and meat buns) and more beverages – FYI: you can buy bottles of Remy Martin and Johnny Walker at the 7-11. We pulled an all-nighter at Ruby’s parents’ new condo, which looked more like a drug lord’s weekend pad – it was fab-beau!

The next afternoon we got onto a bus to Miwa’s hometown of Taichung. Now, everyone really should experience the Aloha Bus from Taipei to Taichung. They have large, reclining bucket seats, with a vibrating massage and a personal TV/video game component. We also got a blanket and a snack, making this bus ride better than any domestic flight I’ve ever taken in Australia!

Me and Ruby

After dinner at a groovy bar with Miwa’s friends and then hanging out at a rather lame nightclub all night, we ended up staying at Miwa’s cousin apartment, which could probably house an entire Filipino village!

The next day was the busiest of my trip. We had lunch at a popular tea house in Taichung, where my bubble tea was bigger than my head! Then we did a lot of sight seeing in the old town of Lukang and great eating at Taichung’s night market. We then stopped at the Londoner, a British pub, before Sarah and Ruby went back to Taipei and I got a bus back to Hsinchu, where I slept all the next day.

I spent Saturday in Taipei with Mechelle and Mark, her friend from back home, who is living and teaching in Taipei. We were looking for Mechelle’s wedding shoes, so we hit all the snooty, high class boutiques Taipei had to offer before she found her shoes at Jimmy Choo’s. Estimated cost: two months’ rent.

Mechelle, holding the ice cream and her Jimmy Choo shoes (in the bag)!

Speaking of Mechelle’s wedding, it turns out my sister Cheryl and Mechelle’s sister Joanne will be going to Hong Kong for the festivities. And as a bonus, Cher will first come to Japan just in time for my birfday party, too!

On Sunday, I got on yet another bus to Taichung, where I met up with Miwa and her lovely friend Summer, and we hit another night market for some more of Taichung’s great food!

The next day was the only sunny day I saw in Taiwan, as it rained everyday – apparently a good omen in Chinese beliefs. I spent my last day in Taichung to help Miwa celebrate her birthday. We went shopping, I got my first haircut in over six months (I clearly needed it) and, as usual, we ate too much! I got home to Hsinchu with just enough time to pack and get a couple hours of sleep.

Me and Miwa

The next day was pretty long, as I got up at 6 am to go to the airport in Taipei for my flight back to Japan. Due to a minor earthquake in the Izu area of Shizuoka prefecture, my local train from Tokyo to Fujieda was delayed by over 2 hours and I didn’t get home until midnight!