We're riding in a Mitusubishi Freeca, a popular SUV here and seems loaded as a vacation car. Curtains on all windows, leather, rear A/C (!!), and comfy and spacious in the back (beats an Explorer any day) though, interestingly, no seat belts.
OMG, everything here is km/hr. The speedo only has km/hr. I suspected that, but I refused to believe everyone went so slow. Doh. Ugh.
Now I've wondering what these metal antennae things are on the front bumpers of a bunch of cars. I think I figured it out. They help the driver maveuver through tight spots. Some cars have 2, ones with 1 have it on the right (makes sense). Another feature on vans and SUVs is a wide angle mirror on the back hatch. Oh, and it seems all cars here are fitted with very big rear-view mirrors. I want one.
10:22: We've stopped @ a couple of "rest stops" with the tour buses, one now. Apparantly, the "stops" pay the tour company to stop, and then they think of a way to sell them food and stuff. Such is the difference between a consumer-driven (U.S.) and a sales-driven, or however you want to call it, economy.
13:33: We just finished stopping @ a park @ I think Yi-lan. It's pretty, and because of the typhoon it's very nice and cool and windy, but not exessive. It's not even raining. We seem to have missed the real typhoon.
There were some ghetto tandem bikes for rent, and we rented some and rode them. They are basically normal bikes, with an extra set of pedals on the rear wheel, and a seat centered a little behind it. That makes weight balance compared to a normal tandem quite interesting. It's prone to wobbling and fishtailing. It's actually pretty exhilarating.
13:57: Something I've observed so far: I've seen a whole bunch of Subaru Imprezas (a few WRXes), and all but 3 are Subaru Blue (1 was a yellow taxi). Cool. It seems to be unique here too. More traffic observations: most interchanges have no traffic lights, and the ones that do seem optional. On any road, you pass slower traffic by driving on the shoulder. Traffic laws are enforced by cameras, which will do everything from speed to seat belt and cell phone use. (yeah,that's not allowed) Oh, and it's European-style, the incoming traffic onto a road has the right of way, even from alleys. That causes drivers to be alert of other cars when driving straight, not fall asleep like the lousy drivers in the U.S.
14:27: Oh, this is so pretty! We're on the windiest mountain road I've ever been on, 1/1 with no shoulder, so a ridiculous drop-off into the clouds past the concrete barrier. The heavy rain, winds, falling rock, falling trees, and high density of trailor trucks probably makes this the most dangerous road I've ever been on. But it's all locals, so everyone knows their stuff. It's quite safe. And it's so incredibly pretty.
16:19: OMG, some of these tunnels don't even have reinforcement walls. The hard rock is enough!
23:50: We had dinner and worship service at the church, and then headed 1.5 hours further south to Ruei-suei where we bathed in Antung hot springs. It was very relaxing, but the smell of sulfur that came with it was about to drive me crazy. From there we are going a little further south to Yu-li to a church where 5 of us are spending the night. But we are getting in pretty late...
Friday, 22nd of June, 2001
Thursday, 21st of June, 2001
23:46: I watched The Fifth Element, with Chinese subtitles on network TV. Oh, and already the news is watching a Typhoon approaching Taiwan. Interesting.
Wednesday, 20th of June, 2001
3:00: Well, I started watching Head Over Heels. So far, it's overly tacky. I've switched to National Geographic for the time being. I'd say volcanoes is more interesting. Mmm... Gotta love the fact that they serve Ginger Ale on the plane.
8:04: Well, I watched The Wedding Planner and took a short nap. That movie is leaning on the better side of the romances I've seen. But it's still a silly romance, anyhow. Same with Head Over Heels. I ended up watching the rest of it, and it got better... if that says anything
11:43: I just viewed Chocholat. I like it, it's got a nice touch to it. I love jet airplanes. Something about the thought of a big hunk of metal blasting through the air at 620mph appeals to me.
13:01: Well, I just ate lunch, with some yummy strawberry and pineapple fruit. Getting to be 374 miles from Tokyo now.
14:42: Oh my gosh. The new Tokyo-Narita airport is by far the most awesome airport I've seen. I'm sitting in the most comfortable airport waiting seat ever. Everything is neat, clean, and logical. Departure screens are plasma (!!!) displays, with touch-screen info sceens to compliment them. There are big plasma and flat CRT 16:9 digital TVs all over the airport for the "airport network". Maybe digital is standard here. And of course, a whole bunch of jumbojets are parked on dual gate ramps around this terminal. So many of these beasts, yet the bigger they are, the more sweet and tame they appear to be. Oh yes, I can tell it's Japan. Everyone is driving a tiny Toyota, RHD.
15:37: Well, no sign of personell @ the check-in desk, but rather a message on the scrolling marquee delaying the flight half an hour to 16:45.
16:20: OK, I'm on the Cathay Pacific 747-400 to Taipei, and I'm sitting in the "centre" section, and I get a row of 4 seats to myself. Interesting. Convenient too. This 747 is pretty nice, LCDs in each seat, but still obviously old-school otherwise.
16:38: Gotta love Hong Kong. It's Cathay Air anyways, so it's just kinda stopping in Taiwan. The pilot comes on in the British accent and informs us the in-flight entertainment is broken. Good thing I'm not here long, only 3 hours. They said something about doing it manually though.
17:10: Aha, this is more like it. Cathay has much better in-flight entertainment. Twenty good audio channels, and good video. The feature, surprisingly, is Antitrust. Cool! But I'm going to watch this Chinese movie, China Strike Force, cause I've seen Antitrust twice already. China Strike Force. Hmmm, sound tacky enough? Owell, I'll practice my Chinese. Ahh, serving drinks now. Tomato juice seems to be a popular choice around here. Interesting. Ok, so I'm watching China Strike Force... So far half the scenes are English (dual subtitles), with bad English rap as soundtrack. So much for practicing Chinese. Owell.
17:44: Woah! This movie has a car chase! Like all Chinese movies, there's been some awesome fights, but this cop just chased a Lamborghini down the wrong way of a Shanghai highway, with cargo trucks on the bad guy's side.
20:27: My aunt, uncle, and cousin pick me up @ the airport and we are driving to my grandparents' place north of Taipei. So what do you think I notice first? Cars. Apparantly, the minimum speed on the highway is 60 (!) and the max is 90 during the day and 80 @ night or something. So @ this time of night, everyone goss 80, with several boy racers in modified Jap racers bombing it around. Some bomb it in those wonky truck-like van thingies. Talk about driving ten-tenths. Luxury cars are Jap and European, and the rest dominated by Japanese cars, with the expected exeption of Ford. I'm satisfied with the Subaru count so far, I spotted a black WRX from hundreds of feet away, and was able to get a good look. Then I found an Impreza GT (?). Getting to see Peugeot once in a while is nice. Sedans seem to be the choice by far, a very dissapointing lack of any sort of wagon. Owell.
21:02: We got off the highway, and now I realize the highway hides the real part of town. Everything is different. No stop signs, narrow streets, little parking... For every car, I saw 7 mopeds. I guess it's not normal to have a car. Now I'm really sure I'm in Asia.
Tuesday, 19th of June, 2001 - beginning of trip to Taiwan
8:24: Approximate flight time is 37 minutes. Gosh. That's just like a decent drive across St. Lous. Planes are so much fun.
8:40: So I'm in the plane reading the British car magazine EVO, and the businessman next to me keeps peeking. I peeked back, and he was doing something on his laptop related to Sun workstation sales. And now he's reading a British IT magazine. Ah, I see now.
11:30: Well now I'm undergoing the 75-minute long process of boarding the American Airlines international flight to Tokyo. Flight leaves at 11:45, and I've already settled in and reviewed the in-flight entertainment options. I had high expectations for the Boeing 777, and I'm pleased. I'm sitting near the front of coach, and it seems nice and quiet, with a convenient lavoratory wall behind me. Stretching out and reclining now. Touch-screen (!!) LCD screens in every seat, and a choice of 4 movies: the three in English are romantic comedies. Interesting. I took a peek @ the selections for the trip back, and there are more interesting, but already viewed twice movies. Like Antitrust and Crouching Tiger. Owell, they're worth the third viewing.
Monday, 18th of June, 2001
So I was at the bank today, and I pulled into my parking spot, kinda noticing how the person to the right of me (Crown Vic with cloth covering) was parking over the line, but I parked in the center of my spot anyways, to avoid this whole chain reaction of people parking wrong. Well, when I got back out of the bank, there stood this older, big, angry man apparantly been there for a while now. Well, I just kinda shrugged it off and started to get in the car, and he started to yell at me about how I should have parked over to the left a little, and I pointed out that he was parked both crooked and over the line. Since him not being able to leave is entirely his fault, he got fed up with me pointing that out, and continued to yell at me about that, and then told me to just get of there. His parking lot? Owell, I figured that's about as much as I'd get out of this, and besides, even before I got in my car there was already a gathering of people waiting outside the bank to see what kind of brawl they might witness today. Owell, such are people in this world.
Sunday, 17th of June, 2001