Walking home from the office over the bridge next to my hotel… thought I would take the old classic traffic shots…
And this is where I work… although we plan to move to a renovated old building in the near future.
Blog
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Walking
Went looking for a flat today and stumbled accross a nice wee temple. I am sure I will be able to find some better photos one day when the light is better.
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Downtown
Woke up pretty hungover and headed downtown just wanted to get the measure of what it was like. However, wasted about an hour walking around totally lost, convinced I could not read a map and utterly confused. When I eventually worked things out it all became clear… the exit signs on the station were marked North, South, East and West. Okay. Logical? You would think so… The North exit is in the south. The south in the north. East in west and west in east! WHAT?!?! You crazy, crazy people! I had to get a coffee and sit down at that point because my brain hurt. And of course it pissed it down raining. Ha. And the coffee shop sold ‘Yorkshire Tea’ which made me chuckle.
Also went around the equivalent of Tottenham court road. Whooooaaaa. TECHNOLOGY. Lots of fun, and I bought a calculator for doing sums as dividing everything by 60 to get the GBP equivalent was getting dull.
Again, I ate sushi. Needed some fresh veg and I think it is a good way to eat healthily. Fish, rice and fresh crunchy veg. All the chinese stuff that tastes good I am sure contains large amounts of bad stuff. Everyone eats together in the evenings in the canteen, so I expect my veins to burst with cholestorol within weeks. In fact, I am eating together with them tonight. Makes sense, as it is free and I can enlist some help looking for flats and so on.
Went to the cinema with Anke off the team. Supposed to be more of them but they bugged out. Was really nice to be in there as the Taiwanese audience really gets into the film and everyone laughs their socks off at the slightest joke.
Went to a convenience store for food last night. Another world. Went round grabbing random things. New experiences in convenience food – will be testing out final phase on the toilet in the morning.
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Mildly Drunk
i have spent today waliking around the markets… i tell you … mad… just totally intense. and much more so than you would think
also, you would be right in thinking that yes i am a little drunk. okay. i admit it. i have been having fun with two of the designers from the department. all i have done today is eat and drink. still getting used to the money. sometimes things are so cheap and sometimes so expensive. an obvious statement, but when I eat a meal for 330 NT$ then buy a beer for 250 NT$ it makes you re-evaluate.
plus. a few points of listening to old boys playing mah jong under the bridge. going to the night market and being blown away. … and apparently melting the kettle in my room as it for some reason does not switch off…?
ate sushi. oh my god. mmm
and i have to say that in general this is a really nice place. spent a good few hours walking around and the people are friendly. much more affluent than i expected.
okay:
woke up to a small tremor in bed – yes an earthquake. apparently normal. whoa, i went.
then went walking around. they kill a chicken for you at the market, then put it in a de-featheriser. then put it in a bag. 30 seconds. mad.
went to club after seeing a chinese rock band. They have an emerging sub-culture here that will be quite interesting to see develop. You begin to see skater kids and tattoos and attitude.
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First Day
Made it! And how.
So, left Joanne to a few hours of contemplation in Heathrow, drinking tea and reading the paper. I arrived with about 4 hours to kill which was okay but not ideal. I was on my way. Which makes me think of being at home and having that knot in my stomach and diving off into the unknown.
The trip to Frankfurt was fairly uneventful and met a guy selling ‘adult’ energy drinks on the plane, which was quite amusing – remember the shot of the plane in full reflection though – that was preety cool. The connection was a bit late which meant I got onto the next plane with not much time left. Note to self: Lufthansa airlines are not generous with movies and snacks! 5 Euros for a face mask! Fell asleep through breakfast. Damn.
Final hop to Taiwan was okay. Clear run, and cannot believe I am in the south China seas. What?! Except I fell asleep on the landing and missed the descent. Oh well. Smooth customs and got picked up by a guy who took me to the hotel – no problems, and the first song was ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ on the radio by Sinead O’Connor. Should have maybe taken a rest, but hell, went out with my colleague Fukan and looked at a couple of apartments. Not bad, a really nice community and an interesting trip, but sounds like the location is a bit out of the way. It is worth taking some more time to look for the one I want. Go to Shilin ish area tomorrow and check out down town.
So anyway, went to the company and met the team. Wow. Seems like a good operation and a good office to be a member of. Looking forward to move to new custom office, as it could be pretty special. If I am floating around maybe I will get fully involved? Was not long until I had dinner and I have to say it was very good. Appreciating being a member of a german/taiwan team – the first non-german speaking foreigner! Random! Give myself some time and I think I will get into this.
So this day that is so organised continues and after checking my e-mails we head to a house party to met the folks. Man. Different style eh. House parties in Berlin are exactly the same as the UK. This is not. Some nice chats with the boys and learning mandarin tomorrow will be cool in a cafe somewhere.
So I am left here – in my hotel room – typing this and am all rather surprised I am winging it in Taipei. Alan Wicker except I am in the show. This place is mad. Mexico on Acid.
