Taichung
Trip Start
May 13, 2007
1
6
8
Trip End
May 27, 2007
Taichung, Taiwan
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Spent the morning getting ready for my 12:32 departure to Taichung - Taiwan's third largest city. Just as I was handing over my key to check out of my hotel at high noon, an air raid siren went off. Upon leaving the hotel, I saw the streets being cleared of all forms of movement - both vehicular and well as human. I had no idea what this was all about but if I had to guess, I would say that it probably has something to do with civil defense preparations in the event of an invasion by China. Anyway, after 15 minutes of standing around waiting across the street from the train station as the departure time of my train was fast approaching, the guy next to me communicated to me that this drill would last for 30 minutes. Well, I didn't need to be a mathematical genius to figure out that if I waited out the entire drill that I would miss my train. So I meekly summoned the nearby police officer / street emptier and indicated my plight to him by showing him my train ticket with it's departure time written on it. I was allowed to cross the street - "but run", the policeman indicated. I was joined by a local woman who also had a train to catch and when we got across the road, she thanked me profusely for being her ticket across the road. Being a local, they wouldn't have let her go alone - but they couldn't refuse her if they allowed me to cross. At the station, we all waited in the dark until 12:30, at which time the city came to life again, allowing me to catch my 12:32 train - just by the hair of my chinny chin chin. While I was waiting for the end of the drill, a chemical engineering student approached me for a chat - mostly to practice his English. I asked him if this sort of drill was common and he assured me that it was quite rare indeed. I feel honored to have been able to experience it.
I arrived in Taichung at about 14:30 and my first stop was the tourist information office at the train station. There I was able to get a map of the city; information about buses to Lukang and the Sun Moon Lake; hotels; and laundries (I was down to my last set of clean clothes). The first hotel that I looked at (the cheapest one mentioned in my guide book) was too disgusting - even for me. So I continued my search and the fourth hotel that I looked at turned up trumps. It was a real gem - for only a little more money than the flea-bag hotel (NT$ 900 rather than 650). So for an additional seven and a half bucks US, I was able to upgrade to a real classy joint. Something makes me think, however, that this establishment might be one of those "love hotels" that one sometimes comes across in Asia. I'm not sure what it is that gives me this feeling. Maybe it's the condom vending machine on the wall in the room. Or perhaps its the non-stop porno movies on the TV. In any case, the result is the nicest room of the trip for a very reasonable price.
Once I settled into my room, I went out in search of a laundry (which I didn't find - in spite of having the address of two such establishments from the tourist information office) and an internet cafe (which I did find - but which didn't live up to its promise of having a working USB connection.) It seemed obvious to me that I should have gotten a refund for a service that fell short of what I was looking for and what I was promised, but the young fellow working at the shop didn't see things my way. So in the end, the session turned out to be a bit of a waste of time.
Later that evening my friend Ivy (whom I met in Tainan but who actually studies here in Taichung) and her friend Cherry took me to dinner at a Japanese noodle place at one of the many night markets around town. Once again they refused to let me pay. But when time for dessert came, I paid the vendor in advance in order to have a chance to reciprocate.
Unable to find a laundry, I finally decided to hand over my laundry to my hotel reception to see what they could do with it. My big fear was that they would have it dried in a dryer and thereby shrink it beyond recognition - as happened to me once in Costa Rica. So I repeated my instructions to the guy at the reception at least 20 times - literally - with him swearing each time that he understood what I meant. (I had to act out a washer, dryer - and shrunk clothing.) I think he got the message.
23 May
Woke up after a very good sleep and went down for the free breakfast buffet that was included in the price of my room. It was so horrible that I just did a U-turn and headed right back out of the dining room. I then went to the Carrefour supermarket behind the train station and loaded up on proper breakfast food: cereal, milk, bananas and fruit juice.
After that I returned to the internet cafe for a 2-hour blog updating session. This time I found a machine with USB capabilities so I was able to upload my pictures as well.
At 2 p.m. Ivy picked me up on her motor scooter and took me to the bus station from which the buses depart for Lukang - just to show me where it was. It was, in fact, so far from my hotel - and the buses were so infrequent - that I don't think I'll go there after all. We then went to the city art museum and looked at some art objects, some of which were paintings by a famous Chinese artist whom I had seen on TV before. His work is actually quite good (he'll be glad to know that I think!)
We then went for a late lunch at a Western food place mentioned in my travel guide (Finga's Base Camp) that did the best pizza and lasagna that I've had in a very very long time. It was really awesome! It was not cheap (NT$ 600 or US$ 18 for lunch for two), but it was so good that it was money well spent. The owner even gave us free ice cream because it was my first visit to the restaurant.
After that, I went with Ivy to her evening class at the university. I thought it was going to be an English class but it turned out to be a design class of some sort. Still, I was able to participate in the class discussion, which I enjoyed quite a bit. I also discovered that some things are universal - for example students talking among themselves in class and ignoring the professor; passing notes; etc. It was good to be reminded of my college days like that - without having to do any actual work myself.
24 May
I thought I would make one last attempt to visit Lukang, so I headed to the Tourist Information Office at the train station. My fate was sealed when the girl working there this morning didn't speak a word of English. She called someone on the phone who claimed to be able to speak English and I told that person that I wanted to go to Lukang. She then asked me whether I wanted to go by bus or by train. Since even I know that there is no train station in Lukang, I didn't have high hopes for this conversation. I told her that I preferred the bus and she told me that they left every ten minutes from the station that I visited with Ivy yesterday morning. When I was at that station yesterday, however, the people working there told me that the bus leaves every 40 minutes. There's a big difference between every 40 minutes and every 10 minutes. And I'm inclined to believe the people working at the bus station rather than at the tourist information office because when I was at the bus station the previous day, I didn't see any buses appearing to be on the verge of leaving. And if the buses left every ten minutes, a ten minute wait at the station should have allowed me to see at least one bus depart. (How's that for reasoning?)
So I resigned myself to not seeing Lukang. Instead, I decided to explore Taichung by bus number 11 (i.e. - my own two good legs!) I walked straight ahead on the city's main road - for HOURS - in the scorching sun - sweating buckets. Eventually I came to the Sogo Department Store, where I took an air conditioning break and rode the escalator up the store's 18 floors. (Taiwan is the only place I've ever been where department stores have more than a dozen floors. The most in Thailand, for example, would be about six floors.) Too exhausted to walk back to my hotel, I found out from the department store information desk which buses went to the railway station - which my hotel is near. The good old 106 did it - and for 20 NT$ the bus ended up almost in front of my hotel. Next time I'll take the bus there AND back.
Suffering from heat exhaustion, I had a bit of a lie down before going out for a bowl of Japanese Ramen noodles at the joint downstairs from my hotel. This was followed by another little stroll around the neighborhood looking for another battery for my mobile phone. (For the opposite reason from the usual one: The battery that I bought in Hualien was so good that I want to buy another identical one. I charged it last Friday night and now, a full week later, it's still going strong - with the indicator light still showing it to be half charged.) In Thailand, you have to buy things over and over again because they usually don't work. I prefer the Taiwanese strategy of getting you to buy the same thing again because it works so well. In fact, this battery is an improvement over the original Samsung battery in that it is about twice as thick - and lasts four times as long - but it fits onto the phone without noticing the additional size. Really a brilliant third-party solution to a Samsung design flaw.
Still suffering the effects of my heat exhaustion, I hit the sack early - at 8:30 p.m., without even bothering to have dinner.
May 25
Woke up early due to having gone to bed at 20:30 last night. After an apple, I headed for the internet cafe - expecting it to be fairly quiet at 9 in the morning. Instead, I found it populated by people who seem to have spent the night there. (It's open 24 hours a day.) One guy was even shaving! (in front of his computer - with an electric razor - with all of the noise associated therewith)! The few other people there were playing very noisy computer games.
I returned to my room for breakfast, during which time I got a message from Ivy saying that she had time to show me around today. We met and she took me to the National Science Museum (where she used to work before quitting due to being mistreated by colleagues). I guess some things are universal. After looking at a few exhibits, I watched a 3-D movie - for the first time in my life. And the effect was nothing short of spectacular. The story was in Chinese (actually it was a Western-made movie with western actors but dubbed in Chinese), so I didn't understand a word of it. But that didn't matter. I wonder, in fact, why movies on TV are not in 3-D, at least on one channel, so amazing is the effect. If that ever happens, I'll be ready, as I already have my 3-D glasses.
We went to lunch at an American-style (American-owned) diner. The hamburger I ate there was rather uninspired. A shame considering that the wonderful lunch I had the day before yesterday was only marginally more expensive. But I guess we have to have bad meals every now and then in order to establish the lower end of the scale!
I then did a bit of shopping, went home for a nap followed by a shower and a bowl of noodles before meeting Ivy and a couple of her friends for a beer at 22:30.
