Karl and I have started our journey back to the UK with a
stop in Taipei, Taiwan. It was my first of six flights with Asian airlines, and
luckily I made it without disappearing or any attacks from Russian/Ukrainian
missiles. Wish me luck for the rest of them.
We are only here for a few days, just enough time to take in
the city. The weather started off good, but soon changed to overcast and intermittent
light rain. It’s not ideal, but we’re Brits abroad so regardless of the weather
we persisted with shorts, football shirts, and flip-flops.
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| The view from the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall of the National Concert Hall and the National Theatre. |
The food in Taiwan is great. I didn’t have a bad meal the
whole time I was here. One downside to being in a new land is the lack of
communication. It may surprise you, but I can’t speak Taiwanese Hokkien, and
Karl isn’t much help either. Karl is hardly understood outside of
Nottinghamshire. When ordering food I had no idea what I was ordering most of
the time. I’d point at pictures and feel like an utter mong. There is an upside
to not knowing and it’s that you can’t prejudge the food, there is a chance
that I ate a chicken’s anus whilst here but I’ll never know. It tasted
delicious and that was good enough for me. Ignorance is bliss.
We went to a few temples; the most famous one in Taipei,
Longshan Temple, and a quieter one, Bao’an Temple. They are truly amazing to
look at, the design, the finer details - it’s all truly beautiful.
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| Longshan Temple |
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| Bao'an Temple |
We visited the National Palace Museum. There are
artefacts in the museum are literally from thousands of years ago, but it’s stuff
that I just can’t get excited about. Early Chinese books and scriptures, but I
can’t read Chinese so it doesn’t really matter how old the book is. Maybe I’m
just not an appreciator of Chinese culture. If you’re not into it, you’re not
into it. I wish I could be more like Wayne Rooney, he’s a real appreciator of
ancient things. My verdict is go to the museum if it’s raining.
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| The Entrance of the National Palace Museum |
A highlight was going to Taipei 101. It’s the 4th
largest building in the world. It seems that only Taipei and Arsenal use 4th
place as an achievement.
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| Taipei 101 and the only bit of sunshine we had on the trip. |
On a final note, the night markets are good, and the beer is
adequate. And that pretty much wraps up Taipei. It’s a shame that we weren’t able
to take in a day trip or two to see more of Taiwan, but there’s always next
time.
