even though i knew when my summer holidays would be, i didn't get around to booking tickets to go anywhere until the month i left!! i ended up deciding on taiwan, for a couple reasons..one, because it is close to korea, and two, because my friend ben lives there..i've known ben since we both lived in garmisch at the same time, have traveled with him before, and he said there was another gapper as his neighbor in taiwan..i looked at lots of different ticket finding web sites, each saying they could find the cheapest tickets, the cheapest were actually to be found on the airline web site!! go figure..
the most recent lonely planet guide to taiwan was published in november 2007, which means the research was done most likely in the first six months of that year..taiwan has changed quite a bit (at least in terms of infrastructure) during that time..
while i was waiting in line for immigration at taoyuan international airport, a couple ladies in official uniforms came up to me and asked if i would be willing to participate in training drug dogs..i said yes, and they put a cloth that must've had a particular smell to the trainee dogs in my pocket..i was told to stand in line naturally, while they brought the dog through the area..if the dog smelled the cloth it would sit next to me..and it did..the people behind me in line hadn't been there when the officials asked me, so they were surprised at what happened, and joked that i shouldn't carry doggie treats in my pockets..
getting through the rest of the airport was a breeze..the airport is definitely under renovation/construction, so it seems kinda dark/dingy right now, but oh well..the guidebook said the hsr (high speed rail, otherwise known as a bullet train) didn't go to hsinchu, but according to ben, it did, and i knew he had far more current information..i asked the nice ladies at the information desk how to get to the hsr station, and they gave me directions to the bus company desk that would get me to the station..30 taiwan dollars ($1USD = (approximately) 32NT) later i arrived at taoyuan hsr station..$125NT and 13 minutes later i arrived at hsinchu hsr station..like many of the english teachers in hsinchu, ben has a scooter, and he picked me up with it at the station..it was only out in the sun for a few minutes, but when we came back out from the station, the seat on the scooter was hot hot hot!! ben knew where he was going, and we drove to his housing arrangement..but first we stopped off for lunch, in a small restaurant he said he frequents that has good noodles..yum:)
ben told me ahead of time that hsinchu isn't a very interesting place, that it doesn't have as much typical taiwanese culture..there is a science and engineering "park" there, where quite a few companies have offices, and maybe factories? driving through there (as ben lives toward the back of the area) felt like driving through a business district in any town in the states..ben lives in a complex that operates much like a hostel, only there aren't any dorm rooms..people rent rooms monthly, so he didn't have to sign a year long contract when he moved in..he lives in a studio type room, has his own bathroom, and shares a community kitchen with others living in his building..it's not a bad setup..ben also told me ahead of time that a guy who had also lived in garmisch (overlapping with me by a few months though we never met) also lived in this complex so we tried to go see him..but james was severely hungover from the night before..lol..instead, we got back on the scooter, and ben said he would show me around town..he didn't think it would take long, telling me again that hsinchu is boring and there isn't anything to see/do..not too long after we got into the downtown area, we noticed traffic getting a bit crazy, and we could hear fireworks going off..when traffic got bad enough that we weren't moving anymore, ben pulled the scooter over, and parked it on the sidewalk..(along with tons of others)..we figured it would be easier to see what was happening if we could run around..at the first intersection we came to, people were setting off fireworks..nothing big, just the ones that whistle, and put out a lot of smoke..after getting through the intersection i was nearly deaf, and the smoke was awful..thankfully the wind was blowing..we kept following the parade, and finally saw the gods..ben said he had heard that occasionally the gods are taken for a walk, and it seemed that we had been lucky enough to see it happen..the gods are really big costumes put over the heads of men..the men then walk along for a little while, before they trade places with someone else..i'm guessing it's pretty toasty inside the costumes..it was funny to see sneakers coming out the bottom of each "god"..we were able to walk faster than the parade was going, so soon we moved up and kept finding more people..there were drummers, guys riding in trucks with gods in the bed of the truck, etc..nifty stuff..there seemed to be several groups of gods as well..each time ben and i thought we had circled around to the same place in the parade we realized we were seeing different gods from what we'd already seen..after a while we figured we'd had enough..after wandering through a food market, we hopped back on the bike, and been took me to what he called a country club..i don't know what it is really called, but in a lot of ways, it did seem like a country club..a couple of his friends were lounging around the pool, so we joined them..getting in the water felt fantastic, as the weather was soooooo hot and humid..from the pool we went home, and hopped in the shower..
a week or two before i arrived, ben had asked if i wanted to go to a massive rave with him..even though it's not my normal cup of tea, i figured why not..that was scheduled to happen the first night i was there, it was called the white party..obviously, you had to wear white..and there were supposed to be thousands of people there..after cleaning up, we met up with james, the guy who had previously lived in garmisch..james and i figured out that we had overlapped by a couple months, but hadn't ever met..fun to catch up with someone who lived in the same place as you, and knows a lot of the same people..anywho..james, ben and i drove to a bus station and caught a bus to taipei..we didn't have to wait more than 5 minutes for the bus to leave, yahoo!! the bus took us to taipei main station, which is a giant transportation hub in the middle of the city..two subway lines come together there, lots of buses end/begin there, and the hsr goes there..at this point ben, james and i had been hoping to get hostel beds for the night, since it was going to be super late in the morning by the time the party was over..unfortunately, the hostel ben knew, (the cheapest hostel in taipei) was full..at least, that's what the guy said..while we were trying to figure out where to stay, ben and james were getting texts from mari, who had just arrived at taipei main station, she had taken the hsr from hsinchu..the three of us went to find her at the station, which took a lot longer than anyone expected..the station is pretty big, and to get from the hsr station to the bus station involves going through a lot of stuff underground..it's confusing, to say the least..then we went back to the hostel (which was only a 5 minute walk) to preparty and continue figuring out the sleeping situation..after a while, it became clear that hostel beds weren't going to be easy to find, and they would be over $20USD..which seemed ridiculous, especially since we wouldn't have been going to sleep until sunrise or so..in the end, james ben and i decided to go to the rave with our bags, and find a way to store them there..that was an adventure in itself..
the party was held in a conference center near the base of taipei 101, currently the tallest building in the world..nifty..i was amazed when we walked in, just seeing all those people (5-10,000) all in white..i attempted to make a meeting time/place for ben, james and i, but that didn't happen..and i knew i would lose ben, as he has ADD when it comes to partying..since i knew where we had stored our bags (james didn't know, and ben had already been drinking) i figured i would just wait for the boys there..two djs split the night, and kept the music going the whole night..fun times..it didn't bother me that i completely lost everyone i had arrived with, i knew eventually things would work out..plus, i was sober..i danced the night away, moving around a bit myself..when 4 o'clock rolled around, and the party was over, i realized i was completely knackered..i can't remember the last time i voluntarily stayed up all night! maybe when i lived in germany? anywho, i went to the security guard booth at the carpark where ben and i had left our stuff (along with james' stuff) and decided to wait..0445 came, and still no ben..i got a bit creeped out by the REALLY DRUNK guy who decided to sit next to me and try to make conversation..three problems: one, i could smell him from 2 meters away..WAAAAAY too much alcohol..two, english wasn't his first language, and in his condition, he wasn't able to say more than ma'am, and beautiful..three, he moved where he was sitting so he could sit across from me and look at me directly..after realizing he wasn't going to go away, i stood up with all our stuff, and went walking..i found a foreigner who let me use his mobile phone and called ben..ben was passed out on a bench in a small park somewhere, and didn't know the answer to "where are you?"..ooops..fortunately, he was able to come to where i was, and we figured out a new plan..
we ended up deciding to go straight to hualien, instead of going back to hsinchu..sooooooo, we walked to the closest MRT station, waited for it to open (the MRT opens at 0600) and took it a few stops back to taipei main station..i should mention that while we were waiting, ben behaved like a local, and "rested" on the ground:)
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