Homeless By Choice

Will I ever post about California?  Probably not.  So, here is the short version, I visited my son and my sister and her daughter came to visit us in San Diego.  We spent a day at Torrey Pines, a day in La olla and they returned.  My son Mark had to work for a couple of days and I spent one day in Balboa Park and the next one in Old Town.

Then I headed to San Francisco to see my brothers two daughters in Walnut Creek and headed out to the airport.   There, the skinny without any interesting information.

Monday was spent on a plane.  Between the flight duration and all the time zones it was Tuesday morning before I got off.

The flight to Taiwan departed 5 minutes after midnight.  My bag checked in at 48.5 pounds.  Another pound and a half and I would have had a hefty extra wet charge.  You get two fifty pound checked bags, two big bags for carry on and a computer without charge.  My fourteen hour flight was $445 dollar. My $285 one hour flight entitled me to no free checked luggage.

Whatever.  The 747-400 was filled to capacity but there was plenty of room.  China airlines didn’t space the seats such that they could jam in several more rows.   A TV, USB charger and an outlet in every seat. Prompt, efficient flight attendants, good meals.  Not a bad flight.  Fourteen hours in coach and it wasn’t bad at all.

There was no line at immigration and it took less than a minute.  Never even slowed down at customs.  My big bag was checked all the way to Bangkok.  I quickly exchanged $40 for 1138 NT$, (New Taiwan Dollar). I headed out the door, without a plan.

We arrived before five.   What to do?  I had a wonderful breakfast of something, stuffed for $5 at an airport. I’ll never know what it was.  It was easy to find a bus that took me to Taipei for 140NT, about $5.   I asked some people on the bus to tell me where there was an interesting part of town to get off.  We rode through town, a city of four and five story buildings on the streets and twelve to fifteen on the avenues if I name them in a Manhattan fashion. Half an hour later they indicated that this stop was good and got off.  I had coffee at one shop, then  another.

Scooters everywhere.  There was a lot of traffic, but little commotion.  No horn honking, no visible exhaust from the cars, the air was very breathable.  Street vendors offered food from tiny improvised stalls and most of it looked quite good.   Coffee and more coffee.  Finally I stopped at a shop.  Yup a coffee shop.  I needed to use the bathroom.

The two girls that worked behind the counter started to giggle.  Then more people came in and some asked for my signature.  OK.  Who did they think I was?  Apparently some guy who does nature shows on TV.  I sat there for a while, signing autographs and posing for pictures and headed out to Tapei 101 and took the worlds fastest elevator up to the observation deck.  With the aid of an English self conducted tour device I learned a great deal about Taiwan.

Notes

easy through immigration and customs breakfast soup rice with sauce something else $5 

Exchange some 40 dollars got 1138 Mt

140 for bus to Teipei

10 to 20 story buildings in the financial district. Eight to fifteen lane streets

23 for a coffee

55 for lunch

People in respirator masks