Restrooms

I was walking out of the men's bathroom in a local mall as a woman was walking in. I thought that perhaps she had a gotten the wrong room by mistake and paid it no mind. The very next day I was entering the men's bathroom at the National Palace Museum in Taipei and again, there was a woman strolling across the men's bathroom. So i checked to make sure I was in the right place. Sure enough, I could tell my the general layout of the room and the presence of other men doing their business that I was. I later came to find out that the two women that I had seen were washroom attendants. This seems very strange to be taking a pee and then looking over and seeing a lady cleaning up the sink area or mopping around a toilet. Guess its a culturall thing. The Asian men seem right at home with the whole idea.

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

Went to see Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall today. It was a beautiful area for being in the middle of town. Quite a tribute. I was surprised to see that a newly wed couple showed up to pose for photos on the steps to the National Theater (one of the main buildings in this area). Maybe it's considered good luck. Perhaps their children will grow up to be Chinese opera stars.

City of Scooters

I have come to find out that one of the most common forms of transport in Taipei is scooting on scooters. This is a bit strange considering the amount of rain they get. It is funny to see (and common) folks wearing colorful overcoats designed for the humid rain scoot commute. There are also television commercials designed to entice young, testosterone driven riders into buying new racing scooters. These are the same sales techniques that you would see from the crotch rocket companies in the states.

Typhoon Sinlaku

I woke up to some interesting weather this morning. The trip we had planned to Sun Moon Lake has been canceled because of the approach of Typhoon Sinlaku. I got here just in time to keep things interesting.

Travel Observations – SF International Airport

Having never flown internationally before, it has come to my attention that the international wing of the airport (ticketed passengers only) get a more upscale flying experience. This may be a bit premature; I should say waiting and shopping experience. I was surprised to see stores like Coach Bag, Minute Spas and even Sony (although it was a self-serve machine). You get the idea. Not only that, it was so pleasant and quiet in this area that I even saw several SF International tarmac employees (you know the ones in the bright yellow vests) enjoying a nice nap in the passenger waiting area. You can bet that they know the best places to take a break.

Another point worth mentioning is that I flew on September 11^th. Apparently the threat level today is at Level Orange! Personally, I didn’t notice much of a difference except for the prerecorded announcements reminding everyone of this. Well, I guess I will be extra ready to respond if I see anything fishy. I am going to knock on wood now.

More soon.

Travel Insurance

I bucked up and invested in some reasonably good travel insurance. Wow, that is incredibly mature for a guy like me. The gal at AAA recommended either AIG Travel Guard or Access America. I went with AIG. What a relief, my travel expenses, lost bags and medical will be covered should anything (knocking on wood) go wrong! I can breath easy right? Well, the ironic thing is that as soon as I get back I will return to my lowly state of piss poor college student coverage (if you can call it coverage), where anything that student health can't take care of in house won't be. Boohoo. Vote OBAMA! He has a plan!

Cameras

Documenting every detail of the trip is a priority in my mind, so I decided to buck up and replace my floundering digital camera with something new. I was so disappointing that my old Canon PowerShot A75 was having problems, because it had worked very well for the past four years. What can you do? I wanted something with a bit longer zoom and a bit more compact. And of course, mega pixels size is increasing exponentially. 3.2 mega pixel was perfectly fine for me and my needs, but the new cameras are now touting 8 to 1o mega pixels. I guess if I need to blow things up to poster size then I will be set. Personally I would rather get more camera and less pixel. I have a photographer friend that suggested that I check out a web site called Digital Photography Review. It was very helpful and provided some expert reviews (or at least more expert than me or the video testimonials on Buy.com). I wound up selecting the Canon PowerShot SD850 IS because it had all the features I was looking for and was highly recomended. I will post some sample shots when it finally arrives. Can't wait!