Xie Xie for Memorable Experiences on Taiwan!
This is the first time on this cruise that we've docked right where we are getting off, and starting our day. We are in Keelung, about an hour's drive from Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. It wouldn't need to be an hour's drive, but it is because their traffic in drizzle is much like Seattle's. I'm sure you get the point.
Our mission this morning was to meet our driver at the Evergreen Hotel. That wasn't very difficult. When we looked out of our stateroom window in the morning, we saw a green building. Not particularly attractive, but definitely GREEN! Sure enough, Ki was waiting for us, with instructions to take us to Taipei and meet Al's longtime friend, Y.C. Chao. They have known each other since the management training program at Seafirst Bank. The van had eight passenger seats, so we wondered where Chao (or one of us) was going to sit.
It was a rather boring ride to Taipei. Mostly on freeways, lined with buildings darkened by pollution. And, it was gray and drizzly. Like I said, just like Seattle.
We were glad to reach the rendezvous point with Chao and get our day going. He and the driver exchanged a lively conversation, which of course we couldn't understand. Our suspicion was that Chao really hadn't given the day's itinerary much thought, and the driver was offering various suggestions. Just a guess. Chao has been CEO of a bank, invested around the world, and is now helping young entrepeneurs get their businesses started. Let's say, he's not the one who typically handles the "details". But he is definitely a lot of fun!
Off we go. We visited Chiang Kai Chek's Memorial Hall, which covers an area of more than two million square feet. The hall exhibits artifacts of the life of the late president, and Madame Chiang Kai Chek. Chao's grandmother was a good friend of hers.
The National Palace Museum houses the world's largest collection of Chinese art treasures, which span a 5,000 year history. They are here, rather than on mainland China because Chiang Kai Chek and his troops brought them over. You might imagine that this doesn't necessarily sit well with the Chinese government. Chao told us that even though he can travel freely to China, the Taiwanese have a special document for entering China. Their passports don't work because China does not recognized Taiwan as an independent country.
We took pictures in front of the Presidential Office, which is built in European Renaissance style (five stories tall). During the Japanese occupation, it was their headquarters.
About 50 years ago, apparently Madame Chiang Kai Chek had an idea to build the elaborate Grand Hotel, very much in the Chinese style. It has a lot of red on the exterior, with ornate colorful carvings and huge posts. We visited the lobby, which was stunning. I can't tell you too much more about it. We laughed because we had become accumstomed to our tour guides knowing the answer to every question, and then some. Needless to say, Chao isn't really a tour guide. His favorite response to us was "I have no idea". And, then he would laugh.
Lunch was fabulous! Chao called it a "Hot Pot" place. Sitting at the counter, each of us had our own sunken pot of water, which was simmering (later boiling). Each person is provided with a tray of vegetables and noodles, and you order your choice of very thinly sliced meat (pork, chicken beef) or seafood. The cooking process is called Shamu Shamu. You place your own items in the hot water, as you wish, although it is adviseable to start with the veggies (cabbage, broccoli) because they take longer to cook. The Taiwan beer comes in a very large bottle, so we shared those. Congratz to Jan R.... she actually managed to eat with her chopsticks within the alloted time frame. Chao thinks I should start such a restaurant in Seattle. I'm not thinking that's a winning idea.
There was talk of going to a "skinny dipping" hot spring, but instead we all decided to take the long route back to Keelung, over the mountains. Chao is very familiar with the mountains near Taipei because he enjoys hiking there on weekends. We stopped at a true local spot for afternoon coffee and some cake and cookies. All of it was very tasty. An interesting note.... Starbuck's was across the street. As we left, I went to thank "Jack", the owner, and thinking I was really wordly, I used the term for thank you, which is xie xie. That is the right term, but it's all in the pronounciation. I said "gee gee". Chao was cracking up, and told Al that I had just told the man that he has a small penis. No kidding! The correct pronounciation is "shi shi". Fortunately, Jack took it all in stride, and it gave us something to laugh about for days.
Our last stop of the day was the Yehliu Geopark. We really weren't sure where we were going, but it turned out to be amazing. Ernie didn't want to walk with us, and was convinced that we would miss the boat by making this extra stop. It's on the shoreline. The sandstone has eroded over the years to create a colony of statues and figures. Most look like large mushrooms, but one defintely resembles the profile of an Eyptian queen. It's a pretty place. Chao expressed his concern about excessive shoreline development in this area, which destroys the natural beauty.
On our way back through the main section of Keelung, the guys noticed several storefronts with beautiful young women parading around in front of them. Chao taught us that these shops sell Beetlenuts, which are mildly narcotic -- a sort of natural high. It's apparently common for truck drivers and the like to stop at these shops for their Beetlenuts. The pretty girls create customer loyalty, by encouraging the customers to return to the same shop for their nut treats.
All passengers were to be aboard the ship at 4:30. Given the traffic we had experienced in Keelung in the morning, we were a bit nervous about making this deadline. Rightfully so. When we reached the port, we jumped out, said our good-byes, and boarded the ship at 4:45. One of the gangways was already being pulled up. Richard (the ship's head of security) was tapping his watch, although with a smile. We took his picture, doing the watch tapping.
Our time with Chao is what made this day so special. Xie xie! (Just make sure you pronounce it correctly!)
Our mission this morning was to meet our driver at the Evergreen Hotel. That wasn't very difficult. When we looked out of our stateroom window in the morning, we saw a green building. Not particularly attractive, but definitely GREEN! Sure enough, Ki was waiting for us, with instructions to take us to Taipei and meet Al's longtime friend, Y.C. Chao. They have known each other since the management training program at Seafirst Bank. The van had eight passenger seats, so we wondered where Chao (or one of us) was going to sit.
It was a rather boring ride to Taipei. Mostly on freeways, lined with buildings darkened by pollution. And, it was gray and drizzly. Like I said, just like Seattle.
We were glad to reach the rendezvous point with Chao and get our day going. He and the driver exchanged a lively conversation, which of course we couldn't understand. Our suspicion was that Chao really hadn't given the day's itinerary much thought, and the driver was offering various suggestions. Just a guess. Chao has been CEO of a bank, invested around the world, and is now helping young entrepeneurs get their businesses started. Let's say, he's not the one who typically handles the "details". But he is definitely a lot of fun!
Off we go. We visited Chiang Kai Chek's Memorial Hall, which covers an area of more than two million square feet. The hall exhibits artifacts of the life of the late president, and Madame Chiang Kai Chek. Chao's grandmother was a good friend of hers.
The National Palace Museum houses the world's largest collection of Chinese art treasures, which span a 5,000 year history. They are here, rather than on mainland China because Chiang Kai Chek and his troops brought them over. You might imagine that this doesn't necessarily sit well with the Chinese government. Chao told us that even though he can travel freely to China, the Taiwanese have a special document for entering China. Their passports don't work because China does not recognized Taiwan as an independent country.
We took pictures in front of the Presidential Office, which is built in European Renaissance style (five stories tall). During the Japanese occupation, it was their headquarters.
About 50 years ago, apparently Madame Chiang Kai Chek had an idea to build the elaborate Grand Hotel, very much in the Chinese style. It has a lot of red on the exterior, with ornate colorful carvings and huge posts. We visited the lobby, which was stunning. I can't tell you too much more about it. We laughed because we had become accumstomed to our tour guides knowing the answer to every question, and then some. Needless to say, Chao isn't really a tour guide. His favorite response to us was "I have no idea". And, then he would laugh.
Lunch was fabulous! Chao called it a "Hot Pot" place. Sitting at the counter, each of us had our own sunken pot of water, which was simmering (later boiling). Each person is provided with a tray of vegetables and noodles, and you order your choice of very thinly sliced meat (pork, chicken beef) or seafood. The cooking process is called Shamu Shamu. You place your own items in the hot water, as you wish, although it is adviseable to start with the veggies (cabbage, broccoli) because they take longer to cook. The Taiwan beer comes in a very large bottle, so we shared those. Congratz to Jan R.... she actually managed to eat with her chopsticks within the alloted time frame. Chao thinks I should start such a restaurant in Seattle. I'm not thinking that's a winning idea.
There was talk of going to a "skinny dipping" hot spring, but instead we all decided to take the long route back to Keelung, over the mountains. Chao is very familiar with the mountains near Taipei because he enjoys hiking there on weekends. We stopped at a true local spot for afternoon coffee and some cake and cookies. All of it was very tasty. An interesting note.... Starbuck's was across the street. As we left, I went to thank "Jack", the owner, and thinking I was really wordly, I used the term for thank you, which is xie xie. That is the right term, but it's all in the pronounciation. I said "gee gee". Chao was cracking up, and told Al that I had just told the man that he has a small penis. No kidding! The correct pronounciation is "shi shi". Fortunately, Jack took it all in stride, and it gave us something to laugh about for days.
Our last stop of the day was the Yehliu Geopark. We really weren't sure where we were going, but it turned out to be amazing. Ernie didn't want to walk with us, and was convinced that we would miss the boat by making this extra stop. It's on the shoreline. The sandstone has eroded over the years to create a colony of statues and figures. Most look like large mushrooms, but one defintely resembles the profile of an Eyptian queen. It's a pretty place. Chao expressed his concern about excessive shoreline development in this area, which destroys the natural beauty.
On our way back through the main section of Keelung, the guys noticed several storefronts with beautiful young women parading around in front of them. Chao taught us that these shops sell Beetlenuts, which are mildly narcotic -- a sort of natural high. It's apparently common for truck drivers and the like to stop at these shops for their Beetlenuts. The pretty girls create customer loyalty, by encouraging the customers to return to the same shop for their nut treats.
All passengers were to be aboard the ship at 4:30. Given the traffic we had experienced in Keelung in the morning, we were a bit nervous about making this deadline. Rightfully so. When we reached the port, we jumped out, said our good-byes, and boarded the ship at 4:45. One of the gangways was already being pulled up. Richard (the ship's head of security) was tapping his watch, although with a smile. We took his picture, doing the watch tapping.
Our time with Chao is what made this day so special. Xie xie! (Just make sure you pronounce it correctly!)
posted by Sniglet's Mom @ 2:31 AM
1 Comments:
At 3:02 PM,
Anna said…
Thanks for another update, Maija. I'm soooo proud of my mom and her new chopstick skills!!! I think she will be much more adventurous in her restaurant selection from now on. :)
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