Escaping Typhoon Krathon
Stayed up late last night agonizing about what to do about the advancing typhoon. It was monster that was slowing marching over the island of Taiwan. We have one more full day in Taiwan and fly out in 48 hrs from Taipei Taoyuan airport. The problem is that they may close the airport and cancel the lfights in or out of the airport. If that happens, we may be stranded for 3 to 5 days! The other option is to change our flight or even book another flight and fly out in 12 hours. The only information we could get was from google. We dithered and so finally went to bed without making a decision.
Woke up to a fine day! A little windy but nothing that would suggest a monster typhoon is on its way! In the end, we bit the bullet, throwing money at the problem, and booked 2 business class tickets with China Airlines. A few things cemented the decision - by now we have had enough of cultural visits (basically we are becoming too fucking cultured!). We also didn't want to be stranded in Taipei for 3 to 5 days. We also didn't want to spend less time in Japan and finally, being on China airlines will be safe as the commie bastards will never shoot down one of their own!
Debbie did really well. she booked the seats on a flight leaving 1430 hrs, arriving at 1800 hrs. Going business also meant that there was a very generous luggage allowance and we get to go to the lounge. So we told Richard that we will abandon the tour plans for the day and to drive us directly to the airport. We'll veged out in the lounge and fingers crossed, hope that they don't cancel our flight. She also booked an extra night in the same hotel.
check out the detailed work
What a long slab
De-stressed in the China Airlines Lounge
We left at 0930 hrs and was at the airport by 1115 hrs. short drive really. Checking was easy and the lounge was relatively empty. That is because the "tight" asians would never pay for business class at $900 AUD each.
Deb has started to de-stress with a bloody huge G n T! The China Airlines lounge was pretty good. But then again, most lounges will shit on the Perth Qantas lounge. On the other hand, I don't want to call Albanese daddy just to get into the Chairman's lounge!
My weird panoramic shot of the airport
Deb's anti-anxiety medication
Krathon. Where is they get that name!
Just as we about to board, the message over the PA was that the flight was to be delayed by 60 mins. That made me nervous that they are considering cancelling the flight. Already some of the other airlines have cancelled all flights until Saturday!
Finally we boarded and took off. there didn't seem to be any more windy than before but apparently the wind speeds are 40 to 60 mph (60 to 100 kmh). The take off was a bit bumpy and even at altitude, was fairly turbulent. Things improved as we flew away from Taiwan. It was only a hour and 50 mins flight and they still managed to serve up a full 3 course meal! The landing was another experience. It was either a short runway or the pilot had overshot the runway because he or she slammed on the breaks. I was thankful that I had my seated belt on or I would have flow head first into the cockpit door!
Arrivnig in Fukuoka, Japan
Immigration and customs was easy. We had completed the entry forms online a few days before and all we had to do was to flash the QR codes at the readers. The Japanese were very efficient.
Once through with the pleasantries, we had instructions to catch the subway into the city, then it was a short walk to the hotel. This was not a good plan! Firstly, the subway station was at domestic terminal and we were at the international. We will need to catch the shuttle bus then catch the subway. It would have cost us about $3 AUD each. I found out that a taxi was going to cost about $20 AUD. no contest! In the taxi it was and 20 mins later, we were checking into the Daiwan Roynet. It was a hotel catering for Japanese business people and the staff had no english. We had no Japanese other than toyota, honda, sushi and sumo. Not much bloody good. thank god for Google Translate. There's also a raft of rules so I conclude that the population is pretty compliant.
Dumped the bags and went out to get some food. Driving into the city, I thought that the Daiwan was located in the skankier part of town. It was in the Gion district which I think is pretty close to the centre. With only a short walk down the street, we could see lots of restaurants and little eateries all around. We got really lucky and found a supermarket. Bloody good! Back to the hotel to catch up on the news of the skull cap Israelis beating the crap out of the towelhead hezzies.
Japanese street BBQ. I reckon he serves up delicious stuff using that little charcoal grill
Those are puffer fish for a dish called fugu (you eat the poisonese little bastards so you can experience a numbing tingling sensation on your lips and tongue! who thought of that first
Check out these party packs from the supermarket. We need a couple of that for our road trips!
Last thoughts on Taiwan
Final thoughts on my time and observations of Taiwan.
hot hot and humid and more humid. Next time I visit, it will be in March-April-May. Firstly, it would be cooler and the cherry blossoms with be out.
Taiwan is a beautiful country. Awesome mountains are the attraction for people who are used to live on a pancake. I especially like the way the mountains will come down to the beach.
Uber is King in the larger cities. The taxis are pretty good and they use the meters. The aircon is usually very good but you get to listen to a shed load of k-pop.
Food can be a bit hit and miss at times. You can only have braised beef noodles so many times. It can be difficult to identify the ingredient but then again, maybe it is better not to know. Taiwanese love offal, seems to me that they will kill the animal, rip out any offal and throw away the rest!
Everyone is pretty friendly even if they can't speak English and that's not their fault because I can't speak Chinese. It feels really safe.
Taiwanese girls are very pretty but have no tits and no bums. In fact, they are just short stick girls who can eat like horses. I notice that they fill out once they have children! It is a clinical observation that the first thing that gets big when a woman is pregnant is her arse. That is to counterbalance the bump in front or she'll keep falling on her face. If you have a tractor like me, you will understand the practice of ballast.
Chinese dont queue and don't wait at lifts and doors for you to come out before barging in! Not aggressive but that's just the way.
Travelling in the east coast can be more difficult. I would recommend a driver/guide.
This is the end of the Taiwan blog. On to Japan!!
This featured blog entry was written by wilson.lim61 from the blog 2024 Taiwan.
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