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Get the Hell Out of Taipei
My long weekend coincided with The Dragon Boat Festival. The Dragon Boat Festival is a Chinese Holiday with a morbid origin: The beloved state poet, Ch'in Ch'in Yuan killed himself in the river and, to preserve his body, the townspeople sent the fastest dragon boats to find him and threw rice dumplings into the water to distract the fish who may eat Ch'in Ch'in Yuan's body. Or something like that. . . The tradition is to wear a decorative Satchet around your neck, eat a rice dumpling (or two) and head to the river for the Dragon Boat Races.
For this late brunch, we had the shrimp soup -- and Ranjana also scored some Blue Nun Champaigne and fresh orange juice (by my request) so we could enjoy mimosas. As another reference to the Seattle Dim Sum Posse: you all know how I feel about the Champaigne Mimosas, eh? |
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In the Tainan pages of this site, you will witness me, your humble narrator on beaches and in temples. You will viddy me doing karate in ancient Dutch fortresses on the South Side of Taiwan. And your tastebuds will be tantalized by local food fare of all kinds. (note, of course, the Washington State Apple sticker on the Apples to the left) June 16, 2002 | ||||
I came here to travel -- see the world; sew my wild oats; eat Chinese; visit Buddhist temples; and, most importantly, LIVE. In my weekend in Tainan, I was reminded of all of these goals. Just before the long weekend trip, I spent an ungodly amount of money to have a SWEET camera. I now can make short mpg movies (note: 
My Dragon Boat vacation began with a short flight from Sungshan Airport in Taipei to Tainan. (I don't know the name of the airport in Tainan) We stayed at the Poet's Inn. Upon arrival, my friend, Ranjana, and I ate shrimp soup and checked email in the all-purpose room-thing at the hotel. The room offered: email and fax, full bar and breakfast buffet, massage lounge chairs and exercise machines and, of course, K-TV (Kereoke). We tried out the massage chairs several times, and though they were very effective at first, I think I hurt my shoulder on the damned machine on the last day of the trip. I have gotten used to all the furniture, clothing, doorways, and some ceilings in Taiwan that were made for shoulders, bodies and feet smaller than mine -- and the massage chair was no exception.
In the Bathrooms of Taiwan scale, the Poets Inn rates fairly well. Black tiling is good. White facilities is normal. Having a western style toilet is REQUIRED. (I'll post some pics of a squat and drop toilet soon for comparison) The shower was adequate, but, like the massage chair, made for smaller people then I. I am not even a super huge westerner. Ranjana, by comparison, was built for this tub, the short, extremely firm bed, and the low chairs. (she still won't let me post any pictures of her online unless I blot out the face, and, then, what's the point?)
