Taiwan

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to discover Taiwan and rumour has it that the first words they uttered were ‘Ilha Formosa - beautiful Island'.

The name "Formosa" was gradually replaced by "Taiwan" (the indigenous Chinese name) in common usage, especially after WWII and with the ROC's international shift, as "Taiwan" became the preferred term by locals and the government to reflect local identity, moving away from colonial European names, with the official shift solidified as the ROC government requested Western nations to use "Taiwan" to affirm their rule, which they did, making it standard by the latter half of the 20th century.

A fairly leisurely day, included two hours of online bridge with the Morning Bridgers group, before leaving home at 3 pm for a 5:45 flight from Valencia to Madrid.

When we landed at Madrid, our luggage did not appear and neither did the baggage of several other people on the flight. We queued up at the Iberia desk for a long time and David and another girl were using their trackers to see where the cases were, seemingly nowhere. But after another hour had passed one chap who had to catch another flight had a final check on the belt and found the cases had eventually arrived. By this time I had got to the front of the queue and was being dealt with, but was able to tell them that we were okay after all. We then went outside to the appointed place for a hotel bus and had quite a job getting through to the hotel on the phone, but eventually we did around 8 o’clock and the bus arrived about 15 minutes later. By the time we arrived at the Boston House Hotel the bus was completely full after a number of stops at different terminals, but I managed to get into reception ahead of everybody else and had a very quick check-in. Delighted to be back in a warm place. We went down to the bar and had a glass of wine each before returning back to our room for a good supper of sandwiches, egg tomatoes, fruit and buns, just what we needed . Then to bed for a fairly early night, let us see what the tomorrow brings.

We left the Boston House Hotel at 8 am after a little breakfast in our bedroom. The shuttle bus was quite full and we were dropped off at terminal one within quarter of an hour . We quickly checked in for our flight to Taipei. But then there was a complete crush of humanity to get through security, quite incredible but we had plenty of time so it did not really matter.

It was an 11 1/2 hour flight to Shanghai on East China Airlines, We were in premium economy: this gave us considerably wider seat and more leg space, but the food was exactly the same as in economy, not terribly good, but mainly edible. But there was only two meals with an eight hour gap between them so I got quite peckish. Also the in-flight entertainment was just about non-existent, other than in Chinese so we had to rely on our iPads for things to read. We landed in Shanghai at 5:30 am, the time there being seven hours in advance of Spanish time. Once again there was an incredible mass of humanity in the international transfer area for the flight to Taipei and once again I took a photo of this, very naughty and risky. Shanghai Airport was reputed to be the latest in airports, but it seemed very shabby compared to most international airports. There was no information desk and flights only appeared about four hours before takeoff on the information boards.

However, the six hour layover went quite quickly and we were soon on board the flight to Taipei at noon, and this flight was only an hour and a half duration. Our luggage miraculously appeared quite quickly and we were soon in an Uber speeding the 15 minutes journey to the centre of Taipei Where we stayed in room 1005 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. This was a very nice suite but without much of a view, although we could just see the 101 story tower, Taipei 101, from our window. By this time it was gone 4 pm so we quickly turned ourselves round and went out for a 90 minute explore, walking round the block and arriving at tower 101 and finding out where the lifts were for our trip there tomorrow.

One once back at the hotel we went out searching for the swimming pool. Quite fortuitously we ended up in the Club Lounge on one of the upper floors where we managed to get free tapas and drinks. We had a long conversation with three Americans from San Francisco. After this we did find the swimming pool and decided that it was suitable for me to have a night swim although it was fairly dark around the pool but quite picturesque with all the lights of the surrounding skyscrapers. I did six lengths. Back in the room we had a cup of coffee and read for a while. So two days diary contained here as we had lost seven hours of those two days with time changes.

Grand Hyatt Hotel. The plus point was that it was right by Taipei 101, which can be reached by a covered skywalk A number of niggles though - basically the hotel closes down at 23.00 at night. We could get no food, and the bar was closing . Lighting in the pool at night was bad, and the duty manager did not appear interested. It was dangerous. The pool had groups of men larking around , making lots of noise and nobody policed their behaviour. The reception area gets overcrowded. I have no idea why so many groups mill around here


Snacks in Boston House Hotel	Madrid to Shanghai Airport. Then Shanghai to Taiwan	The boys enjoy a bit of time away from flights	We take an Uber from Taipei Airport to the Hyatt

Comfortable room with ..	..a just about a side view of Taipei 101	The boys had their eyes on the hotel's gingerbread house	..but Chris settled on a glass of wine in the Hyatt Club Lounge

We set off just before 11 and walked to 101, this being the tallest tower in the world between 2004 and 2010. We bought a ticket there to the 88th floor, which was the tourist attraction And one could walk around the complete circumference of the building looking over the views down below of Taipei, which included wooded and hilly areas. It was beautifully decorated for Christmas and quite magical. We bought a green tea ice cream which came with four little eclairs and also a mango shake. Also, there was a huge damper which served to stabilise the building in the event of a tornado or earthquake.

After this we walked the 3 to 5 km to the memorial to Chiang Kai-shek, who fled to Taipei in 1945 and ruled as an absolute dictator until 1975. This memorial was really impressive. On arriving there just before 2 pm we hurried to see the changing of the guard. Six soldiers tossed their rifles around in the air impressively. We then went inside and saw the various exhibitions, one of them a history through time of the world from 1945 onwards with a giant clock presiding over it.

Before leaving this David bought a brown sugar Bubba, a drink common in the city which had globs of gelatinous substance in it and was not to Chris’s taste. The walk back to the hotel seemed quite a lot shorter, a lot of time being spent waiting at road crossings. Once back at the hotel, I had a swim and then we went up to the room .

We then were bombarded by phone calls from IMED in Benidorm which we got on both our phones. They were to the effect that my latest CT scan there had not been conclusive and they were afraid that my colon might be perforated. This was an emergency and they wanted me to go and have another CT scan as soon as possible. We suggested flying back, and there was a flight within four hours which would’ve got us back in Valencia by Wednesday early morning, but they forbade this and said it was imperative to go straight to emergency. So we took an Uber to the University Medical Hospital where we were promptly attended to a blood test, followed by a CT scan and all was done within three hours. The hospital CT scan showed that I had not got a perforation and that we were free to continue with our holiday plans.


Taipei Medical University Hospital	A fairly dour waiting room	And another wait for CT scan	But the CT Scan and interpretation of results was efficient

We then had to wait to receive the paperwork involved but were back at the hotel by just before 11, but not early enough to get any food there. We went to the bar and had a Caipirinha each and some crisps and nuts: a somewhat frugal day in the amount of food that had entered either of our stomachs.


The fast lift up Taipei 101	The view from the top was spectacular	Chaing Kai Sheck's Memorial Hall from 88 floors up

And the Christmas decorations at the top of the building, were ..	.. well Christmasy	And the boys were really excited	Sort of small bears wonderland

the damper was large scale engineering

We visited the cafe the next day. It was via another lift	Because it does not charge to access the view, it is popular	There is a minimum charge, but it was no more than a coffee ..	..and a couple of buns


An impressive building, though there was little inside it.	The Taiwanese are somewhat equivocal about Chiang's ..	.. role in the history of the island. Was he on balance	..good, or bad ?. The inside had little of substance

The military guards did the same sorts of gun twirling..	..stamping of boots, and strutting that one sees in many ..	..of these sorts of buildings allover the world

I slept until 10 am and then we stayed in the room while David dealt with paperwork in corresponding with IMED

At midday we checked out and walked to 101 again and went up to the 88th floor where there was a café. The lift there was free, but had a minimum spend at the cafe attached to that. I had a delicious ciabata bread with fennel and salad and some cinnamon toast.

Then back to the hotel foyer until 2 pm when David tried to call an Uber: there were phone problems, the uber went to the wrong address and it was probably about 14.30 before we actually got into it. We then drove to Keelung where the Coral Geographer was moored. We boarded at 15:30 and went to our cabin, 518, which was very pleasant. Then up to the lounge for some sparkling wine and scones before returning to do a little unpacking before the 5 pm briefing by the purser and the expedition leader, Dawn.

Then a little more unpacking before dinner at 6:30 pm. A dinner was on tables of eight and I happened to sit next to an obnoxious Australian lady who thought all her opinions were words from God. But it was a nice seafood starter and then the main course seem fine but the rocking of the boat was too much for me and I had to retire to the cabin. David came down half an hour later seemingly fine until he lay down and then his dinner was lost. They had been warned in the dining room that it would get rougher before things got better so maybe the stabilisers are not too effective on this ship. Anyway hopefully tomorrow will bring better weather.

We had a very rough night sailing from Keelung to Suao, where we arrived at around 6:30 am: we were surprised as a ship had been travelling 13 or so hours to do a 80 km. We then had breakfast, and had no problems with this. All ashore was at 8 am and we got into three buses and set off into the countryside.

Our bus stopped first in the tea fields We learnt about picking tea leaves, then cooking them for a while before rolling them. We learnt about the different lengths of fermentation that determine what sort of tea was produced. 100% fermentation led to black tea, while 0% fermentation gave green tea. In the middle 50% fermentation gave Oolong tea for which this tea plantation seemed to be famous. We then went on to an area where we were able to sample the different sorts of tea, both through smell and through taste. The tasting was set in an old house with an interesting garden with fishponds.

After the tea tasting we got back on the coach and proceeded to lunch which was at a sort of Disneyland Centre but not nearly so commercial. The actual lunch was on a table for about 10 with a Lazy Susan in the middle and upon this various dishes were added and added. We started off with smoked duck and tomato salad which had sugar on it, most enjoyable. There were also meatballs, rice, chicken with scallion sauce, Chinese cabbage, squid and topped off with a peculiar ice cream. We then had an hour free to see the puppet theatre and the various temples, workshops and shops in the place and the sculptures in the meadow beyond the river.

At 2 pm, we assembled again in our bus, where we had a really good view of the countryside and drove on to the Kavalan whisky factory, which was huge. Here we had a 30 minute tour but the guide was not too comprehensible. Then a taste of three different whiskeys. After this David bought a small bottle of whiskey and a whiskey ice cream. We were then given two tiny bottles of whiskey each as a Christmas present by the tour guide. We got back to the ship about 5 pm and had to hurry to be at the captains welcome drink party at 5:30 pm. But in fact this did not start till 6 pm, which was a bit annoying. The party had good tapas. We were told that the bad weather was likely to follow us for another five days or so. We had dinner With Charles and his Italian partner and this was really interesting as he was as well travelled, as we were but have been on different cruise lines that we had never heard about. After this there was a film written by a Taiwan/American man who was worried about what would happen if China invaded Taiwan. And so to bed by about 9 pm.


The Coral Geographer	The boys settle in to the cabin	Keelung Harbour	Safety drill with Aaron, the Purser

Tea picking and learning how they turn the picked leaves ..	..into tea	Chris was sent back to pick more tea	The Master Blender

The on to the National Centre for Traditional Art. he centre was established in January 2002


The layout	A puppet theatre. While the dialogue was in Chinese ...	.. we could (sort of) follow the plot

Pembroke went backstage to give the cast some tips

		Lunch was lots of dishes & lazy Susan in the middle of the table

Kavalan Distillery has been pioneering the art of single malt whisky in Taiwan, since 2005. Kavalan sources the mineral-rich meltwaters of Snow Mountain and is aged in a unique combination of intense heat and humidity together with sea and mountain breezes. All this combines to create the quality, smoothness, and fruity character for which Kavalan is known


Before coming here, I would have said that the whole idea of ..	..Chinese whisky was laughable, but having tried it, it was good.	The boys tried a glass of whisky, but ...	..thought that the whisky ice cream was better