My First Post... Yet again

Here I am back in the Narita Express. The last time I took the Narita Express was 3 yrs back.. since then I have been in Japan several times but never had the chance to go Tokyo city so there was no need to take the Narita Express. I could remember how I felt back then when I first travelled to Japan. After the Narita Express left the station, I remembered that I was amazed by the nice padi fields and neat houses they had over here in Japan. Then I was alone taking the train. Today I was alone again. But back then, being my first trip here, I didn’t know what to expect. I was carrying a big luggage for a stay of 2 months in Hiroshima and I insist on lugging my luggage with me near my seat in the train and I did not even dare to leave my belongings unattended for a short trip to the washroom. Today, I am back in this train with the same scenery.. same luggage perhaps slightly smaller… but different mindset, different mentality and different understanding.

That is what I like about travelling. You always get to learn something new and something which sets you thinking. You see different cultures, meet different people and gain different experience. Of course I hope more good experience than bad experience. Through travelling, I leant to appreciate what I have and what is given to me. Through meeting different people, I came to realize that the world does not revolve only around me. Through different experience, I try to understand what happiness is all about.

I had originally wanted to name my blog bits and pieces. But because someone says that I could be sued for copyright.. i decided to change it to little bits and pieces ;p not very innovative huh? Well, but these are really like bits and pieces of memories that I think I myself will like to read about and laugh and remince once in a while. So I think the name bits and pieces has some symbolic meaning for this blog. Hope you enjoy my joy and laughter too :)

cheers,

von

Taichung - Typhoon Saola

One day before my flight to Taiwan for a business trip, I decided to check out the weather just to be sure I do not need to bring additional clothes. To my surprise, what I saw on the weather forecast website then was a typhoon warning on the week of my trip. I verified it on a second weather forecast website and didnt see the same typhoon warning. So I thought that it was probably a wrong piece of information. I set off for the trip. I arrived in Taichung in the late afternoon and was in the hotel to check out my mail. As my colleague has not yet arrived, I decided to do a little walk and visit the night market in the evening. Weather was nice and soon I put the typhoon warning out of my mind.

Local specialty - Fried chicken cutlet

I even settled my dinner while touring the night market and buying famous local specialty food along the way. We started the next day at work and that was when the bad news dawned upon us. There was a possible delay in the agenda as there is a typhoon warning the next day. So the weather forecast was right!! I wonder why I did not believe it. And this would be the first time in my life facing an impending typhoon. I did not know what to expect.

That very night, during dinner at the restaurant, the winds and the rainfall started. Typhoon Saola is arriving. It didnt look and sound so scary at first. Just heavy rain and wind but i noticed that the wind was warm. As the night progress, back in the hotel, I can hear the wind howling outside. It did not feel so bad inside the hotel. However, the next day when we were out and on the way to work, we saw fallen branches, broken glass/ pots... fallen road signs... I could imagine what a disaster it was the night before..

It was still raining heavily... I learnt about the term "typhoon national holiday". It was declared a public holiday for Taichung that very day due to the typhoon. We decided to take the risk to go to work because my colleague had an "important" appointment for that weekend and he did not want to change his flight. The roads were empty. I am not sure if I should be glad to know that. But most people were indoors, and we were one of the few cars on the roads. However, it was because of this we arrive way before our targetted time and we could start our work early.

Heavy floods and damaged traffic signs

As it was a national holiday, the office was actually not really operating. Only a few of the locals and us were there. We had to forgo also some items on our agenda. However we were glad that things come to an end and we could get ready to go home. I had the flight the following day. Which according to the locals, is better to fly the following day when Typhoon Saola will leave Taiwan and head north. However for my colleague, there is still an uncertainty. Due to the floods, it was unclear how much time is required to get to the airport and if he will be able to get there at all.

We bade each other goodbye and soon he is on his way home. I returned back to the hotel and turn on the tv. There was no where I could go anyway. All the news were about Typhoon Saola and the damage she caused. Bad floods were everywhere, especially in the easter side of Taiwan. Crops were damaged. Houses need repair. People were trapped. Some lives were taken. I switched around the channels... On one channel, they were showing the movement of Typhoon Saola from the time she entered Taiwan, moved out of Taiwan and back and her current location and forecast movement. It was a lot of information, but no good information. The only good news seems to be that Typhoon Saola should be gone by the next morning.

I woke up the next day, to find a raining day again. I did a quick check with the reception and check if the roads to the airport are good. After breakfast, the weather seem to clear up quite a bit. The rain stopped. I booked the car for the afternoon to get to the airport. However I did not stop thinking of the worst situation until I was on the plane.

It was until when the plane took off, and I could see that I am above the clouds that I realize I am finally on my way home. Back to the arms of my disaster free homeland.

PS: The last I heard from my colleague - his plane was cancelled and he was stranded at the airport. I did not have the chance to talk to him since then.

Taipei - Yangmingshan Flower Festival 2012

This trip was totally an impromptu trip. I was in Taipei for a business trip earlier this year but it was originally planned for a week. It ended up with a few extensions and it resulted in me having to spend one weekend in taipei with no pre-arranged plans. Well, I guess I could easily go shopping around in Taipei. However it was the spring season, with nice weather and being in a foreign place like Taipei where language is not such a big problem for me, I wanted to try something different - something that I will not be able to do back at home.

So there I was still deciding up till that very morning if I should visit Yangmingshan for the flower festival or to go to the hot springs at Beitou. I found that it happened to be the flower festival in Yangmingshan which is not so far from Taipei. In this period, the cherry blossoms are in bloom, so I decided that I should not miss this chance to view it.

There are many special bus services from various MRT stations like Jiantan, Taipei Main Station, Beitou going to Yangmingshan during this flower festival. There were some jams along the route to Yangmingshan, but I realize that you will still be trapped in those jams even if you take the cab or drive. Hence I would say the special bus transport are not such a bad choice after all.

Frankly, I was expecting much more after watching the numerous travel programmes about cherry blossoms in full bloom. Along the way, you could see the signs of spring with occasional cherry blossom trees popping out every now and then. However when I arrive at the Flower Clock area at the top of Yangmingshan, it was really crowded and it was not so easy to get nice pictures. Furthermore, being unprepared for any sightseeing, I was in my heels and it was really difficult walking in them in such "terrain". I spent my time there till around noon (i think i was there up in Yangmingshan only for slightly more than an hour), then decide to leave for Beitou, but if you decide to try this also the next time, do take note that the bus transport down could be a little chaotic. So do remember to leave some time for figuring out the right bus to the respective MRT and also the queue!