Taipei to Vancouver to Calgary to Saskatoon

 

I had a beer at the airport, then found my gate.  We were a bit late boarding and I don’t know why I didn’t have a zone so I just got in the line up with zone 1.  When I got to the front I was told I was at the wrong gate.  The flight that was boarding was not China Airlines but something that started with an E (and not Emirates) that I have never heard of.  One of the women looked my flight number up and told me my plane was leaving from Gate D2 which “is very far away!”  I asked her to call them, to tell them I was coming and away I went.  I put my stuff in a push cart and ran.  I rechecked the big monitors and my flight was not listed and I had incorrectly presumed there could only be one flight leaving Taipei for Vancouver at 11:55 pm.  By this time almost all flights had left so there were no airport employees around or other travellers.  

The signs weren’t clear at one point and I ended up going downstairs to a dead end.  Eventually I could see D2 at the far end of the concourse so I kept running.  It too was a downstairs departure and when I got to the top of the stairs, the room below was still full.  They were delayed!  I was so happy!  I could hardly breath as my mouth was filled with a thick phlegm that I couldn’t get rid of.  I felt like I was choking.  I drank some water and gradually my mouth returned to normal and soon we were boarding.

The flight was 10.5 hours and I managed to sleep 3-4 hours.  We landed late in Vancouver and I had to go out of the airport and go through security again but made my connecting flight to Calgary in plenty of time-

I spent 5 hours in the Calgary Airport - visited with a woman from Edmonton, made coffee, and relaxed in a comfortable chair with no one around.  What a cool piano-

At 5 I made my way to my gate which was about 18 minutes away!  The airport is gigantic.  It was very weird because we were departing from an addition to the airport- tin walls and bare cement floor.  There were a few of us sitting along the wall and the worker used the loudspeaker to talk to us.  There were only 9 of us on the flight so if everyone was ready, she would check our boarding passes and walk us herself to the plane.  She was making a really big deal out of having to do this.  It seemed pretty simple to me but it was almost putting her over the edge.  All 9 of us boarded the 80 passenger plane.  After getting de-iced, which seemed to take forever, we were in the air-

Once in Saskatoon I tried to get an Uber to take me to Mom and Dad’s and it would have cost me $130!  Bizarre!  I took a cab instead.

And that’s the end of my 2025 Southeast Asia trip!  It was awesome!

 Taipei, Taiwan

I had another good sleep and spent a couple hours reading before breakfast at 8. Today was French toast and salad-

I decided to walk to meet my tour group at 10.  I made it just in time as I got carried away wandering and then realized I was still a long way away!  The tour company is called Formosa which was the name the Portuguese gave to the island when they discovered it in the 16th century.  Of course, as everywhere in the world, Indigenous people lived here first.  For some reason the Portuguese weren’t struck on the island so they sailed on to Japan.  The Dutch showed up in 1624 and ruled the south .  The Spanish came two years later and ruled the north.  They eventually had a war and the Dutch won.  In 1646 the Qing dynasty came and defeated the Dutch so they ruled from 1666 until 1894 when the Japanese ruled until the end of WW2.  After WW2, Taiwan was given by the UN to China.  Four years later in 1949 there was a civil war in China between the Qing dynasty and the communists.  The communists won so now Taiwan really belonged to China.

After our history lesson it was time for our religion lesson.  We visited the Longshan Temple.  The first gate is Buddhist- 

and was built in 1738 by the Qing dynasty.  You cannot step on the threshold because it is the god’s shoulder.  Women must step over with their right foot leading and men with their left.  The golden statue of Guanyin is the most important deity-

At the rear of the complex are the gods worshipped by the Daoists/Taoists/Mystics.  These three religions are the same.

Communication with the gods can be done using incense however it’s been band because of pollution-

Hands in a praying position work just as well.

Moon blocks are red and shaped like half a moon.  They’re used to get answers-

Holding two blocks, you state your name, your birthday and where you live so the god knows who you are.  You ask your question and toss the blocks.  If they end up with two pluses, it’s a silly question.  If the pluses are facing down the answer is no, but if it’s one plus up and one down the answer is yes. I don’t know if she’s getting the answers she wants to hear or not-

Another way to get an answer from the gods is by using a stick-

You pick a stick which are numbered from 1-100.  You get 3 throws  and if you get one plus and one negative three times in a row, then that’s your number.  There’s a cupboard-

with numbered messages for the answer to your wish-

There’s the god of health-

and the god of education-

Offerings given to the god of education include green onion because the word scallion means smart in mandarin. Garlic is also offered.  Pencils, stationary and erasers are blessed.  Copies of admission are brought for good luck and are burned so the worshipper/student is protected-

The goddess of the sea/transportation was a real woman.  On either side of her are two soldiers; one in a looking position and the other in a hearing position-

People used to bring white flowers if they wanted a boy and red for a girl to the god of childbirth-

The god of marriage is an old man with a beard.  He’s a combination of Cupid and Santa Claus and a function of Tinder.  He has a sweet tooth so people offer candy and cakes-

He was the busiest god!

Huge lanterns hang on the side of the temple-

  

Our next stop was Bo pi lao which is the former commercial district. I’m not sure why we went here because it’s just a bunch of empty brick buildings- 

but it was built by the Qing dynasty which was from 1683-1893.  The streets are narrow for defence and to avoid Chinese zombies who can only hop straight.  These people have some crazy superstitions!

After the Qing dynasty the Japanese took over.  Their architects wer trained in Europe so that’s why their buildings look like they do.  They built the Red Building-

in 1908 as a market.  The main building is in the shape of an octagon which for the Chinese wards off evil.  The back part was built in the shape of a cross for Christian protection.  Unfortunately the cross area burned in 2000.  Today it’s used for cultural activities, whatever that means.  The bathroom-

This is where the west gate to the walled city was but this is all that remains-

There are monuments to the rulers of the island: the Qing dynasty-

The Japanese-

and democracy-

The East Gate is about 1 km from the west gate and is still standing-

Next was the Presidential Office.  It is the same style as the Red Building and was built in 1919-

Today’s government is the Democratic Progressive Party.  They democratized the country and just took over from the Blue Party that ruled from 2016-2024 (they have a strong connection to China).  The present government hates China but realizes they need them for modern culture and semi conductors so they are trying to be friendly.  

The ethnicity of Taiwan is 2% pure Chinese, 32% Chinese and Taiwanese and 61 % Taiwanese. 

Some interesting facts - Exams are all multiple choice because they want you to think a certain way. In China the societal behaviour is low but in Taiwan it’s very organized.  Taiwan has only 11 allies in the world.  I guess everyone is afraid of China.  

The 228 Peace Memorial Park exists because on February 27, 1947 a poor woman was selling cigarettes without a licence just to make a living.  10 police beat her.  The people revolted and a cop fired a shot into the air to control the crowd but he killed someone on a balcony.  The next day a national movement started. The Governor said Taiwanese were uneducated savages. (Sounds like Trudeau).  Chiang Kai Shek (the first president of China) sent in troops.  18,000 people died and he implemented marshal law from 1947-1985.  Until Syria, this was the longest marshal law ever.  

Even though Shek did this, there is still a huge monument for him.  There is no bigger monument to a former ruler in the world-

Students used to have to bow to his statue in schools but the statues have all been placed in a museum.

His monument has 89 steps to the top because he died at 89-

He did some good things.  He was a good leader during  the civil war and he made land reforms so farmers can own land.

It was an excellent tour and I learned a lot.

After I went to Hangzhou Xiao long Bao for dumplings-

then took the MRT to Ximending which is the funky area of Taipei.  It was built as a suburb by the Japanese and has been home to culture and arts since the 1930s-

I found the pride flag-

penis cakes-

and The Modern Toilet restaurant-

Wall decor-

The menu-

Food is served in toilet dishes-

I headed back to the hostel vis Dihua Street-

which is supposedly old time China but not really.  There are lots of dried fruit shops-

dried mushroom shops-

and tea shops.

I came back to the hostel for a couple of hours until I left for the airport.  There’s an express train a 10 minute walk from the hostel and it took 45 minutes to get to the airport which is amazing.  I didn’t have to go through immigration, I just put my passport on a scanner.  I was through security and at my gate in no time.  This airport is so modern, I’ve never seen anything like it! 

I really enjoyed Taiwan.  There’s a good balance of city and nature.  There’s lots to see and do, the food is great, the country is soooo clean and the people are exceptionally polite and helpful.  I hope that when visitors leave Canada they say the same thing.