Asia 2006, Part One - Taiwan

After gliding smoothly through my flights and connections on the first leg of my trip, I arrived in Taipei International Airport at the absurd hour of 6:00 AM. Immediately after stepping off the plane, the sher humidity of the air hit me. It was also quite warm, considering it was barely daytime, but the humidity was like walking in a wall of steam.

After going through Taiwan immigration and collecting my bag, I went outside and met with my aunt, who I would be staying with. She was happy that my flight was early, since it meant we'd be able to skip rush hour (a way bigger deal than in Vancouver, I later learned). The drive from the airport was kind of fascinating to me; it was the first time I'd been in Taiwan since I was four. It was surprisingly green, with palm trees and huge lush ferns, the size of my bedroom. And morning glories everywhere, but not white like in the endowment lands. Here, they were mauve running into deep violet. Temples seem to pop up almost randomly, bursts of colour with grand curving sculptures of dragons and lions. The occasional abandoned highrise crops up. Slowly, the green countryside fades into gray cityscape.

And this is one hell of a city.

Taipei is everything you expect from a large asian city; street markets, food kiosks, huge shopping malls, and absolutely teeming with people. Cars, buses, trucks, motorcycles, scooters, it doesn't seem like any of the road is empty. The whole city is packed with things to look at and smells seem to radiate from every alley (thankfully, a good portion of these odors are at least not unpleasant. Some of them smell so good you want to chase them down). It's only gotten hotter out, and it's cloudy today; I can't imagine what it would feel like under open sunshine.

After eating as many lychees as my post-flight stomach will allow (my aunt had very thoughtfully bought crates of them in preparation for my arrival), I take a nap. It's only 10 AM when I wake up; it feels like I slept over night. I'm told to get ready; we're going to lunch with my aunt's friends.