香港, 九龍和澳門 Hong Kong，Kowloon and Macau

I landed an hour earlier than scheduled in Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan. Apparently there were technical difficulties with my flight and was cancelled. Thanks to my friend Samson who showed me around his territory in Hong Kong, I was able to get home earlier rather than later. My phone didn't have internet service while overseas so I didn't get the notice of the cancellation but Samson suggested we check in at the Hong Kong Airport Express Train Station before I headed to the airport. If I wanted I could drop of my luggage there and continue walking around the city before taking the express train straight to the airport. Since of the earlier time however, I decided to leave Samson at that time to head to customs and all the mayhem involved in boarding a plane. As I was going through the process twice in three days not including going through customs twice on Saturday to get into and out of Macau by Ferry. All of this made me extremely tired and more vulnerable to the cold I had been keeping at a moderate hum. It peaked on the flight over to Hong Kong because of the air pressure, so the doctors meds were useless... 頭褲子放屁 (take off your pants to fart) as they say for useless things that either make no sense or do nothing to help the situation. I like to use this phrase my language exchange taught me quite often.

Looking back to Friday evening when I landed I found my way rather easily compared to the first time in Taoyuan Airport, the Hong Kong Airport is so modern and international in every aspect. I had fun teaching myself new words related to boarding a plane and a ferry, later on. The first time in Hong Kong, I had been there for a lay over before going on to Taiwan, so this time I was looking for the Express Train to the other islands. I found it no problem and perfunctorily chose HK as my final destination. Opps! I had forgotten that my hotel was in Kowloon right on the edge of the Harbor in between Hong Kong and Kowloon. When I boarded the train I asked the lady beside me, first in English, if this ticket would work for Kowloon. However, she started waving her hands at me. I realized she wasn't one of the Hong Kong residents and started asking in Mandarin. She looked relieved and she said she also just came from Taibei for her first time and didn't know the system. She imagined there wouldn't be a problem but that I would probably lose the extra money for getting off sooner. I was also relieved to here it might just work. She was pleased with my Mandarin and starting giving me a suggestion which went over my head. She noticed and explained differently, that also went over my head. I was a little nervous because I was still thinking of getting to the hotel and I ended up nodding in understanding instead of bothering her to explain again. She parted first with a happy goodbye. That was the last friendly person I randomly talked too. Hong Kong people are not like the Taiwanese in the least! I don't want to speak for all in general because generalizations are often inaccurate but this has some foundation. I never felt comfortable asking people around Hong Kong and Macau while staying there. Samson even has to agree. He kept talking about it himself after a lady ran into me at Temple Street Night Market he said that's what the Mainland Chinese are like. They don't care about your space and won't apologize because you are a number. I got a taste and my suspicions have been confirmed. I really believe that if you aren't looking for upper class business work and glamor you will agree with me that Taiwan is a great alternative to HK or China for learning Mandarin and enjoying the culture.

Otherwise, I enjoyed it for what it was, a tourist attraction. It's not a place to live. Samson told me he is tired of the place and will be moving to Australia in February so I wish him the best in that friendly country!

Well as for the more cheerful side, I got to my hotel and almost cried. Feeling as sick as I was, the comfort of a nice bed and a hot bath was so wonderful. I really was thankful for everything that eased my nerves after traveling. I got a call on my phone and it was my sister's boss we were supposed to go to dinner. So I got ready in a jiffy, the bath would have to wait for after. I went with him to a local Hong Kong dinning place in the mall near the hotel that was his personal favorite. I let him order and we talked about all kinds of things. It was almost strange seeing someone familiar from western hemisphere now overseas, especially after so many months apart.

These things kept me a little more sane in the unknown territory while not feeling myself. I am again very grateful for everything. After dinner, we walked along the harbor on a sidewalk called "Walk with the Stars" which was neat because it had hand prints of all the famous Chinese actors and artists. The highlight was the statue of Bruce Lee. The night scape is also very gorgeous. I had a pivotal talk with my sister's boss, who I'm not naming just out of respect for his identity. He and I talked about things in the future that I've been trying hard to figure out now. One of them is, will I stay in Taiwan? Is this were I wish to live? I have been thinking about it for awhile and believe I am discovering this now. Things come and go but right now I don't want to let go. That's how I feel and what I will discover after filling out another scholarship for the masters program here.

The New Year 跨年

First I have to apologize that I haven't updated recently for many reasons but at last I am sitting in front of my computer and mainly wish to share some beautiful pictures from the New Year! As all of you are already aware. My time in Taiwan would have ended in December but among some of the many reasons for my staying, witnessing a New Year and Chinese New Year in Asia was along the top of the list. New Years is like Christmas and so I wanted to experience the hype that is the biggest holiday in this area of the world. This year especially was important for Taiwan because it celebrated 100 years as the ROC or Republic of China. The mastermind of the main show was the same who had worked on the Beijing 2008 Olympics according to my teacher. The neat effects included a spiraling effect of fireworks zipping up and down the side of Taipei 101 as well as fireworks bursting to form 100 in the sky. Not only one area of the city was celebrating with fireworks. The Taipei Flora Expo also had it's own show of fireworks as well as other areas of the city. From the vantage point at the rooftop of Ayaka's apartment building my friends' and I could see everything, plus, here's the best part, not deal with the crowds! A record number of people had gathered around the second tallest building of the world so it took hours to return home for some of my friends who had chosen to go straight to the site. It might have been worth the crowds if it wasn't a record freezing night to top it off. I wanted to share a picture of my Japanese friend Ayaka's toilet from her apartment. I made a joke of saying, if the room became too crowded with people, which she kept worrying about, I would gladly go sit on the toilet. It's Japanese style and has a warm setting. It's with out a doubt the most comfortable toilet ever when it's cold!

Before the fireworks started we called Rick, who had returned to Australia when I was supposed to go back. He had already been celebrating with friends so in his usual good humor he greeted us, "Greetings from the future!" It was special for us to celebrate with Rick so we had him on skype and took turns saying random things for him to guess who was talking at the time. He scored 100% He ended talking to us again later while he was trying to find a Taxi and talking about how he missed Taipei's convenient taxi service. (There is always plenty around)

The night ended around 3am for us as people slowly filtered out. Amy and I walked home, a few blocks away. We have no regrets about our moving to a closer area.
Please enjoy the photos! I took a lot of the fireworks but it's hard for them to come in clearly and these are my favorites.