Taiwan Update #2

Hey everyone...back at the gaming den/Internet cafe while T is at the conference.

Ok...so we made it here no problem. T gave her presentation yesterday. In fact she ended up being asked to stand-in for the co-moderator! Lucky for her, her former office mate at the University of Oregon was the other co-moderator. Ended up with a nice shirt as a gift for stepping in.

I spent yesterday walking around the area around the hotel. To say this is a busy place would be an understatement of EPIC proportions! There is a large department store about 2-3 blocks down from the hotel along with a plethora of shops, but the thing is they don't open until noon, and don't close until at least 11 p.m.

In fact the whole city is a night owls dream! The shops are actually busier at 10:30 p.m. than they are at 10:30 a.m. Evidently the place to do shopping (you know who you that should be expecting gifts!) is a the night markets. Planning on hitting one of them either tonight after our dinner or tomorrow.

So, while I was walking around by myself yesterday I was trying to figure out some sort of plan for lunch...MANY small restaurants/food stands along my route, BUT absolutely none of them had English anywhere near the menu. So I threw in the towel and headed back to the hotel to take advantage of the lunch buffet. Set me back $650 in new Taiwanese dollars (exchange rate is 1:32 US to New Taiwanese)so roughly $20. Good food.

T and I walked around trying to find a place to eat dinner. Found a great place. We get seated. Handed menus. Nothing but Chinese characters. I'm getting nervous. Luckily they sent someone over who spoke English. Small dinner, some pork dumplings, shrimp fried rice, and we split a Taiwan beer. Total cost: $517.

We both got a laugh about that.

We're taking pics. Won't be able to post them until we get back though.

Once we get home Saturday it will probably take me a few days before I can get them edited and put together along with a complete summary of the trip - there were some funny moments in Anaheim as well.

OK...gotta run. Who knows when I'll get online again. Talk to all most of you when I get back (you know who you are!)