It's the middle of the night... I've been to lazy to select the time on this computer, or select a network on my cell, or set the time correctly on the small clock in my room so I don't really know what time it is. Also, it's so polluted here that the sunrise doesn't really happen the same way. Either way, it's night time and I'm in that weird jet lag state where earlier I was so tired I was almost dead and now I'm awake like a squirrell on meth.
Flights from Vancouver to Taipei were fairly uneventful and turbulence free. The Vancouver - Hong Kong hop was a 13.5 hr flight, with screaming Chinese babies in front and behind my Dad and I. I caught maybe 3 hrs sleep. Almost missed the second flight from Hong Kong to Taipei as the connection was so close but so far I've been totally stoked with Cathay Pacific, mostly because the food is so yummy. Last time I flew over to Taiwan I'd just read an article that people are most likely to contract colds when they eat, so I decided to fast for the 30 hours of travel. True, I didn't get a cold and my Dad did, but I had such low blood sugar I was a grumpy like the wrath of God which, in hindsight, may have strained things with my travel partner a bit.
Dad and I are traveling with his younger brother Harley and his wife Joan. Harley looks and acts exactly like my Dad only he has a red beard, and Joan looks and acts exactly like my mom except she's blonde. It's funny because of all the family Jesse will have representing him at this wedding, the men (step dad Jack, Dad and Harley) are all tall, fat bearded roughnecks wearing socks and sandals and the women (Joan and my mom) are weathered looking broads with torsos like kegs. And then there's me haha.
When my brother Jesse, the groom, picked us up at the airport, there were hundreds of screaming Asian girls with signs and balloons. He assured us this Chinese Beatle-mania wasn't for us, apparently the Korean equivalent to the Backstreet Boys was flying first class on our flight.
As we were driving into Taipei, the cultural, economic and political capital of Taiwan, Jesse told us about the recent typhoons. Taipei itself didn't get hit too hard but he said earlier in the season a tour bus holding several hundred Chinese tourists was driving around the sketchy mountain roads of the Northeast coast and got taken out by a massive landslide/ tidal wave. The bus and all the people in it just got swept right out to sea. Apparently we won't be visiting that part of Taiwan.
Jesse's bride Ruby was a model and is now a very successful real estate agent and has our family staying in these ultra sheik condos in the heart of Taipei. Joan, Harley and Dad are staying in a 2 bedroom suite on the 14th floor and I'm on the 12th floor with mom and Jack. After a few days of roughing it on the boat with no functional running water or fridge this suite has rocket-launched me into the luxe life of high thread count sheets and towells, remote controlled air conditioning and giant plasma tvs.
As soon as we arrived at the condos Dad was itching to go to 7eleven to score some beers so we did a bit of a walking tour around. Taiwan Golden Beers (aka TBs) are like tallees of Heineken for a buck each. Nom nom nom nom. We chill in the room for a bit, freshen up and then head our for dinner. The condos are conveniently located above a 4 story mall with an entire floor called Gourmet Avenue - sushi, sezhuan, hot pot, pizza, western food, seafood, starbucks, you name it.
After dinner Jesse went to pick up mom and Jack from the airport and ten offered to take me out to his place to walk his dogs. Let's be blunt here: Jesse's neighbourhood is fucking terrifying. Packs of wild dogs running around dark smelly alleys, wires hanging everywhere, filthy buildings and groups of working dudes sitting standing around smoking and spitting. When we walk into his apartment though, a ground floor suite in a small complex, it looks like the kind of place I'd expect a securities broker and a real estate agent/ former model to live - white furniture everywhere, clean, stuffed animals and Alan Greenspan books lining the shelves.
We take the dogs out and run into a street dog who Jesse tells me got one of his dogs pregnant earlier in the year. Both his dogs are Taiwanese Toko dogs, like little mini black lab malamutes with chupacabra heads. One is named Bear (She Shiang) because she looked like a bear when she was a baby, the other is named Lucky (Lei Hok) because he rescued her off the street... and Jesse also loves Lucky lager. :-P
I see the sun coming up so I better crash out. I have a dress fitting with the bride tomorrow for my bridesmaid's dress. Kristy, I'm sure you're feeling my excitement for that all the way across the globe haha.
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