Taipei was a blast, tho a rather short one. I never knew Taiwan had so much to offer the tourist; now thanks to a dear fren who palmed off her unused ticket on me, I got to spend 3 1/2 days in the land where heaven meets earth (or so she tells me ). Now i know why she likes going back.. Taiwan's got everything for everyone - shopping, sights, food... wat else can a gawky-eyed tourist ask for?! I actually nearly missed my flight.. thanks to an express bus which wasn't quite express enuf, the gates had closed 10 mins before i rushed up to the counter... but thank God the man behind it was in good mood and let me thru, just in time to present myself at boarding gate.My first impression of Taipei after hopping on board their city bus shuttle on arrival was bleh, how drab and drabby it is.. because the buildings were old, and gray, and flat, and it was drizzling, cold and cloudy.. But first impressions are deceiving (should have learnt that by now) By the time I checked into the budget hotel, my eye balls were glazed over trying to take in the crowds of people, shops, sounds, etc etc.
God was really good to me; He kept the worst of the rains till my last day. The rest of the time was refreshingly cold cold cold. I was ill-prepared for the freeze though, so had to don 2 T-shirts out, ha ha, never believe everything you read on the Net; it said 19 degrees, I thought that was tolerable .. instead it plunged down to 15!!. I did the mandatory city tour on my own, hopping aboard bus and MRT, only got lost once , going in the wrong direction. Taipei transport is super efficient and so clean; people actually Q to board and bus drivers announce approaching destinations; though of coz it made little sense to a white banana like me... still with a smattering of broken Mandarin, Hokkien and sign language, I managed to find my way around. There was so much variety, so much stuff I ended up not knowing what to buy, so I decided to forget about the shopping, and concentrate on the seeing...
And the seeing was best, especially in the country side.. I registered for 2 out-of-Taipei tours, and enjoyed them thoroughly; it was well worth the money. Spending 1 day ooo-n-aah-ing the fantastic Taroko gorge (supposedly one of the wonders of Asia) where at one spot, looking up at the sky, it appears as if heaven really does meet earth! The other tour was to the coast and up to Chiufen, a hill village which used to be an old gold/coal mine . I thought I have seen sea in M'sia, but you ain't seen nothing until you see the real ocean.. I saw a 'small' sample of the Pacific ocean, and its...
mindblowing. Unfortunately my camera ran out of battery just at that point, so I didn't get many shots.What struck me as we wound our way up the hill were, of all things, the cemeteries. Cut into the side of the hill were little 'houses', not the drab tomb stones of our M'sian Chinese graves, but really elaborate and quite sizable structures , with colorfully painted designs on their roof tops and walls. My tour guide commented must make sure the dearly departed have a nice house even in death. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him there's a much much more beautiful house in heaven waiting for those who know how to get hold of the keys to enter!
Tho a part of me wished I could explore more, but by the end of the 3rd day, honestly, I was already home-sick. People say I shld have gone with some company instead of alone, but its not really that. I have no problems travelling alone; though I am surprised everybody seems to think me weird for doing that. The only disadvantage is I have to foot all the bills myself and I can't eat all the food I wanna eat since there is no one to share with me. It's just that after 3 days away, I was so happy to be greeted with a welcome home greeting in Engleesh as we landed, and I never knew I could appreciate hot air so much as I stepped out of the LCCT terminal!... Simple things that jolts you into recognizing that home is still home.
As I settle back into the old familiar routine of life, my heart is full of gratitude, remembering I have a home which God Himself has prepared waiting for me, one which surpasses any and all earthly homes, and therein I shall dwell, secure in His goodness and His mercy...
....Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands... 2 Cor 5:1
Check out story in pix at https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipPwT-ZnJf8s6iOEckQ5uESXSHhx4W1tkmuxe-mL
