Taking it Easy in Taichung

On 17 October 2015, we found ourselves in a bit of a predicament. Originally, my girlfriend and I had planned to head away for the night to see a famous traditional town in northern Taiwan called Jiufen. However, on the day, we struggled with long lines for buses and trains, and eventually decided not to go. So then, we began trying to book some accommodation very last minute for the night in Taichung. The problem was it was Taichung Bicycle Week (which seems to go for, like, 17 months), and so the masses of foreign bicycle industry companies had descended on Taichung and booked out all the decent accommodation well in advance. It took a bit of scrounging on TripAdvisor and CTrip, among other websites, but we eventually found a place to crash for the night in Taichung Ease Motel.

A Little Taste of the High Life

It's been a while between posts! But I had a bit of a lull in my work travel over the past two months or so, and as such, I didn't really have a lot to write.

However, this morning, I rolled out of bed at about 4:20am to head to the airport - ahhh the joys of travel to Asia! When I arrived at the airport, I lined up in the fancy-pants queue, as I'm now a One World Emerald member. I asked the Cathay check-in staff member if there were any exit rows available - gotta put my 6'3" legs somewhere. He smirked a little as he handed over my boarding pass, explaining that I had been upgraded to Business Class for the flight through to Hong Kong.

Well... I suppose that will do!

A Little Seaside City Called Kimitsu

A couple of hours' train ride around Tokyo Bay lies the small industrial city of Kimitsu, in the Chiba Prefecture. Formed towards the end of the Second World War, it relies heavily on its port industries, namely fishing and the massive Nippon Steel factory - the latter of which is my reason for coming here. I have visited several times over the past 5 years or so, but my exploration of the area has been quite limited. I never have a car to get around, and my limited skill of high-school Japanese makes wandering into a restaurant a bit of a daunting task. However, on this occasion, I had a little help from my customer and translator in seeing a bit more of what this part of Japan has to offer.

Kia Ora, it's New Zealand, bro!

America has a bit of a love-hate relationship with its neighbour to the north, Canada. In Australia, we have a similar friendly rivalry with our neighbour to the east. But the reality is, New Zealand and Australia have a lot in common. We have very similar personalities, tastes in food, and our love for sport goes right down to the bone. And while we Aussies do give the Kiwis a bit of flack for their quirky accent, and their supposed extra-marital activities with their woolly ovine friends, I have always thoroughly enjoyed my trips "across the ditch".

My First Little Taste of the United States

Late in 2011, I was on a job in Christchurch, New Zealand (I promise I will blog about the Kiwis later!). After a day of work, my boss called me and asked me if I would be okay to take on a quick trip to the USA. I'd never set foot on American soil, and this would turn out to be first of about 5 trips over the next 12 months, so here is a bit about my first experience over the other side of the Pacific.

 

Tea is Good for the Soul

Okay, so this post isn't really about travelling. But it's inspired by things learnt from travelling! One of my customers in Taiwan always offer me Oolong tea when we sit for a meeting. On a recent visit, the boss was nice enough to give me 2 bags of his favourite leaves. Complete with a teapot and cups from my girlfriend, I have been getting into a nightly pot or two. For those who don't frequent their teapot, I thought a quick guide on how to brew a tasty Asian tea would be a nice addition to my blog.

A Little Exploring in Taiwan on Foot

As I mentioned previously in this post, Taiwan has become one of my most frequented destinations over the past 5 years. Even more so recently, now that I'm dating a local. Coming from Australia, Taiwan is rather amazing in its density; the country itself is less than 0.5% the size of Australia, and yet it has roughly the same population. The majority of the population live in cities along the west coast, as the east of the island is very mountainous. So as you can imagine, so many people in such a small area gives rise to a phenomenal amount of culture available to be experienced.