A trip to Taiwan

I am glad to fulfil a promise: A promise that I made about two years ago. Linda and her boyfriend, Tso Lin visited Japan two years ago. I went to Kyoto to spend three days with them. For a long time, I was so occupyed to look Europe getting away from my busy life in Japan. I had never had a chance to visit her in Taiwan.
I actually travelled to Taiwan a couple of times on a business trip and my last visit was almost a decade ago. In that period of time, the Taiwanese government has been enphasizing a fast growing industry: such as high-tech and computer industry. At that time, my first impression of Taiwan was like early 1980s in Japan. I felt as if I was making a time travel to my childhood. Cars were old and shops were not so clean and run by families.
However, this time, once I arrived in Taipei and I was surprised with the country’s rapid growth.Highways and roads are much more in order. Taiwan’s largest commercial area is much bigger than my city. It could be similar to Tokyo and Osaka. Shopping area also far larger than Fukuoka.

In order to build your knowledge about the country, firstly I wrote a little bit of its history and political situation.
In the early seventeenth century, Dutch landed in the southernwest coast of Taiwan and started to occupy the island. In that period of time, Chinese people started immigrate in the island of Taiwan and beat Dutch to establish their government.
In the end of nineteenth century, Taiwan was occupyed by the Japanese government after China lost war. Many Taiwanese felt betrayed by the Chinese government when it gave away Taiwan for the war settlement. The Japanese occupation continued till 1945.
To my surprise, unlike China and Korea, Taiwanese people tend not to have strong hatred for Japanese. This is probably because the Japanese Empiral army contributed to develop industry and build infrastructure during the period and there was no unlawful killing of innocent people, forced labour and imprisonment which occurred in China and Korea.

I flew to Taipei on 8th Februrary. A few days before, people had celebrated the Chinese New Year. This is the longest and most important holiday in Taiwan. During this period, the majority of people go back to their hometown to spend their holidays with their families and relatives. In Taiwan, large manufacturing service industry are concentrated on the northern part of Taiwan. Due to a rapid economic growth, a large number of population moved from the southern parts to find a job. In the New Year holidays, those people were leaving for their hometown. So,highways were crowded.
When I arrived, there was a traffic control in order to flow the traffic smoothly : No car with less than three passengers was prohibited to enter the highway. So, poor Linda who only knows how to get around the city and get to the airport by the highway, took much longer time to get to the airport.
“Lu and Nuno are often late to meet me, ok. Maybe I cannot expect David and Athina to be punctual. Linda would not be like them.” I was thinking never knowing the situaion on that day. But I was relaxed. There was no need to be nervous or in a hurry. I was in holidays. She arrived twenty minutes after my arrival and apologized for her late arrival. The traffic was not normal.
It was raining and the temperature was lower than what I was expected.
I was invited to her parents’ house. I had traditional new year dishes and I got a bit tipsy with strong liquor which her grandfather constantly served me.
“My family tries to avoid getting drunk, trying to find an excuse” she told me.
“So, today I am the one to have a drink.”
The liquor that her grandfather offered to me was really strong. I tried a few before I could finally stop him...”
After the meal, Linda took me to a temple and then we still had time to spare. So, I decided to challenge “Foot massage”.
Frankly speaking, I did not try it for fun or my healthy. I simply wanted to write some funny experience on this blog.
However, I suffered a lot! A man really enjoys how customers suffer. Really.
“My friend, a female friend tried this foot massage. She suffered a lot and felt ill.” Linda said.
“It is just a painful experience. I do not think anyone enjoys. The only one who enjoy is this guy. This mean-machine!” I thought. The man is still smiling.
The good thing came only after great agony. My foot and lower part of legs light and I felt incredibly well. However, I thought I would choose a western style body massage rather than this painful experience.






On the second day, we set off for Tainan. A few years ago, they opened a new high speed railway which connects Taipei and towns in south.
As what happened during our stay in Lisbon, running all the time, we had to run crazily to get on the train to Tainan as well. Linda took her car to the high speed train station which is far away from the city centre and we circled up to the top of a car parking without no success in finding a space on the ground, first, second floor. We finally parted on the top floor on open air.
“Yasu, we have to run. We have only five minutes!”
When we reached the platform, the train was about to stop and we got on and took a seat with relief.
The train smoothly left the platform. On the way to Tainan, the train offered us a pleasant landscape of Taiwan’s countryside. It showed scenes of rice planting. In Taiwan, farmers grow and harvest rice twice a year. Two seasons: They plant in February and harvest in late spring and then plant again in June.
It took less than two hours to get to Tainan. Tainan is the first place where a town was built. About 400 years ago, Dutch settled down this place and Chinese immigrants took control on the town later.




Linda’s boyfriend, Tso Lin and her friend at work, Roy waited us in the city center. We went around the town by scooter to visit historical sites and traditional first food shops.



Food in Tainan is excellent: Let me introduce you some of Taiwanese first food.

Deep-fried shrimp roll: This is my favorite! Coated deep-fried. The outside is crispy. The inside is elastic.


Bean curd pudding: You can have different types of beans: red, green, yellow etc.


Sticky rice cake with sweet red bean: This is exactly what we, Japanese call Zenzai.


Pork dumpling in soup.



Tso Lin, Linda and Roy, my guide in Tainan

In Tainan, people go around to taste just one dish at a time and move to another. Like Spanish, when they go to eat Tapas. Eat and have a little chat and go. Almost nobody stay long. Basically, Taiwanese do not spend so much time at table.
“I remember that the first dinner with Nuno at the North Terrace: the first Portuguese night. He spent about one hour for cooking. The dinner started at nine and lasted 4 hours. We, Taiwanese, eat and finish very quickly.” Linda said.

On the next morning, we went back to Taipei. We enjoyed a sunny day tour in Tainan. But when we came back to Taipei, it was rainning again. We went to the Taiwan’s largest history museum.


On the evening, we had dinner with Linda’s family: parents, uncle and aunt. To my surprise, Linda’s uncle and aunt both speak very good Japanese. When they were young, the Japanese army occupied Taiwan. They were taught in Japanese when they were at junior high school. A lot of Japanese family lived during that period until the World War II ended. Her uncle brought Kurosawa movie to show me. It was my great surprise.



On my fourth day, we went to the countryside to visit a region where they grow tea. Taiwan produce very good Woolong tea. We had lunch at tea cuisine restaurant and after lunch we watch a shopkeeper how to make tea.




Next morning, Tso Lin had to leave for Korea for a business trip. We took Linda’s car to bring him to the airport. He regularly takes a business trip to Korea for two weeks. After seeing him off at the airport, I asked her about their wedding.
“Yes, we are planning to get married this year but we are busy at a lot of other things and preparaton now. Probably in autumn. Will you come?”
“Yes, I will.” I made a response immediately. I could be an only foreign guest who does not understand Chinese. But I did not mind. It must be another interesting experience. Now I know both Linda and Tso Lin. I have knowing them together since their trip to Japan. It is nice to see them getting married.
On the following day, we visited the ceramic museum before my departure and she took me to the airport. She dropped me off at the terminal and we exchanged the last salute. I watched her driving away.
"The trip was short but I will come back soon."