The Last Hurrah

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Captain's final log, star date... wait, wrong show. This is, however, the last hurrah. Sick (I've picked up some nasal cold thing) and tired, and sick and tired of it all, we head home tomorrow. If it's possible, I'm actually looking forward to the 16 hours on the plane (in leg cramped coach), 4 or so hours in layover (over 3 in San Francisco - hey, maybe we'll go to Chinatown) and the hour and a half drive home from the airport. Of course, I will follow that with about 3 days of sleep, if the kids and family will allow it.

Our last day hasn't been nearly as fun as we had anticipated. I think we've just worn ourselves out too much and are good and ready to leave. The meeting with MPI went very well, they are using the software as well as, or better than any of the other vendors we've met with all along the way. Lunch was good (we've decided that of all the foods we've had on this marathon trip, we like Thai food the best), and the shopping trip to the Hard Rock Cafe was nothing short of an ordeal.

Somehow, our host misunderstood what we were looking for, and found a nice guitar shop. Now, I'm not complaining, because I enjoyed looking and even considered buying a new guitar, but she was off the mark. We did, eventually, get there and picked up a few things (now to sell them for a premium!).

The ride back to the hotel was nothing short of pure hell. It couldn't have been more than about 16 or so blocks (the Hard Rock Cafe is on Suhkumvit 2, and our hotel on Suhkumvit 19), but the 45 minutes of winding around and waiting in traffic had me ready to scream. I wanted to get out and say, "let me walk back" about a dozen times, but was able to confine myself.

We went out tonight to see some of the local market, but after a few purchases got bored with that and went to eat. We met up with some of the local missionaries (2 couples, and 3 sets of elders) and gave them a bit of a hard time, but enjoyed the visit. The 4 cokes I had during dinner will probably keep me from getting much sleep tonight, but if I can bum an Ambien from Mike tomorrow, I'm hoping for a chemically indiced coma to take over between Tokyo and San Francisco.

The trip, overall, has been very successful, and very rewarding in that we have had some very meaningful discussions and session with the vendors here. I don't know how I'm going to keep it all straight for the expense report, but will find a way to work through it all.

Here are the last images of the trip. You'll probably be able to tell that I'm not in much of a mood for pictures and blogging, so apologies that this is all you get.


Straight across from our hotel. I guess this kind of puts new meaning to the "happy" part of the massages that we've been offered on the streets over here. To think it's just a franchise thing...

Okay... I think that's about enough lucky charms on one mirror. Maybe we should have stopped and gotten him a garter belt to add to his collection.

Bright colors to attract the tourists... lug nuts optional.

See... we really are here in Thailand.

A carved wall of art.

One of about 30,000 local taxis that they are continually trying to get you to ride. We witnessed literally 6 or more people load up in one tonight. I remember days of stuffing as many as we could in the old Volkswagen Beetles, and "dragging" main. I guess that means they're about 35 years behind the times over here.

Thai taggers...

It has been an adventure.

Pooped Past Taipei

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We are worn out. Literally exhausted from the trip, to the point of nausea. This realization hit as we were getting ready to leave Taiwan and go to Bangkok, our last stop on this journey. Our last day in Taiwan started early, as we prepared for yet another meeting with a vendor. They picked us up at 9:00 for the hour ride to their offices, we spent several hours (longer than usual) in training -- they are doing quite well, and we were very pleased with the outcome. They dropped us back at our hotel at 3:30, just in time to check out and rest in the "executive" lounge for a hour and a half before catching a taxi to the airport.

Our flight arrived at 11:00pm in Bangkok, we got to the hotel around 12:45am (customs/luggage/exchange), and I've picked up a sinus cold that had my eyes burning and head aching. Five hours of sleep, and we'll meet with our last vendor, then home tomorrow.

A shot for the Taiwanese "BeefCake" calendar. These guys were working on one of the busiest streets in the area, cars flying by them and not giving them a second glance, and no safety cones or even semblance that they notice the traffic around them.

Now... I think this is a glorified golf cart, but I'm told it's designed by Mercedes, packs a whopping 600cc gas engine, and gets upwards of 80 mpg.

Sorry this is only one duck (I was hoping to capture an open window full of this type of fare)... evidently a popular item at this street vendor's shop.

The best noodle lunch we had while in Taiwan. These were spicy, with sweet potato fries, fried scallops and schwe-jaudz (I still think mine are better).

Another noodle lunch, with some mystery meat/vegetable paste on the side.

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor dark of night keeps the scooters from running. Sometimes the streets were extremely wet, and I was just waiting for one to go down.

A typical parking lot... "Where's my scooter?"

Taipei 101 - the tallest building in the world (at least until they finish the one they're working on in Shanghai). Several different intended symbolisms from this 101 story building... exceeding 100%, digital age, etc... Of course, we rode the fastest elevator in the world (89 floors in 37 seconds) to take in the observation deck in the fog and rain.

Another shot from the street as we approached the building.

Inside, on the first 5 floors (and extending down into the basement 2-3 floors, is the most upscale mall I've ever seen. With names like Gucci, Versace, Louis Vuitton, Rolex, and many others, we didn't see many shoppers... just a lot of "looky loos" like us.

From the 89th floor, looking through the window. I would really like this shot if the glass were cleaner and it wasn't raining.

As the lights start to come one. This is really something to see at night, but we were a little too early to get that picture.

As we were getting ready to head back to our hotel, I caught this wet street with the lights reflected in it. I think this is my favorite night shot of the whole trip.

For Skylar (images of Taiwan)

Some random shots from the streets of Taiwan. I'm sure some of these will bring back many memories for Skylar. We had another Sunday off, so we took in the sights. Thanks to Floriey (Paul, Sherry, Angel, Avery, Justin, and Gloria).

From a street stand somewhere along the way.

I'm sure my girls will like these pictures of the squid I caught.

Look tasty, eh girls?

Or perhaps some snails? The Koreans (and I observed the Taiwanese doing the same) would take a rolled up paper cone of these with them as they did their sight-seeing. They pop the end on their eye tooth, then suck the snail out. Mmmmm... How-chir (delicious).

I couldn't resist when I saw this sign. It brought back memories of the "no gas" signs during the gas shortage of the 70's. We saw this sign for a Thai restaurant and when we got there to try their fare, this is what we encountered. Not just closed... but closed, no food.

I got in trouble for taking these two pictures at a 7-Eleven. Didn't have time to look close, but I remember seeing swiss cheese flavored Lays.

More from the 7-Eleven.

There are more scooters in Taiwan than anywhere I've ever seen. I think they outnumber cars 3-1. EVERYONE drives them, and everyone carries anything and EVERYTHING on them. The students get into this street racing/main dragging mode at night. It's fun to watch.

Some dried fish? I think these are sardines.

The post-lunch nap... this guy was able to sleep on a very busy street, with people walking by and cars and scooters zipping by. I wish I could get this kind of sleep over here.

An "old-school" scooter... I've named it the "Pink Cadillac."

Great colors and arrangement in these jars of pickled... um... er... pretty much anything and everything.

Colorful orchids.

As close to an off-road ready Jeep as I've seen over here. Now, for a mountain to tear up.

Selling his wares from the meridian at a busy intersection.

These guys came in to a Buddhist temple from out of town. Evidently ritual has it that they needed to "announce" their arrival. Their horns, all blaring a little different tune and tone (and none of them together), are actually amplified through those bull horns. This was loud, and the most obnoxious noise I've heard since Maggie's singing.

At the top of an escalator at an electronics store. Not sure I get it.

Taichung... the fashion capital of Asia. We happened across a street party/fair. A lot of foreigners, and some band with a Taiwanese drummer and three caucasians singing blues sounded strangely out of place.

Cute. Skylar should love this one.

See the FGA? I figured it must be like the Elks Bingo parlor (F.O.E.)

These next photos are the Buddhist temple we visited... over 300 years old. Very steeped in tradition and old-school ways. Mostly Taiwanese writing instead of Chinese.

The bell is run in the morning, and always hangs in the East foyer/entryway.

And the drum in the west foyer/entryway, beat at night.

Old town alleyways were narrow and had many turns to stop the typhoon winds from getting to the homes and doing damage.

Traditional doorway. All the writing is significant. A true step back in time.

Another great doorway.

Incense urn from the temple.

Ceremonial cart used to move the gods (statues) from one temple to the next.

Father Christmas?

Deity. A lot of idols, and paying homage to different gods for different reasons. Our hostess is pregnant, and bows to the goddess that will watch over her health during pregnancy. With the whole yin/yang thing of opposites in everything, they even have a god of evil (Satan?) that they respect and pay homage to, so they can pass quickly after death and get to the "good" place.

A dragon on one corner of the temple. I especially like the flexible ductwork in the background. It was somewhat disappointing that this temple was crammed in the middle of homes, shops, and the like. They should have given it some room, but evidently that isn't a luxury here.

Lanterns like these hang everywhere.

One side of an entryway. The other was almost a mirror image of this one. We learned that you always step across (never on) the threshold of a temple, and that the tiles on the floor, and the direction they are laid is very important. One patterns signifies "welcome", while another signifies, "stop" or "wait" to be welcomed.

On the fence surrounding the temple.

Up close and personal.

Click here to see Mike Judy's blog