Xie Xie, Taiwan

The skyline of Taipei, with the tower Taipei 101 prominent

Last days in Taipei

It remained very hot. On our return from the tour to Yilan there was a peaceful protest in Taipei, and several streets were blocked off. Our guide should have known about this; it was frustrating to be stuck in traffic, knowing that we would have to catch a taxi back to our hotel afterwards. At one point I googled our current situation, and we were still 9 minutes away from the Taipei Main Station! Eventually we were dropped off, but not at the main station. There were few taxis there, but after a few minutes we got one. The driver spoke English, too!  I didn’t see any banners, but JD saw some. There were a lot of people around, especially near to our hotel, but they were very peaceful.  I tried to find out why they were protesting, and it seemed they were protesting “reforms” that would give another branch of government more power, that were proposed by the right-wing executive branch of the government. This week the new leader had taken over from the woman president who had served two terms.  People kept saying to me that the world is a dangerous place, and they weren’t talking about Ukraine or Israel.

That evening back at the hotel we ate the beautiful things we’d bought from the bread shop –  a long roll with blueberry jam, and a chocolate covered croissant. The blueberry one had some kind of custard filling.  I was very relieved to get back and wash my hands properly! JD went out to get some fruit and came back with pineapple.   

The next day was Wednesday, the eve of our departure. That day my granddaughter had a half-day off from school, so she had lunch with us too. We went to a vegan restaurant that we had been to with her last year.  I had Korean spicy chicken, except it wasn’t real chicken!  It came with a mixture of rice, sprouted beans, salad, and other things. It was pretty nice!  I had a sparking vinegar drink. We shared vegan cheesecake afterwards – matcha flavoured, and chocolate. There’s a lot of matcha-flavour, presumably what we would know as matcha tea.

Afterwards we went to watch our grandchildren doing Taekwondo. They are quite advanced from last year. Then we went back to their apartment.  We had some of the whisky we had bought from the Kavalan distillery for our son – it’s 50% alcohol, and JD and I found it very strong. Some friends of theirs had again given us beautiful cakes. We walked back to our hotel and had some of the cakes for our tea.

That was our last night at the hotel. We were to check out by 11 am the next day.  I had left packing until now – I could not find a dark green cardigan that I had brought with me. No matter; I’ve worn it lots, and although I’m disappointed, I’ll buy another, because it was very useful.

We were due to meet our son at 11 am, but we had finished packing soon after 9 am, so we went walking. We had coffee at The Dancing Goat café (brown sugar lattés, one hot one cold). My one had caramelised brown sugar on top – that is next level, and really something!  There were two delicious wee biscuits served with them.

Then we walked back to the Grand Courtyard. This was now open, but you had to pay to see the exhibition, so we did not go in. Then we met our son (we were able to leave our bags at the hotel), and went to another exhibition, and a series of pop-up arty shops. That was great fun!

Then we had lunch at another vegan restaurant quite near our hotel – we should go there if we visit Taipei again. I had a sparkling drink of peach-flavoured tea, and a salad with beetroot, prunes, nuts and quinoa, on lettuce and tomato. JD had some amazing pumpkin soup and quiche and salad.

Then we walked back to our hotel, collected our baggage, and got a taxi to the airport.

Unlike last year, it was very busy at the airport. It took us some time to find the Air NZ counter.  You realise, again, that NZ is a very tiny country in the scheme of things. Eventually we were checked in, and went through security.  Then we found our way to the EVA Lounge. It was very busy everywhere.

I had more coffee, and a carton of apple juice, and I was able to charge my phone. I only had my phone and my kindle for reading matter, and I almost wished I had brought a physical book to read. We both put on our pressure socks – with some difficulty, as far as I was concerned.

In the EVA Lounge there are no boarding announcements, so we duly went to the restrooms and made our way to our gate.  The lounge looked empty, but someone checked our passports and boarding passes, and we went downstairs – to another lounge where there were lots of people. There was nowhere much to sit, but then we were invited to board our plane. How nice to be priority customers!

We boarded the business class cabin, and found our seats. Knowing better what to expect than previously, I put on the scuffs Air NZ had thoughtfully provided, and stowed my trainers in the overhead locker. I stowed my handbag under the humpty.  Someone brought me a glass of orange juice; then a hot flannel.  There were many empty seats in business class.  Then we took off, and eventually were served dinner.  For some reason, this seemed to take ages, even though there were many empty seats. Still, it was quite good: an amuse bouche with duck, and some lovely nuts; then an entrée with smoked salmon and salad; then the bakery, with the lovely garlic bread and olive oil; and then my spicy pork with rice and greens. Dessert was a chocolate lava cake with dried raspberry garnish. This was delicious: the other choice was caramel ice cream. I ate this with some mineral water. It was so nice to have one’s own little table surface, with table cloth, large linen napkin with buttonhole, and proper cutlery. It was worth waiting for.

Then I went to the tiny toilet while someone made up my bed. This is a disadvantage of business class: you’re either sitting up, or lying flat, with different seat belt arrangements!  It’s lovely to lie flat, although it’s a little tricky to manage the rug, the seat belt (which must be kept visible), and the two pillows. Actually it’s much more comfortable with one pillow! 

I lay down, thinking this is rather wonderful, and then I got cramp.  I retrieved my magnesium cream from my carry-bag in the overhead locker, and applied it to my leg, although it is quite odorous.  Sadly, the cramp continued. I took off my pressure socks with difficulty – they were really uncomfortable.  The cramp continued, off and on, and although it was nice to lie flay, I did not really sleep, I think. Still, it was better to be lying flat and more comfortable.

At some incredibly early hour (3:15 am Taiwan time) they started serving breakfast! Someone brought me some orange juice; then there was a fruit bowl (melon, cantaloupe, pineapple, custard apple and watermelon), and then hot bakery items. I asked for a croissant and strawberry jam. Unfortunately I spilled the jam while opening the sachet, and it was quite liquid and went everywhere, making a real mess of my serviette and table cloth. The croissant was quite small, and very crumbly, which added to the mess! Then I chose the spinach and cheddar cheese omelette, which came with hollandaise sauce, streaky bacon, tomato and hash browns.  The omelette sounded good, but tasted a bit strange; it’s odd to have this sauce with an omelette. The hash browns were quite nice, but the potato in them was a little undercooked.

After that, I watched part of a movie, Alleluya. The entertainment system had far more options than in Premium Economy, and was far more accessible. I had seen the trailer of this movie. But I hadn’t actually seen it. It starred Jennifer Saunders, Derek Jacobi. Judi Dench, Russell Tovey and other luminaries, and had a rather good script. It’s about very elderly people in care, with their varying degrees of dementia and other ailments, but somehow it was not depressing.

Then we landed very smoothly at Auckland Airport, and it was time to retrieve my trainers and put them on.  We alighted to a very different atmosphere – much cooler, and the air is so different.  It was a fine day in Auckland, and not too cold, so we walked to the domestic terminal. We had been invited to leave our luggage in International, I think, but I did not trust Air NZ to get it to Wellington! We checked in at the Premium counter, and handed over our luggage. The boarding passes that had been printed in Taipei were not reprinted, although we found later that the specified gate had been changed.

We made our way through security, and to the Air NZ Lounge.  This was pretty full, but not as full as last year. We made our way to the coffee counter, sat down, and JD ordered coffee – a long black and a latté. He got some cakes and a tiramisu to eat – not savoury stuff, which I would have preferred. Then he disappeared for quite a while, leaving me with his heavy backpack. A large couple sat very close to me, and she used foul language!  There was someone on my other side, and after the graciousness of Taiwan I found it all too much and I was really uncomfortable. Also I couldn’t charge my phone.

Eventually JD turned up, and we went to shower. Showers were available, but towels were again in short supply. There seemed to be no one to ask for a clean towel. I got a towel which seemed clean but slightly damp, then went to have a shower. This worked pretty well, although the water kept ranging between hot and cold. This time I had taken clean clothes to put on in my carry-bag, dispensing with my usual paraphernalia. I found deodorant, and a disposable toothbrush and small tooth paste tube to use, and reappeared feeling refreshed. No JD, but I got a comfortable seat and an electric point to recharge my phone. I messaged JD, and then he eventually turned up. I got some tuna sandwiches from the buffet, since it was now lunch time.

Then we went to our gate, but it had changed to the next one. There were lots of people, and boarding was later than advised. Eventually we boarded our full flight, and made our way to Wellington. We retrieved our luggage, and caught a taxi home – where it was very cold! I had turned on our heat pump while still in Auckland, but that wasn’t soon enough, and we were both really cold. I didn’t really “thaw out” till during Friday night. Up to then, no amount of heating from the heater and the electric blanket or extra warm clothes or extra cup of coffee really warmed me up.

And the rest is: unpacking; washing; shopping; and adjusting to a very different environment. And finding baby photos of Number Four son to send to England for his and his wife’s baby shower.

Impressions of Taiwan:

Saturday was the second day of Chinese military surrounding the island of Taiwan to teach the new leader a lesson. “Independence and peace are like fire and water”, or some such, said President Xi of China.  While we were in Taiwan, several people said “the world is a dangerous place”, and they weren’t talking about Ukraine or Israel.

I noticed a new edginess, that wasn’t there last year; more overweight people, and more English; more American-isms; everyone was still nicely dressed and well-covered, although I saw two women in our hotel wearing short shorts, as New Zealand women do. I saw no tattoos, or beards, although there was some (a little) tagging! There was a nod to the West in a number of cafés offering waffles, scrambled eggs, and quiche, instead of expected Taiwanese food. But almost everyone is gracious and kind, bowing or acknowledging when you say hello. There’s a lot of “bye bye”. Everyone is kind and respectful.

In other news, the Trump “hush money” trial, which has been quite absorbing, is almost over; in the UK, Sunak has called an election for 4 July, to everyone’s surprise: he is displaying “don’t succeed” behaviour, right from his announcement outside D(r)owning St in the pouring rain; In Ukraine and Israel dreadful warlike things continue to happen.

The British media are having a “Brexit” moment – how on earth did this just happen?

And back in New Zealand, the Coalition government continues to do ghastly things, like scrapping first home grants and funding more charter schools, and cutting more government jobs: the “poor” rich must have their promised tax cuts. Luxon also made a speech calling Labour “arsonists” or some such. Really and truly!

That’s it for now, Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.