taiwan debrief
Number of days: 112
Number of days or parts thereof spent traveling: 47 (3 to/ from, 7 intra-Taiwan (3 Kaohsiung, 2 Taroko, 2 Kinmen), 37 intra-Asia (7 Indonesia, 5 Thailand; 15 Hong Kong, Macau, China; 10 Japan)
Number of countries visited (since moving): 6 (Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, China, Japan, U.S.) + 2 special administrative regions with separate border controls (Hong Kong, Macau)
Number of countries visited (year to date): 8 (above + South Africa, Swaziland) + 2 S.A.R.s
Number of flights (since moving): 14 (SFO-> TPE-> CKG-> DPS-> CKG-> TPE-> BKK-> TPE-> HKG-> TPE-> NRT-> TPE, TSA-> KNH-> TSA, TPE-> SFO)
Number of flights (2007): 31 (SFO-> CVG-> IAD-> JNB, DUR-> CPT-> JNB-> JFK, BOS-> JFK-> SFO-> BOS-> DFW-> SFO-> HNL-> LIH-> HNL-> SFO + above + SFO-> CLT-> DCA)
Miles flown (since moving): 27,406 miles (44,106 km)
Miles flown (2007): 63,569 miles (102,304 km)
Number of high speed train journeys: 4 (Taipei->Kaohsiung->Taipei, Tokyo->Kyoto->Tokyo)
Number of train journeys: 6 (above + Taipei->Hualien->Taipei)
Approximate number of km ridden on scooters: 225
Best hotel (overall): Kamandalu Resort, Ubud, Bali. A connection to the cousin of the owner opened the door for staying in this swanky place. Gorgeous surroundings and really nice rooms. Private verandas looking over rice paddies. The service was also excellent. We went out riding bikes around the rice paddies one day and came back sweating. Pretty soon after we entered the lobby we had cool moist towels to wipe our faces with. Perhaps the only nicer place I’ve stayed is the ridiculous Schlosshotel Veir Jahrezeiten (Four Seasons Palace Hotel) in Berlin. (They had a Ferrari convention while we were there and it didn’t seem out of place.)
Best hotel (value): Hirano Guesthouse, Kyoto. 3500 yen a night in Kyoto is very cheap and besides a nice place to stay, the owner was very friendly, helpful and accommodating, making us tea when we came home for a break in the afternoons. She also made us breakfast every morning, let us use her bicycles and computer/ internet. Oh and there was a candy bowl and after we ate an unreasonable amount of it, she didn’t complain, she just refilled it.
Number of American chain stores patronized (not counting convenience stores, exact): 3 (2 Subways-Taipei, 1 Denny’s-Kyoto)
Number of American chain stores patronized (counting convenience stores[1], approximate): 22.2 (the above + Circle K‘s in Taiwan, Bali, Thailand, ampm‘s in Japan, plus 0.2 for a Mister Donut in Japan[2])
Oddest food obsession: Harbo’s Happy Cola gummy candies
Most common food eaten: rice (~ >1.5 servings a day)
Most common food product eaten: Kinder Chocolate (~ 0.6 a day)
Most “exotic” foods eaten: crickets, silk worms, frog
Number of Dr. Peppers consumed: 2 (one in Japan, one in Thailand)
Foods most missed: good bread, good cheese, Dr. Pepper, good beef, shelled shrimp, deboned fish.
Number of Hello Kitty products seen: in the thousands
Number of Hello Kitty products purchased: 1 (alarm clock, convenience store, Japan)
America: so quiet, so dark, so many English speakers, so many whites/ latinos/as, blacks. big supermarkets. low population density.
Least useful piece of clothing: dress shirt (the greenish one, never worn, given away at the end)
Most useful piece of clothing: shoes (the brown Adidas, nearly daily)
Most useful piece of clothing out of its original purpose (and new use): board shorts-style swimsuit (exercise shorts)
Piece of clothing I most immediately realized I’d forgotten: navy blue cotton boxers (that I use as warm weather pajama bottoms)
Number of books read: 5.75 (2nd 0.5 of Slow Man by Coeztee, Love is a Mixtape by Sheffield, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: a Story of the Hip Hop Generation by Chang, Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs by Klosterman, Born on a Blue Day By Tammet, You Don’t Love Me Yet by Lethem, first 0.25 of About a Boy by Hornsby)
Number of concerts attended: 3 (Emily the Band @ Underworld, Apples in Stereo @ the Wall, Sugar Plum Ferry @ the Wall)
Number of CDs purchased: 19 (5 in Hong Kong (Monitor), 5 @ WWR (1st trip), 5 @ WWR (2nd trip), 2 @ IMPO, 1 @ FINAC, 1 @ Roses(?))
Number of pieces of mail received: 6 (3 packages of promo CD(s); 1 each from Ian, Lauren, Gumbeaux)
[1] This is tricky because things are confusing. 7-11 is Japanese for instance.
[2] Mr. Donut is an American brand but the Asian stores are run by Duskin Co out of Japan under a licensing agreement.
