Taiwan Road Trip 2 - 9 Mar 08

Finally got around to writing a couple of things about a last minute road trip which I "parachuted" in. RT & her RGS friends HX & Adel planned an all girls trip to taiwan ... since I quit my job and was to start on new job 17 Mar, I grabbed the chance & asked if I could join in ... and they're so gracious to let me (the boy) to join them :p ...

We drove (I mooted the idea) ... got lost several times, but thank God, finally got around to where we intended to go ... basically, drove half of taiwan, the Top part. Harrowing experience of almost not able to rent a car (The branch at taipei airport operates different, the cars are not parked at the airport, require prior arrangements for the booking and car to appear when you touch down). Thank God, the staff is very helpful and managed to source a Toyota Wish for us (we were looking for a smaller car such as an Altis) ... we paid for the "limo" to bring us out of the airport to a town to pick up the car ... we were told the DVD player inside the Wish (it's only installed on Wishes ... somebody must have wished for it) is often stolen. This got us worried. Nonetheless, the stomach calls, and we decided to adjourn for dinner nearby, leaving the Wish at the car rental office. Food was pretty good (beef noodles & shui jiao). When we returned, lo and behold, there's an Altis next to the Wish. Did our wish come true? haha ... true enough, they managed to find an Altis that is ready for our use. Happily, we took it of cos ;) ...

Driving in Taiwan, I kinda enjoy it (this is my 4th time driving there, previous 3 times were for work). I prefer them to sg drivers (Even though it's left hand drive in taiwan, opp that of sg). Yes, though taiwan drivers are supposedly "Reckless" & speedy, they obey the speed limit generally, and GIVE WAY to signalling vehicles. It's an "Art" to drive in taiwan, weaving and flowing with the traffic (esp the multitudes of scooters). The road trip brought us round places (Even to an altitude of 3100m, we went thro taiwan from WEst to East on the Central Highway, an engineering "feat" on its own from many years ago). Armed with maps, and the courteous taiwanese people that we meet, it was overall a great trip! Food! (Had my dou jiang you tiao), and scenery was great. Weather was cold though, the lowest was 3deg... Brrr... but it was fun =)

Here are the links to some photos I uploaded and videos ... have a look eh

Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/simple.marcus/AdventuresOnATaiwanRoadtrip29Mar08

Videos: STart from this one: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7644675073223234496&hl=en