memoirs on a rainy day

I’ve driven over 50K on Old Nancy. Who’s Old Nancy? Our old scooter. She just keeps on trucking. In the past two years, I’ve driven her 9000 km.

My wife hadn’t driven her at all nor had she started the engine periodically. This meant that she needed a check-up. I dropped her off at my mechanic’s shop, which was closed on Sunday and picked her up again on Monday morning. Total bill? 150NT (~5$). My mechanic told me that the engine needed to be changed soon. It will cost about 2800NT (~92$). I’ll do that soon. Otherwise, I think I might buy some new shocks. She’ll corner better.

I’ve driven her extremely fast over the last two days, yet it felt safe. I didn’t take any risks and just rode as fast as possible. She can still go up to 95kph.

One thing that I have learned thanks to becoming a student again, is to distance myself from materialistic ideals. I no longer yearn for the 750cc motorcycle. I know that I’ll probably get a cheap one next year, one that won’t have the right plates to drive on the highway, yet it’s not really a focus for me anymore.

Sure, I’ll continue doing maintenance on Old Nancy, but I doubt that we will sell her before leaving Taiwan.

Zipping along at 80kph on Taipei’s major arteries is exhilarating. It’s like a game of Tetris mixed in with a game of Need for Speed. I tend to stay away from the right side of the roads since slower scooters, veering buses and taxis make a habit of disrupting the flow of traffic. The fast lane is where all of the fun is.

I’ve noticed that there are more scooters in Canada. I have seen a lot more scooters recently than before. They are no longer a novelty, but a means of transport.

I find it hilarious that five minutes into my stay in Taiwan, things already got bullshitty. I was trying to change my Canadian dollars into NT. I handed over my money to some bureaucrat at the Bank of Taiwan.

He looked at my bills and started phoning people. He informed me that he wasn’t going to change one of my 5$ bills because it didn’t have a security feature. He said that it was too old.

Too old?

This money is good in Canada, why won’t you change it?

Too old, you stupid foreigner!

Too old!

I started swearing and asked for him to change the rest of it. I didn’t really give a shit and this was a good time to lose my temper as any, since I’d been traveling for over 26 hours.

One the way home, no one helped me with by bags. I found that strange. In Canada, cab drivers and bus drivers will help you with your bags. Here in Taiwan, they don’t.

I almost lost my temper again when the cab driver just waited for me to take my bags out of his cab. He was just sitting in his seat.

WTF was that all about.

Ah well, the joys of being back in Taiwan!

Seriously, it’s not that bad, but I just found it funny that right off the bat, things go sideways. That’s Taiwan for you.

So I arrived in Hong Kong at about 1PM on Saturday. I wasn’t too tired but my next flight to Taipei was at 7:20PM. I wanted to try and get an earlier flight. I was handed a standby ticket stub and told to wait at gate D13 until they called my number. At 2:45PM, they started calling out numbers in Mandarin. It started at around 30 and moved up to 48. At 4:45PM, they called some more numbers. I had made a Taiwanese friend and he suggested that I tried checking in. They might get me on the flight or at least, I would move through customs.

Basically, there was no way in hell that I would make that flight. At least I had a confirmed flight for 7:20PM. I made my way to the line, which was thankfully very short. Immediately, a check-in agent came to see me. She looked at my ticket and I told her my situation. She had me moved to the next awaiting check-in agent. I explained that I had just arrived from Quebec and was going on a connecting flight to Taipei, which explained my excessive baggage. I was actually fearful that I would have to pay an excess baggage fee. I had 2 bags, each weighed 50lbs, almost 30KG over the China Airlines limit.

I have never had to pay excess baggage fees with China Airlines, since they serve as a gateway for international flights leaving form Hong Kong. The check-in agent told me that he would get me on the next flight and checked by baggage. On my way to immigration and customs, they gave me a little stub because of my extra carry-on luggage.

I made my way easily through customs and immigration and made my flight to Taiwan.

I really enjoyed the service I received from China Airlines. Very efficient and professional. Excellent service and great respect from their employees.

Maybe it helped that I was wearing a dress shirt and some cords. I was dressed in business casual. I’m sure that I got better service because of this.

I’ve arrived as planned in Hong Kong today at about 1PM. I’ve been trying unsuccessfully to catch an earlier flight to Taipei. There are a lot of people waiting to get to Taipei. At least I’ve got a confirmed seat on the 7:20PM flight to Taipei.

Well, I’m up. I didn’t sleep much on purpose so that I’d be able to snooze away on the plane most of the way. I’ve got a 6:35AM plane to Toronto. Then I’ve got a 9:40AM plane from Pearson to Hong Kong.  I arrive Saturday at 1:10PM. Then I have a plane at 7:10PM to Taipei.

It’s pretty much the end. I’m all packed up and ready to go. I’m sure that my bags aren’t overweight since I’m leaving all of my winter clothing here. I’ll be back in Quebec in late August.

When I walked by Ottawa’s eyesore, the US embassy, I saw this beautiful building. It’s the Connaught Building.

The Connaught Building is a historic office building. It’s on Sussex Drive, near the Fairmont Château Laurier. Today it houses the HQ of the Canada Revenue Agency. The building is named after the Duke of Connaught, who was the Governor General of Canada at the time of the construction. Prince Arthur served as the Governor General of Canada from 1911 to 1916.

Continue reading ‘Connaught Building’

The Fairmont Château Laurier is a landmark hotel in Canada’s capital region, Ottawa. It’s located on the intersection of Rideau Street and Sussex Drive. It’s very close to Parliament Hill and has been used as a meeting place for many notable political figures. It’s sometimes referred as the “third chamber of Parliament”.

The hotel is an impressive sight. That region of downtown Ottawa is filled with great buildings, excluding the eyesore of downtown Ottawa, the US embassy. I didn’t have time to visit it, but it’s built in a picturesque location. One side of the hotel is on Rideau Canal. The CMCP is wedged in between them, but you can’t really see much of it.

Continue reading ‘Fairmont Chateau Laurier’

The architectural eyesore that many people from Ottawa like to talk about is the US embassy on Sussex Dr.

The design reminds me of the Supreme Court of Canada building.

Continue reading ‘Ottawa’s Eyesore’

On Tuesday night, I packed my lunch. I had bought bus tickets to get to Ottawa earlier that day. I had planned on either arriving early and then meeting up with someone from Couchsurfing, or leaving as late as possible and managing until 9AM when the TECO office in Ottawa opened.

Needless to say that I didn’t get in contact with someone in Couchsurfing. There are only two people in Ottawa. So I got onto the bus at 8PM. I was surprised. The bus was very comfortable and I had space for my legs. That usually isn’t the case. The last time I had taken the bus was in 2006 on a similar trip to Ottawa right before leaving Montreal. That trip was hellish. I won’t get into to many details, but in the end, I had to charter a cab for 300$ to drive me back to Montreal, since if I had taken the bus, I wouldn’t have made my flight. Traffic was killer in Montreal and I had to meet my wife directly at the airport. I forgot to pack a few items.

Continue reading ‘Sleepless In Ottawa’

I’m planning of going to the National Gallery of Canada (GMaps). I have a keen interest in modern art and the wife reminded me that the National Gallery has a great section on it.

I remember that I went to the National Gallery in 2002 the last time with Joanna. It was fun. Tomorrow, I’ll have a lot of time to spend. I read through the rules carefully and will be able to take some photos, since my camera qualifies as a hand held device. At least, that’s what I think.

I’ll walk around a bit as well. A lot of attractions are close by and I’ve never photographed them with a D200. I’ll have lots of pictures when I come back.

Parliament Hill is within walking distance as well. Actually, the TECO office is pretty centrally located. I won’t be taking cabs once I get there.