Today is our last day, and while many people left early, we still had a couple of things to. We went to get beef noodle soup at some famous restaurant in Taipei. It was full of tendons and fat, so I guess it was as good as it could get considering we were in China. Our next activity was a pineapple cake factory which was our place to buy up snacks for home. It was a very funny shop which was almost a pineapple theme park. You ride up this escalator which resembles the inside of a pineapple, and then you play pineapple related games, watch a pineapple related movie, and then taste the cakes... then you go buy. We all thought it was pretty hilarious.
Overall, this trip flew by for me. I was really happy that I had the opportunity to partake in this great adventure and am sad to have it end. I am sure that there will be more great adventures to be had in the future.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Last full day of adventures
Today, we got an early start after a late night, and headed east, out of the city to a rural and touristy area where you can see a lot of the coastline, shop at many small food stores, and also climb a mountain to get a 360 view of the entire area.
For snacks, drink, and relaxation, we went to a tea shop to learn how to make tea the "correct" way. It was a pretty nice little rest point during the day and gave us a chance to enjoy the fresh air and look around the area. After that time, a couple of us decided to head up to the top of the nearby mountain, which was quite a steep hike and took about 45 minutes. At the top, I got some great pictures of the view, and enjoyed the area with a couple of other adventurous souls.
On the way back, the bus went down a very windy one and a half lane road, which was quite impressive. It looked like Lombard street in San Francisco, yet the bus was a full sized vehicle.
The early evening event was the one that many people were looking forward too for most of the trip. We went to some hot springs, which basically consisted of an outdoor pool, with separated partitions, each filled with water of varying temperatures. I just sat and relaxed in the medium to warm pool most of the time. We had a chance for showers and then dinner, which was about average. It was our last time to get get together as a large group, so we did some thank yous to the organizers for workings so hard to make this trip happen.
Our hotel tonight is the Grand Hotel, which is a famous and old building in Taipei. The hallways were large, and the beds were rock hard, but it was still a fun place to be. Our group stayed there because it is a landmark, but I think most people thought the previous hotel was better.
The last event of today was getting shaved ice. Allen and I killed a mango shaved ice and then half a strawberry one. It was delicious.
For snacks, drink, and relaxation, we went to a tea shop to learn how to make tea the "correct" way. It was a pretty nice little rest point during the day and gave us a chance to enjoy the fresh air and look around the area. After that time, a couple of us decided to head up to the top of the nearby mountain, which was quite a steep hike and took about 45 minutes. At the top, I got some great pictures of the view, and enjoyed the area with a couple of other adventurous souls.
On the way back, the bus went down a very windy one and a half lane road, which was quite impressive. It looked like Lombard street in San Francisco, yet the bus was a full sized vehicle.
The early evening event was the one that many people were looking forward too for most of the trip. We went to some hot springs, which basically consisted of an outdoor pool, with separated partitions, each filled with water of varying temperatures. I just sat and relaxed in the medium to warm pool most of the time. We had a chance for showers and then dinner, which was about average. It was our last time to get get together as a large group, so we did some thank yous to the organizers for workings so hard to make this trip happen.
Our hotel tonight is the Grand Hotel, which is a famous and old building in Taipei. The hallways were large, and the beds were rock hard, but it was still a fun place to be. Our group stayed there because it is a landmark, but I think most people thought the previous hotel was better.
The last event of today was getting shaved ice. Allen and I killed a mango shaved ice and then half a strawberry one. It was delicious.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Karaoke
Tonight after changing out of our business clothes and another huge meal that we couldn’t finish, we went to Karaoke. It was perhaps the best night of the trip. The karaoke was fun, and the company was awesome. We got there early and closed the place down.
Company visits
Our lunch today was at the only Michelin star rated restaurant in Taipei. It was a dumpling house which had at least 15 workers in a glass room churning out dumplings as fast as humanly possible. I thought that the restaurant was good, but perhaps not Michelin worthy. I do like dumplings though, so it was one of the better restaurant experiences on the trip.
In the afternoon, we went to HTC to get a company presentation and tour of the headquarters. The office was very magnificent, all white marble tile on the bottom floor and a lot of glass rooms on many stories. The gym was huge, but not a single person was using it even though it was open 24 hours a day. We had a chance to hear about HTC's camera innovations and talk to the president, who spoke to us a bit about vague nothings and corporate indirection. The visit was still worth it though.
After this visit, we went to Taipei 101, and while the group had a short break, I checked out the Google office on the 73rd floor where you can see the entire city. The Google office was pretty much the same as other Google offices, and of course it was located in the best location in the city, the tallest building.
After that visit, the group went to L'Oréal for another visit. Compared to Google, the office space was cluttered and messy. It was 90 percent women in sales and marketing and everyone there seemed pretty happy to work there. We met with the head of HR and the site manager, but who were very nice and informative. I learned a lot about the different brands L'Oréal manages and some of there efforts in Asia. One of our group members had worked there for a while so that was our hook up.
After this visit, we went to Taipei 101, and while the group had a short break, I checked out the Google office on the 73rd floor where you can see the entire city. The Google office was pretty much the same as other Google offices, and of course it was located in the best location in the city, the tallest building.
After that visit, the group went to L'Oréal for another visit. Compared to Google, the office space was cluttered and messy. It was 90 percent women in sales and marketing and everyone there seemed pretty happy to work there. We met with the head of HR and the site manager, but who were very nice and informative. I learned a lot about the different brands L'Oréal manages and some of there efforts in Asia. One of our group members had worked there for a while so that was our hook up.
Vice President
This morning was unique. It's not every day that you get to visit a VIP, and today we got to see the Vice President of Taiwan. They seated us in a large room filled with flowers and bonsai trees, and served us tea while we sat and waited in a large circle. The vice president came in and shook each of our hands and then gave a short speech. Then he answered 2 questions that a couple of us prepared beforehand. The conversation was slow because there was a translator. They presented us with a souvenir and led us on a tour of the building where we learned a bit about rhe history of Taiwan.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Day 2 in Taiwan
Today, after about 5 hours of sleep, we got up and running and headed to see the national palace museum, which holds some of China's best treasures from the civil war. Our English speaking guide took us around on a whirlwind tour of the place and told us a bit about a couple of items in each area.
The most famous items there were this jade sculpture of a cabbage that had 2 insects on it and a little boat carved in ivory. The cabbage quickly became a hot topic of discussion and funny comments since it was so popular that you had to wait to see it for about 15 minutes. I thought the ivory items were very neat though it was sad that the animals were killed for such vain reasons.
The most famous items there were this jade sculpture of a cabbage that had 2 insects on it and a little boat carved in ivory. The cabbage quickly became a hot topic of discussion and funny comments since it was so popular that you had to wait to see it for about 15 minutes. I thought the ivory items were very neat though it was sad that the animals were killed for such vain reasons.
Lunch was a great time to relax since we were all so tired. After the museum, we headed back to Taipei to visit a mall owned by one of our alumni. We got a little tour of some of the shops and learned about her efforts in building up the mall and helping the stores do marketing. The mall was only a basement mall which catered to women. The building also had 140 residential units on the upper floors. I wonder if there were only women that lived there.
Later, for dinner, we hit up the famous night market bazaar where we grabbed different types of food from various street vendors and looked around at all the small stores. It was a bustling and very popular place to visit.
Tonight was supposed to be a karaoke night but the group made a good decision and rescheduled for the next night considering that we were meeting the vice president tomorrow.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
First night in Taiwan
Tonight was our first night in Taipei. We checked in to our hotel for the next 3 days, United Hotel, which was extremely spacious compared to the tiny living quarters of Hong Kong. After grabbing some noodle soup, we went to Luxy night club with the entire group. We had two rooms to ourselves and were able to take over the upper floor pretty well. The club was pretty packed, and the dancing was lots of fun, however there were perhaps more guys there than there should have been to keep a good ratio. It was a fun time though and a great start to Taiwan. I am liking this place a lot better than the other places I visited. It might be the lower stress level that I perceive here, or simply the culture of the place. Whatever it is, I am happy to get a chance to visit Taiwan.
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