Arriving in Taiwan: From Tokyo, I boarded a Nippon Air flight to Taipei. It took me a while to figure this out, since
All Nippon Air now seems to go exclusively by ANA.
We arrived about 8:40 pm and Taiwan Taoyuan Airport was still very busy. My immediate problem was that I had no
reservations for a hotel room (typically me).
Not a problem. As soon as I
emerged from the baggage claim area, in front of me materialized the welcome
desk, and it was staffed. You couldn’t
miss it (which reminded me of some airports where I had to go looking for a
place to get local information). The kind folks at the desk hooked
me up with the Flowers Hotel on Hankow St in the city center and guided me to
the coach line, which got me there for about $4 US. I was groggy by this time, but it seemed like
an hour’s ride to Central Station, where I disembarked and began my search for Flowers. Several blocks later, I found it and settled
in. It was 11:30 before I turned in for
the night. Changing money (real US
dollars) was easy at the airport, so I am all set for tomorrow. The exchange rate is about 30 Taiwan dollars
per American dollar, which makes prices here look expensive even though they
are not. I have already fallen in love with Taiwan's $1000 bill. I shows a group of school children pouring over a world globe. They must be studying geography! On the other side, is a mountain peak (physical geography) and two pheasants (biogeography). Maybe later I will post an image.Friday, November 4, 2011
A World Globe
Arriving in Taiwan: From Tokyo, I boarded a Nippon Air flight to Taipei. It took me a while to figure this out, since
All Nippon Air now seems to go exclusively by ANA.
We arrived about 8:40 pm and Taiwan Taoyuan Airport was still very busy. My immediate problem was that I had no
reservations for a hotel room (typically me).
Not a problem. As soon as I
emerged from the baggage claim area, in front of me materialized the welcome
desk, and it was staffed. You couldn’t
miss it (which reminded me of some airports where I had to go looking for a
place to get local information). The kind folks at the desk hooked
me up with the Flowers Hotel on Hankow St in the city center and guided me to
the coach line, which got me there for about $4 US. I was groggy by this time, but it seemed like
an hour’s ride to Central Station, where I disembarked and began my search for Flowers. Several blocks later, I found it and settled
in. It was 11:30 before I turned in for
the night. Changing money (real US
dollars) was easy at the airport, so I am all set for tomorrow. The exchange rate is about 30 Taiwan dollars
per American dollar, which makes prices here look expensive even though they
are not. I have already fallen in love with Taiwan's $1000 bill. I shows a group of school children pouring over a world globe. They must be studying geography! On the other side, is a mountain peak (physical geography) and two pheasants (biogeography). Maybe later I will post an image.
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The ease of finding a hotel and changing money all in the same place reminds me of the research I've been doing on Oslo, and the multi-use buildings we've been learning about. Also, the bill sounds pretty cool. I like how it shows what live is like their unlike most countries bills that show their present and past leaders.
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