miscellaneous rambling

My Japanese friend from Kyoto was supposed to visit this past weekend. He always takes care of us when we visit Japan. Even flying to meet us in other places other than Kyoto, so when he said he’s coming with some friends, I booked a flight to Taipei for the weekend to meet him.

After a few weeks of planning, there was no word from him, and I was worried that something had happened. On Friday he emails to say that he can’t make it, but his friends are still coming and if I could take care of them.

Right away, I was thinking, “Oh man, this is gonna be weird. I don’t know this people, and I don’t even know if they can speak English!”

I made a two day itinerary for them, researched some new restaurants, and clubs. My friend is a very sophisticated kinda guy, and I’m thinking his friends are as well. No noodle stands for these people.

Well, I did hear from my friend. He said the schedule doesn’t work. They don’t want to sightsee. They want to eat, shop, and hit the spa everyday for massages and facial treatments.

So, deciding to wing it, I flew up to Taipei on Sunday. Knowing it’s gonna be an expensive weekend, I found a hostel to stay in and got myself a bed for $12 CAD/night. ( no bath ). kinda strange. Felt like student days. Here I am traveling all over, and buying expensive pottery in Japan, and I’m saving a few bucks at a hostel. Heck, I just bought a paperback book in Taipei before I checked in that cost me more money than that! I had hours to kill in Taipei, but rather than run around visiting some old haunts, I decided to just chill. I was very nervous about this upcoming meeting. Couldn’t lose face. In the hostel I met a Japanese guy and practiced my Japanese with him. Coincidentally, he spent 4 months in Edmonton last year! We talked about home, and his home is in Kyushu, which I was there just earlier this month. It was a big coincidence. Later, another Japanese traveler walks into the hostel holding a phrasebook, and begins asking me the room rates, etc. I begin translating with him and the owner of the hostel. Looks like I’m not getting away without using my Japanese this weekend.

At 5pm, they were supposed to meet me at the lobby of their hotel. The Ambassador ( at $200 CAD/night it’s a Bit more expensive than my room ) They were late, and I was getting worried. Japanese people are never late. Eventually, one calls. He speaks English. They are in a cab, and got delayed because their spa treatment was longer than expected…

At 5:45pm, 5 very well dressed Japanese come in. One is only 18 years old, the son of one of the group, but he’s even better dressed than I am. I feel like an old, crumpled school teacher. Perhaps I am.

Two of them speak very good English ( Ayumi, and Kosuke ) And I am embarrassed to say that I got lazier and lazier as time progressed, relying on them to translate for me, rather than speaking Japanese.

I took them to a very well known Hunan Chinese restaurant, which they liked. Followed by a tour of Lung Shan Temple, which is also having their lantern festival at the time. We took 2 taxi’s wherever we went. Me telling the drivers and coordinating. From the temple, we took the MRT to the Taipei 101. I suggested that over taxi as it would be faster, and we were pressed for time to make the last lift up to the observation deck of the world’s tallest building. They took photos everywhere, and liked the novelty of taking the MRT.

After the 101, they were getting very tired. Most of them hadn’t slept well in weeks they said, and some didn’t even sleep at all the night before their flight. They are fashion designers for movie stars. They do the sets for TV commercials and movies. Living the jet setting life, meeting celebrities, etc. they told me a bit about their work, and I was thinking if I’m in the wrong industry or not.

Anyways, it was good they were tired, cos I sure as hell was. Still, a nightcap was in order. ( “Excuse me Jason-San, do you like to drink alcohol?” )Out of sheer luck, I found the “Taipei House”, which was the ex-US ambassadors residence in Taipei. It’s now a café, bookstore, and movie theater, as well as a wine bar in the evening. Swanky enough for them, they were very happy with it. After a bottle of wine though, they wanted more drinks and I was worried that I wasn’t gonna get any sleep at all. After they told me about their work, I didn’t dare to complain that I was “tired” I just smiled, and nursed my wine.

When I returned to my tiny room ( it was about 4m x 6m ) , I remember turning on the lights, taking off my boots, and calling Dallas to say good night. and I was out until morning. Didn’t change clothes, brush my teeth or anything.

Today, I woke up, re-planned my itinerary a bit. I took them to Ding Tai Fung, a world famous dumpling house. They were ecstatic. AT $180NT per order of dumplings, its about 2.5 times the normal price of any other place. But man, they are good dumplings. The area it’s in is also full of boutique shops, and we shopped around for an hour. I was impressed. These places in Taipei cater to a lot of tourists, and a lot are from Japan, so the sales staff, waitresses, and menus are in English, Chinese, and Japanese. I don’t know how good their Japanese is, but it’s sure a lot better than mine. I was wondering how useful I was being at that point in time.

On this second day, I’m wearing the same jeans, boots, jacket, but just changed my shirt. These new friends have totally different looks ~ even changing their jackets, handbags, and shoes. Even the high school kid. I’m definitely out of my element.

Since they had a spa appointment, and I had to get back to work, I left them at the hotel. I gave them a 2 page list of places, restaurants etc. I had researched and recommended for them to go to.

They paid for the taxi’s and my meals, despite my protests. Although I didn’t know them, they are guests and I wanted to treat them, but they wouldn’t let me. They even gave me a small gift of Japanese snacks as a thank you for spending time with them. I had already paid for hotel, airfare, and took a class off, but I was thinking of taking the rest of the day off to spend it in Taipei. But I thought, no, the rest of the week is even busier, so I better leave on a high note.

Without them, I was back to saving my pennies. Rather than take the taxi, I took the bus to the airport. I had to transfer buses, and even got on the wrong bus, and lost some time. It took me an hour to get to the airport. A taxi would have only taken 15 min. I got back home, and then after a 20 min. break, went straight into my evening classes.

It was one of those whirlwind weekends. Bizarre meetings and coincidences. Good food and drink, and met some new friends. In addition to all this, my exploring found some new places in Taipei that I want to go to next time I’m there too. I found a new tea house, restaurant, a sake bar, and a special chocolaterie. all places to blow some more dough and gain weight.. But if I stay in $12/night places it won’t be so bad.