Taiwan Times

Mid March I was in Kaohsiung again as I needed a break from the Philippines and spend some time somewhere rather more civilized. What can I say about this place that I haven't said already?  It really feels like home. Especially as the weather was unseasonably and decidedly chilly with a rather unfortunate grey cloud blotting out any hint of sunshine.  Crap light for taking photos - everything seems so flat.

Kaohsiung airport is only small and there aren't many, if any international flights going there from Europe or the west.  There are hundreds to Hong Kong and China to cater for the cultural links between Taiwan and China but that's about it really.  As a result I love the airport because there are rarely any crowds, absolutely no queues at immigration and the baggage collection hall is as serene as a Buddhist temple.  It's the same going out and the airport security are super polite - they really treat you like they are inconveniencing you, rather than the other way round as it is at London's airports.  Furthermore, because it's a small airport you don't have to walk miles and miles between/to terminals.  That in itself should be an argument not to expand Heathrow further.

I once arrived in Heathrow (Deathrow) and there was sign as we exited the plane stating that you needed to allow 1 hour to walk to the furthest gate if you were transferring.  1 hour - that's like 4 miles away at a brisk pace!  Although I'm sure the airport was allowing for a large margin to cater for the less mobile (probably those nationals - mention no names - who lug around more hand luggage than I carry in baggage).

I had to travel to Manila to fly to Kaohsiung because the only airline that used to fly to Taiwan from Clark had gone bust.  Little surprise really: they didn't advertise and no one knew of them.  I only found out about them from a friend who found out about them by accident, and on the one occasion I did fly with them the plane was nigh empty going in both directions.

So what did I do in Kaohsiung?  Well, nothing very much different from what I usually do.  I went camera shopping, caught up with my mate Dave, ate far too much wonderful food, drank far too much beer (Dave's fault) and walked for miles and miles and miles.

Wrap 'em - I'll take them all.

Two binge drinkers on the town

There is a dynamism about Taiwan that we would do well in Britain to emulate.  When the Taiwanese realised that the port in Kaohsiung (the principle reason the city exists) were becoming obsolete, they basically shut down the old ones and built new super high-tec ones (watch Mega-Cities on Nat Geo about Kaohsiung).  No fuss, no drama, no years and years of public enquiries, they just did what was necessary to make the place work.  And the upside of this is there is now a whole new area that was once the old, grimy, dirty and seedy docks, and railways sidings that served it, which has now opened up to new waterfront venues for bars, restaurants, museums, exhibition halls and concert halls.  Again, and although this is all in its infancy, the transformation as been nothing short of astonishing and it's where I spent most of this trip, walking around and exploring the place.  I've always been aware that the area exists but obviously when it was an operating port, security restrictions prevented anyone from entering the area (unless you were a docker or a merchant seaman of course), so it was really interesting to see what actually was behind the port walls.

When I arrived back in Subic my feelings of inner tranquillity and harmony were very quickly shattered.  I'd bought a new (brand new) bin for the gardener to use to collect the leaves so that he didn't have to use the rubbish bin and scatter the rubbish in the forest at the back of the house.  As I pulled into the drive I noticed the new bin was still sitting there unused and that he was using the rubbish bin.  I do find it difficult to control my rage in circumstances like this but I did manage to keep it together.  But this was severely tested.  I asked him why he was using the rubbish bin and not the new bin I'd bought specifically for the garden.  His first answer was 'No'.  No what?  What do you mean no?  No's not an answer - it wasn't a yes or no question. Then when pushed for an explanation he said he liked the rubbish bin.  What? It's a plastic bin the same as the one I've just bought, except the one I've just bought is empty and for use in the garden and the one you're using is the rubbish bin full of rubbish.

All I could do was just walk away.