FIVE-OHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Please tell me what it is with Ford? Are they the official Police Car of the world? On my daily walk, i came across the TouLiu Police Station. And there parked in the ready to go area were 2 squad cars!! I'm not quite sure what model they were, but the certainly weren't the Crown Vic's favored by U.S. Police departments!


To be fair, the other two squad cars in the ready lot were Toyota's! But the sight of the Fords was catchy! While there were differences to U.S. typical police cars -- no barrier between the front and back seats and no shotgun rack. Some of the appointments were very nice and worth a closer look!

Besides the rich Corinthian leather, the front and rear seats have a very delicately embroidered cover over the headrests as shown. i've seen this a lot in individual cars and taxicabs! A nice touch for those times when you get to ride in the back!!!!


Now, the deck behind the rear seats seemed to be a catch-all! A measuring tape for investigating traffic accidents, and handi wipe towelettes for passengers and breatalizer tubes!!!! kind of a cross between car-54 and andy of mayberry!


And then there is the S.W.A.T. Van (?) Loaded and ready to roll at a seconds notice!!! (Cue the music from the old tv show SWAT! (and the movie too!)

Masses are at ........

I could see the church steeple from the hotel! so, off i went on one of my walks! i found this Catholic church! surprising! about 10-15% of Taiwan's population is Catholic. and TouLiu is a pretty good sized city of about 100,000! The church also has a school as part of the grounds! Next time i have to stay over the weekend i'll know where to catch Mass on Sunday! ( I wonder if they have a Saturday evening service????) Tell Aunt Mary that i'll bring her a bulletin the next time!!!! I'm not quite sure of the name of the church though!!!

Chinese Year Of The (Chia) Dog!

This is the Chinese Year of the Dog! This Chia pet topiary is located in the front of the Train Station in TouLiu! It is a pretty serious piece of work(and whimsical too) ! it was wonderful to see all of the flowers starting to fill in the two dogs! February in Ohio and you're still just looking at seed catalogs. I' m not sure about the ear and tail!!! looks like they might need a little more work!

It's Spring time the World Over!

Pitchers and Catchers are first to report!

It's springtime the world over and baseball is in our hearts when pitchers and catchers report first for spring training. Well, it is the same the world over! i checked into the hotel at 2:00 in the morning and there is the bus and two vans parked out front! turns out the the Chinatrust Whales are staying at the hotel for the month for spring training! i mean, it's not chain of lakes florida, but, it's spring training anyway! check it out: http://www.whale.com.tw

Signs!

This is why i don't rent a car and drive myself!

The major highways and county roads are clearly marked in numbers! Signs on the highway are in Chinese and English. directions north-south, east-west are clearly markde.distances are clearly marked in Kilometers! signs mark the exit ramps at 500, 300, 100 meters. i could do pretty well until i get off the highway and nearer to my destination! Oh well, that's why i do a lot of walking by myself! even on a scooter i'ld be lost!

then you get to the city streets!

Where Everyone Knows Your Name!

It's the end of a VERY LONG day(s) of travel! 19 Hours of air time, several more of waiting at airports, an hour to get through immigration and customs at Taipei and then into the crowd for a 2 hour car ride to Touliu where I will be staying. The last 4 times i have had the same driver pick me up and drive me to the hotel. it's funny! all these people waiting outside of customs for family/friends. the usual crowd of drivers/limo services picking up people. He doesn't even hold up the sign anymore! we just wave, smile and head out to the car! well, this time he wasn't there! dammit! the crush is clearing and the crowd thinning before the next onrush from another int'l flight. (funny, i think they are all international flights when you're an island in the pacific ocean!) i'm walking back and forth trying to make plan "B"! there are signs from companies, banks, hotels for people to be picked up but not me! i know i can take a bus or the train, but i'm not sure about hooking up in the middle of the night. and i'm not quite sure about renting a car! (more about this later!) Finally! a guy comes scurrying through the doors carrying the "MFL" sign! a different driver than before but being very apologetic (i assume! because it's all in Chinese!). Anyway, off we head to the "loading zone" where he goes off to get the car! it's after 11:00p.m. local time by now. It's drizzly raining, and a 2 hour car ride! i manage to doze and nod off for most of it! it's like you can't see much anyway, especially when we get south of Taipei until we get off Highway 1 near to Touliu. Then i begin to pick up familiar landmarks and have a general idea of where i'm at! Finally we pull up in front of the Graceful Count Commercial Hotel! (across from the fountain!) We unload my bags, pay the driver and i head into the hotel! It's close to 2:00a.m. i'm dead tired, and will be picked up at 8:00a.m. to head right in to work! Obviously, they know i'm coming at the front desk!
i don't have to fill out a registration form, show my passport or any kind of paperwork! the clerk just hands me my key, we say hello and that is it! nobody even asks for a credit card or anything until i check out 9 days later. ( try doing that at a motel in this country!)
The Graceful Count Hotel has a breakfast buffet every morning from 6:00 - 10:00a.m. It is very traditional Chinese fare. There is a tureen of scrambled eggs, steamed dumplings, a pot of rice, a tureen of something else Chinese and other "stuff"! It's all good! if not different. well, at 6:00 a.m. i'm down for breakfast and start to help myself, but from the kitchen, she brings me a plate of sunnyside up eggs with canadian bacon! nobody else get's this kind of treatment! a lot of thank you's are exchanged! and i'm ready to head back up to the room to get ready for work!
When i come back down i get a hug and warm welcome from Annie, the manager! i thank her for their hospitality and say that i am glad to be back! I asked for the code to direct dial international calls from the room so that i can call my family and let them know that i am okay and she tells me that they will be my family too while i am with them! awwwwwwww geeeeez!
anyway, if you're traveling in Taiwan and get a chance to stop by, i highly recommend staying at the Graceful Count Commercial Hotel!

http://www.graceful-count.com.tw

The Short Hop!

These are the "Business Class" seats in the main cabin area of the 747 in the nose area. The one in the 2nd row, center seat was the one i had to take!!! the pic on the left shows the seat itself. the seats are 4" wider than the regular seats! OH my goodness! the blanket is a real blanket! not the blue tissue! and the pillow.... the white folder on the seat is the menu! yes, the menu! you had a choice! real china, real silverware, glass cups, china coffee cup! the pitch on these seats is 50+inches. i put my book in the pocket of the seat in front of me and i couldn't reach it! i had to unbuckle my seatbelt and slide forward off of the seat to reach it! i could stand up straight under the overhead bins!! there was that much clearance! the seats fully recline to about 7-10 degrees of horizontal! without interfering with the seat ahead of or behind you! Sounds heavenly, right!
well, all in all, not bad! there was "significant" turbulence as we flew into Osaka! That means there was going to be "significant" turbulence when we flew out of Osaka too! I didn't care! the seats were adjustable 7 ways from sunday! the length of the seat would extend under your butt to reach your knees! the foot rest would angle and extend. there were two lumbar supports that you could adjust the inflation off! (as well as two "massage" areas on the back!) the seats also have individual video monitors with on demand movies, music selection, and video games that you could play single or multiple player games!! the flight was only 2 hours, i didn't want to waste any time on that stuff!!!!
As the rest of the plane is boarding, "Business Class" has already been seated and served champagne! The steward comes to each person and welcomes you by name! Then takes your dinner order!
we took off and i went near horizontal and to sleep! the start of the flight was so rough that the pilot wouldn't let the cabin crew serve the first beverage run or dinner, he said the turbulence should last about 30 minutes. They had started to, but were really having a tough time even standing. It was at this point that i said enough of this and went to dreamland. When i woke up about an hour later, they had finished serving everyone their meal and were starting to clean up. When the steward saw i was up, he brought me my dinner! outstanding! linen napkins, real china, and a piece of beef that i had to cut with a knife! Oh yea! finished up, cleaned up, and laid back!!!!!
At the end of the flight, while the plane was taxing to the gate, the cabin crew again came to everyone and by name thanked them for flying NWA! very nice touch!
I'll post the menu later! (it also has a wine list!!! no MD-20/20!