Chinese Proverb: He who returns from a journey is not the same as he who left.
My Photo Links
- 286.2 Delightful Nights
- 286 - Running Horses
- The sunshine
- 284 - To type or not to type
- 283 - Video Tapes
- 283 - Plots
- 282 - Happy Halloween
- 280 - You'll never guess
- A laugh, a cry, a little happy sigh.
- 278 - And the beat roles on
My Taiwan Adventure
Saturday, November 05, 2005
287 - Smoggy Ride
Greetings All,
I suspect I could procrastinate more on my novel and crank out about 2,000 words about my day. Inwardly I found myself composing about my scooter ride as I was waiting at the lights. Part of me wanted to whip out my camera and take pictures from the driver's point of view. I didn't because: a. my camera isn't that fast and b. I'm trying to be cautious on my scooter. As I was driving home that at 60 kph I realized I could die if someone crashed into me. Paranoia or realism? You decide. Driving in Taipei often feels like a scooter derby as we line up at the front of the traffic waiting restlessly to speed off when the lights turn green. Scooters essentially rule the road.
The ride was smoggy - and a little hard on my still healing lungs but better by far than trying to walk from the train station to church. I discovered that my scooter shrinks distances. I have no idea really how long it takes to get to Taipei. There's a sign not that far from Costco down the road (oh, yes - I'm in striking distance of familiar food!) that says "Welcome to Taipei" and yet you're still in a really industrial area. The dump trucks and cement trucks there are only marginally less dangerous than the taxi's anywhere. I consider Taipei to be just across a bridge that is remarkably close to my old train stop... this is probably about 3 km from the welcome sign.
Once you cross that bridge traffic becomes more congested and you really have to be on alert for craziness on the road. There's always some yahoo waiting to cut right across the scooter lane to make a right hand turn. Worse are the taxis which are a menace to the average scooter driver. They'll make left turns from right hand lanes, cut across 4 lanes of traffic to angle in at 60 degrees to the curb for a fare or just plain cut in front of you 50 feet from a red light where you get to go to the front of the line anyway. I won't even start to talk about the buses. I suspect if I didn't spend so many years on the back of my parent's bikes that I'd be a lot less confident in this insanity of commuting.
I spent the day with a bunch of church friends and we had a marvelous time. I haven't laughed so hard in a very long time. Madagascar was good but sharing a meal and 4 hours of story-telling with other English speaking people from all over the world easily tops that. We even have an ambassador from Africa who comes with his wife and baby to visit. I'm blessed to have such days.
To round off the evening I went to Ikea and picked up a light-weight polyester fleece blanket to keep me warm without having to plug in the electric blanket. It has warmed up enough that I don't need it but I don't want to kick my own butt twice. I also picked up some things for an art project to liven up my WHITE room.
Best wishes to all on sunshine day 5. (It's a weekend too!)
T. Destiny
I suspect I could procrastinate more on my novel and crank out about 2,000 words about my day. Inwardly I found myself composing about my scooter ride as I was waiting at the lights. Part of me wanted to whip out my camera and take pictures from the driver's point of view. I didn't because: a. my camera isn't that fast and b. I'm trying to be cautious on my scooter. As I was driving home that at 60 kph I realized I could die if someone crashed into me. Paranoia or realism? You decide. Driving in Taipei often feels like a scooter derby as we line up at the front of the traffic waiting restlessly to speed off when the lights turn green. Scooters essentially rule the road.
The ride was smoggy - and a little hard on my still healing lungs but better by far than trying to walk from the train station to church. I discovered that my scooter shrinks distances. I have no idea really how long it takes to get to Taipei. There's a sign not that far from Costco down the road (oh, yes - I'm in striking distance of familiar food!) that says "Welcome to Taipei" and yet you're still in a really industrial area. The dump trucks and cement trucks there are only marginally less dangerous than the taxi's anywhere. I consider Taipei to be just across a bridge that is remarkably close to my old train stop... this is probably about 3 km from the welcome sign.
Once you cross that bridge traffic becomes more congested and you really have to be on alert for craziness on the road. There's always some yahoo waiting to cut right across the scooter lane to make a right hand turn. Worse are the taxis which are a menace to the average scooter driver. They'll make left turns from right hand lanes, cut across 4 lanes of traffic to angle in at 60 degrees to the curb for a fare or just plain cut in front of you 50 feet from a red light where you get to go to the front of the line anyway. I won't even start to talk about the buses. I suspect if I didn't spend so many years on the back of my parent's bikes that I'd be a lot less confident in this insanity of commuting.
I spent the day with a bunch of church friends and we had a marvelous time. I haven't laughed so hard in a very long time. Madagascar was good but sharing a meal and 4 hours of story-telling with other English speaking people from all over the world easily tops that. We even have an ambassador from Africa who comes with his wife and baby to visit. I'm blessed to have such days.
To round off the evening I went to Ikea and picked up a light-weight polyester fleece blanket to keep me warm without having to plug in the electric blanket. It has warmed up enough that I don't need it but I don't want to kick my own butt twice. I also picked up some things for an art project to liven up my WHITE room.
Best wishes to all on sunshine day 5. (It's a weekend too!)
T. Destiny
Posted by T. Destiny in Taiwan at 10:43 PM 
