10/1/10 - 10/2/10 (singapore)

Singapore - Taipei

After our quick turnaround in Singapore we were on our way to Taiwan. Annie was excited to see her oldest sister and brother-in-law and visit her “mother country.” We woke up at 4 am to pack and catch a cab to the airport. When we arrived at 5:30 am the representative at JetStar informed us we needed an outbound ticket from Taiwan to board our flight. We then scrambled for the next hour to get internet access and reluctantly booked a ticket back to the United States. It took a stubborn ticket agent from a discount airline to finally get us to commit to return home. We then provided the proof with five minutes to spare and boarded our flight to Taiwan that went smoothly. 

We arrived in the early afternoon and did not need to provide proof of an outbound ticket. Grrr! We were greeted by hundreds of crazed teenage girls. Finally all of this blogging has paid off. Unfortunately, the warm welcome wasn’t for us. A Korean rock star arrived shortly after us and it was fun to watch as he entered into his limo sending the crowd into a frenzy. Grace and Arnold picked us up shortly after our arrival and we were on our way to their 9th story condo in Luzhou, a bustling suburb of Taipei. We settled in and relaxed for a few hours. Later that night we met with a business associate of Arnold's nicknamed the Bird Man to discuss some LED lighting technology business opportunities over dinner. I drew many curious looks being a lone long haired white man visiting a very Taiwanese area of Taipei. 

We got a late start on Saturday and eventually made our way to Yanmingshan National Park, a beautiful mountainous area outside of Taipei known for its hot springs. We made our way to the pinnacle of the mountain to capture some photographs and take in an epic sunset before settling into a very rustic hot springs bath. 

Later that night we met the cast of characters who would have a large influence on our Taiwan experience. I was given my first lesson on Taiwanese social and drinking culture. We visited Arnold’s friend nicknamed Diamond Boss where we also met Angel, Meow Meow, and Two Horse. The thing about drinking in Taiwan is that you can’t drink alone, the proper way to drink is to cheers someone. Being new to the group, each time I met someone I had to do a shot of beer. I proceeded to get as drunk as I have been in years as my Taiwanese friends took great delight in testing my alcohol limits teaching me new drinking games. Ugway Ugway Caio! By the time we left, my social calendar was filled up for the next week with dinner engagements with our new friends. Welcome to Taiwan! 

Comments

[Cathy Binotto]

Hi Jon! I have read your blog so many times, but never left a comment. This trip you are on is just amazing! I love to look at the pictures and read about your adventures and I'm very envious. You two are going to have to write a book when you are done. We girls here in the office were talking about you at break this afternoon and reminiscing about the videos you made so I pulled them out to show one of our new Associates. Things here are going well, but not nearly as exciting as your life is I'm sure. Give Annie my best,
Regards,
Cathy

[Jon Carr]

So good to hear from you Cathy! I was going to get in contact with you when we returned back to California. I think about the Grande team often and miss you guys. We have been very fortunate on our trip and have experienced so many incredible things. It will be interesting when we come back to America. It may be tough to go back to regular life again. I hope you get a chance someday to do some extended travels. Thanks for commenting!

[Seattle Annie]

I'm digging the long locks, Hippie!!