EUROPEAN OBSERVATIONS
a. The tuscany view from piazza michelangelo was just as I remembered it. Incredible, scenic. great food. The hosts also had a welcome dinner at a winery in Chianti. I did some minimal wandering around the city and my requisite grocery store run, then came wedding lunch and dinner. Short but lovely getaway. far better than Germany food as well!
b. Europeans live well. Too well. Their (lack of) service mentality clearly exhibits why their economy is suffering and may continue to lag behind.
Case example 1. Florence, Italy airport. There were three disorganized, criss-crossing queues to buy drinks/snacks/water. If that airport was remotely interested in sales or profits, they could handily make 3-4x food sales. (80% of fellow passengers had to board flights without time to wait for their bottles of water or food). Reminds me of Greece, where the ferry tells you to avoid boarding -- if you have a flight that same DAY! (in other words, we will be on schedule +/- 4-6 hours - don't rush us)
Case example 2. Germany - supposedly the most efficient. Yes the trains are on time. But people certainly don't help, hence you should budget minimum 4 hours for layover. Almost as bad as Heathrow in London. I quote from Lufthansa's check-in counter, "I only follow rules", and "you should go to that queue" (2-3x). You should get the customs stamp there, and then come here to submit the form, and then there the other tax-free company stand is over there. 45 mins in wrong queue. "Your 2nd luggage came out with another flight on that other conveyor belt, so its not lost, even though you waited over an hour twenty feet away" . WTF. Brilliant high quality customer service.
Makes one appreciate Hong Kong airport and Cathay Pacific (and even Air Canada) sooo much more! On the way back my luggage was waiting for me by the time I got through immigration.
Asia is not all bells and whistles - Malaysia buses have been known to be up to 12 hours late or to set fire
BACK TO TAIPEI... THIS TIME DURING TYPHOON USAGI -- FOR FUN !
Stephen and I took the mid-autumn festival long weekend to attend his team member's wedding in Taipei. Definitely not our first trip there, but it felt more relaxing since I was finally there for leisure and not business. We exercised, swam 3x in the rainy, typhoon but nice rooftop pools and caught up with stephen's uncle.
The wedding was lovely and food was nice and plentiful. Even got props having joined the Hong Kong visitor table. First night was spent in Da'an area at Shangri-La, very nice, apparently lots of diplomats stay there. Post wedding, we went to Regent Taipei near Zhongshan (main station area) in the west of the city. After minors hiccups honoring my company rate, we relaxed in their rooftop pool, gym and ate some shitty, local beef noodle soup (ASIAN HOTELS REALLY SHOULD TRAIN THEIR CONCIERGES BETTER).
Next day the food was LOVELY, we went to the Taipei fish market for very fresh sashimi and crab!!! Yum Yum!! Despite the torrential typhoon rains, we managed to walk around Xinyi area (not much good shopping) then later headed to Linkou to stay with Stephen's uncle.
Survived and made it back to Hong Kong 4 hours before the airport shut down for the typhoon!!! This typhoon was heading from Taiwan to Hong Kong, so I guess we just beat it!
Our 5th wedding anniversary is this week. It won't be as adventurous as climbing Kota Kinabalu last year but I'm sure we'll have a good time in HK.
Photos: UNESCO World Heritage Site in Speyer, Germany
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| Photo: Four Seasons Firenze Italy |
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| Photo: Winery in Chianti, Tuscany, Italy; view of Florence from Piazza Michelangelo |
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| Photo: Shangri-La Far Eastern, Taipei; Dozo Da'an |
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| Photo: Four Seasons Firenze |
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| Addiction Aquatic Development, Taipei Fish Market |
