by Sean Lindsay

Created on: February 06, 2007   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

Ten months. It's almost hard to believe that it was that long ago since I first set foot in Japan for an encore experience of Asia. Four months ago, I was blessed with a second opportunity to visit the alluring country of Thailand. Last month, fortune smiled once again, this time involving a two-week trek across peninsular Malaysia, a trip which also allowed me a glimpse of Taiwan (on the way from Japan).

Recently you might have noticed that I've added two new photo albums to this site, in tribute to my travels to these two captivating countries. And so here is part one of the story behind these photos, albeit the abridged version, of my stay in Taiwan, with a blog on Malaysia to follow later.

Over the years, I suppose the global wanderer in me has somewhat evolved. I suppose I would now be classified more as a quasi-backpacker (unlike my earlier years hiking up the eastern seaboard of Australia with camping gear and a "ready-to-fall-apart-any-minute" backpack. I still have that backpack (albeit a newer one that still has some life in it), however, my choice of accomodations has been upgraded considerably from the days sleeping in roach-infested caravans, stark and non-descript hostels, and portable three-man tents one could pitch just about anywhere. For both Malaysia and Taiwan, I decided it was time to trade those options in, and booked all my accomodations well in advance. I now dealt with star ratings, a thing in the past almost foreign to me!

Leanne and I departed Osaka, Japan, on August 3rd, bound for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with a long overnight layover in Taiwan, allowing us a 24-hour window to attain at least a glimpse of this very unique country. After a brief two and a half hour flight, we touched down at Chiang Kai Shek International Airport, and shortly thereafter, boarded a bus bound for Taipei city, the urban epicentre of Taiwan.

There are times in my life when I wish my mind functioned like a video camera, being able to capture every travel moment of my life, and retrieve and replay them at will. Unfortunately, we must alternatively rely on our personal memory to relive these moments, but over time, these tend to fade in vividness. Perhaps this is the reason why I try to write down as quickly as I can, key travel moments, so to use them to easily trigger remembering the amassed memories I have collected to date. The journey to Taipei city from the airport is one of these examples I hope to hold on to for a very long time.

Greenery hit me instantly.

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