A very normal day in office, working on that PLM, sipping on coffee, Hardwell trying to tear apart my earphones, and there comes Vinod Sir. "Shrey, there is some requirement in Taiwan, do you want to go ?", and here I was packing for Taipei.
Before leaving, we had a big celebration, and I left for Kempegowda Airport. Bode farewell to friends, and boarded Cathay Pacific. Hong-Kong was the first stop. Clearing Transfers at the airport, I am met with a strange glare by the officer, he looked at me suspiciously, and had a little interrogation. After not-so-many hassles, I entered it, and was awe-struck (going to use this term a lot, as I saw many new things). The biggest brands, hottest ladies, suited businessmen. Wandering around the airport, seeing Gucci,Prada, Rolex, and what-not, having a glimpse of traditional Chinese wear displayed along with a little history was good. Anyways, it was time for next flight to the would-be Karmabhoomi for a month 'Taipei'. A crisp 1-and-a-half-hour flight, and I reached Taipei.
Chinese traditional wear at the HongKong Airport
There was a big line at immigration, after sometime came my turn, and I stepped forward and passed my documents to Officer. She looked at my passport, and then at my face and was confused. I told her it was 5 years old photo, but she wasn't convinced, asking me for more ID's and Photo's. A little-off, and tired, I passed her all those, she took her colleague's help, and both of them are scanning me , and the documents. finally after 5-7 mins and a long interview, I entered the city.
It was raining rather heavily, and I was somehow trying to communicate with a Cab Driver. He didnt know English, and I was clueless about Chinese. After some hassling, I think he understood, as he was all "okay,okay sir", and the trip had started. The first thing of notice was the driving pattern, Here, the driver sits on the left, rather than on normal right. As he was driving, I was looking through the window, and the city looked beautiful. Big, wide-clean,highway-types roads, the best automobile, and the shocking thing, greenery. Even with so many buildings on the surroundings, they have maintained lots of flora around the place.
It was almost sunset and lights were coming up, making the view even better. Surrounded by mountains, with rain pouring, the atmosphere was surreal. 10-15 min into the ride, and I could see Taipei 101(one-o-one, as the locals call it), with its head covered by clouds. It was huge, all other buildings looked minuscule around it, it was absolutely gorgeous. I was almost amazed with how disciplined things were here, no traffic policeman controlling the crowds, people adhering to traffic signals on their own, heck, I used a zebra crossing for the first time in 22 years of existence :P. Exhausted by the debauchery last night and the flight, I reached my home for the following month "Hotel June".
The 101, with its head among the clouds
After a delicious dinner, the day came to an end, as the dreadful MONDAY had already approached.
Officially it was a 'business trip', and it was that for 5 working days, but for other 2, it was a vacation, in this series, I'll write about the vacation part ONLY... :)
Before leaving, we had a big celebration, and I left for Kempegowda Airport. Bode farewell to friends, and boarded Cathay Pacific. Hong-Kong was the first stop. Clearing Transfers at the airport, I am met with a strange glare by the officer, he looked at me suspiciously, and had a little interrogation. After not-so-many hassles, I entered it, and was awe-struck (going to use this term a lot, as I saw many new things). The biggest brands, hottest ladies, suited businessmen. Wandering around the airport, seeing Gucci,Prada, Rolex, and what-not, having a glimpse of traditional Chinese wear displayed along with a little history was good. Anyways, it was time for next flight to the would-be Karmabhoomi for a month 'Taipei'. A crisp 1-and-a-half-hour flight, and I reached Taipei.
There was a big line at immigration, after sometime came my turn, and I stepped forward and passed my documents to Officer. She looked at my passport, and then at my face and was confused. I told her it was 5 years old photo, but she wasn't convinced, asking me for more ID's and Photo's. A little-off, and tired, I passed her all those, she took her colleague's help, and both of them are scanning me , and the documents. finally after 5-7 mins and a long interview, I entered the city.
It was raining rather heavily, and I was somehow trying to communicate with a Cab Driver. He didnt know English, and I was clueless about Chinese. After some hassling, I think he understood, as he was all "okay,okay sir", and the trip had started. The first thing of notice was the driving pattern, Here, the driver sits on the left, rather than on normal right. As he was driving, I was looking through the window, and the city looked beautiful. Big, wide-clean,highway-types roads, the best automobile, and the shocking thing, greenery. Even with so many buildings on the surroundings, they have maintained lots of flora around the place.
The 101, with its head among the clouds
After a delicious dinner, the day came to an end, as the dreadful MONDAY had already approached.
Officially it was a 'business trip', and it was that for 5 working days, but for other 2, it was a vacation, in this series, I'll write about the vacation part ONLY... :)
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