Early in the morning, Michael took us to the local railway station for our 2-hour train ride to Taipei. Perhaps a good time to sum up Taiwan. Michael kept on saying "don't tell anyone about what Taiwan is like otherwise they will all want to come", but I am going to do it anyway. I had a different expectation before arriving here. In my mind, I pictured a polluted industrial country full of smoke belching factories, with phlegm spitting Chinese riding their 20-year old rusty bicycles to their work via streets littered with paper and plastic. A place where people shout at each other because there are loudspeakers in various streets blaring out Chinese opera music, and a countryside full of smog with older style cars driving around the mountains.

(Ok Michael let’s hope that everyone stops reading here)

Now, what have I found and experienced? Although Taiwan is called Taiwan ROC (Republic of China) and the majority of Taiwanese once came from the mainland which is now called The Peoples Republic of China, they are very different from the mainland Chinese. They are friendly, polite and softly spoken. When Michael and Gert tell them they are Dutch, they are greeted with a smile and are happy to meet them, as the Dutch form part of their history. The cities and towns are clean. When we stopped at various viewing points we saw groups of older people collecting stray paper and rubbish and carrying it with them to central collection points. I figured that the rubbish would have come from their mainland Chinese compatriots. The Taiwanese are caring and loving towards animals, they love their pets. We have seen many people with their pet poodles or other tiny breed in a bag with their head poking out. Other dogs ride with their owners on scooters. We have even seen a lady with a cat on a leash sitting with her in a restaurant. The Taiwanese don’t eat anything that moves on legs as they do on the mainland China and definitely don't eat anything weird like insects, dogs or cats. The road system is excellent with western/Chinese signage on the main routes. Whenever there is a place that there is a chance a foreigner may go, there are signs in English. Prices are low, petrol and diesel cheap at a price even lower than in Australia. The variety of food is good and healthy and also very cheap in restaurants. As for us, as we have passed the age of 65 we were confronted with another issue. Free or vastly reduced entry into museums etc and rail services (in Singapore that is only if you are a Singaporean)

Then there are the mountains! Mind blowing! I have been in many places travelling over high mountains but never like this. Even at 3500 meters, when in Europe you have left the tree line behind you, the vegetation here remains tropical or subtropical all the way to the top. Most of the routes taken cross tropical rainforests full of wildlife. This is evident when you stop somewhere as you always hear birdsong.

Whenever we visited a site it always surpassed my expectation – even the size and facilities of petrol stations are way better than I have experienced in Europe. Anyway enough said. Taiwan is still off the tourist trail for some reason, and perhaps better so. In years to come, I may enjoy it once more and without having to endure too many changes.

Now I face a problem as Michael has indicated that he wants to visit me in Australia. When I think about it, I have not much to offer as not much surpasses the beauty of Taiwan. I hope he will like empty, white beaches with clear blue surf because we have plenty of that and that is one of the few things I have not seen in Taiwan – and if he starts to feel homesick we will just have a coffee at one of our Seven/Eleven stores.

After arriving at the main railway station, our first problem was how to get out of the place. I guess the underground passages are as big as 4 city blocks if not larger. Even if you know the exit which you need to take it may be a 2 km walk through a maze of underground tunnels and shopping centres. When we found our place, we dumped our gear and went back the same way to find the bus station which has buses connecting to the International airport. This way we know where to go and how long it will take to get there. The trip to the airport takes about one hour. Proper forward planning, especially in unfamiliar places avoids stressful situations.

The MRT railway system is very similar to Singapore so we easily found the connection to Taipei 101, which used to be the tallest building in the world from 2004 to 2009 when it was surpassed by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The 101st floor reaches up to 450 meters and the very top reaches 509 meters.

The lift taking you there is the fastest in the world, travelling at a speed of 60 km per hour. The public can go to the observatory deck which is at 390 meters. Also at that level is the 660-ton pendulum which keeps the building from swaying during earthquakes or typhoons.

And talking about earthquakes, As I am writing this I am sitting on my bed and the room is moving about, shaking as I felt in the science museum , but this time it is for real. I just texted Michael who is several 100 km away and he felt it too. He has a special Ap where you can read the severity. 5.0 In Hualien where we were a few days ago and 2.0 in Taipei. A weird feeling.