Asia 2005

We took off from Heathrow on a British Airways flight to Hong Kong. It was our intention to transit in HK straight to Taipei in Taiwan. Departure date was 6 September and we had a ride to the airport with Brian. Two and half hours from his place in Bronham Wiltshire.

I keep saying it I know but Heathrow is such a huge place. We took off from Terminal 1 but there are three others and they are building a fifth!! What with Gatwick, Luton, Stansted and Southhampton all within 1 hour the sky must be alive with planes at all times.

Anyway off we went (no upgrade but good seats) and after a long flight we landed at HK International on Lantau Island. We had a four wait and then boarded Cathay Pacific for a short hop across to Taiwan. Taipei International airport is about 1 hours drive to the west of the city. Leah changed some money there and then we got a local bus into the city, after getting some info on accommodation options. The bus let us off at the central railway station and from there we wound our way to our hotel. After a wrong turning or two we finally made it. A couple of Taiwanese showed us the way – a nice gesture which very much typified most everyone we met. Now the hotel’s name escapes me at the moment but it was OK. Double bed with en suite toilet and shower. They kept on putting toothbrushes in the en suite so they got added to my toilet bag. Actually they were quite good as they seemed to have the toothpaste embedded into the bristles somehow. It was raining outside so we went out to a local restaurant and bought a couple of cheap Taiwanese dishes. Also bought some breakfast provisions at the 7 Eleven.

So next day it was off to the National Museum. By Metro and then bus. The Metro is good and cheap and we got to the museum without too many dramas. I loved the museum. It had some fantastic stuff in it. Mainly artefacts taken from the mainland when CKS came across. There was a section on calligraphy and we got a mini demo. The trick is in how you hold the pen apparently. And the works are an art form. Great calligraphers all have their own style and the differences between them are obvious to the experts. But damned if I could see how they could tell who was who.

The real thrill was viewing the jade work. There was some superlative stuff. Like the carved balls that had intricately carved pieces inside. The carver did the inside work by reaching through the “skin” of the ball. Or the tiny piece of jade that had been carved in the shape of a nut but incorporating a boat with rowers and the like. It was probably no more than 40mm long but the level of detail was astonishing. You could almost see the expression on the faces of the rowers. They also had the Emperors toy boxes. These were made of wood but built up in pieces. The box had a series of little drawers which you could only access in a certain way. If you unfolded the box in an incorrect sequence then it either wouldn’t open or you couldn’t get it closed again. Each little drawer contained a small carving; I think that each depicted some aspect of Chinese legends or a tribute to the emperor. Apparently the emperor valued the challenge of opening and closing the box as much as the objects inside. One of the boxes had been partly opened so you could see how it worked. Beautiful wood work and very tricky.