Asian Airlines

I have been a long time frequent flyer with American Airlines.  I learned years ago that it was better to consolidate my travel through one airline alliance to achieve elite status and build up a bank of miles.  American Airlines has served me reasonably well within the U.S. and I prefer them over the other domestic choices.  From O’Hare I can easily get to most any place I want, with numerous departure and arrival times, and competitive prices.  I have earned Platinum status allowing me easier upgrades, early boarding, access to airline lounges when traveling internationally, elite status security screening and other perks that I have become accustomed.

Over the past few years, I have also discovered that the Asian airlines were far superior to the North American and European airlines.   I have flown Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, EVA Air, China Airlines, Air China, China Eastern, China Southern, Dragonair and probably others I can’t think of.  The Asian airlines have a significant advantage based on personalized service and often newer aircraft.

For trips between the U.S. and Asia I prefer Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines.  They fly 777-300ER aircraft or equivalents.  These aircraft have coach seats that lower and recline under the seat ahead rather than allowing the person in front of you to recline into your face.  All of the aircraft have personal entertainment centers which the U.S. airlines have too.  The differentiators are the flight attendants, and the food and beverage service.

On the U.S. airlines, a glass of wine comes from a small airline bottle that you must pay for and is pretty bad wine.  On the Asian airlines, they serve reasonably good wine from a 750 ml bottle, and give you all you care for at no cost.  The U.S. airlines have trimmed back the flight service over the years while the Asian airlines have twice the crew size.  The Asian flight attendants are young and eager to make sure your trip is enjoyable.  There have been trips I have taken on U.S. based airlines that seemed the rough flight attendants thought I worked for them.  I’m not sure how to say it without coming across totally sexist, however I prefer to be taken care of by a crew of young, attractive, smiling Asian flight attendants rather than Americans.

The meals are good on these airlines.  The food is typically Asian fare, which I enjoy, and it seems fresh, tasty and served with better utensils than other airlines.  Even short haul domestic routes serve meals, which the U.S. airlines abandoned many years ago.  The free meal on Asian short hauls are far better than the snacks and sandwiches available for a fee on U.S. carriers.  On long haul flights, you can get a cup of noodles or other Asian snacks in between meals and it is served with a smile.  Imagine asking a U.S. flight attendant for an unscheduled snack?

Years ago when I traveled to Germany frequently, I would sit in the lobby of the Frankfurt Airport Sheraton and watch the flight crews from Singapore Airlines walk over the connecting bridge.  Everyone was beautiful and seemed happy.  I told myself that someday I would travel on Singapore Air.  To date I have not, however I think the Asian airlines that I do travel with, probably come close to what I had envisioned long ago.  I enjoy Asia for many reasons and certainly the air travel is one of them.

Christmas

It has been a very dramatic year for my wife and me.  I will be celebrating Christmas with my family at our U.S. home on Sunday.  Unfortunately, my new family (wife and daughters) could not make the trip with me and remain in Taiwan.  We will Skype with my wife on Christmas night to wish her our best.  I hope in the future, we can all be together for the holidays. 

For a number of years, it has been tradition to get together at our house.  I prepare a traditional dinner of standing beef rib roast, potatoes, soup, vegetables and much more.  Last year I cooked lamb instead of beef, and I could tell it was not as popular as the beef roast.  I love all foods, so it is often difficult to think in terms of favorite dishes.  This year I will make and bake dinner rolls from scratch.  We bought a bread machine for our home in Taiwan, and I have discovered how easy it is to make fresh bread.  I will roast more than 20 pounds (9 kg) of beef and will host 18 family members.

The Christmas tree is topped with a very special angel.  Before my Mother passed away more than 16 years ago, she asked my sister-in-law to do something with her wedding dress.  Since my Mother had five sons and no daughters, there was nobody to pass the dress to.  My sister-in-law is talented and turned the dress into the angel tree toppers for my brothers and me.  She even found doll heads with red hair to match my Mother’s.  It was a fantastic use of the dress and I am always reminded of my Mother at this time of year.

I was surprised to see how much the Taiwanese have embraced Christmas.  The stores sell trees and ornaments. Office buildings are decorated with colored lights.  People exchange gifts.  My wife will be attending a neighborhood party Christmas Eve.  Our neighbor married an American man; I don’t know if she is hosting the party for him or whether she celebrated before meeting him.  I used to think of Christmas as a Christian holiday.  While it clearly is, it is interesting to see people of other faiths, or limited faith, embrace the wholesomeness and warmth of this holiday.   Next month I will celebrate the Chinese New Year with my new family and friends.  Both the Chinese New Year and Christmas cause families to reunite for at least one time per year.  In both cultures, people put their work aside and travel great distances, to enjoy their family and friends.

I wish all of my family and friends the happiest of holidays.

The Kingdom of Fruits

Taiwan is known as the Kingdom of Fruits. More fruit is eaten per capita than most any other country, and it is readily available, inexpensive and diverse in selection.  Taiwan has long been situated on important sea trade routes, allowing the trade of fruit and the introduction of new fruit to flourish.  In addition, Taiwan is located in a subtropical zone, with high mountains running through the center of the island, providing a climate for both cool weather and tropical fruits.  Cooler climate fruit such as persimmons, wax apples, Asian pears, strawberries, melons and nectarines coexist with such tropical fruits as bananas, lychees, mangoes, papaya, guava and pineapples.

I grew up in the U.S. eating the traditional fruits typically found in the grocery stores; bananas, apples, pears, strawberries and blueberries.  While the fruit was better when in season, it was typically sold out of season after enduring weeks of transportation or months of cold storage.  I had been accustomed to bland fruit with limited selection.

All of this has changed with my new life in Taiwan.  I enjoy fruit shopping, which we do several times per week.  Fruit smoothies never tasted so good.  Many of the fruits are unrecognizable in their English translation.  Fruit is often wrapped and presented individually as if it were ready for gift giving.  Taiwanese take their fruit seriously.

My favorite new fruit is Buddha’s head.  When this fruit was first cracked opened, I commented that it looked like Buddha’s brain.  I apologize to my Taiwanese friends about the sacrilegious comment about the prophet.  The fruit is incredibly sweet and the white, soft inside eaten with a spoon.  The last two pictures are Buddha’s head.

Life should be lived expecting the unexpected and with enjoyment of new experiences.  I never expected to enjoy fruit as much as I now do.

Night Markets

The night markets of Taiwan are famous for their street food.  The Chinese have night markets, similar to Persian bazaars and Singapore’s Hawker markets.  The night markets sell various goods such as clothing, purses, and counterfeit goods.  However the most attractive aspect of the night markets to the Chinese are the food stands.  I believe no culture is more food centric than the Chinese and this is not meant to disrespect the Italians and French, and their cuisines.  It seems that everything important to the Chinese somehow involves sharing food.  The Chinese night markets exist in Hong Kong, Macau, mainland China, but the best markets exist in Taiwan.

Every major urban area of Taiwan has at least one night market.  Taipei has over 20 separate and distinct markets.  The night market is an organized series of stands that are permanently set-up on the sidewalks and streets of a neighborhood.  The food stands typically specialize in only one or several food items.  The food items are referred to as xiaochi, which is a small serving size snack, similar to tapas or small plate items served elsewhere in the world.  A xiaochi serving will usually cost about $1 USD, or slightly more.  The Chinese move from stand to stand eating as many small servings as they can and rarely spend more than $10 USD for the equivalent of an 8-10 course meal.  Stinky tofu is probably the most famous item and the benchmark food for a night market.  Yes, stinky tofu is very smelly.

The Taiwanese take visitors to their favorite night market; this is an important part of their urban life and something they are proud to share.   I’m surprised Anthony Bourdain has not filmed an episode for one of his shows in Taiwan.  The followers of Tony know that he has a love of street food.  The definition of street food should be Taiwan night market xiaochi.  My blog has a number of followers.  I don’t know who the individual followers are, but the blog statistics include readers, in the U.S., Taiwan, Canada, Germany, China, Latvia, Russia, the Czech Republic, etc.  Tony Bourdain has a blog that I read, but I am guessing he isn’t following mine.  So, I have sent an invitation to Tony via the Travel Channel website, encouraging him to visit Taipei.

Attached are some food market pictures.  The food items often served include congealed blood pudding on a stick, small sausage wrapped in a big sausage and further wrapped in garlic and basil, soup with cuttlefish covered in a fish paste, oyster vermicelli, eel noodles and much more.  I love Taiwan food and my Taiwanese friends have declared that I am officially Taiwanese, after watching me eat.

We’re Married

My Fiancée and I were married.  The process of marriage in Taiwan is somewhat similar to a civil marriage in the U.S., however with less emphasis on the declaration of marriage and more on the legal aspect of registering the new member of the household.  Each household has a head of household, which is my wife, and other registered household members that include the daughters and me.  Our marriage status, date and location of birth, education level, etc. are important parts of the household registration record. 

Before we could be married and my name added to the household, I needed a Chinese name for legal purposes. My wife recently spent time with her family in China and they brainstormed ideas for the name.  The name can be a phonetic version of my English name using Chinese words, or it can be a combination of the literal translation of the English name to Chinese, or it can be a combination of pleasing sounding Chinese words that together have no real meaning, but sound nice.  My name (at least I think) is a hybrid of the above.  After my name was chosen by my wife’s family, we allowed a friend and her children, as well as our daughters, further refined the name.  My Chinese name is 白廷孟.  The Pinyin pronunciation is Bai Ting Meng.  Bai means white or pure (no laughing please).  Ting means court of an emperor and Meng means oldest brother or powerful, great and eminent.  A number of legal documents had to be signed by me in my Chinese name, which I practiced writing in advance.  The number and order of the strokes used to create Chinese characters is as important as how it appears when completed. 

Legal documents are usually prepared using your personal chop.  A chop is similar to a rubber stamp that has been created with your name, usually in some artistic fashion.  The chop is your legal identity and important to safeguard.  We went to the local maker of chops and had him prepare mine out of wood, on the spot. I am continually amazed at how efficient and immediate the Chinese culture is; we often walk into a provider of services with no appointment and expect they will perform quickly.  A picture of my chop being created by the chopmaker is included.

For my permanent residence visa, I need to have a physical examination certificate.  We went to the local hospital and without an appointment, I received immediate service.  They drew blood to check for STDs, gave me a chest x-ray looking for tuberculosis and the physician looked carefully at my forearms for needle tracks.  I’m pretty sure I passed the examination.  Anyone planning to relocate to Taiwan should know that drug trafficking is punishable by death; so please think twice.

After all of these activities were completed, we drove into the mountains for relaxation at a spa featuring hot springs.  The spa is Japanese style that requires nudity in the separate male and female sections, and a swimsuit and hat for the coed areas.  I was momentarily confused when moving between the areas, however nobody was embarrassed.   It was a cool evening and the hot springs were a perfect way to spend our first day of marriage.  Afterwards, we returned home to prepare a simple meal of fish and fruit, accompanied by wine.  I told my new sister-in-law that I was turning her sister into a significant wine drinker.  She didn’t seem too concerned and responded that my wife was in good hands with me.

Everything in my second life has gone extremely well so far and I am happy with the dramatic decisions I have made.