Taiwan Fever

If you have a fever...don't go to Taiwan.

First off, they won't let you into the country. On your way to immigration you pass through a gate that reads your temperature. If you are extra hot that day, you are escorted to this row of seats where a sign over them reads "quarantined travelers". Everyone has to pass by this row of seats on their way to immigration. If you are sitting in one of those seats, you are telling all the people you just sat with on the flight(who were breathing in the same recycled air as you) that you are sick enough to not be let into a country. Thankfully, no one was sitting in that area when I passed through.

Secondly, the humidity percentage was off the charts. I thought Hong Kong was humid, but Taiwan is on a whole different playing field. Walking outside was like walking into a steam room. D's glasses fogged up every time he stepped foot out of an air conditioned building. I could barely take an outdoor photo because every time I turned on my camera the lens would fog up immediately to the point of not being able to see anything. Water would litterally fall from a near cloudless sky. Needless to say, we saw many beautiful rainbows.



Thirdly, the air was so thick in the city I could hardly breathe. Then again, I really didn't want to breathing in that air anyway.

On a more positive note, my hair looked great! Most of you know that I have a thick mane of hair that doesn't do well in any type of humidity. On hot sticky days, my students used to say "Ms. O looks like a lion with her big yellow hair!" Thanks to 3 hours in the beauty salon, thousands of Hong Kong Dollars, and a little thing called the Brazilian Blowdry, my hair looked like a million bucks. A few friends have also gotten this procedure done and have called it "life changing."




Seriously, people couldn't get over how my hair wasn't frizzing up in this weather. Everyone all over the island was staring at me. Well, it may have been because some of them never saw a white girl with blond hair before. The children in the markets would follow me around and just stare at me. They would call their friends over to look at me too. So that's how it must feel to be a celebrity.

Overall, Taiwan was a fun place to visit...for a weekend. We climbed to the top of the world's 2nd tallest building (101 stories), tried the delicious local foods (even though we had no clue what we were eating), visited the precious Jade Cabbage in The National Palace Museum, and shopped the night away in the night markets. We were surprised we couldn't really find much to buy...considering EVERYTHING is made in Taiwan. At least we didn't pick up a fever!

Happy feet!

(the photo above was taken on our honeymoon last year during this time!)

Next Stop...Happy Foot

D and I both agree the best way to learn the lay of the land is by foot. That's exactly what we did last Saturday afternoon. Hong Kong is built into a mountain so you're constantly walking up and down hills. This must be why many of the Asian women who live here are so thin. Not only are they climbing up hills all day but they are doing it in 4 to 5 inch heels. I can hardly make it up the hills in flats!

By the time 5pm rolled around we were exhausted and our feet ached. One of the popular things to do in Hong Kong is go for a foot massage. Now when I think of foot massage, I think of those tiny, unkempt stores in Manhattan with big signs that say Foot Rub. This place was anything but.

Hong Kong is a vertical city so everything is located on different floors in high buildings. We took the lift (the word I'm supposed to use for elevator) to the 19th floor. I had never had a foot massage and wasn't sure what to expect.

We were greeted by friendly receptionists and then escorted into our own private room with big cushy reclining sofa seats. Our masseuses brought in big tubs of clean hot water for us to rest our feet in and hot tea for us to drink. There were large screen TVs for our use (although I haven't watched a single thing on TV since I've been here since my Cantonese isn't that good yet.)

Our feet were lotioned up and the 50 minute massage was in full swing. My masseuse who's name is Sue but is only known as #9 was quite excellent. Not only did she massage my feet, ankles, calves, quads, and thighs, she also provided a 5 minute back and neck massage at the end. It was a very relaxing experience. The room was dark and quiet. The only noise I hard was D using the ball on his blackberry to scroll down through his emails. He was NOT working.

Despite some sneezing followed by the light sniffing of #9, the experience was a positive one. I'm not sure if D felt the same for his wo(man) was not as gentle on him and there was a lot of slapping occurring toward the end. Overall, we were two pretty satisfied customers.

The next morning we both awoke with black and blues all over our legs. We didn't really mind the bruises though because we had four happy feet!

A year of being Mrs. F

This is a special blog dedication to that special husband of mine. A lot of wonderful things have happened to us during our first year of marriage. Although I originally didn't include moving to Hong Kong on that list, I think I may just have to add that now. I am truly one of the luckiest girls to have found a guy like you (even though you were the one who found me!) A year ago today I felt like a princess in a fairytale marrying the prince of my dreams. I can gladly say I still feel that way a year later. Happy first Anniversary D. I can't wait to celebrate many more years with you by my side...in the USA of course!