It's been a week since I had been to my first international 501st trooping and my first flight ever. My passport is no longer a virgin!
I attended the second Joint Asian 501st Trooping hosted by Taiwan for the second year in a row. Like last year, it was organized and sponsored by Taiwan-based Mesh Design Co. Last year's Philippine Outpost delegates were CO Manny, XO Oneal, PRO Rej,and GWL Ron. This year's attendees were yours truly, and new recruit Rico with his wife Valerie. Both trooping events were held at the Metro Walk Shopping Center.
This also marks my first flight and trip outside the country. Goosebumps and excitement filled me up as my flight day neared. Thanks to Rico and Valerie for their support and assistance in producing my travel's requirements. 
Here's a day-by-day recollection of what had transpired during my travel and stay in Taiwan :
Day 1 - October 23
I woke up at 3:45 am for some last-minute preparations for my departure. I arrived in the airport at 5:30. I was followed shortly by Rico and Beng, referred to as 'Dad and Mom'. :P Our plane left Manila at 7:50. Call me mababaw, but I found the flight 'enjoyable'. :P As the plane landed after less than a couple of hours, I can't help but get excited as I saw the Taoyuan International Airport 's signages in kanji lettering.
Ohayou gozaimasu, este ni hao ma! * 
I took the Free Go shuttle bus to Lilai Hotel, my pre-trooping hotel, while Rico and Beng took a different bus to Feeling Hotel (Watta name, FTW!). Since we arrived ahead of schedule, we had to stay and spend for our own hotel accommodations. Lilai Hotel is in the Ximending neighborhood in the Wanhua District of Taipei. It is known for its bustling city streets. It is also very accessible via the MRT. I rested for a couple of hours in my hotel room, then got up to check out the wondrous city of Taipei . :D
My first stop - a 7-11 store. LOL. I was so thirsty, so I bought a drink which is not common in our country - a bottle of Minute Maid PONKAN! I steered clear of milk teas due to the melamine scare. I walked more and more, enjoying every sight in my path. I bought and tasted a few street food, neverminding the thought of salmonellas and bacteria whatnots. I finally got back to my hotel after four hours of walking. I got a text message from Rico, instructing me to call up Roy, the Taiwan Formosa Outpost CO for travel arrangements from my hotel to the Park Hotel, the sponsor hotel. We talked over the phone for a while, and he had arranged Bruce, one of their Outpost members, to pick me up so we can travel together to Chungli City via the trains. My dinner was composed of chicken nibblers which was very much like KFC's hotshots, and a cup of yang-chow fried rice which I bought from Bangka street at the far end of Ximending. It was lights out for me at 1 am after watching Ultraviolet in cable TV.
City view from hotel room
Some random pics:
That’s just so… SICK.
Customers open and print their documents right outside the print shop then pay and claim the printed docs inside!
The Presidential Office Building
Ximen Street
Longshan Temple
Monks! I wonder if they’re bulletproof…
Mengjia Park across Longshan Temple
Street food – pita with egg, some vegetables, and other spices. Hey, I don’t know what it’s called!
Day 2 – October 24
Good morning, Taipei!
I woke up at the door knock at 8 am. Breakfast was served… in a plastic bag hanging by the door knob.
Yum.
I went outside for a walk, also to get more food because the sandwich barely made it to my stomach. I found out that my hotel didn’t prepare the sandwiches by themselves. They had bought it from a store along the busy main road of Zhong Hua. The hotel reviews weren’t kidding when they said that the breakfast served is not so grand. Anyway, that’s the least of my worries. I grabbed another sandwich and chao fan and ate them in my room while finishing Heroes and Prison Break. I took a bath then prepared all my stuff, ready to leave. As expected, Bruce arrived at my doorstep at exactly 11:30 am. Bruce isn’t fluent in the English language at all. We had trouble understanding each other. Hehehe. But it was clearly understood that we were going to take the train to Chung Li City , where Park Hotel, the hotel sponsor, is located. We headed to Ximen Station which is the nearest station to my hotel. It was hard to understand the markings and directions when we got there. Even Bruce got confused on which platform and train we would be taking. We got off at the Taipei Main Station to take a connecting ride to Chung Li. It took an hour to get there. I found myself dozing off throughout the ride. Finally we arrived at the station, and then to Park Hotel which is just a block away.
Forever it can have no sales.
It’s the home of the Asus Eee PC!
Train schedule. Why can’t we have this in the country?
Touch-screen ticketing system
Bruce and I rested for a while in our respective rooms. I found out that I am sharing the double room with James Chan, another member of the Taiwan Outpost, but he hadn’t checked in yet. After an hour of rest, Bruce came knocking at my door again and we met up with Adam Monroe este Shaw, who’s actually an American, of the Japan Garrison, together with his Japanese girlfriend. After a half hour came Michael and Catherine, who are also Americans, of the Korean Outpost. Dad and Mom also arrived shortly, so did CO Roy. We had a short meet and greet in the hotel lobby. Roy had to leave immediately to pick up the guys from the Singapore Garrison, while the rest of us ,except Dad and Mom who opted to wander around Chungli, went to Taipei to have a look around. I was back at Ximending again. Bruce brought us to the Longshan Temple. There we met James, the PRO of the Taiwan Outpost. His English is much better than Bruce’s. Hehehe. Adam wanted to go to Taipei 101 that night, but there was not enough time, and Michael and Catherine were very tired already. We just had a quick dinner at the Huaxi Night Market. In there were snakes and other reptiles offered as delicacy. We made sure our chao fan didn’t have any of those. Eww. After dinner, we took the train to Chung Li back to our hotel. When we arrived, we had a meeting. CO Roy brought beer to the meeting. Nice! Now present there were the troopers from the Singaporean Garrison: Ivan Chee, Keith Moss, Matthew Le, Ang Jian Ping, Fatimah, Leonard Chia, and Jeanette. We had a rundown of our activities, logistics, etc. After an hour, everyone already went to bed except for those who wanted to drink more, namely Roy, Adam, Matthew, and of course, me! We bought more beer from a nearby 7-11 store. Adam also ordered fastfood from McDonald’s. I guess he didn’t enjoy the chao fan that much. Hehehe. We finally headed to our respective rooms at past midnight. My roommate James didn’t check in yet because he had to stay with his wife and kids at home for the night. It was lights out for me at around 2 am after much plurking and surfing the web which I missed doing since I landed in Taiwan.
More pics of Longshan Temple**:
* courtesy of Valerie Lee Santos
** courtesy of Catherine Talento
Coming up next: Days 3 to 5
