Necklace

Have you not always longed for a necklace like this...? Complete with thermometer and everything.

Red lights

The traffic in Taiwan is interesting like in many Asian countries. The scooters are everywhere, carrying anything and driving fast. Taxis have a tendency to pass a whole line of cars waiting for a red light and just stop in front of everyone in the middle of the cross roads after the pedestrian area. These guys would not be very popular in Sweden but here no one seems to be very upset.

Red lights does usually not stop anyone. When walking across a street you should never start walking immediately when it turns green because there is always someone who decides to drive through the red light. There is also a small difference between Taipei in the north and Tainan in the south. One taxi driver explained it very well to our chinese colleague, Kezhao. He said that a red light in Taipei is a warning but in Tainan it is only decoration.

Walking down the street

The houses on a typical street in Taiwan are narrow and tall, much like town houses. Commonly not more than maybe 3 meters wide. On the ground floor it looks like a garage with a metall door that can be raised all the way to the ceiling. In most cases there are some sort of commercial activity on the street level and I guess that they live upstairs. It might be a restaurant, garage, mechanical work shop, hair salon or any type of shop selling a wide variety of things, from clothes and watches to motors and scooters.


Sometimes it is hard to figure out what they are up to. Often the place just looks like a normal messy garage but if you look closely you can see some kind of product laying around. Business does not always seem to be very good and there are usually no particular opening hour. So to make sure they do not miss out on any customers they simply move their livingroom halfways out on the street. It is not uncommon that you have walk around some people watching TV on the sidewalk.


It can be tricky to walk down the streets of a Taiwanese city. The sidewalk is full of scooters, cars, tables, trash or anything really that they can not (or do not want to) fit in the house. You simply have to step out into the street and risk being hit by a car or racing scooter.

Often the same type of shop is clustered in one area. The other day we found the wedding area, several streets only containing shops selling wedding clothes. When we turned around one corner there were instead only jewellery shops. We had to walk several blocks before we found any type of restaurant which we were really looking for.

Hello Kitty!

I did not get the Hello Kitty Suite. I am so disappointed!

Chicken what kebab?

Chicken butt shish kebab. Mmmm...

Scooter

In Sweden the laws for how to behave in traffic are very strict. Here in Taiwan what you see in the picture is a common sight. Two adults and two kids on the same scooter and only the adults are wearing helmets!? Adults have to wear helmets but obviously not children and there does not seem to be any rules for how many people you are allowed to be on one scooter.
Would you treat you family like this in the Taiwanese traffic??

menu

About a week ago I arrived in Tainan, Taiwan. The plan is for me to work here at least 5 months.

As I came here I thought it would be nice to learn some mandarin and possibly be able to understand what is on the menu. Yesterday evening we found a chinese restaurant with an english menu.


Sounds good?

Squid mouths?

When I start realizing what actually is on the menu I am not sure anymore that I would like to learn. Maybe it is better not to know what you are eating...

The end of the world

Yesterday I was flying from Bangkok to Taipei. As we took off from Bangkok I looked out the window and saw the flooded rice fields. They formed an uneven green brownish pattern that ended in the sea. It was sunny and the light was reflecting in the water. It was very humid and hazy which made the sea have exactly the same orange colour as the sky. The effect was that the rice fields that ended in the sea looked like the end of the world.

Lovely Alps

It is windy, a bit chilly but I have the most amazing view over the eastern parts of the Alps. I am standing on the top of Gr Priel in Austria, tired from the long climb. The mountains here are steep and bright grey, almost white, since it is all limestone.

Around us people, equally in need of energy, are trying to find a spot sheltered from the wind to eat their packed lunches. Amazingly enough the wind seem to be blowing from all directions at the same time. We sit down in a fairly calm place. A dry sandwich never tasted this good. I only wish I had brought that lemon soda I have been dreaming about the past half hour.

Me and my brother, Richard, have just finished a very long and demanding Via Ferrata called Bert Rinesch klettersteig. I took us 3 hours to finish the climb which was secured the whole way. It was necessary to be constantly hooked in using the Via Ferrata equipment since it was quite airy and we often had several hundred meters below our feet. In some places it was overhanging which made me wonder how well the iron bars that secured us were fastened in the rock. I chose not to think about this for very long though. The climb was not as hard as I thought but just very long and there were no really good spots to take a rest. But best of all, it was great fun! I loved each step of the way. And the picture is of me, I did not steal it off the internet this time...

Picture perfect

A lonely old woman with a bent back standing in a rice field. Water up to her knees, her hands searching under the surface. The rice field is on a slope and there are several terrasses just like the one she is standing on. The fields are bright green and are almost shining in the golden afternoon light from a hazy sky. Above the fields there are some trees and behind the trees are several tall modern apartment buildings. They look unreal, does not go together with rest. The contrast is striking, the traditional agricultur against the modern arcitecture. This was a photo opportunity rarely seen but unfortunately I was sitting on a high speed train when it all passed by.

The joy of planning

To plan a trip is for me a big part of the whole experience. I usually check some websites, maybe read books, look at the surroundings on GoogleEarth and talk to people I know have visited the place I am heading to. I like to have some sort of idea of where I am going. Usually you do not have unlimited time at your destination so in order to make the right decisions and get the most out of your time, it is not a bad idea to be prepared. But it is also important not to plan too carefully. The one thing you can be sure of is that it will not go as planned. You will have to make decisions along the way that will have a significant affect on your holiday. This is the charm of travelling though and I am always careful not to have my mind set on what I "have" to do.

Planning gives you the opportunity to enjoy your trip during a long time. If you start reading up on things early you can start dreaming and longing for your departure. Right now I am planning my holiday in Austria in August. The main purpose of the trip is to visit my parents who have a house there and do as much hiking I can possibly take. I have missed the mountains for a long time and am looking very much forward to it. Already a couple of months ago I was reading about the hikes and via ferratas in the area. I have been looking at films on Youtube, pictures and read stories about hiking trips to this particular mountain range. I found the via ferrata I would like to do (weather permitting) and because it is a very demanding one I have also started to train for it. I still have 5 weeks to become just a little stronger and more fit. My brother and I are pushing each other and we have ordered the gear needed for it. The picture is taken on the Bert-Rinesch Via Ferrata on the Gr Priel which is my goal. It was stolen from an Austrian site about hiking (www.bergsteigen.at) where Josef Zwedorn had left it for others to admire. Does it not look fantastic? It almost feels like I am there already.

At least for another 5 weeks this trip will be exactly the way I want it to be. Once I get there, you never know what will happen and that is when it becomes real. It is the moment I long for when I am facing reality and will find out what the trip will really be like. During the preparations I get a feeling about the place where I am going and I am always equally curious to see if it is right. It never is but I keep on trying and I am enjoying it.

Parawaiting

The plan today was to go parasailing with Linda and Frank who I met at the hotel in Seoul. Unfortunately what we ended up doing was parawaiting. For a couple of hours we sat around watching where the wind was blowing wishing that we were up in the sky enjoying the views. It never turned the way we wanted so we had to go back without even trying to fly. :-(

At least it was a lovely day and we were enjoying the weather and the company. Well, better luck next time.

Hiking in Bukhansan National Park

In Korea hiking is popular. The hikers have the latest equipment, the right clothes and they look very professional. Question is how good the hiking is in this country that is not really known for their impressive mountains. Last weekend I decided to find out in the local National Park, Bukhansan, just north of Seoul which is very popular and crowded during the weekends.

I had read on the internet where to go and took the subway to one of the stations close to the park. I did not find the bus I was looking for but a nice enough Korean pointed out another one that would take me in the right direction. On the bus I found two men with all the fancy gear for a day of hiking. I asked if they were going to the same place as me and with their not very impressive english vocabulary they made me understand that they would show me the way.

They started off in a fast pace. I tried to stop at the ranger station to find a map but the guys were stressing me on like I was a race horse. But I figured that I would not get lost if I followed these guys so I did not bother about the map. I kept up with the first guy and realized after a few minutes that we had left the other guy behind us. I asked Mr Fast Guy and he just pointed at his watch and said time, so I guess they had no plan of walking together.

After half an hour or so we reached the first gate of an old fortress that is situated on the ridge in the park. You walk along the wall which was restored after the Korean war. The gates are popular places for picknicks and many seem to have come there mainly for eating and not necessariliy for hiking.

Mr Fast Guy took me almost all the way to Baegundae Peak which is the highest point in the park. This was my goal but not his so we parted just below the peak. The hiking in this national park is more technical than I thought, it is often very steep and in some places it is even easier Via Ferrata hiking. The last bit up to Baegundae Peak is the steepest and hardest part. This however does not scare the Koreans and the path up to the peak is full of people. At the top you have a lovely view of Seoul and the Bukhansan National Park.

On the top of Baegundae I met Nina from Switzerland. We had a rest and enjoyed the view before we started walking back together. It's always fun to be one Swiss and one Swede, very confusing for everyone. I am still amazed how Swiss people always are accused of being Swedish and the other way around. Where is the logic in that?

If you ever get the chance I can really recommend to go hiking in Bukhansan National Park. It is easy to get there from the city and it offers great hiking and wonderful views.

Samsung museum

Samsung does rule this country it seems. Even one the nicer museums is the Samsung Museum of Art, called Leeum. It is situated very close to my hotel and I have wanted to visit it many times but never got around to. Today I did managed to go the 5 min down the hill to see what it is all about (you can see my hotel in the background). From the hotel I have seen some statues on the roof of the museum which look like huge spiders and since I found out it is a museum I have had in my mind to go there.

This Art museum covers both traditional art like ceramics and paintings from 13th to 19th century and modern art, local and foreign.

The artifacts themselves are nice but the best thing about this museum is the building itself. The architecture is superb. The two main buildings have their own style and are very beautiful. Not only what is inside the buildings is interesting. Don't forget to look out the windows, everything you see is well planned and stylish. Just the staircase in the brick building is worth a visit.

The rooms that show historic art are spatious and dark. The items themselves are lit up individually which creates a calm and relaxing environment. It is a welcome feature compare to other sights like the War Memorial Museum (which is interesting really and very well made) which attracts groups of screaming children that runs around your feet.

Whenever in Seoul, I can really recommend this museum.

Getting lazy

Although I do love adventures and often seek them, I can also get lazy. This is easily done when travelling for business. When I go to work in e.g. Korea I stay at a moderately nice hotel during the weeks but at a very nice one during the weekends. When I go on holidays my budget is very different and I often stay at hostels or very cheap hotels in order to be out as long as possible. At those times the goal is to have an adventure and not to rest and save your strenght for the coming week of facing the customer. When I do get the chance to stay longer in a foreign country for work, like now three weeks in Korea, I do want to take the opportunity to see something else than the customer site and the area around the hotel. But staying at these really nice hotels makes me lazy. From my room I have the most beautiful view of the Han river and Gangnam area in Seoul (picture). The hotel is situated on a hill which makes the view absolutely stunning. It has a garden with an outdoor pool and sun deck, a sauna, a gym and a lounge with complimentary snacks and drinks in the evening. Staying in this kind of environment is a treat itself and absolutely necessary for a stay this long in a foreign country that you did not choose yourself. Without these weekends, working in Korea would have been very hard.

Sometimes people accuse me of being to active and wanting to take advantage of every moment but here it is almost the other way around. I love spending a lazy weekend at the hotel and just do some minor outings to museums or shops. But then again I am not here on holidays, I am here on business. It is different.

Decoration

Along the river mentioned in the last text there were water outlets in several places. For some reason they had decided to decorate these. You decide which picture you find most suiting. :-)

Landscaping

In Korea they are very good at landscaping. In the big cities there are small beautiful parks that makes a big contrast to the grey, boring city. Also companies build small, nice areas for people to spend their lunch break in or hang around smoking. These places are very well planned and clean. Usually the main features are stones and flowers.

Today I was working at the hotel in Suwon where I stay on workdays and in the afternoon I couldn't resist going out for a walk in the beautiful weather. I decided to find the small river I have seen from the car going to and from work every day. It turns out that they have built a wall along the river and planted flowers in it. And they have put stones in the river in some places for people to cross. This was a welcome escape from the busy streets with all the traffic.

Für Elise cont.

I just have to continue the sounds of Asia stories. I thought when I left Korea to go to Taiwan I had heard "Für Elise" for the last time this trip. I was wrong. As I was writing the last text I heard a faint melody being played. It sounded like they had hidden speakers somewhere playing the radio on very low volume. But when I listened carefully it was just a short melody that was repeated, quite annoying actually. You know when you hear a faint noise and it irritates you to dead but if you don't listen you don't hear it. I could not figure out where it came from and was just hoping it would be gone by the time I would go to bed.

Later when we were sitting at the window in the restaurant next door to the hotel, I suddenly heard the melody again! I looked out and saw the garbage truck driving by. I had heard a truck in my hotel room on the 22nd floor emptying garbage bins in the neighbourhood. This means that it is played quite loud. Poor guys that have to do that job all day. I can imagine that kind of treatment being used as torture.

This afternoon we got stuck in the weekend traffic coming back from customer site and guess what I suddenly heard!? "Für Elise". And guess what it was!? The garbage truck. Good thing that they work during the day...

A box of chocolates...

I might just have checked in to my new favourite hotel, The Ambassador Hsinchu, Taiwan. The room is large and very tastefully decorated in the Asian simple but beautiful kind of way. The colors and materials are very nice and the bathroom luxurious. But what really made it was the content in the little box in the picture... Mmmm, they know exactly what I need after a long day of travelling and work.

Now it's time to find out what kind of food my colleagues decide to have me eat today. I'm hungry!

Für Elise

If you're in Korea and you suddenly hear "Für Elise" being played for no appearent reason with a very loud, digital, metallic sound, you should watch out. I know, it can be very confusing. What could it be? Someone's mobile phone? Public speakers warning for earthquakes? You never really can tell over here. But in this case it is that small type of van that is mostly found in Asia. The kind that is smaller than the average american car and seems to fit better in a playground than on the motorway. And it is reversing so be careful! Nothing in my mind would automatically make me watch out when I hear a piece of music being played. Bummer..

Asian photo pose

Have you seen asians (well, at least from Japan, China and Korea) when they have their picture taken? Have you noticed how popular the v-sign is? It seems to be impossible for them to do anything else in front of the camera. I have seen it in Asia, all over Europe and even in front of the train to Stockholm at the station in Gothenburg. And of course I had to try it too. Check out my authentic pose from the garden in the Forbidden City in Beijing. Does it not look good? :-)

I also got a picture of our taxi driver and a guy who was hanging around the Great Wall. As soon as they saw the camera they automatically raised their hands in a v-sign. Aren't they cute? Did you notice the pipe that the guy to the right is holding?

What's wrong with this picture?

This is the castle in Prague. Would you have guessed by looking at the picture? You just can not escape, can you? You might have to click the image to see what I mean. :-)

Temperature problems in Korea

During the winter in Korea it gets really cold and it's a humid kind of horrible cold. But the Koreans seem not to have grasped this at all. At the bus stop you can see girls waiting in short skirts and thin jackets, they do shiver but do not seem to understand that you can do something about it by putting more clothes on. I guess it is not fashionable.

They have totally missed out on the invention of winter tyres and traffic is therefore catastrophic whenever it is slippery or snowy. They simply can not go to work if it is snowing! (imaging trying that with your boss in Sweden..)

Also they have a huge insulation problem which means that they have some difficulties heating the buildings. But when they do succeed with this they are persistent to keep about 30 degrees. This all means that you need to bring a lot of clothes because you do not know if your meeting room is going to keep 15 or 30 degrees. The Koreans usually where their winter jackets inside even if it is 30 degrees (how does their thermostat work??)! Often you end up sweating or getting a cold shock because without warning the temperature changes by 20 degrees and you are still inside! Is this why their major soft drink is called "Pocari sweat"?

I am starting to understand why it is so popular to grill your own meat on the dinner table. It is the only way to keep warm while eating (before they get drunk enough not to notice that is) in the constant draft of the poor building constructions.

If you visit the old temples in Seoul they are very proudly showing the advance floor heating systems they built hundreds of years ago. Koreans seem to have a very bad memory...

Tomorrow...

...I am leaving Korea and am going to Beijing for the weekend before returning to Sweden on Tuesday. I have never been to Beijing and am very excited to be able to visit the Great Wall (weather permitting, it is cold in these parts of the world now!) and the forbidden city. I have finally finished work for now and can concentrate on going to China tomorrow morning. Looking forward to it! (And the best thing is that when I return to work on Wednesday I have only three days to go to my three week holiday of diving with hammerheads in Costa Rica and cruising around Key West!!)

Samsung rules

Just the day before I went to Korea last time in December I read an article about the Samsung scandal involving bribes and economic crimes. It said that there is a saying in Korea that there are three things a korean can not escape; death, taxes and Samsung. And it is so true. The first thing you see when getting off the plane in Seoul is Samsung flat screens and it continues with heaters, cars, buildings, roads, ships, department stores, insurance, telephones, computers, any type of electronic device.... Even the little plastic thing on the dinner table that holds the drinks menu is made by Samsung! They are everywhere! According to my collegues here about 15 % of the stock market is just Samsung. Also about 15 % of Koreas total export is Samsung! It is impressive how one company can be so dominant in a country of this size. I think that I have been able to spot the Samsung logo from everywhere I have been standing in this country. I will give you some examples when I get the chance.

simple

Can someone explain what this means? The sign was mounted at the window in my hotel room in Korea.

Can not get enough

Some people are under the impression that I have been everywhere. Several times I have gotten the question if there are places that I have not seen. I might have visited more places than the average person but every time I am equally surprised by the question because there is an endless list of places to go to. I have not even visited all the continents!
When I was in Samoa in the Pacific Ocean I met an elderly man who had the goal to visit every country in the world. At that time he had some 20 or 30 to go. I do not know if he has made it by now but he was very determined and was more or less travelling all the time. He had spent his entire life reaching for this goal. I am now probably about half his age and still have a long list of places to visit and the list is steadily growing as I read and hear about places I knew nothing about before. Often I also feel like returning to some places because I liked them so much or I want to give them another chance.
Perhaps I will travel less in the future, perhaps not. So far I have not gotten tired of it. When I know that I will not travel for a while I can get cramps in my stomach just thinking about it. Especially when I think about hiking in the Alps or somewhere similar. I miss that always. That is funny because I have not been to the mountains for several years now. But it is definately time to go!

A new year

Another year has passed and a new one is ahead of us. The first day of this new, exciting year I have spent mostly in my sisters sofa, tired from yesterday's celebration. It has given me time to think about the past year. 2007 was a great travel year for me although it seems like a long time ago now because most of my holidays were in the beginning of the year. Business trips which I have made mostly the second half of the year are somehow parts of a different category.

I started off with an 11 week holiday travelling around India and diving in Palau. Just to take 11 weeks off work is a treat in itself and adding a fantastic trip to that makes it even better. I have several times been asked if I like India and that is actually a tricky question to answer. I would be lying if I said I love the country, but I do like many things about it. It is not always relaxing to be there, not often at all actually. However I think it was worth going there and I would go there again at some point because it is a very fascinating place. The diving in Palau was a wonderful and relaxing end of the trip.

During the summer I travelled to Italy and spent a week driving around north Italy with mainly the purpose of eating and drinking well. That was not particularly difficult, it is hard to fail in Italy on that topic.

On top of these trips I have visited family around Sweden and made some business trips to Asia, including Taiwan, Japan and mainly Korea. As already mentioned I classify business trips somewhat differently than holiday trips. The main purpose is of course work and is therefore connected to other responsabilities and gives little time for sightseeing or other private activities. If that happens it is more of a bonus although I usually try to plan something else than work to get more out of the experience.

This coming year I have only one trip planned so far. In February I am going to Florida, Miami and Key West, and on a 10 day liveaboard (diving) to Cocos Island in the Pacific Ocean outside of Costa Rica. Of course I have many destinations in mind and am certain I will travel more later this year, exactly where is yet to be seen...

Happy New Years and travel safely!

The sun is always shining on 10 000 meters

This Saturday was a grey and boring day in Stockholm as I was heading out to Arlanda to catch the flight up to Luleå to see my sister and brother in law. I wasn't in the greatest of moods, easily irritated and there was chaos in the departure hall at the airport. But as soon as the plane passed the layer of clouds and the sun came out all bad thoughts were but a memory. When I later walked out of the airport in Luleå it was cold and a bit of snow, real winter. Nice!

The flight is only about an hour which often gives me a more catching-the-bus-feeling than actually flying. But still, for me, there is something special about flying. It helps me clear my mind and focus on the important things.

And remember: no people in the enging! (click on the image to see the details)