Thursday, June 11, 2009

Manila, T minus 7 hours

Flying out to Taipei, Taiwan, in a few hours. We got our tickets dirt cheap-- $50 MNL-TLP-MNL via PR. The main purpose for going there is for my Dear to watch this concert with her friends on Saturday. I'm not watching that concert, so I have to find things to do in Taipei. Anyone know of a good walking tour? Of the culinary kind?

Taiwan, which calls itself the Republic of China, is a pretty interesting case-- a de facto state with all (or most of) the requisite state-making activities, but very few countries recognise it as a state, lest they incur the People's Republic of China. This gives rise to a few conventions on how to refer to Taiwan in official documentation: Taiwan, China; Taiwan, Province of China; Taiwan,China (yes, without the space). All in an effort not to piss off the country with the largest standing army in the world.

Anyway, will try to get some sleep. Gotta get the body's defences up. The risks of travel in the time of AH1N1.

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