Once upon a time in Formosa

January of 2008, I was in an 'emergency' dispatch visit to a certain customer in taiwan. it was tuesday when we decided that I leave cebu and my visa is due to arrive saturday. i had no money, i haven't got a chance to prepare myself. but i am 80% confident to present my report for the customer. 4 days in taiwan, could have sounded better as a jauntly vacation, but as a cutomer visit, i'd rather do it on the first day when i arrive and spend the last 3 in spots worth blogging about.


no money, so we always have our mom to lend us some cash. saturday came my ticket and visa was secured. sunday, i felt like going somewhere and not returning for another year. i felt so down. but nevertheless, comfort was there when you need it.

armed with a a backpack of clothes and another backpack for my computer (oops, the toilet paper comes in a necessity as well) i'm ready for taiwan.

it was 5 in the morning when i set-off for domestic flight to manila, and i was shaky. not enough sleep, no breakfast, and a cold bath.

i got the PAL cebu-manila flight and all they had was chichiria. if i was the flight attendant with sky high salaries, i'd rather get my passengers a decent meal with my own salary! i could remember my manila -bacolod trips back in 2000, i had a delifrance pastry and a decent juice drink. but now all i got is a plastic bag of 4 kinds of chichiria?

good thing, the manila-taiwan trip offered a decent meal. i had chicken adobo, some fruits and deserts. wow! i didn't even mind the plastic utensils.

you see nobody's excused from the call of nature.

all-smiles in taiwan. arrival.

Porsche: allergic to taiwan asphalt

my humble 4-day-taiwan-abode

after checking in at king yatt, off i went in search for food

the first time i had a 16 degree ambient temperature

park across elementary school in hsinchu.

kids were watching me though, i didn't care.

hsinchu daycare: no wonder most semiconductor companies flocked in taiwan

they train their kids early

are you serious? you can ride on a man?
or that was what i thought so. motorcycle lane.

in taiwan, this was one of the very few symbol i recognize as food

hello, i am 263-NG, your taxi driver, where can i take you?

some industrial park on the way to work

Teradyne Taiwan office.

let's face it, i have to see my neighborhood as well.

a local lingerie botique.

ahhh, KFC, another symbol for food, next to the golden arches

KFC, murag brutus?

from KFC, i have to try their pizza hut for dinner

4 days with no rice!!!

one of the many hsinchu downtown crossings

yes sir it is, the commonplace taxi with retractable on board entertainment

on the top of my head, this could be the city hall.

i was lost while i took this, just in case.

this is not what you think this is. another of the plentiful 24-hour convenient shops in taiwan. you haven't seen another girl selling herbals on a bikini (at 16 degrees celcius) haven't you? only in taiwan!!!

3rd floor terdayne office, view from the entrance of the park

i after office hours, i head back to the hotel... and work again!

taiwanese variety shows, anyone?

I thought i didn't have enough, ended up, you can visit taiwan for 4 days with just 10,000 taiwan dollars pocket money. roughly 15,000 pesos.

you should call that number for the best fried chicken ever

25 pesos drumstick the size of your fist!

on our way to my sole purpose, the customer visit was scheduled at 1 in the afternoon at siliconware in hscinchu science park. ahead are two teradyne engineers. i only knew norman - in brown sweater.

were done!!! presentation went good, i had a tour of their test floor, and met fellow filipinos.

on our way back, norman showed me around the science park.

not a semicon company though, but a parking lot.

this must be TSMC...!@#!#$

lite-on, where your cd/dvd roms/writers are made

UTAC, grin.

MediaTek

at the science park administration office.

the famous taiwan infomercial... not really!

i have noticed too, taiwan is another two-wheel patron.

these scooters rock like superbikes,they call em gorillas.

we were speeding on a highway with these scooters and I was riding

a Nissan Katana!

this is not your teradyne stocking center ladies and gentlement, this is my gateway home.

to sum it all up, i had my first little adventure travel outside the Philippines and alone. i haven't had the chance to travel and see beautiful places like monasteries, temples, rivers, or malls, but where i've been, and where i got to be with for the last 4 days, was those companies that has shaped the world of electronics. the moment we reach to our phones, our television remote, when we login to our PCs, always remember the silent Taiwan that has brought the technology cheaper for the masses. it is all there.