Thursday October 12, 2000

We went to the underground mall for breakfast then into the amusement park.  There was a large group of middle school students in the park which made it alot less pleasant.   We only got to go on 2 or 3 rides before it was already time for us to head back to the hotel to check out.  The ticket price was expensive: NT$550.

Now this is something really bizarre that I just have to mention: The hotel we stayed at had three stories.  I don't know what the local laws are regarding fire safety for 2+ story buildings; this one did not have a fire escape.  Instead, it had a device in the room (shown below) that resembled something you would probably see at the back of an ambulance, fire truck or a rock-climber's car.  The device came with a picturized instruction manual written only in Chinese.  The idea is that in case of a fire, the occupant of the hotel room is to use the device by attaching it to the window and airlift down to safety.  This is wrong on so many levels. First, Ken-din is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Taiwan; there are visitors from all over the world who can not possibly read the Chinese instructions with ease, let alone in the middle of a burning crisis (hope you're good with Pictionary). Second, do I really need to explain how wrong it is to expect someone to play spiderman while the bed is on fire?

"Fire Escape Device"
Taken at: 7:39 AM, Thursday 12 October 2000



Instructions for using the "Fire Escape Device"
Taken at: 8:14 AM, Thursday 12 October 2000

After we checked out of the hotel, we took the bus to a nearby town and took a cab to a beach resort called "YoHo".  My aunt had given us a coupon for a free night.  The place was not far, but since no public transportation was available between the two points, we had no choice but to take a taxi (and of course got stiffed).   It was a pleasant change at YoHo.  The place was nicely decorated with friendly staff and very comfortable rooms.  The rates were very expensive and in our opinion not worth it; we would never consider staying there if not for the free night.  We spent the rest of the day walking around their private beach and the resort.  The resort's private beach was definitely not swimmer-friendly;  it was very rocky with not much sand at all.  The resort makes up for it by providing at least 4 very large fresh-wather swimming pools throughout the primises.  We had more fun watching the little fish and crabs and other unknown sea animals swimming through the holes in the rocks.

Since we're far from any populated areas, the only food source we had was within the resort.  Of course everything costs twice as much and didn't look much better.  We took the most economical route and ordered a pizza.  It wasn't great but enough to quiet our stomachs.  The rest of the night was relaxing and uneventful.  Russ told me that when I wasn't with him, women who passed him by would smile at him.  I think it was a bluff.