Have just got back to Huwei after three days in the capital, Taipei. Because of it being Chinese New Year, Taipei was (I'm told) relatively quiet. Still busy though, and very, very big. My best description: like a cross between New York and London, though cleaner, much safer and a little better organised (bar Taiwanese driving that is...)

It's a very international city in which me and Phil managed to spend plenty of Taiwanese dollars on yet more CDs, essential clothes and extortionately-priced beer. Met all kinds of weird and wonderful people, from bizarre locals and helpful TEFL teachers, to French Canadians recording their first album. The number of wannabe rock idols we met in one weekend was indeed quite scary.

So, thankfully, we ate some great Western tucker, whizzed around nearly all the city on the MRT (subway) and were glad to be out of Hu-wei for a while.

We weren't totally without culture either. Well, kind of...

We'd initially planned on spending a day or so at the National Palace Museum, which houses the biggest collection of Ancient Chinese, erm, stuff, in the world (including within China itself).

Once we'd escaped our terribly-directed taxi and found the place (a huge palacial pad cut into the bottom of the mountains on the edge of town), we entered the foyer, paid our 100NT dollars each (just under two British pounds), grabbed a brochure and read up on the treasures housed within.

You can guess the excitement to come I'm sure... eight floors of old pots and pictures of places we'd probably never see. Phil, who knows me pretty well by now, saw my eyes glaze over, partly in bored anticipation, and partly through bewilderment at what I sometimes convince myself I'll enjoy, knowing full well I have zero appreciation of, or interest in, history. (If you're thinking "Philistine!" at this point, you'd be right...)

So, half an hour later, after getting lost numerous times trying to find the coffee shop on the roof, we sat down to mews over our findings (namely that the coffee shop existed in a parallel universe to the tea shop, which was MUCH too swuave for our kind, albeit easier to track down).

With some luck, there should be some riveting piccies to accompany this entry soon - think images of me eating an orange and yawning on the steps of the Museum.

All in all though, we loved Taipei. Sadly, the jazz club was closed for New Year (quite a few places were), but I'll be back there soon enough.

Hope you're feeling a little chirpier now Jess. Did the red-shoe'd wonder manage to cheer you up?

.........[No man! The red shoes were mine!! A boyfriend
.........of mine in red shoes? Are you kidding? =) ]