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While in Taiwan, the Taiwan Tourism Office suggested to me that I explore more of Taiwan with the Taiwan High Speed Rail Network, which would allow for a richer experience covering more ground through the rail than by car

Related posts:Joel in Taiwan: Day Three – Touring Taipei (台北)

As predicted, the typhoon did indeed hit Taiwan (台灣) after my arrival in Hong Kong(香港). Needing to kill some time while waiting for my flight back to the United States, I ventured out into the city. The subway took me to Mong Kok (旺角)Station, where the Goldfish Market (金魚街) is located.

After my usual early wakeup, I checked out of the Grand Hotel (圓山大飯店) (www.grand-hotel.org), the only traditional Chinese Palace Hotel in the world. I reflected back on my stay at this gorgeous hotel, and I thought about how I really liked the feeling of being “back” in Ancient China through this hotel.

After my usual early wakeup, Chou (楊疇英) dropped me off at Hualien’s (花蓮) small airport for my flight back to Taipei (台北). It was a great experience with him, these past three days! He was certainly a great guide, and I’m glad that I’ll get a chance to see him again next year for the 2009 Summer Deaflympics.

As I got up in the early morning, at 6:30 AM, I started thinking about Chao Chien-Nan (趙建南), the noodle shop owner whom I’d met earlier in the week. I wondered about how he was able to get up every morning at 4 AM, and open up his noodle store, at a time that most of us don’t ever get up.

After getting a good night’s sleep on an authentic Japanese bed (it had a thin mattress) placed on a bamboo floor, Chou-Ying Yang (楊疇英) came by to pick me up for the 3 hour drive to Guanshan (關山). While on the road, we saw a “fruit stand” that only sold guava, and pulled over.

The Taiwanese dawn greeted me as I got up at the very early hour of 5 AM, eager for my trip to Hualien (花蓮), Taiwan (台灣). Even though I had been getting up early the last few days here in Taipei (台北), what made this early wakeup call different was that I had to be at Taipei’s Songshan Airport (台北松山機場) by 6 AM for my flight to Hualien.

I got up at 5 AM, after only 4 hours of sleep. Even though plenty of sleep is good for the body, there’s only so much to do in Taiwan (台灣) that I couldn’t afford to waste time sleeping.