Jan Trabandt Travel Blog | notes from my travels

Misc Taipei notes (last ones!)

Some final misc notes on Taipei.
This should be the last Taipei note. See www.jantrabandt.com/wordpress/ if you missed the earlier posts.

Some stores (like 7-11 and Family Mart) had a little machine that would heat-seal (in a few seconds) a plastic film on the top of a drink (e.g. coffee), making it spill-proof, at least until you push a straw into it when you are ready to drink it.
You could use your EasyCard at some retailers, like 7-11

Map of Taipei with my points of interest

To put my Taiwan trip into a little perspective, see this google map of Taipei with places I went:

my Taipei map

FL vs CA: 2 coasts, 2 beaches, 24 hours

One morning this week (late Sep) I’m sitting in the shade (it’s hot!) having a coffee before a nice warm swim.
The next afternoon I’m freezing in the cold wind and barely manage to dip my toes.

Hollywood FL vs San Francisco CA – guess which is which

2coasts — FL vs CA - which is which coast (24 hours apart)?

Bicycling routes in Taipei

There are almost 100km of bicycle trails along 5 river banks in the city, including out to the coast just past Danshui/Tamshui.
Unfortunately I didn’t get to do any bicycling in my limited time; the one day I tried, I found out I couldn’t rent a bicycle at one location and return it at another (as I had been misinformed at the tourist office).

For a detailed bicyling map see www.taipeitravel.net/download.do?fileName=/d_upload_ttn/att/files/10002736.pdf. (5 MB).

There is also a free short-term bicycle hire system called U-bike. Currently it’s only in Xinyi district (i.e. between Taipei City Hall/Sun Ya-sen Memorial Hall and Taipei 101). However, you have to have a smart chip credit card.

See www.taipeitravel.net/en/ for general Taipei visitor info.

Felt up by the TSA at FLL – sort of

So I finally had to officially refuse (“opt out” is the official term) the full-body scanner and get the TSA full pat-down (usually I can pick a line where there is no such scanner, or they are picking random people instead of everyone). My pat-down wasn’t as intimate as reports suggested (though it did take more time than the scanner would have). YMMV (your mileage may vary).
Still, better than the unknown health risk of the scanner, IMHO.

Seattle: Rainfurrest convention (aside)

So last weekend I was taking a motorcycle course near the Sea-Tac airport, where the classroom portion was in a hotel conference room.

It turns out that the hotel was the overflow hotel for the Rainfurrest (“furry camping”) weekend, and I did see a few people with animal tails and/or full animal suits on (alas on photos). It reminded me of a CSI episode where a murder happens at a similar anthropomorphic convention (i.e. people in animal costumes). Trippy.

And yes, I did pass the motorcycle course, thank you. Though a scooter is easier and thus more fun for now.

NYC: subway/train expansion

On a recent flight, I watched a show called “Build it Bigger” – this episode was about NYC which is doing a $15 billion expansion/renovation of the subway and train systems in Manhattan (to be done by 2015). I hadn’t heard of this before.

They are building a new subway under 2^nd Ave.
They are building a new east-west midtown Manhattan subway line.
They are expanding Grand Central Station… underneath it! Both a new concourse and new platforms.
They are building a new train tunnel from Long Island to Grand Central Station (so trains can go there instead of the less convenient Penn Station, since most commuters want to get to midtown)
They are also building/improving system interchanges

Some cool stats (remembered reasonably accurately but don’t quote me on it J

The subway system is almost 100 years old (started in 1913)
The subway system started as 3 competing systems
Grand Central Station (GCS from now on) is the busiest train station in the world
750,000 people pass through GCS every day (on 750 trains)
There are 400 miles of subway and train tunnels in NYC (20 subway lines and a few train lines)
The new train tunnel to GCS will add another 150 trains and 250,000 commuters per day to GCS
What slows people down in the stations/interchanges is not having a clear line of sight (and signage) to know where they are going, so in some places they are adding support beams to the ceiling so that they can get rid of support columns in the middle of the “hallway”

Some of the construction feats are cool:

Literally underneath GCS, they are building a huge new concourse with soaring ceiling, in such a way that you can’t feel or hear anything up in GCS
The new train tunnels to GCS are being bored as 4 smaller tunnels that are then joined by exploding the rock in between them (while also adding support beams)

Seattle: lottery tickets

Why is there a scratch-off lottery kiosk in the airport? State-providing gambling is ok, but online poker is illegal…

On a related note: while channel surfing, I recently saw a show about lottery winners, and before a commercial they’d pose a question that got answered afterwards. In particular, 2 such questions/stats caught my eye (these may be a little inaccurate now, but you get the gist):

Q: How much do Americans spend on lottery tickets every week? A:$300 million (equals $15 billion per year)

Q: How much is paid out in lottery winnings each week? A: $100 million (note this means only 35% of ticket purchases is paid out as winnings)