Taipei, Taiwan: We took a serious trip in the way-back machine today. A flood of emotions and memories. After coffee, we asked the hotel to provide us with a car and driver for a few hours and they sent the same driver who fetched us from the airport yesterday - and the same wifi-equipped BMW! We were equipped with three things: First, our memories and 2:

We asked that he take a certain route - the same route we used to get from the American Club and Dave's downtown office to our home. We wanted to see the changes.



Continuing up the mountainside, we found the entrance to our old housing development, Wellington Heights. Wellington Heights was built by the US Air Force as officer housing during the Vietnam War. The homes were all western-style and had living quarters for live-in staff. After the war, the homes were purchased by locals and most were rented or leased to foreigners living temporarily in Taiwan. Dave's company leased our house for several years for whomever was the General Manager at the time.
When we lived at #12 6th Road in Wellington Heights, the home was in beautiful shape. Painted white, with an iron gate opening onto a covered car port. The home had four bedrooms upstairs, with two baths (one ensuite in the master bedroom). A living room, dining room, kitchen, laundry, half-bath and maids quarters were on the lower level. The floors were hardwood; the kitchen and baths were tiled. There was a huge back lawn and a massive patio. Views to the city were gorgeous - especially at night. We entertained often - for business and pleasure - and were proud of our little piece of home in Taiwan.
Even though one of Lisa's childhood playmates had recently returned to Wellington Heights on the same memory-lane trip and had warned us about the condition of the housing development, we were not quite prepared for what we found today. Our home had been abandoned years ago. Broken doors and windows. Vines are completely enveloping the house.

I was fine with this. There were enough snakes around when the house was maintained,
I can't imagine how many live there now.





On the way back to town, we noticed two old relics still in business. Jake's - a small cafe serving western-style breakfasts. Pancakes, waffles, omelets, etc.


Lisa was especially fond of Jake's.
Across the street from Jake's, I was happy to see my little side-business was still thriving:

Side note to Lisa: your cute little duck umbrella was not in lost and found.
The American Club is so so so nice now. Three restaurants (including a sushi bar, a coffee shop and a more formal dining room), plus a bar and a pool-side snack bar. Other facilities include a swimming pool, hot tub, two fitness centers, tennis, racquetball/squash, childcare areas, spa/beauty salon and a take-away shop/grocer. The American Club is like a fancy country club without a golf course.


Lisa learned to swim here and would jump off the diving board to fetch coins.

The last stop on our tour through our past was for lunch at The Grand Hotel. Built in 1952 by Chiang Kai-shek and Madame Chiang as a hotel impressive enough to house foreign dignitaries, the Grand Hotel was the tallest building in Taiwan until 1981. While we lived in Taipei, it was rumored Madame Chiang lived in the top floor, though she had several residences in the the United States. Madame Chiang lived to be 105 years old.



The first night we arrived to Taiwan in the mid-1980's was spent at this hotel, and we remained here until our household shipment arrived and we moved into our Wellington Heights home a month later. Those days the rooms were dark and damp. The whole place was a bit dreary and few guests occupied the rooms. Four year old Lisa would run up and down the deserted hallways and corridors while the housekeepers and wait staff gave her sweets and tousled her curly hair. Later, Lisa and I would return again and again to have Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup (my recipe is here) from the tea house in the basement.
The Tea House is no longer there, but has been moved upstairs and into part of another dining room. Chicken Noodle Soup is no longer the menu (I cried, just a little), but was so happy to see the tea tables from the old restaurant were still in the hotel. I so loved the tea tables, I had a set made and still own it to this day:




(Try my recipe here.)

After lunch, the driver returned us to the hotel where we had a 30 minute rest before heading out again on our next adventure - taking the elevator to the top of Taipei 101. This was an easy task as the hotel has a covered sky bridge from the lobby to Taipei 101.



From the 5th floor, we took the world's fastest elevator to the 88th floor observatory. Don't look down!


Our old house is in the hills to the far back of this photo.

From a sign near the wind damper: Building dampers originated from Japan, a country frequents by earthquakes. The earliest version was nothing more than a stone foundation to put the building on. The damper worked by isolating the building from the earth, which creates relative shift that produces a counterforce, effectively reducing earthquake energy. In addition ot regular high-rises, damper appears in towers, bridges and high-tech facilities among other large buildings. Since material and feature variations result in different designs, dampers also differ from building to building in terms of materials and looks. It may be a big tank, a large concrete block or made of visco-elastic materials such as a rubber cushion. Their wording, not mine.
After spending an hour or so at the top of the observatory, we went down to the basement of the tower. Why the basement? Well, everyone knows the best part of an Asian department store or shopping center is the basement. The basement is where the food emporiums, restaurants, food carts and gourmet grocers are located.

There must have been 25 restaurants, ice cream shops, coffee shops, sushi bars, etc., in the basement of Taipei 101. We found a huge supermarket stocked with foods from around the block and around the world... none of which were available when we lived in Taipei.



After a long rest and a cocktail in the hotel bar, we took a taxi to Lin Dong Fang Beef Noodle (No. 274, Section 2, Bade Road, Taipei). If you would walk by this place, most surely you would never enter the door. Dingy. Florescent lighting. Metal chairs and little stools.





You may imagine our day was a roller coaster of emotions, memories and observations. It was amazing to see how much Taipei has changed (Taipei 101) and amazing to see how it remains the same (hole-in-the-wall noodle soup stalls). We loved every moment and are so happy we decided to return to see it all once again.
It was only fitting that just before going to bed, we felt a little 5.3 earthquake. Welcome home, indeed.
Until my next update, I remain, your "shaken, not stirred" correspondent.