In Hualien another fabulous Hotel is waiting for us

It has 21 floors and 252 rooms.

And just 10 people staying there, including us.

Before the earthquake Hualien was a major tourist destination, but after the quake there was no reason to come here. The town is on life support. Everyone is struggling to survive.

The Hotel boasts of its three wonderful restaurants and its rooftop bar. They are all closed.

When we step out of our taxi, it looks as if the entire hotel is closed. The huge wood and glass entrance doors are shut and there is no sign of a doorman or bellboy, or anyone to welcome us. We soon learn that they can’t afford any of those luxuries.

We push the front door rather hestitantly. It opens.

There is no one inside either. We feel like trespassers. It is a very weird feeling.

What there is, is a dramatic display,

and a huge, stylish but deserted lobby

Dragging our own bags, we make the long walk across the lobby to the reception desk, which is actually a row of three beautiful designed pedastal desks, with bright red cabinets behind them. We head to the nearest desk, where an attractive woman is waiting with a warm smile. Her name tag reads Hsin-yi. I have no idea how that should be pronounced

But before we can get to her, a young man rushes over from the furthest desk. He appears to be in his twenties, slim and smartly dressed, with skin positively glowing from the generous use of skin care products. The top of his head is a piece of art, and not neccessarily a good one. The sides of his head are completely bald while the top has a huge pompadour of hair just a few inches wide, but several feet tall. An over the top mohawk. Way over the top! It is an engineering marvel that he clearly spent last months salary on. He shouldn’t have.

He desperately tries to get to us before we get to Hsin-yi. At first, I am not sure why. But then I am. His eyes are aglow with desire, drool is running out of the corner of his mouth, and he is hyperventilating. And he has not looked at me once. In fact I don’t think he is aware that I am there.

Gordon strikes again.

He tries to fling himself between Gordon and Hsin-yi, but he is too late. He pouts, and stamps his feet. I am sure there is a tear in the corner of one eye. We do the necessary formalities with Hisn-Yi while he hovers, eyes fluttering.

As we walk away to the elevators (another long walk) he rushes after us, or should I say, he rushes after Gordon. He asks Gordon if he has dinner plans.

He does

He asks where he is going.

Gordon tells him. Not a good idea.

He then says to Gordon “Please let me know if there is anything you want. I am here for you”

Presumably he is not here for me.

It’s very irritating!

He doesn’t have a name tag, but for the purposes of this blog I shall call him Not Hung. That’s not a Chinese name but it may be appropriate

***

One of the reasons we chose to come to Taipei at this time of year was because of the Lantern Festival. It is held throughout parts of Asia and China, but Taiwan is recognised as having one of the most colourful, when many thousands of paper lanterns often inscribed with personal wishes, prayers, or messages, are released into the sky. It’s a beautiful sight, and a tradition that the Taiwanese (and the tourists) love. But what goes up, must come down, and Taiwan has realised that these lanterns are causing havoc on the environment.

The Festival goes on for a month and now many towns are trying to switch the emphasis of the Festival from the paper lanterns to displays of huge balloons, often in the shapes of animals or cartoon characters. Other towns, and Hualien is one of them, are putting on cultural shows and theatrical events.

We ask Not Hung where the Festival is being held and he shows us on the map. Well, he shows Gordon on the map. He wants to know what time Gordon is going. He doesn’t care when I am going. We have an ominous feeling he wants to join us, so we lie.

It turned out that we were there on a special night. And that we were special (Well, duh!)

We stumbled on it quite by chance. It was a one off show put on in the middle of a large town square by a local high school. There was a make shift stage with rows of little plastic stools in front of it. We were not sure about watching a show put on by school kids and were really not sure about sitting on little plastic stools. Little plastic stools are not made for my bum, and my back is not made for little plastic stools.

But just as were were about to turn away, we were swarmed by the local organisers. They told us how honoured they were that we had come to watch the show. Of course I am used to being recognised where ever I go. But not in Taiwan. It turned out that it wasn’t all about me. Damn it! It was all about the color of our skin. We were the only two Caucasian people there.

Before we could say anything we found ourselves being lead to two empty seats in the front row. A lovely gesture that made us way too visible.

We sat there and waited for the show to begin. It took a while. We thought about quietly leaving, but there was no way to do that without being seen. And we really didn’t want to offend.

And then the stage lit up

Well that was rather impressive.

Maybe this might be better than we thought

And then the first school kid came on.

I guess they couldn’t afford costumes after they had spent all that money on the stage. But maybe he could have washed his T shirt!

He walked on stage carrying two fiery torches. What were they thinking! Kids and fire!

And then he stood in front of me. I could feel the heat of the torches. Oh dear.

And then his classmates arrived and lit the stage on fire.

Literally

If I had had marshmallows I could have toasted them!

And then the show really got going

Damn! We could never do anything like that when I was at school.

Which was probably just as well.

But these kids put on one hell of a show.

***

The next morning we go down to breakfast.

There is a huge buffet, and a chef waiting to cook anything to order.

And four customers

It’s time to move on to Taipei, where there is life!