Arrived in Taipei

Flight was long, and not as horrible as I'd feared, as I managed to get a seat switch at the gate to a window seat. Still 15.5 hours on a plane is a long time.

Ride to the hotel was interesting... driver seemed to like tailgating extremely close and make tight, fast, lane changes. We didn't die, though.

Today is catching up on the internet, and trying to stay awake until the evening -- I think I'm going to try and get outside this afternoon and get some sunlight to try and help with that.

Took a walk...

Some impressions...

Lots of scooters. Reminds me of Rome, actually, when I was there on my bicycle trip in the 90s.

The air isn't good. From my hotel there is a visible haze. Walking around, the air tastes bad, smells bad, polluted, definitely. Makes me understand more the filter masks people wear -- though I wonder if those are for air quality or infection. Actually, I don't think I'll go for another walk for walking's sake -- my lungs are feeling a bit tight after that.

For some reasons, comparisons to my visit to South Korea come automatically. I guess since it is the other Asian country I've visited in the last year. This feels far more like a "real" city, than where I was -- it was a created suburb. Far more scooters -- South Korea, to my surprise, had almost none. More dense low-rise (4-6 stories) than high-rise.

Now, can I sleep?

I've made it to 6pm local time without napping... so, now, the challenge is can I fall asleep, and stay asleep, during normal wake-up and get-up time? Hm... actually, wake-up time usually makes me sleepy... :)