If all this turns you guys off, then you would hate the Bay Area! I am very comfortable in Asian culture because some of my best friends are Taiwanese, Chinese and Vietnamese. The Bay Area is a melting pot of Asia including Indians too. We actually do not have as many Japanese in the Bay Area, relatively speaking. If anyone has ever been to Cupertino, where Apple is headquartered, it is almost entirely Chinese including the street signs, yet it is one of the most expensive cities in the Bay Area because the public schools are the best in the nation.
Back to our subject, in the W hotel in Taipei, we have an electric heated toilet in our hotel room that opens when you approach it and automatically flushes too. The technology in our hotel room is very impressive. Our W hotel room has a direct view of Taipei 101, an architectural gem with 101 floors. Very few tourists from western countries visit Taiwan. It is very advanced but mostly a business destination. GDP is the same as Germany. Taiwan is great for sightseeing and the National Palace Museum holds more of the Imperial art and treasures from China than China has. In fact, the museum rarely does traveling tours to other countries because its treasures are so valuable and they will never do a tour in mainland China out of worry that China will seize their treasures and art.
I am looking down at the streets right now and no traffic this morning. Very little traffic coming in on a Saturday night either. The architecture here is new and modern, along with some historic temples. The food downstairs in the food stalls looks and smells delicious and has a European flair. The city is flat surrounded by beautiful green hills and there are many parks all over the city. Taipei sort of reminds me of a mix of New York City, Vancouver, Copenhagen and Sydney. By the way, you do not have to rich to enjoy Taipei. The hotels are very affordable for the quality and luxury level. However, there are no timeshares in Taiwan. We were considering a side trip to Southern Taiwan or a nearby Asian city like Hong Kong or Shanghai but there is so much to see just in Northern Taiwan. Taiwan was once named “Republic of Formosa” which means beautiful island.
Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia are on my bucket list. I know in many Asian countries there is a great disparatity of wealth, like the rest of the world. So I am sure the article is correct about many parts of Asia especially the poor countries in Southeast Asia, the rural areas in mainland China and other rural, third world countries in Asia that are not yet industrialized. However, many countries in Asia like Taiwan and Singapore have high GDP and the highest academic achievement in the world. I have not had a desire to visit South Korea but Seoul sounds like an amazing city that I hear is becoming quite hip.
I recently read the book series Rich Crazy Asians. It is being made into a movie. The book was a soap opera like look into the great wealth in Asia as well as the social hierarchy. Supposedly, the Asians with old money look down on the new wealth of the mainlanders in China. I was asking my friend from Shanghai about this and he said there is definitely a social hierarchy, even just within China, let alone in all of Asia. Singapore seems to be at the top of the social hierarchy. My friend said people from Shanghai are looked up to within China. Taiwan is looked up to within the Bay Area culture and the Taiwanese in the USA have the highest per capita income of any group, much higher than the average American. I admire the work ethic and the value of education among many Asians. That is why I think Asia is taking over the world. Asians are smart, hard working, technologically oriented and business savvy.
Our flight from SFO was 13 hours non stop. We were upgraded to economy plus and have Polaris class on the way home. It did not feel like a long flight to me because I had wifi the entire flight and United has good entertainment on international flights. It was an easier flight for us than going to Europe since there are so few non stop flights from SFO to Europe.
The service in Taipei is outstanding. People are very organized and polite here. So far, I love it and we just arrived last night. The W is one of the hip hotels in Taipei so it is probably not representative. However, Taipei has some very high end hotels that are true 5+ stars. I would rate the W Taipei a 4.75 star hotel. I am a tough evaluator! LOL
