I’m on the 17th floor of the Sherwood Hotel in Taipei, having eaten breakfast at 7:30 and waiting for our pick up for our first meeting this morning. The last two days started off brutally hot, but yesterday afternoon, the clouds started to gather, and last night, the rains began in earnest. However, more of the rain was showers, and the really big rain is predicted to arrive later in the week. I am hoping it is after we are gone.
A note to all travellers to Taipei that stay at the Sherwood: last night as we were going to go to dinner, I saw the rain starting to form. I, the well prepared traveller, brought my pocket umbrella downstairs.
I showed David the umbrella, and I said “well, what are you going to do?” He smiled and said, “Well, I’ll just get an umbrella from the concierge.” Seeing that he had out maneuvered me, I took my umbrella upstairs.
They handed out the umbrellas and as the concierge opened the door to get a few more umbrellas, I saw a set of golf clubs.
“Are those for the guests, or are those golf clubs for somebody,” I asked.
“They are for guests,” the concierge answered.
It turns out that the Sherwood keeps a set of clubs for those that would like to go golfing on the weekends. Normally, the club rental is about $50, which is a lot of money, and if you can get clubs from the hotel, it is a nice savings. David inquired if they had a left-handed set of clubs, but the didn’t. Disappointed in the club selection, David grabbed the umbrella and headed outside.
My travelling companions joined us, including Roy, who works for my running a big part of the Asia-Pacific region, and we went out to a rather wonderful Thai food dinner. I had never been up to the 101 building, a monster skyscraper in Taipei, but Cindi suggested that we should delay going if is was raining.
Into bed early, and I’m sleeping better here than at home. I do miss my wife and kids, however, but they seemed to be out every time I call them. I’m sure they are having fun.
