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04/09/2007: "POSTCARD FROM TAIPEI ........ Elvis would be jealous"
I'm drinking Taiwanese beer in hotel room at present. Very good and half-price of Australian variety.
At 6:30 I'll have chicken and rice downstairs with the receptionist - the only hotel staff member who speaks a slight bit of English
She has taught me to say "chicken, vegetables and rice" in Chinese. My first sentence after six months (total) here.
No hurry to talk Chinese – sign language works fine – in most cases, with some mental telepathy.
I can also say cat, dog, duck, pig, chicken, lunatic, beautiful, and thank you.
Very limited Chinese vocabulary to say the least.
I bought my first suit and tie in many years today. The brand says Made in Italy. It's a dark colour.
I’ll need it to attend a function on Friday-Saturday at the Grand Hotel.
The Taiwan President will be there. A conference with English speakers.
It's an all-day thing with a dinner at the end. Saturday is a half-day event.
Next week I attend a rally at the southern end of the island, also associated with the Taiwan entry bid to re-join United Nations.
A neighbor country is forever blocking such attempts, and encouraging others to do so. It's not fair for this young country.
Locals point out that USA took over 70 years to become internationally recognized after their civil war. Here there was no war, just a brutal dictator who Elvis would be jealous of.
The dictator liked Cadillac cars as did Elvis, except these were needed to be made bullet proof.
Today a wax dummy of the former dictator sits at an office desk- on the far wall plays an endless video on TV – old newsreels of his hey day in power.
The locals are doing their best to forget the memory of this tyrant who was propped up with a billion bucks per year from the world’s most powerful country (a lot of money in those times) – the era when communism was the biggest threat - since replaced by terrorism.
The dictator may have conned them into believing that one day he would rule China.
There was also the beautiful Chinese-born wife, educated in the US who spoke fluent English with a southern USA accent. One of three daughters of the then richest man in the world.
Madam was a big hit to say the least with leading USA publishers (Time Magazine) and politicians.
Eventually, after dictator-husband died, she left Taiwan with a chartered jumbo jet full of undeclared and mysterious luggage – never properly accounted for.
May-ling Soong (aka Mei-ling Soong) died in New York aged 106, (yes 106) four years ago.
