Taipei-bound

I just checked Taipei's weather, wow, the highs are still in the mid +20s! Here in Tampere we dipped below -20°C earlier this week (Mon/Tues), but has since "warmed up" to a more seasonable (and reasonable) -6 to -10°C. Really wonder what Jan/Feb will be like this winter. In the meantime i'm looking forward to a break from this cold -- back to Taiwan next week to see my family and friends, and eat tons of yummy Chinese food while not shivering!

Having said that I don't know if I'm ready to go back to scorching hot summers like in Dallas. Yet another drastic climatic adjustment might create havoc on my aging body :P

There's a Finnish cabin crew strike going on, which started on Tuesday, and Finnair's flights are still grounded as of now. I do hope my flights next week won't be affected. If everything goes according to plan, I'll be transiting in Hong Kong, and meeting my dad there! It so happens that he also has a layover in HK airport on his way back to Taipei from a business trip, and we have the same HKG-TPE flight. How cool is that??

Speaking of strikes, there seems to be quite a lot of them in Finland. Food workers strike, transport strike, health workers strike, Finnair pilots strike... hmm, although I've never heard of an Engineers strike (yet). That could be detrimental since half of the Finnish population would then be on strike. Hehe.

But yes, back to Taipei. One of my many homes. As much as I love traveling to and exploring exciting new places, sometimes it's even better to visit the familiar and comfortable, especially where there's family and/or close friends, like my recent trip to Dallas. Oh and for the food in Taiwan. OMG. Delicious, brings wonderful memories, lots of variety, and cheap. Sometimes I think it's a good thing I'm just visiting and not living in Taiwan, coz if I were, I could easily be twice my current size. Although I could be earning a lot less so can't spend that much on food anyway no matter how inexpensive? Who knows. Food for thought. Pun intended.

Speaking of homes, it'll be incomplete if I didn't mention Singapore. Well, on this trip, I'll be meeting a friend from Singapore who's traveling to Taipei to see Crowd Lu's concert. She visited me in Tampere last October, in part also to attend a concert by MUCC. We didn't see each other for 18 years and then suddenly we'll get to meet 3 times in 14 months (I was back in Singapore last December). In 3 different countries. I have to say this again ... How cool is that?? :D