Random musings from recent travels:
- Trying to drag your family through the Manila airport would be an absolute nightmare. It's not exactly a picnic for the solo adult. By contrast, Taipei was an absolute dream when I passed through on a Saturday afternoon. No lines anywhere and almost eerily quiet. Great play areas for kids too.
- Viewed from the air, Taiwan looks like a combination of the infrastructural efficiency of Japan and the cultural color of China.
- Most of the Asian airlines that I've flown will not fill their business class section with upgrades as American carriers do. Depending on whether you're already in or hoping for an upgrade, that can viewed as a good or bad thing. It is kind of relaxing to be one of three people in a twenty-seat section. Almost impossible not to get good service.
- One novel business class feature that I found welcome on Eva Airlines was the larger bathroom. Where there usually might have been two normal cramped bathrooms, there was one expansive comfortable commode.
- If you're not a celebrity of some renown, the baseball cap and sports jacket is simply not a good look.
- Humor, especially American style sarcasm, doesn't usually translate well.
- It's an old cliché, but travel really does bring out the best and worst in people. You can judge a lot about a person's character about how they react to the inevitable disruptions that occur on every trip.
