Crazy Taxi
After the beach run on Saturday, Daniel and his family took me to Taipei on Sunday. It's about an hour away, so to avoid traffic, we took the bus from Jhongli.
Once we arrived, we flagged down a taxi and it's one of those "Crazy Taxi" stories I have to tell. When we got in, the driver was stashing away his bottles into the center console next to his seat. I'm not sure what kind of bottles they were, but they were empty and looked a litle "booze"-ish.
Our destination was the Taiwan History Museum that contained all the artifacts Chiang Kai-Shek brought with him when they escaped the Communists 50-60 years ago. As we were getting close, I noticed an LCD TV pop out from above the car radio and started playing a video. It was all in Chinese, so I didn't understand what was going on, but the pictures looked like it was for some sort of colon cleansing system. I'm not kidding. Had I not been no confused as to why a taxi driver was peddling colon cleansers, I might have been a little disgusted.
After our driver gave us flyers and a business card for his apparent side gig, we made it to the museum. I'm fairly certain this was Mr. Taxi Driver's first trip as he had to clue where to go. The Museum was once the old palace and it definitely looked the part. The architecture was definite Chinese and there were two large, stone lions guarding a long walkway lined with trees to the front steps. We somehow ended up on a side road, then maneuvered around a barricade and before you know it, we're driving right in front of the museum. However, the road was actually one level below us and I'm pretty sure no car had ever driven on the finely masoned rocks that were placed in front.
Mr Taxi Driver sort of slowed down in front and not seeing an entrance (or people for that matter), kept driving to the other side. He stopped when he hit the stairs. At this point, with the car now completely on a flight of stairs, he let us out. Some of the guards noticed him and started yelling that he can't park there. After realizing he was a moron, they kind of backed off and just laughed at him. I think there was some pointing, too.
We all got out safely, and we sat there watching Mr. Taxi Driver slowly drive down the stairs, then over a small drop (well large for a car) to the road below.
Once we arrived, we flagged down a taxi and it's one of those "Crazy Taxi" stories I have to tell. When we got in, the driver was stashing away his bottles into the center console next to his seat. I'm not sure what kind of bottles they were, but they were empty and looked a litle "booze"-ish.
Our destination was the Taiwan History Museum that contained all the artifacts Chiang Kai-Shek brought with him when they escaped the Communists 50-60 years ago. As we were getting close, I noticed an LCD TV pop out from above the car radio and started playing a video. It was all in Chinese, so I didn't understand what was going on, but the pictures looked like it was for some sort of colon cleansing system. I'm not kidding. Had I not been no confused as to why a taxi driver was peddling colon cleansers, I might have been a little disgusted.
After our driver gave us flyers and a business card for his apparent side gig, we made it to the museum. I'm fairly certain this was Mr. Taxi Driver's first trip as he had to clue where to go. The Museum was once the old palace and it definitely looked the part. The architecture was definite Chinese and there were two large, stone lions guarding a long walkway lined with trees to the front steps. We somehow ended up on a side road, then maneuvered around a barricade and before you know it, we're driving right in front of the museum. However, the road was actually one level below us and I'm pretty sure no car had ever driven on the finely masoned rocks that were placed in front.
Mr Taxi Driver sort of slowed down in front and not seeing an entrance (or people for that matter), kept driving to the other side. He stopped when he hit the stairs. At this point, with the car now completely on a flight of stairs, he let us out. Some of the guards noticed him and started yelling that he can't park there. After realizing he was a moron, they kind of backed off and just laughed at him. I think there was some pointing, too.
We all got out safely, and we sat there watching Mr. Taxi Driver slowly drive down the stairs, then over a small drop (well large for a car) to the road below.
