Since 2011, I have vowed to just always go somewhere for my birthday. 2011 i was in Hongkong, 2012, i was in Kota Kinabalu; 2013, i was home in Pili; 2014, i was in Kuala Lumpur, and this year, I was in a country I have never been to yet, Taiwan.
Taiwan is probably just like any other chinese country I have been to but it has a distinctive charm. Perhaps it's even underrated compared to other chinese cities. Unlike HK where people are rude and snobbish, Taiwanese are extremely helpful, polite and friendly. In HK, where they just bump you if you're standing on the wrong side of the escalator, the taiwanese will just stand behind your back and wait for you to move. If in macau you ask the bus driver how much is the fare, they will yell back at you, and the taiwanese will politely answer and wish you a nice day.
On my flight back home, I was seated beside an elderly taiwanese guy. i offered him a mint but he politely declined. He asked me if i am flying back home for a vacation. I misunderstood him and said, yes for few days. Later we both got confused and corrected myself that i was on holiday in taiwan for a few days. He asked me where i went and how do i find his country. I said I went to Taipei, Wulai, Hualien, and Beitou. He said he was from the latter, and even invited me to visit him and his Filipina wife if ever I find myself back. I told him his country is very beautiful. He said Philippines and Taiwan are both beautiful, but one thing he said saddened me, "we just know how to keep our country clean".
