Paris - Verdict

What I forgot to mention on my last blog that I did go see that woman who mentioned the great customer service at Disneyland from the welcome host and then I got the complete opposite when I got there and the explanation I received off her was "Well the reason why you didn't get good customer service is because your students" (whether that means our money is less appreciated then others is an entirely different matter).

Lets talk about my take on Paris. I enjoyed Disneyland a lot more then what I would have expected because I always thought of it as something suitable for the Little Jimmy's running around the place (for those who realized, yes its an R-Truth reference), but I enjoyed it also. The biggest cue we were at was to see Winnie the Pooh, which took 30 minutes to finally take a picture with him.

When I went into main part of Paris, it was a bit slum like at certain parts with little street urchins running around. I'm not usually a person for museums, but now after going to certain museums and these "unique" events happen, it makes going to them so much better.

If I had the option to go back there, it would be not unless I won the lottery, the price on a lot of things kinda ruined the experience for me (I'm not a cheapskate, but I never would expect to pay 20.10 euro for BBQ spare ribs). Also a piece of advice for those who are going (I know someone who is planning to go during the summer) make sure you see the price in writing before you accept anything off them, they have a habit of "guessing" their prices.

 One last thing, its me whose got the Mona Lisa haha :D

Paris Part 2 - Theft of a prized possesion

1st morning there, we had to go into the restaurant part at 8am for breakfast, and me and Quinney woke up at 8:45. When we woke up, I found out that Quinney had turned the alarm off as soon as possible in the morning then went back to sleep because he couldn't be arsed. Then Quinney was panicking because he thought that we were left behind whilst everyone else were elsewhere, so I ended up ringing 1 of the others and breakfast was still on (shame because I was up for having the day for myself to do what I liked).

In the Hollywood tower

When we finally went to main Disneyland, everyone just split into their own directions and I didn't know what was going on, so I found 2 of the other students and the 2 tutors. The 1st ride really set the course for the day really, because it was something called Space Mountain, I knew nothing of what was gonna happen but I got a sudden shock when it went upside down, but the face on 1 of the other students were priceless, he just turned white as a ghost :O. Probably the worst experience was something called Hollywood Hotel, all the tutor told us who had only told us that its really high, so 1 of the students said "No way am I going on that". When I went on it, the tutor insisted that he didn't go on the end seat and I did instead, what it is it simulates that your in a lift, then it opens up and you see above Disneyland, then it suddenly plummets you down and on the end seat, theres nothing to grab onto apart from whatever of the handle my tutor didn't have hold off. When we stepped out, the other student who did go on the ride walked out with a face of fear, put his face in his hands and sat down in a corner.

After the day had finished, the tutor began ringing around to find where everyone is, but everyone was mentioned in a group apart from Quinney, when the last group of girls who he asked if Quinney was with them and they said no, he burst into laughter at the thought of Quinney going missing overseas. What had happened in the end we found out was 1 of the groups of girls were with him that day and when the tutor asked who she was with, she mentioned who she was with at the time and at that time, he was in his room on his own (panic over if there was 1).

Me below the Eiffel Tower with a hot dog

Following day, we went into the main city of Paris to see some of the main attractions of that day including a bridge (it just looks good and I'll never remember the name of it). The Eiffel tower was a pretty decent view, maybe I didn't appreciate it so much because it was in the middle of winter and it was stupidly cold at the top. 2 of them decided to walk up the tower instead and walk back down it. At the bottom, there were lots of guys trying to sell cheap looking Eiffel towers and selling them for dear, the lines which were coming out were things such as "Hey sexy boy, buy an Eiffel Tower" And "Here Lady Gaga, buy an Eiffel Tower" we were outnumbered by them and at 1 point we were surrounded by about 40 of them trying to sell us Eiffel Towers and they soon left when 1 of them noticed the police and began shouting.

We then had a stroll down the main street, where there were some of the girls wanting nothing but McDonald's from the point of when we left Scarborough. The rest of us went to this little French cafe where they sold traditional French food. We all chipped in towards snails to see what they're like (to be honest, they taste like muscles if anyone has had them before). Then they offered us a special menu item which was a hot chocolate orange liqueur, cost 9 euro each, a bit expensive but 3 of us decided to buy them. When we received the bill, they tried charging us 12 euro each for the hot chocolates (the waiter soon changed his mind).

The last stop was at the Louvre, where some of the most famous art in the world was in this gallery it was huge. We were wondering around and we were getting lost now and again, doing laps of the entire building trying to find what the tutor was looking for. An alarm went off assuming because someone had touched the painting, then I just came out with "SOMEONE'S STOLEN THE MONA LISA" and because everyone was quiet, it had made things so much louder and worse because there were lots of people either looking at me or panicking on the spot trying to find this thief. My tutor then said to me in embarrassment "Remember we are in public so try to act at least half normal".

On the way back, we find that there are no off licenses open at all (they all seemed to shut really early) so we couldn't really have a last night party to celebrate unless we went to the bar, I even tried asking the staff for a nearby off license to buy any alcohol but they wouldn't have any of it. So luckily we managed to get along with some of the others who shared our hotel that came from Cheshire. I managed to convince  of the girls who were always drunk every night we were there to go get me some alcohol. After the last night, we spent the time winding up Quinney because it was his birthday the day after we get back to Scarborough and we were telling him that they are closing the Eurotunnel because of a snow storm, so he may have to spend his birthday not having a meal at Ask, but instead travelling back here (bless he goes through some hell at times from his other male classmates does that kid lol).

Paris Part 1 - Magical Upset

It was a few months into returning to college after working full time for 3 years and it was the 1st real trip that was from college. The 2nd years had to plan a trip, so they decided to go to Disneyland Paris, they also chose to go in the winter because it had a better atmosphere there with all the snow. A few from my class wanted to go, but because there was a problem with handling the funding that the college received, it ended up being me as the only person from my class going (oh well, everyone is still new, so its more opportunity to get to know everyone). A tutor was talking about customer service in class a couple of weeks previous and Disneyland Paris popped up and her exact words were "Because Disneyland are charging huge amounts of money, they're customer service has to be top notch. As soon as you get off the bus, a welcome host is stood there with a big smile saying hello and welcome to Disneyland, they take your suitcases into the rooms, it makes me laugh because its so brilliant", this is something I would be keeping an eye out for.

A sleeping photo of Quinney on the coach

When we set off there, we had to set off at 4am, I wasn't impressed because I really am not a morning person. I know when I publish this onto FB, there are gonna be certain students in my college who are gonna mention this and yes, on the way to Paris, I cracked open a can of cider at 6am, it was a long trip and I didn't have any form of entertainment. We had to pick up another 2 colleges on the way, 1 of which felt like we were picking up a posh college. We had to keep ourselves preoccupied with Mario Karts on the DS's.

What we were staying in

After 16 hours of travelling across the UK, going on the Folkestone Eurotunnel and then travelling half way across France, we finally arrive in Disneyland. We get off the coach and the 1st thing that happens was our suitcases were slung off the coach. The welcome host came along with a face like thunder, introduced herself and said "We don't want a reason to have to talk to you, so don't give us 1" (charming, that tutor didn't join us on this trip, but I will be soon telling her when I go to her next customer service class). When I got to my room, it was alright, but the TV had limited channels all of which were children themed (this seems to be a bit of a theme whenever I got to a hotel). There wasn't even a fridge, so I filled up a sink full of cold water and i put my cans in there, tutor had a word about the alcohol and I offered him a can, he told me "I'm not drinking cider, its fucking sickly". Later that night we went to an African themed restaurant, where these BBQ spare ribs cost 20.10 euro, I was waiting around for the free nosh with that price, they don't mind charging us full wrap, but they do mind providing us half decent customer service (I know I sound like a right moaning so and so, but the price I was paying).

Taiwan - Verdict

Well I suppose you all want to know what I had thought about Taiwan when I stayed there right? Well I can honestly say that the people are some of the most welcoming and pleasant people towards tourists. The hosts I had were really great people, especially Christine for her patience really, they weren't expecting a penny of me but out of courtesy, I did buy things now and again for them being good and being interpreters for me (although a lot of them could speak English to a degree, there were times when I did need to find a way for them to understand).

If I had a gun put to my had and was told I had to say something bad, it would be that its not an ideal place for those who are going on a party holiday, although Taipei does have some night life party aspects but they are limited. But instead its better for those who want a more cultural experience on their holidays who like to look at tourist attractions and history of destinations. 1 thing I am ashamed about is not being able to answer 2 out of the 3 questions which were:

1. What will you do when stood in front of a Chinese embassy - never got into enough trouble to be able to find that out.
2. How do you say "fucking prawn" in Chinese - a call out to any Mandarin speaking people who are reading this, could you possibly comment underneath or PM me the Chinese translation to "fucking prawn" as its something that I could pass on thanks :).

Would I ever go back if I could, I would say yes. But what I would do next time are a few things:

1. Learn a bit more Mandarin then xie xie (thank u), ni hao (hello) and zaijian (goodbye).
2. Bring myself a survival kit which consists of a knife, fork and spoon as I still cannot use chopsticks
3. Have a local map as soon as I leave the hotel.

Unfortunately, if I ever do return, it wont be in 2011 as I will be going to Kuala Lumpur this time.

Taiwan part 4 - Recovery

This is the day where Christine planned to take me to go see something, she only told me it was a geography trip. That morning I had a very bad head ache from the night before and suffered from having about 4 hours sleep before meeting her again.

Me, Christine and her boyfriend ate at this little Chinese cafe where to no hope I was being taught the method of using chopsticks, I gave up the real method and tried to use the chopsticks as an improvised shovel (I was in a difficult situation, so anything is good :D). That's where I met Sam, who is a friend of theirs who also spoke English. Once I had finished the meal, I would normally call this a polite way of saying I finished my meal where I put my cutlery on a plate, but I put my chopsticks into a bowl which is a bad thing over there, I'm not sure entirely why but its something to do with a Buddhist belief that putting chopsticks into a rice bowl is some kind of offering to the dead over there (whoops, there seems to be an accidental foot in mouth thing about me and death :\).

We end up going to a small seaside town that day called Wanli, where there is an attraction called the Queens Head, which is a rock which looks like the queens head when looking at it from a certain angle. The bus journey there was rather rough, driver must have been going at breakneck speed, then at each stop, just slamming the brakes on (with safety in mind for all passengers), 1 lass ended up falling through the doors nearly :O. I didn't fancy queuing for ages just to see the queens head when I got there, so I had a look around the area. Although I was completely tired from the night before, I wanted to go up this big hill, but we didn't go all the way up as someone in the group wasn't able to walk up it.

I hate Guinness

When we came back to Taipei, we wandered around 1 of the night markets. There was a little funfair which I thought to go see what there is there. There was a gun game where I had to pop all these balloons, I did pretty well to say that I used a clip of 12 within 15 seconds and I got 34 out of 36, Christine asked me "Are u killer?" I told her "I have enough practice everyday playing Nazi Zombie with my mate haha". I played a darts game where I had succeeded in getting a dart into my wallet from about 13 meters away (I wouldn't be able to do it again if I tried lol). After that we went for a few drinks in this little bar where they have all these different types of beer, like a strawberry beer which I've never seen before (normally I'm a cider person, but thats non existent there), I convinced the others to try Guinness as they like bitters and thats the stuff British normally drink, I hated it but I had to try it just to prove it isn't too bad lol.

The day after, the new friend I met Sam, I had a guided tour as to what she would normally do on a day off and during the evening, I showed her how the British have a good night out, she was impressed enough to want another before I head back to UK. The last couple of days were going to a Chinese Valentines Day festival which most of the night, didn't have a clue what was going on apart from Christine telling me off because I kept using Taiwanese dollar notes and not using coins (wish I listened to her now). I gave Sam her last night out where I introduced her to what is nicknamed The Green Fairy (Absinthe) The trip back was a bit poor, I had a red bull frenzy during the day so I didn't end up falling to sleep until I had boarded a plane (that day, I was awake for 26 hours). The 1st thing I got the surprise off was a guy complaining because         he was being charged more then what he had thought he would have done, his exact words were "I know I'm not paying for the flight, my company is but thats not the point. I expect free bottles of bubbly every 30 minutes for this". I really could not bare this being awake for that long and with it being so early as well, I then decided to take it upon myself to make a message using a white board with magnetic tiles for him because I was really stressed out, tired and sobering.

When I got back to England, I went to change my TWD's back into pounds and couldn't change as much back because they wont accept coins so I got about £18 in return when I could've had about £50 returned (yes, I should have listened to Christine about using coins instead of notes). I asked the airport staff if there is a room I could use for the night and they were going to charge me £250 for a night in a nearby hotel, luckily I met someone a few months previous from London who told me to go to somewhere in Hayes which charged me £40, but the taxi driver charged me a bomb £26 to get to the hotel, still much better then using a nearby hotel.

Taiwan Part 3 - Exploring Taipei

It was the day that I begun exploring Taipei and eventually meet Christine later. I had to find things to do during the day until 3 in the afternoon where I met them at Cheng Kai Shek. the TV in my room had little entertainment, there was BBC Asia which was on a 15 minute loop, there was a Hong Kong drama channel which was all Chinese speaking, sure it had subtitles which were all in Chinese characters :\ and there were 60 second previews of Japanese porn?????

When I got to CKS, I was waiting around outside and no sign of Christine or this other guy so I rang Christine, she was waiting in the underground for me still and I was upstairs. She came up (not the person I was planning to meet) along with her boyfriend and we made our way to the museum. When I went into there, it was the 1st time I could avoid the crazily humid air and there actually was some ventilation, without realizing how loud I said this, I came out with "THAT'S BETTER". Christine told me off and told me I was too noisy, from there I should have seen this as a sign for things to come when thinking about museums. It was an alright museum, although never been much of a museum person myself, I prefer bizarre things to go see rather then historical things. We also went to this water fountain thing where the water shoots up to this background music and yes peeps, I got soaked.

When we finished there, her boyfriend had to go to college (or school as they call it there) and left me and Christine going around the night market. Cannot remember the name of where we went but there were anything and everything there. I found a mate of mine Jon Jon a lighter which I thought he would like and hes still never used (ok thats part me but I'll get to that). At each turn at this night market she asked me "do u want to try stinky tofu" "no" "do u want to try stinky tofu" "I'm full Christine thank u" "do u want to try stinky tofu" "'sigh' yes ok then", kinda reminded me of someone back home who wouldn't take no for an answer lol, the tofu was actually pretty nice and it gave me chance to demonstrate how useless I am with chopsticks haha. There was also this fun fair thing when I was nearly robbed at this darts game where you got to hit balloons with darts, my dart somehow got stuck in between the Styrofoam and the balloon, of course after a small debate, the throw counted. I tried this jar of beer which was a bitter and for 100 TWD (44 TWD = 1 GBP) the jar was pretty much the same size of my head, should send this message to the UK and for the same prices too lol.

The day after, I was left on my own to explore the city (was it a mistake on their part) as they both had plans for the day, I started off by noticing a pool hall on a random street, it was all the American pool tables where the balls where stupidly big. Then I thought of doing some sightseeing and I went to Taipei 101 which was this huge tower that was a pretty cool view at the top. There was this maze in there that was a bit disappointing in the end, well I'm walking around in the dark and at the end theres a merchandise shop.

Later on, I thought I would hit the bars and clubs. Its a nightmare finding anything like that in Taipei, I had to use my intuition to find an actual bar and the closest 1 to my hotel was about 30 minute walk. Was a bit of a poor bar to start, then I went to a rock bar called Carnegies, pretty cool there were a few other Europeans I got rather hammered with until I got to the Brass Monkey, that made my night, somewhere for a dance and a game of pool at the same time. I took over the pool table there and a few other things that happened there. Not sure where I went after that but I knew it cost me 300 TWD to get back to my hotel lol.