Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

TAIPEI – It was an almost bitter winter that made me wish of the tropical isles and verdant forests instead of the blinding white snow and the wind chill that came with it. I was awakened out of my stupor when my Blackberry vibrated. I checked it and found an e-mail waiting in my inbox.

It was an invitation to travel to Taiwan and the Philippines, an offer no fool could refuse.

Less than a week later, I was off to San Francisco, where the rest of the group congregated. There we were—18 different individuals about to embark on a journey, all excited to see what was in store for us in these two neighboring countries.

China Airlines, led by Francisco Lei, district sales manager for Northwest USA, briefed us at the sparkling Dynasty Lounge and shared our itinerary for the next eight days. They partnered with Mango Tours, which was represented in the trip by Nonette Roldan and Aileen Layante, to come up with a full-packed trip. The schedule they prepared was not for the faint-hearted but no one in the group seemed to mind.

The pampering continued as soon as we boarded our plane and we were ushered to our respective seats, business class natch! What seemed to be a daunting 13-hour flight across the Pacific became a smooth and pleasant journey 38,000 feet up.

The food choices were excellent as I had a hard time choosing one. For appetizers, I chose smoked salmon and mesclun lettuce over pork and duck terrine. For my main course, it was the fried halibut in spicy bean paste with steamed rice while dessert was a nice assortment of fresh fruits. To cap the hearty meal, I requested for the "fancy dream tea," which was specially designed to ensure a relaxing sleep during the night.

And relaxing it was, indeed.

We were then served breakfast ("Chinese Superiority" for me, plain congee and sides that included fried shrimp and asparagus in X.O. sauce and sautéed vegetables) by the always-attentive staff as the pilot announced that we were about to land soon.

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