Sitting in a cab and nothing better to do then write to a bunch of you.... the first day of my trip to Taipei. for those of you who haven't heard, I'm here for WinHEC Asia to do some demos... the usual song and dance.

Part I: The Departure

There's nothing to inspire forgetfulness like an urgent, pressing need to remember something. If you are traveling overseas, what's the one, single, paramount, most important thing that you cannot be without? Your passport, of course. What did Dan arrive at the airport in a taxi without? Of all the things to forget, this one was notable as the only item that could leave me stranded for six days (until my return flight) in a foreign airport. I'd allowed an extra hour, and Microsoft (where my passport was) was conveniently 30 minutes each way. Cutting it close.

$140 and a smiling cabbie later, I was in a panicked rush to my flight. Business class was about as pleasant as any 15 hours in a single seat can be. The food was disappointing, but (as always) the copious complimentary alcoholic beverages helped to ease the pain. I think (actually I'm sure) that the attendants go out of their way to get their passengers toasted. Probably less hassle that way.

So we arrive at the airport, and I'm deplaning with Carl, Dave, and a bunch of other folks I know, when I get paged. They mangle my last name so badly I hardly recognize it, but when I inquire as to what the problem is, I discover that 'some baggage may not have made your San Francisco connection'. Ack! Ok, I checked three pieces. Two were computers for demos (and I only needed one), the other was all my clothing for the week. I waited at the baggage carousel with baited breath. One computer... my suitcase! Hallelujah. I was tempted to bail then and there, but the wacky Texans at Compaq would have strung me up with a not-so-wacky noose had I left one of their hand built prototype computers in a baggage claim in Taiwan. Some more paperwork and haggling with a customs official and I had a promise to deliver the box to my hotel tomorrow.

Of course, after this little adventure, all my companions were nowhere to be seen. Sigh. So I'm wandering around, the proverbial lost tourist, until I find a desk with "Hyatt" (my hotel) on it. Through some gesticulation I make it clear that I need to get *to* the hotel, and before I know it, I'm in a huge black Mercedes, where I'm writing to you now. I have no idea how/if I'm supposed to pay for this, so I can only hope that I get to my final destination. If you receive this message, then I'm successfully checked in!

Your bewildered traveler,

--dan

Part 2...