This was my first experience of Asia. Asia that’s not Pakistan. Technically I have been to Malaysia and Philippines but those were business trips. Everything was managed. Plus, you are part of a group so what you get to experience is limited. A solo trip is different.

Anyway, the trip was a bit cheeky. I didn’t plan it for its sake. Rather, I saw an opportunity to meet a couple of people which I otherwise won’t and visa process, my biggest pet peeve when it comes to traveling, was mostly streamlined. Not because it’s easy to get a Taiwanese visa from Pakistan but because WordCamp Asia was arranging everything if you bought their event ticket, which was pretty cheap.

It turned out, one of the two people didn’t come to Taipei. And my reluctancy to approach the other person resulted in him excusing because of the short notice. Well, I did briefly met the second person. More on that below. But suddenly the trip became a free ride, with no pressure of actually meeting someone. (Tim Ferriss cancelled when I had everything set up so cancelling wasn’t an option for me. It was but it made no sense as ticket refund wasn’t very generous.)

My biggest fear going in was food. I never actually did well with Chinese food. There is Chinese food in Pakistan which we butcher with our own spices. And then there is actual Chinese food. A couple of places in Islamabad do have the original flavors but I get stomachaches eating from those. Yet somehow I had a blast with the food in Taipei. I couldn’t technically eat most of the dishes since they felt a bit too raw in my mouth but I dumped as many dumplings, noodles, soups, and sweet buns I possibly could.

I absolutely loved the city. It feels a bit rough compared to Dubai. But that makes it so much more charming and attractive. Night bazars were amazing. So many lights and so much liveliness. One thing I didn’t expect was the weather. I was expecting humid and hot and it was rainy and cold. I prefer the later but I wasn’t packed for that. As a result, I was shivering every time I went out. But it didn’t matter. I destroyed my new Atoms shoes and a lightweight jacket in rain but it was so worth it. I am amazed I didn’t get cold considering the amount of rain walk I did.

My brief research told me to carry a lot of cash with me. Since most of the Taiwan still operates on cash, according to many online guides. That might be true of Taiwan in general but Taipei works pretty well on credit cards. I hardly needed cash except for a few bakeries where I went almost daily for pastries and croissants. Language could be an issue some time. But people are nice and they know when they see a tourist. They use appropriate hand gestures to get the point across. I had google translate with me but Taipei people were always one step ahead of me. And knew what I meant before I could pull up my phone. Maybe the service industry is used to dealing with tourists.

And, I met Ben Thompson. Nice of him to give everyone as much time as they wanted. And come to an event which has nothing to do with what he is doing right now. Well, maybe it did. But I was surprised to know he was speaking at a WordPress event. Some part of his personal story were new to me. Though I don’t know if I ever missed a thing he wrote or spoke on the internet.