A week after Seoul and Okinawa, I flew to Taipei. I was invited to give a plenary lecture at the Society of Internal Medicine in Taiwan. Another invited speaker was Dr. Virginina Hood , the president of the American College of Physicians whom, by the way, I happened to see in San Diego this April.
In the Sunday afternoon, I made an excursion to Jiufen (Ref.1), a village located about 40 minutes by car from Taipei. This village is well known as the site where the movie “A City for Sadness” was filmed, and also the model of the unique architectures and shopping street that appear in “Spirited Away”, an animated fantasy-adventure film by Hayao Miyazaki. It was very amusing to stroll around and listen to those interesting stories about the village. I recommend that you visit here some time. The only thing was that since it was a sunny Sunday, the busy traffic and crowded tourists was somewhat overwhelming...
Taipei seemed to be less energetic than the time I was here before. They might be experiencing economic recessions, too.
Other events scheduled around this weekend were; my annual general health check up, UCLA alumni gathering, hearing session of the Canon foundation research grants, and “The Entrenpreneur Awards Japan 2011, Second Annual Awards Ceremony” at the U.S. Embassy. This event is very strongly supported by Ambassador Roos and I have participated in the first ceremony, also.
Each day is passing quickly and busily. It is not a very pleasing situation, I have to say.
