Page 11 - Koi Net - On-Line Koi Magazine - Issue 83

A KOI MARATHON

Part 3 – The Taiwan Show 2025
Kate McGill-Andrews.

In parts one and two of this epic tale, we travelled to
Kyoto, then Kusatsu and Lake Biwa in Japan for the
60th Anniversary ZNA International Koi Show, held the
last weekend in November 2024. Following this, on
Sunday 31st November, a group of us, including Alan
and Piak Nementzik (Thailand), Rene Schoenmaker
(Holland), Shoji Saito (Japan) and our own John Zammit,
travelled to Niigata for a three-day Koi shopping tour.
After this, we travelled to Tokyo on our way to Taiwan.
EXCITEMENT Ian and I duly boarded a China Airlines flight early Friday
morning, the 5th November, excitement mounting as we
MOUNTING AS headed for the last part of our adventure – Taiwan and
WE HEADED another memorable show! The journey was uneventful,
and China Airlines was excellent. After claiming our
FOR THE LAST luggage at Taipei Songshan Airport, we were met by a
PART OF OUR limousine driver who took us to our show site and hotel,
Zhubei City in Hsinchu County, some eighty kilometres
ADVENTURE away, so quite a long drive. I relished the improved
temperature in Taiwan – much more comfortable – sadly,
it was not to last, but I did enjoy the sensation of being
warm outside that morning. Our hotel, the Ambassador,
was huge, twenty-four floors with a stunning layout.
There was a continuous space above the public areas
on the third floor up to a lofty roof with windowed lifts
travelling up and down one side – a bit hair-raising for
anyone with vertigo, like me! As usual, we were too early
to check in, so we secured our luggage and went out to
explore the local surroundings – a small park-like space
next to the hotel, then streets all around the block on
which the hotel stood. The shops generally did not look
very prepossessing, and many of them were closed. We
did find the ubiquitous Seven-Eleven, always handy for
milk, chips and lollies. (I later went out for milk and
ended up with soy, by accident – not good at reading
Taiwanese!)

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