A city that never sleeps

Flying back to Manila from Taipei (Taiwan) yesterday was just like a "Manila to Cebu" (or Boracay?) flight. On an EVA Air Boeing 747-400, it took us just one hour and 40 minutes.

The pilot whose voice came over on the inter-com, judging from his clear command of English, was apparently a Filipino. This was confirmed when I was greeted in the cabin by another Filipino Captain, Ronaldo F. Mendoza, who was returning to Manila on R & R, and usually flies B-747s for EVA Air on its routes to the US.

Ronnie, who hails from Leyte, retired from Philippine Air Lines a couple of years ago, but decided to resume flying "since it’s in my blood." He said that 40 Filipinos are international pilots for EVA Air, which is a passenger airline but ranks among the world’s top 10 cargo airlines with its own fleet of 18 airborne "freighters," having been founded by the ranking Taiwanese shipping conglomerate, Evergreen.

If you’ll recall, former President Joseph "Erap" Estrada and Taipan Lucio Tan had a falling out when his Administration approved a deal favoring EVA Air and China Airlines, Taiwan’s two major carriers, to the disadvantage of PAL, our national flag carrier.

In any event, EVA Air provides a convenient air link between Manila and Taipei, as well as Kaohsiung, population 1.5 million, Taiwan’s major port and the world’s fifth in rating – after Hongkong, Singapore, Shanghai. It is that island country’s center of heavy, petrochemical and increasingly, its high-tech industry.

I flew to Kaohsiung last Friday, however, by FAT-103 – a 50-minute trip. "FAT" doesn’t refer to overweight but means by Far Eastern Air Transport.

There’s a FAT flight almost every hour between the two major cities, and you can simply walk up to the country and buy your ticket as if taking a shuttle.

What contributes to making Taiwan such an economic powerhouse is the fact that its 23 million people can move about quickly, having access to efficient transportation, whether by air, railroad, Mass Rapid Transit, subway, or light rail transit.

Since I was last there 12 years ago, I’ve found the expressways, tollways and inner-city roads improved immeasurably. Taipei, the capital, which used to be polluted as hell, meaning like Metro Manila, is now cleaner and far less polluted. Five subways zip people around underground and the system is being extended daily. The light rail transit trains move the rest around with dispatch. However, Taiwanese driving habits are as kamikaze type as ever. Far more people continue to be killed by road accidents than by violent crime.

Then there are the 10 million scooters throughout this relatively small country the size of Mindanao – meaning that almost half the population can zoom around on a scooter. The most popular scooters and motorbikes are Japanese brands, like Honda, etc., but all of them are assembled in Taiwan. Kids below 18, on the other hand, are not licensed to handle scooters or motorbikes. Those who do still weave and out of traffic posing a danger to life and limb. In the homeland of "Meteor Garden," they can accelerate like meteors.

They are surprisingly polite to each other, though. When you’re walking through the small streets which comprise the famous Night Markets, don’t take fright if a scooter suddenly appears behind you.