Little victories

I went to the movies in Chung Li on Saturday.

No big deal in and of itself, of course, as I've done just that several times since I got here. (Chung Li is the nearest decent sized city, about 10-15 km up the road from Longtan I think.) But this was the first time I actually had the whole bus route figured out. Going to the movies from here involves catching a bus to downtown Chung Li, then taking a free shuttle bus from there to the mall with the theater, and the return trip is the same. Unless you don't know where or how to look for the buses in which case you have to take at least part of the trip by cab. That's what I've always done before.

Not last Saturday. I finally learned all the relevant Chinese characters to look for on the buses, and the colors of the right buses, and where they actually stop. As a result of my diligence, a trip that could have cost as much as 800 NT (about $25 US) cost exactly 52 NT (about $1.75, maybe a bit less)! It's funny what we get excited about sometimes.

(And no, I've never actually spent 800 NT on a round trip to the movies. Sometimes when a bunch of us from Longtan are going, we'll take a cab both ways and split the cost, which is pretty reasonable when it's split four ways. I'm just saying it could have been that pricey, if I were that irresponsible.)