From Taoyuan International Airport, Taipeh to Hualian

On arrival at the Taoyuan International Airport in Taipeh, we were whisked by train to Hualian to meet up with a group of Taiwanese business women led by Ms Grace Chung. She was our host for lunch.

At the Railway Station

In the train en route to Hualian

In the Garden with Our Taiwanese hosts

Our destination was Laozhuang Garden Restaurant.

Sweparians with our banner

We were treated to a most scrumptious lunch.  As we dined, we were entertained by dances put up by the women. 

Taiwanese ladies dancing for us

 Here are some of the food we had.

Datuk Adeline (in blue jacket) joined us for lunch

Prawns on a base of Sea Salt Cooked over a fire

Steamed Fish

Later we exchanged momentoes and namecards for further networking in the future.

Exchanging momentos

A group photo after the lunch

I found communication a problem because I could not speak Mandarin and my knowledge of Hokkien, a local dialect which the Taiwanese speak, was very limited. They in turn, could not communicate well in English, save for a few ladies. 

Nevertheless, we could communicate with smiles and nods and on my part, a few basic Mandarin and Hokkien phrases to express my appreciation of the delicious food.