My bags are packed. In a few hours, I’ll be bidding farewell to Taipei, my home for three months in 2004 on a short-lived attempt to learn Mandarin. The 100 or so characters I had learned has now dwindled to about 5, 3 of which are the characters for 1, 2 and 3 (one bar, two bars and three bars).

Next stop is Hong Kong for the weekend, and then I’m flying back to London on a red-eye. Not the ideal flight but it’s a much better way to travel than slinging myself to the old continent. (FYI, sign was on the 2nd floor of a restaurant in Taipei).