69TH SKÅL WORLD CONGRESS - TAIPEI 12-17 OCTOBER 2008

 

 

 

HOWARD PLAZA HOTEL: The deadline for registration for the 69th Skål World Congress has been extended and there is still time to register. The beautiful Howard Plaza in downtown Taipei, close to the Taipei International Convention Centre has rooms available. It is strategically located near the commercial and financial hubs in the east of the city. The hotel exudes a classical, oriental ambience and offers luxurious accommodation and warm personalised service. The hotel is famous for its rosewood. The cost of registration in first class accommodation is €717.50 per person sharing a twin or double room and €915.00 single. The Hotel is prepared to upgrade delegates to a junior suite for an extra NT$8,050 in single and NT$8,750 in double (approximately €180.00 and €195 –ROE 9/9/08). There is still time to join us for what promises to be a very special congress.

THE WORLD’S BEST CHINESE FOOD: The President of Skål International Asian Area and International Councillor for Taiwan writes:

Unless you are one of the two or three people in the world who does not like Chinese food, you are in for a real treat at the World Congress in Taipei next month. In terms of variety and quality, Taipei truly has the best Chinese food in the world and there are historical reasons for this:

When the Nationalist government lost China’s civil war to the communists and moved to Taiwan in 1949, it brought with it the entire upper echelon of the bureaucracy. Many of the business elite came along. These were some of the most wealthy and refined people in China and, to ease what they then expected to be a temporary exile on Taiwan (they hoped to regroup their forces and counterattack mainland China), they insisted that their favourite cooks come with them.

These cooks, like their employers, were from all regions of China and when they were unable to return home after a few years, as expected, many of them set up restaurants and began cooking for the public, offering their unique regional specialties. This is why Taipei today has such a wide variety of Chinese cooking. While there has been a lot of “homogenisation” of different cooking styles in recent years, the regional distinctions are still clearly represented in the city’s restaurants.

Unless you go in for such exotic (and politically incorrect) fare as shark’s fin, bird’s nest, snow-toad fat and preserved abalone, the prices are extremely reasonable.

There will be ample opportunity for you to sample a variety of Chinese dishes during the congress but if your time permits, you should get out of your hotel and sample some of the marvellous eateries that line the streets of Taipei.

There you will find the famous Beijing roast duck, the relatively mild but heavily seasoned dishes of Jiangzhe, the steaming dumplings of Shanghai, the spicy dishes of Sichuan, the spicy but more heavily flavoured delicacies of Hunan, and the fresh seafood and dim sum of Canton. Taiwan has its own culinary variations, derived mainly from Chinese cooking but with heavy influences from Japanese cuisine and, in earlier years, a strong reliance on famine foods. Taiwan is an island, of course, and its cooking contains a lot of seafood - the freshest imaginable.

Taiwan ’s night markets are justly renowned for their snack foods - delicious, filling, healthy, cheap. These include such delicacies as rich beef noodles, lighter danzi (the name of the bamboo pole on which the ingredients and utensils were originally slung) noodles, oyster omelette (the quintessential Taiwanese snack), steamed sandwiches, the pearl milk tea that has become popular in other parts of the world, and, for brave and adventurous souls, stinky bean-curd.

Restaurants serving international cuisine have also sprung up around Taipei, so if your preference is for Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Indian, Moslem, American, Continental, or vegetarian fare, you will have no scarcity of choice during your stay in Taiwan.

If you have not yet registered for the World Congress, do so now! Do not miss this rare opportunity to savour some of the best food in the world in an atmosphere of Skål camaraderie and the spirit of friendship that characterises the Taiwanese people.

SKÅL MAKE UP OPPORTUITY

If you would like to have the opportunity to visit the other Skål Clubs in Taiwan, Post Tour G. 3 Days 2 Nights Taichung and Kaohsiung is for you. This tour will take you all the way down the west of Taiwan through the rice fields using the new rapid rail system. An experience not to be missed! For details of Tour G and other pre- and post-Congress tours and their cost can be found at the following hyperlink: http://www.skal.org/congresos/taipei2008/I/tours.pdf

17th SKÅL CLUB FORMED IN MEXICO

We send our congratulations and best wishes to the President and members of the newest Club in the world, Skål International Querétaro, Mexico founded on 4 September 2008 with the number 695.

LA ROCHELLE ATLANTIQUE

The inaugural event of the new Club of La Rochelle Atlantique, France will be held on Saturday 25^th October 2008 at the Ibis Hotel in La Rochelle. All Skål members are welcome. Please click on the following hyperlink for the registration form:http://www.skal.org/pdf/rochelle.pdf

MOTIVATION SHOW