We could hardly believe it. The five of us were on our way to Taiwan, not for vacation, but to work! Seventeen hours in a jet from LA would take us to this island a hundred miles off the coast of mainland China. For the next eight days we would immerse ourselves in the Taiwanese culture and try to capture on tape some of the great things to see, do and eat in this Asian country.

We left on a Sunday afternoon and got there on Tuesday morning since Taiwan is thirteen hours ahead of us, and across the international dateline.

We all know Taiwan is famous for its electronics and seemingly endless stream of imported manufactured goods and designer “knock-offs.” But how many of us know anything else about the country?

That’s exactly why the Taiwan Tourism Bureau hired Adventure Chef, Keith Famie—an ex-Survivor—to host and executive produce an hour-long TV show called “A Taste of Taiwan.” The idea: showcase the variety Taiwan has to offer tourists by using their unique foods.

Famie called on Chris Benjamin to produce and direct the show, as well as write the script. Director of Photography, Bob Berg, decided to use DV-cam to capture the footage. Roger Smith handled the sound recording, and Matt Prested was the Associate Producer.

The US crew was accompanied by two producers from Saatchi & Saatchi Taiwan, as well as an interpreter—who proved to be invaluable as we journeyed across the country.

During the eight days, the crew visited six different cities basically all over Taiwan. We hopped from city to city, mostly on small scheduled airlines and private busses.

International travel and all the jumping around we were doing meant the gear and luggage really had to be condensed as much as possible, and we had it down to thirteen checked bags for five of us...plus carry-ons, of course.

The main city, Taipei, was pretty much what we expected...a jam-packed, industrial city with mostly unimpressive architecture. It was so smoggy that we couldn’t get wide shots of the city after about 2pm. And there were scooters EVERYWHERE! At rush hour, it would not be unusual for fifty to sixty scooters to jam around our bus at a stoplight – on all sides. Often we would see a family of four—two adults and two kids— riding a small scooter. The sidewalks were absolutely filled with parked scooters. They are a scourge! But, in spite of all this, it was an extremely clean city. Litter was seldom seen.

My tip—don’t ever try to drive there.

Taipei is also home to what is now the world’s tallest building – Taipei 101 a magnificent, towering edifice.

And don’t miss the Jade Market where you can buy anything made from jade.

During a shoot at a Tea House in Bei Tou, near Taipei, the crew taped a chef who writes Zen-inspired wishes on his food with squid ink. At the end of the shoot we stood on a deck and admired the view of the mountains from the hillside-clinging restaurant. Then we learned that during WWII, this building was the last place Japanese Kamikaze pilots partied before their dates with destiny. It was a sobering thought.

Taiwan is full of bustling night markets, which are teaming with booths to shop and vendors serving a huge variety of interesting snack foods; things like Coffin Bread, Eel Noodles and Duck’s Blood Popsicles. But not all of it was weird. In fact, most of the food was extremely tasty—of course that doesn’t include the Frog Stomachs that we were served at one restaurant out in the country.

Probably the most unforgettable visit was to a Buddhist Temple in Fo Guang Shan. We left our hotel at 3:30am, getting to the Temple at 5am. What we witnessed was so worth the loss of sleep. We witnessed four hundred monks and nuns silently passing our camera double file in the semi-darkness. Droning chants, drums and bells soon filled the huge candle-lit temple, which was dominated by three towering gold Buddha’s. It was beautiful. It was spiritual. It was moving—no matter what your faith.

The monks themselves ate very bland food, but they served up some unbelievable gourmet dishes made entirely from vegetarian ingredients.

The crew was in awe during the trip to beautiful Taroko Gorge where the narrow, winding roads tried desperately to hug the mountainsides and tunnel upon tunnel sliced through the rock. Everyone tried to forget the many earthquakes that Taiwan has recently experienced. One morning we taped Keith in a natural hot spring at the bottom of a deep gorge where hundred-and-ten-degree water is just four feet from a cold mountain stream.

In the ancient city of Tainan we visited a Confucian Temple and several other impressive religious landmarks.

In the breath-taking Alishan Mountains we awoke at 4:30am to ride a tourist-filled train to the top of Alishan to see the sunrise—an event that’s considered mystical. It was. And a vendor served a darned good fried egg sandwich up there, too.

Our time in Taiwan was frantic, rewarding, fascinating—and just like that—it was over. In a short time we tasted much of what Taiwan had to offer—and it’s gonna make one hell of a TV show.

Scheduled to air in the fall on WDIV-TV4 in Detroit and various other stations nationally.