My good friend Angus Lee from Dayacom Industrial Co picked me up from the hotel at 10.30am, his office is very close by. A little history about Dayacom is that they made completed pens for a few years and one day a company from USA, Crafts Supplies USA sent them a fax asking about pen parts for woodturning, well the rest is history they are a very well known pen parts supplier worldwide. We contacted them in 1993 and have had a long term relationship to this day.
Once we arrived at the office we discussed the design of a few new items we have and also saw the finished samples. The office and work area is quite small but the output is huge with orders being filled for companies all around the world.
The design starts with Agus Lee doing a detailed drawing and he has told me he often thinks about the design while walking each morning. Once the design is drawn, various computer designs are made then the tooling is made and production starts. To make one pen many small parts are needed and they are made at a factory then shippied for plating then retuned to the warehouse around the corner.
Once an order is received the girls on the production line inspect every item very closely and anything that is not to Dayacoms high standard is rejected. They are then packed into protective bags and finally put into export cartons for shipping to the customer. One supplier once asked could he get a cheaper lower quality pen and the answer was no as how could the girls inspect and pack high quality one day then lesser quality the next.
After discussing the new products we went for lunch down the road to a beautiful Japanese Restaurant. Angus told me that a few customers prefer MacDonalds as they can not eat the asian style food. For me one of the highlights of traveling to Taiwan is the vast amount of different style foods. I remember my first visit and I ate pigs intestine then frog legs and also have tasted snake. I must say the seafood in Taiwan is beautiful. I have eaten from the small corner vendors right up to 5 star restaurants and have never had food poisoning or upset stomach.
After lunch we returned to the office and discussed various matters, then Angus invited me to a exclusive massage clinic where I received a foot massage then reflexology examination and finally a pressure massage. Well the out come was expected, lose some weight, drink less and do more exercise. I was not sure at this stage but tomorrow would prove that this was right. After the massage we ate a a local noodle bar then returned to the hotel.
The next morning Angus picked me up from the Hotel and we went on a hike in the mountains approx 30 minutes away. Last August when I visited Taiwan we had planned to take a hike but the weather was terrible so we had to cancel it to this visit. I think I was better prepared in August as I had been doing lots of walking at Currumbin Beach.
Ok the first 15 minutes were hell trying to walk up a very steep mountain and I thought I may have to retire, but I kept going and it got a little easier. We finally reached the top and had refreshments then returned. This mountain is still a volcano and may erupt in the next few years.
We returned to Taipei City had lunch at a local restaurant and then was dropped at the Bus Station and I caught a bus to Taichung, more on that later.
