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Published: October 14th 2011
We bought some absolutely delicious bread at Mr. Beard Bakery and started walking towards Taipei 101. Along the way we found a noodle shop and got one to share for a nice 55 dollars. It took around 15-20 minutes to get to the 101 and when we went up to the 5th floor to buy tickets we decided not to go. 400 dollars is a lot of money to pay for going up to the top, we thought, especially on a cloudy day. We decided it would sort of be like throwing our money away, so when we come back to Taipei in a week or so we'll see how much money we have and whether or not it'd be worth it!
We walked to the nearest metro and hopped a train bound for the CKS memorial. When you walk out of exit 5 you are right on the property and can immediately see two yellow buildings facing each other with a large cement courtyard separating them. When you get to the concrete you can then see the enormous building they built as the memorial hall. It's white stone with stairs leading up to a gold or bronze statue of
him sitting, a lot like the Lincoln Memorial. We walked up and passed lots of school kids and at the top there were two statue-like guards facing each other on either side of the path. The building is under renovation until June so on the walls and ceiling they'd put cloth that mimiced the real thing. Strange, but whatever.
We walked through a passageway and down inside the building to a lower floor to find an exhibition of paper figures. In one of the rooms you could play with them and make them move around and in another section there were classrooms that tourists aren't allowed in. We walked downstairs to find an even bigger exhibition area displaying cars, clocks, furniture, clothes, documents, etc. The coolest thing for me was a couple of tiny ivory carvings that formed a picture or outline of the late president using minute Chinese characters. The road next to the memorial is littered with bridal shops...so if you want to buy a dress, go there...
After leaving there we headed to the Zhongxiao Xinsheng metro so Ronald could look around the digital plaza. Upon arrival we noticed a sign
for a beer factory so we decided to head there first. When we got there we were disappointed to find that they did not offer tours and that it was just a bar playing mournful/soulful music...
We got two draft beers (90 each) and headed out and walked around the area a bit before heading back to the metro. We had planned to meet Pablo there at 19:00, but at 19:45 when he still didn't show, I ran to a nearby store selling computers and logged into my email on one of the tablets only to find that he wasn't coming and had waited for us earlier at a different station.
Whatever. So we went to the Shilin night market and walked around there. We bought a "fajita" that was really a burrito at a stand called Jalepeno (there were no jalepenos...) for 80. Then we walked a little bit further and explored a temple before buying a quesadilla for 90 at another stand. This one was really good and had jalepenos, so I think it was worth the money. This market was different from the others, too, and had a Japanese feel to
it. They sold everything there including umbrellas that wouldn't break on a windy day. After we went home, all tuckered out.
On a side note, isn't it strange when people live in a country and don't speak the language? Don't even try? I think it's different if you're a tourist because it would be virtually impossible to learn every language of every country you go to, but as a long-term guest, wouldn't you try to learn something? When Ronald went into the phone store to ask about something, he used English and one of the employees freaked out because he didn't understand. This led to our discussion about these attitudes...when he was in Chile he just assumed that every foreigner there was learning Spanish so he never tried to speak in English. Something to think about, I guess.
Night night.
Technical details -Across from the CKS memorial is a street full of bridal shops
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