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Published: March 23rd 2009
Serge and Anika
With Taipei 101 looming in the backgroundLast weekend we traveled with Westen’s hockey team to Taipei, Taiwan for three games with the local teams and lots of sightseeing. We were very fortunate to have four Taiwanese families on our team who really showed us the city. They made sure we made the most of our days there, squeezing in great food, Taipei 101, great food, the National Palace Museum, more great food, and, of course, hockey. In case you couldn’t guess, we never got hungry the whole time we were there!
As we flew in we were thrilled to see mountains, forests and water. The city is surrounded by very accessible nature, something we really miss here in Shanghai. Although we didn’t get to see it, we’re told the center part of the island is filled with stunning mountains…maybe another day?
The kids played one game each day - one Friday night, one early Saturday morning and the last one early Sunday morning. They were pretty wiped out from the early/late schedule, but it did leave the days pretty free for other stuff…
like eating! Before Friday night’s game we all headed to Taipei 101, the world’s tallest building. In 2003, Taipei 101 surpassed the
Gotham City??
The top of the building kept disappearing as the clouds rolled in. Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur as the tallest building. The next will most likely be Burj Dubai in the United Arab Emirates which is supposed to be completed this year. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to go up into the building, but looking up at it from the ground was pretty awesome. There are very few skyscrapers in Taipei, so 101 really stands out.
We walked up the street a few blocks for dinner at a Thai restaurant. We’d heard that the balmy weather was going to change abruptly, and it did! As we walked up the street, the wind picked up, the sky filled with swirling black clouds, and the temperature dropped about 20 degrees. It looked like Gotham City - we were waiting for Batman to fly in! Luckily we made it inside before the rain started.
After Saturday’s early hockey game we headed to the National Palace Museum, which holds most of the Forbidden City dynasty treasures from Beijing. From 1948-49, during the final years of the Chinese Civil War, over 650,000 items collected over the centuries by the Chinese emperors were taken to Taiwan. The displays are rotated once every three months, which means
Taipei 101
Can you see the wind starting to blow us around? 60,000 pieces can be viewed in a year, and it would take nearly 12 years to see them all. Needless to say we didn’t try to see the whole musuem.
Oh, and we had a fabulous lunch at the museum - squeezed in between the late breakfast buffet at the hotel and dinner. I was worried when the first course was brought out where the only thing I wanted to try was the
jelly fish! It's not very flavorful by the way, and much less threatening on a plate than swimming around you in the ocean. I'm happy to say the rest of the meal was excellent and certainly plentiful - dish after dish kept landing on the lazy Susan!
Later that night we went out for Mongolian BBQ up on a mountain side filled with hot springs. The spot had an incredible view over the city and mountains, and we arrived just in time for the sunset. The kids had a great time picking their food and watching the entertaining chefs cook it up for them.
The kids played their final game on Sunday morning before we made our way back to Shanghai. Aside from the
Westen and Part of the Team
Westen (in red) haning out with part of the team outside 101 expense, travel hockey is treating us all very well!
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michelle
non-member comment
i can't believe how big they look can't wait to see them this summer what r your dates for rochester