Finishing up

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I got another good night’s sleep, waking at 9:00 am after going to bed late. I’m hopefully starting to shift back to home time. I spent a bit of the morning online recapping the last couple days and preparing for my last day of touring.

My first stop was on the grounds of the National Theatre, National Concert Hall and National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall. I started off at the theatre, which is very fitting for the area. Across from it is the concert hall which looked much the same. Between the two, looking to the east is the large monument dedicated to the establishment of democracy in Taiwan. When I got to this, I had just missed a changing of the guard ceremony but did get to see a few guards standing completely still like statues. These were clearly well trained soldiers as they didn’t even blink.

I left this area and made my way to the nearby botanical gardens. The gardens were peaceful and a nice place to have lunch but I’ve come across many better ones. On the perimeter of the gardens is the history museum which I had read is more focused on art than history (art is fine but I would have little appreciation for it with my limited knowledge of its context). I went there to see if this was the case and it appeared it was.

So I moved on and found a place for lunch. Through a mix of pointing and limited English I dined on beef, rice with some other small servings of meat, scalding soup and veggies. This was all very tasty.

After lunch I went to see the outside of the Presidential Building - not going in because I forgot to bring my passport - and the 2-28 Park, which is dedicated to the 2-28 incident that I learned about in Kaohsiung.

Following the park I caught the MRT out to the eastern part of the city to see Taipei 101. Taipei 101 is the world’s second tallest building, behind the Burj Dubai in the UAE. As I made my way towards it I was surprised that it just didn’t seem that tall. The problem was that it is situated in an area without any other tall buildings so there isn’t anything to give perspective. That is until I got to its base and looked up. Then I got a much clearer picture.

Taipei 101 was once the tallest building in the world and was one of the seven wonders of the world in 2006 and seven wonders of engineering in 2005, as it is designed to withstand the effect of earthquakes and typhoons. At 1,671 feet tall it is the second tallest building though it will be surpassed by the new 1 World Trade Center whenever that is completed.

I made my way up to the 85th floor from the 5th floor ticket office in about 35 seconds on the world’s fastest ascending elevator. There I was treated to views of the city and surrounding mountains. After taking an audio tour around the floor I made my way up to the outdoor viewing terrace a few floors above. The winds were whipping up there so only a portion of the terrace was open.

Back inside I saw the large tuned mass damper, a pendulum that sways to offset movements caused by strong gusts of wind. Afterwards I made my way back downstairs on the rapid elevator.

I returned from the hostel and went over my schedule for tomorrow, making sure I could get to the airport by bus plenty early. I also took a nap, hoping that the extra sleep will help me make it through until my first flight without sleep. It’s all part of my scheme to get back on eastern US time.

I took off tonight for the Snake Alley Night Market, a place where there are apparently live snakes that are put on for show and then killed and eaten, with people dining on the venom, bile, heart and flesh. This sounded like something I had to try. Unfortunately, either this was a bust or the place I found was the wrong one, my minimally detailed map not helping me determine which was the case.

I then opted to head back to the Shinda Night Market where I was last night. Tonight I had another duck dumpling wrap and then went with meat on a stick. These were some odd parts, including pork intestine, chicken intestine and chicken butt. All were very good.

At the vendor I ran into two other English speaking guys - David who is originally from Australia and Brad who is originally from Missouri. Both are now living in Japan and are here on vacation. The three of us finished our obscure meats and went to a nearby bar where we had a round of drinks, mine being a Sapporo Dark.

The rest of the night I spent working on getting my New Zealand and Australia journal ready for print and chatting with a few of the other guys at the hostel.

Tomorrow I head home, arriving in Philadelphia via Tokyo and Chicago.

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Photos

Concert hall
The National Concert Hall certainly has an Asian look.

Democracy memorial
The National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall.

Guard
A guard at the democracy museum.

Lunch
Soup, beef, veggies and rice with a mix of meats.

Taipei 101
The second tallest building in the world.

Looking up
Looking up at the massive structure.

Views
The tower provides magnificent views of Taipei.

Looking down
Looking down from the 85th floor.