Taiwan Trip 2006
Monday, September 11, 2006
Day 1
The flight wasn't too bad. Christy was able to sleep most of the way. She sleeps in the strangest positions on planes. She basically hunches over her own lap. It's amazing really. We watched some Lost, Dan played some Sudoku on the DS, and voila, we were in Taipei.
The food on the plane was actually pretty good. The good thing about EVA (Evergreen Airlines) is that they serve both a western dish and a Chinese dish. For breakfast, they served a delicious porridge.
We arrived in Taipei at around 4:30 am local time (1:30 pm in Seattle). My aunt and uncle didn't pick us up until about 7:30. This got Christy a bit worried which is quite understandable since she doens't speak the language.
There was no time to rest. From the airport, we went and visited my dad's eldest sister. (Trust me, if I just called her my aunt, this blog will get real confusing, real quick). She owns a convenience store, much like the one my grandfather used to run before he passed away. Her husband dropped us off at my second aunt's house. We stayed with her while we were in Taipei. She lives less than a block away from my grandfather's store. She lives on the third floor of the apartment building. My cousin's room is on the fourth floor. Before my parents moved to the States in 1983, we lived on the 4th floor. So in a sense, Christy and I will be living in the exact apartment that I grew up in.
After dropping our stuff off, we went to the tailor's. We had my measurement taken and we picked out the materials for my suit. We decided to order a suit coat and matching pants and an extra three pairs of pants.
After this, my 2nd aunt on my dad's side took us out to lunch at a very popular restaurant that serves little dumplings. Christy's tummy however did not agree with the food. We were worried that it was a sign of bad things to come.
Taipei 101
After lunch, we went to the tallest skyscraper in the world. We walked around the mall area at the base of the building. It had some of the most expensive brands from around the world. Needless to say, Christy and I only window-shopped.
Taipei 101 Mall
¶ Monday, September 11, 2006 0 comments
The flight wasn't too bad. Christy was able to sleep most of the way. She sleeps in the strangest positions on planes. She basically hunches over her own lap. It's amazing really. We watched some Lost, Dan played some Sudoku on the DS, and voila, we were in Taipei.
The food on the plane was actually pretty good. The good thing about EVA (Evergreen Airlines) is that they serve both a western dish and a Chinese dish. For breakfast, they served a delicious porridge.
We arrived in Taipei at around 4:30 am local time (1:30 pm in Seattle). My aunt and uncle didn't pick us up until about 7:30. This got Christy a bit worried which is quite understandable since she doens't speak the language.
There was no time to rest. From the airport, we went and visited my dad's eldest sister. (Trust me, if I just called her my aunt, this blog will get real confusing, real quick). She owns a convenience store, much like the one my grandfather used to run before he passed away. Her husband dropped us off at my second aunt's house. We stayed with her while we were in Taipei. She lives less than a block away from my grandfather's store. She lives on the third floor of the apartment building. My cousin's room is on the fourth floor. Before my parents moved to the States in 1983, we lived on the 4th floor. So in a sense, Christy and I will be living in the exact apartment that I grew up in.
After dropping our stuff off, we went to the tailor's. We had my measurement taken and we picked out the materials for my suit. We decided to order a suit coat and matching pants and an extra three pairs of pants.
After this, my 2nd aunt on my dad's side took us out to lunch at a very popular restaurant that serves little dumplings. Christy's tummy however did not agree with the food. We were worried that it was a sign of bad things to come.
Taipei 101
After lunch, we went to the tallest skyscraper in the world. We walked around the mall area at the base of the building. It had some of the most expensive brands from around the world. Needless to say, Christy and I only window-shopped.
Taipei 101 Mall
¶ Monday, September 11, 2006 0 comments
We took the fastest elevator in the world up to the observation deck in an amazingly fast 37 seconds. Up at the top, we listened to a little telephone guide that introduced and explained the things you can see from the observation deck.
Observation Deck
On some of the walls, they had these rainbow colored hologram devices that changed as you walked around.
Here's Christy standing next to an architect's drawing of what the building is supposed to look like.
¶ Monday, September 11, 2006 0 comments
Observation Deck
On some of the walls, they had these rainbow colored hologram devices that changed as you walked around.
Here's Christy standing next to an architect's drawing of what the building is supposed to look like.
¶ Monday, September 11, 2006 0 comments
From the observation deck, you could see quite a bit of the Taipei Basin. From some of the windows, you could see some of the unique Chinese architectural designs fused with the engineering of modern skyscrapers.
Also, in the middle of the observation deck, you can see the dampening ball that is used to reduce the effects of wind and earthquake sway on the building. The ball is so massive that they had to hoist the ball up gradually as they built Taipei 101 underneath and around it.
Either the Discovery Channel or the Travel Channel had a pretty good documentary on the making of Taipei 101 a year ago. Pretty interesting when they used a time-lag video to show the building being built.
¶ Monday, September 11, 2006 0 comments
Also, in the middle of the observation deck, you can see the dampening ball that is used to reduce the effects of wind and earthquake sway on the building. The ball is so massive that they had to hoist the ball up gradually as they built Taipei 101 underneath and around it.
Either the Discovery Channel or the Travel Channel had a pretty good documentary on the making of Taipei 101 a year ago. Pretty interesting when they used a time-lag video to show the building being built.
¶ Monday, September 11, 2006 0 comments
Taipei 101 from the outside
After leaving the building, we walked outside to get a couple of pictures of Taipei 101 from the outside. The picture below was taken from a bridge that connects Taipei 101 to the convention center next door.
At a park a couple blocks away, we took pictures of the building. Supposedly, its supposed to look like a bamboo shoot. (Other people say it looks like a bunch of take-out Chinese boxes stacked on top of one another. You decide...)
¶ Monday, September 11, 2006 0 comments
After leaving the building, we walked outside to get a couple of pictures of Taipei 101 from the outside. The picture below was taken from a bridge that connects Taipei 101 to the convention center next door.
At a park a couple blocks away, we took pictures of the building. Supposedly, its supposed to look like a bamboo shoot. (Other people say it looks like a bunch of take-out Chinese boxes stacked on top of one another. You decide...)
¶ Monday, September 11, 2006 0 comments
The Taipei Basin
Skyscraper with a nifty swimming pool on the rooftop.
Later, we took the Taipei Subway out to Xin Dian. Apparently when I was a kid, this was a popular tourist destination at the outskirts of Taipei. It is a small town where the Dan Shui River enters the Taipei Basin. There is a cute little red bridge and down below there are little paddle boats in the shape of swans and ducks.
We saw some stray dogs and visited one of the gazillion 7-Elevens in Taiwan for some water. The 7-Elevens are everywhere in Taiwan. It's like Starbucks in Seattle. Everywhere you go, there's one. They're a lot smaller and cleaner than the ones in the U.S.
We were pretty tired, so we headed back to the apartment for a quick nap. After our nap, we went out to dinner with two of my cousins. For dinner, we had these buns that you stuffed with meat. This was one of Christy's favorite meals while in Taiwan.
After dinner, we went and visited my grandma. Sadly, we forgot to bring our camera with us. I also met my youngest uncle's wife. (Except I had no idea who she was, nor was I ever informed that my uncle had gotten married). He's a fairly accomplished bird photographer. Currently he writes travel guides.
¶ Monday, September 11, 2006 0 comments
Skyscraper with a nifty swimming pool on the rooftop.
Later, we took the Taipei Subway out to Xin Dian. Apparently when I was a kid, this was a popular tourist destination at the outskirts of Taipei. It is a small town where the Dan Shui River enters the Taipei Basin. There is a cute little red bridge and down below there are little paddle boats in the shape of swans and ducks.
We saw some stray dogs and visited one of the gazillion 7-Elevens in Taiwan for some water. The 7-Elevens are everywhere in Taiwan. It's like Starbucks in Seattle. Everywhere you go, there's one. They're a lot smaller and cleaner than the ones in the U.S.
We were pretty tired, so we headed back to the apartment for a quick nap. After our nap, we went out to dinner with two of my cousins. For dinner, we had these buns that you stuffed with meat. This was one of Christy's favorite meals while in Taiwan.
After dinner, we went and visited my grandma. Sadly, we forgot to bring our camera with us. I also met my youngest uncle's wife. (Except I had no idea who she was, nor was I ever informed that my uncle had gotten married). He's a fairly accomplished bird photographer. Currently he writes travel guides.
¶ Monday, September 11, 2006 0 comments
