Taiwan

Before I left Taiwan I was excited, but I didn't really know what to expect except for Taipei 101 and hot springs. Thanks to "Guidebook" Ben's itinerary, we were able to see and do a whole lot more than that in the span of two full days. (Granted there were some minor "tweaks" to the schedule.)

Friday at 2 am, went to a 24 hour dim sum restaurant...two taxis, 2 different drop off locations, 2 different restaurants, both of us saw a car get pulled over by a cop, yet our dim sum was less than satisfactory and overpriced, while the our group had good dim sum (peculiar)

Da'an Park- saw a ton of Tai Chi advocates
Taipei 101- clear day actually saw the entire city from the observation deck, pretty cool
Longshan Temple? I think- they all look very similar to me, perhaps I knew more about their religion and why they leave all this great food on the tables I would have a better appreciation for the temples
Grand Hotel- really big, would like to take a tour of the inside
Martyer's Shrine- Changing of the guards- all businesses, no messing around except for the tourists (but don't touch them, they stomp their guns on the ground and have a real P.O.'d look on their faces)
Hot Springs in Beitou- atmosphere equivalent to health club sauna- lots of old people that I didn't need to see in swimsuit, felt like a hot tube, with 3 different levels (couldn't handle the hottest)... let's just say we didn't exactly fit in and innocently broke the rules (Jason what where you thinking when you decided to dive under that water?? nasty!)
Shilin Night Market- awesomeness, like Ladies Market but BIGGER and lots of food and carnival game stalls! I had corn with special spicy sauce on it, shrimp with an unexpected addition of sprinkles and frosting(not as good as straight up shrimp), 2 milk teas, and a thin bread with honey filling

Saturday
Pinglin: Bike ride along a river and through the tea fields, take a break and swim in the river (the guidebook said we could swim in it, so it must be ok)
Fisherman's Dwarf: Tip to any guy who want to take his girlfriend on a romantic date = go here, this was couples central, great place to watch the sun go down, we missed it unfortunately and have dinner with live music, ordering our food was interesting, they were serving SARS as a beverage and I believe one of the entrees was mainland girls (from China?) the translations didn't make it all the way through. Saw some fireworks up close and personal and people sending off lanterns for the Lantern Festival (which officially started on Sunday)
Party!: Go to Spark in the basement of Taipei 101, get in for free thanks to Bobby workin' his magic!, take a moment to enjoy being in one of the top clubs in Taiwan and then take a nap at the table before calling it a night

Sunday
Mister Donut and make it back to the Airport by means of train (saw the high speed rail in Taiwan) and taxi. *Thank you to our friendly local young man for aiding us to our destination

The experience had it's ups and downs, it's good and bad. Majority's consensus: Taiwan was incredible, more westernized than Hong Kong, and hope to return to Taiwan in the future. My personal opinion: glad I went, enjoyed it, won't be going back anytime soon.

We met a fair amount of people from North America that had come planning to stay for a few days and it turned into a few months or even years teaching English or working at a the club they partied at every night (surprising). Taipei must put a spell on people, but as for me, I could not overcome the sight of cockroaches on the streets and smells coming from the sewers. The goods: I was actually able to find a seat on the MRT subway system 9 times out of 10! The food was good and cheap, people LOVE Mr. Donut in Taiwan as well, and eight elephant's was an upscale and very friendly hostel. For those of you reading, I'm sorry I have been lazy, and therefore just now posting this. The weather in Hong Kong is nice and humid now. On the one hand, my Philippine souvenirs did fall victims to mold. Not too much else to say. I am grateful to be staying in Hong Kong this weekend.

Due to my failure to take photographs on this trip here are some great photographer's who successfully captured the dynamics of Taipei:

Ben Boerema's Pics
Bobby Tran's Pics I
Bobby Tran's Pics II
Jason Chan's Pics
Jon Shen's Pics

Random Quote- "WHY DO WE WASH BATH TOWELS? AREN'T WE CLEAN WHEN WE USE THEM?"