Untitled Awesomeness

Because we didn't want to own the actual thing. And because this is actually even better. (Not my covert photo, by the way.)

Damper Baby + Liang = Not as Ridiculous as You May Have Hoped

I think the direction I gave her was, "Look happy!"

Taipei 101

Taipei 101 is the name of the tallest building in Taipei: it had been the tallest building in the world until the Burj Khalifa opened in Dubai. Like most really tall buildings, there is an observation deck at the top.

We timed our visit to Taipei 101 to involve tooling around the shopping mall on the first five or so floors, heading up to the top for sunset, and then returning to the lower stories for dinner at the super awesome food court. Which, if you read what Liang had to share, is representative of the way more awesome Asian food courts.

In a taxi, on the highway, Taipei 101 -bound.

Courtyard below.

Taipei. Please excuse the glare from the window glass.

Taipei 101 has been engineered to withstand both earthquakes and typhoons - Taiwan's regular natural disasters. Part of this engineering is a tuned mass damper: a 660 metric ton steel sphere suspended at the top of the building to help off-set motion caused by gusts of wind. The tuned mass damper in Taipei 101 is open to the public's view. It is painted a cheery yellow. And in the grand tradition of cute, the damper has been personified into a little sphere-headed-bodies cutesy cartoon named 'the Damper Baby'. I have a photo of Liang next to the Damper Baby: I forced her to pose. But as Michael has been laughing at all my photos of her, I will refrain from posting it.

Hydraulic pistons.

Theoretically Taipei 101 is shaped like a bamboo stalk. And covered with all sorts of symbolism about the cardinal directions, and land meeting sky, and sun dials, and the number eight, and pagodas. But really, it's just as awesomely tall building with a rockin' food court and a shopping mall full of things too expensive for me to afford.

Art was exhibited in the observation gallery. To exit, they made you walk through a whole floor of jade. Liang and Lena and I were all surly to the poor jade-shillers: we were hungry and wanted the elevator to be a bit closer!

Once the sun set, we headed out to the observation deck, outside.

Lena and Liang.

Midnight Taipei

View out the hotel window. Those neon characters were awesome.

Sushi (Go!)

You can get things like this at food courts! In department stores! For only a few dollars! And they're tasty! Oh, the insanity!

The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial

The map I have has the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial listed as the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, which makes it sound like a university lecture hall.

"I have Organic 'til 12:30 in Chiang Kai-shek. Wanna meet at the student center for lunch after? It's chicken parm day."

Aside: if it was chicken parm day, Liang and I would totally be there.

Chiang was one of the leaders of the Nationalist Party in mainland China. After the Nationalists were defeated by the Communists, they fled the mainland for Taiwan. Where, as Wikipedia so gracefully puts it, "Chiang ruled the island with an iron fist as the President of the Republic of China [nation-state to which Taiwan belongs] and Director-General of the Kuomintang [Chinese Nationalist Party] until his death in 1975."

The Memorial is actually an enormous complex. This is essentially the welcome gate.

A theatre and a symphony hall on either side of the enormous courtyard running from the gate to the actual memorial.

Halfway along, we pause for a photo. I tell Liang at least three times that what Taiwan needs is more reflecting pools.

In case you can't read the text: No entry for those wearing slippers or slovenly dress.

And inside is a massive statue of Chiang Kai-shek, a 'la Ol'Abe back in Washington.

Though, as you may suppose from the wikipedia statement, Chiang's legacy is contentious, whereas who hates Abraham Lincoln (Vampire Hunter)?

Taichung Streets, Taipei Eats

Last snaps of street views in Taichung.

On the way to catch the bullet train.

Bullet train! So nice and tidy and fast. As I'm photographing this, well behind the yellow caution line, Liang's Dad is repeating, "Be careful! Step back! Watch out!"

Hello to Taipei's Shilin Night Market!

It seemed like every possible streetmeat available could be found under this roof.

Blurry sausage wrapped in sticky rice in the foreground, Liang enjoying said treat in the middle ground, night market food stalls in the background.

Meat on a stick. Alas, inferior to what I had hoped: more like blocks of fat on a stick.

Freshly made wonton soup?

The stuff of which dreams are made.