Taipei – hot, wet and sticky!
I am here…
To be honest, I haven’t got my head around Taipei yet. It seems to be a right mixture – a bit like Japan, a bit of Hong Kong, quite a bit of China, and a hint of India. Japan because it wasn’t that long ago that Taiwan had a 50 year occupation by Japan. Hong Kong because it’s been more open to the West and it’s influences and has a certain freedom to it. China, well because most of the peope here are essentially Chinese in origin and the main langauge is quite Mandarin. And India, a little bit because it is hot, tropical, you can see the similar fauna and you can get bitten by mosquitos all day long!!!
I know, you’ll say – well it is a different place, another country. I know, I know. I haven’t quite got my bearings I think, because I am missing Japan. Because it’s another new place after so many and I am on my own again, travelling alone. Also because I am one stop away from home, almost there.
I have got stuck in though and gone to see some sights. The hostel (which leaves a lot to be desired! Cockroach!!) is not far from the station, so I walked from there to Taipei 101, the tallest building at present in the world, standing 508m! That was a bit of a mistake as a few kilometres in China or Japan is not the same as in Taiwan. The heat, or should I say humidity makes it a lot further. I was guzzling water down and getting tired pretty quick, and I realised that I have to take it a bit slower here to start with.
Taipei 101 aye! Well it is very tall. It is based on the idea of a stalk of bamboo, which is pretty easy to see, although I did think it would be a little rounder, instead of sqaure! I took some quite bad photos and had a look around. It is a bit like Canary wharf in that it is a mix of business and pleasure. I went down into the belly of the beast to the food court as you can’t quite get to the top due to it not being quite finished yet! The Food court has been called by some the best in Asia, so I managed to find myself a ‘vegetarian’ Taiwanese hot-pot. There were some suspicious meaty bits and some definate non-veggie bits. It’s a bit hard to tell though in Asia because they are masters of tofu and soya products which are by nature quite meaty. Anyway, most of it was veggie and was very tasty and very filling!
I waddled out, mostly because I was full although I have been doing a lot of waddling lately – a bit like Jon Wayne wearing a nappy – it’s so humid here that it is uncomfortable to walk normally because one is so sticky!
I went to see a film at the Warner Village there. It was no Asian cinema art house masterpiece, it was Mission Impossible 3! I know, how could I! Well, I just wanted something entertaining, easy to watch and familiar in a new place. It was entertaining though, exciting and… go and see it!
Raining heavily this morning. Hopefully I’ll head out for a temple visit this arvo.
Really looking forward to heading south to Tainan on Sunday, where I’ll meet up with Kuei and eventually Pei-Jen next week. Will be great to see familaiar faces and do some off-the-beaten track exploring. I’ll also get some language help so I can try all the things I am curious about but too scared to attept to ask.
I am also doing some teaching there at the university. Will be interesting to see how Japanese and Taiwanese unis compare.
Sorry this one’s not very ‘photo rich’ – will take some more today.
Catch you soon, take care,
Yours truly, Sweaty Betty.
Tags: Sweaty Betty, Taiwan-fun-fun!
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Tom
Do they still have The Combat Zone? It used to be the best place to go out back in 95 when I was there.
Taipei is mad, isn’t it? No taifuns, I hope – I think it’s a bit early so you should be OK.
Alan