Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Jan. 7 & 8, Taipei

Sammy and Grace were wonderful hosts. They took such pride in showing us around town. And it’s an interesting town, with the world’s tallest building (Taipei 101), monuments to Sun Yat-Sen and Chiang Kai-Shek, and a good-sized museum with wonderful landscape paintings and historic artifacts.

It seems like much of Taipei was built in the late 70s. There’s not as much construction going on now as there might be. It’s an interesting town, very Americanized. The roads all have signs in English (and you keep right when you drive), the power outlets are all compatible, a number of the stores are American brand outlets, even the subways have all signs in English. But much of Taipei’s street commerce doesn’t happen in formal stores as much in little storefronts or stalls.

Most everywhere people live, steel gates protect the windows from robbers. The apartment could be high up with no reasonable way anyone can climb up, but the windows are still gated.

The night market was fun—a carnival of street vendors selling all sorts of food, clothes, gadgets, you name it. In one corner, we even stumbled upon what could have been a higher-end designer store.

The highlight of this leg might have been the hot springs though. The mountains just north of Taipei are volcanic, and have plenty. For roughly $4 US, we sat in a tub and soaked out the stress of the past, thinking about a wonderful future ahead.

Photos from January 7

Photos from January 8

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