We came to Taipei on the High Speed Rail from Tainan
yesterday. The rail covers a distance of
183 miles in an hour and 40 mins.
Jeffrey, Csaba and I took a taxi to the Grand Hyatt Hotel (right next to
Taipei 101) Since the Microsoft corporate rate was sold out I was given a room
at the preferred rate – the room was almost like a one bedroom apartment, with
a sitting area, bedroom and a HUGE bathroom. http://www.taipei.grand.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html
After freshening up, we met downstairs to go get some dinner
– the basement of Taiper 101 has many eating places like a typical food court
in any mall We went to Din Tai Fung, the
famours dumpling place (www.
.com). While Jeffrey and Csaba had fish, pork soup
and pork dumplings, I ordered taro dumplings, friend rice with only vegetables
and spicy peanut noodles. IT was
great!! We then walked around the
downtown area, people watching the crowd outside many night clubs in that area. http://www.dintaifung.com.tw/en/default.htm
This morning I decided to go up to the top of Taipei 101 and
visit the National Palace Museum. Taxis
are very safe in Taiwan and strictly go by the meter. I walked to Taipei 101 and bought the T$500
ticket to go up to the observatory. The
fast elevator took us to the 89th floor from which you can climb up
to the outside observatory on the 91st floor, or walk down to the 88th
floor for the elevator down. The view
from the top was spectacular – clear day, no wind, not crowded at all. I walked around the observatory taking in the
view. http://www.taipei-101.com.tw/index_en.htm
On coming down, I flagged a taxi that took me to the
National Palace Museum, for T$300. For
another 500 bucks, I got an admission tickets to the museum The exhibits covered religious architecture, calligraphy,
jade and semi precious stones, scroll art, bronze and clay sculptures. Each exhibit was clearly labeled in English
and very easy to follow. Artifacts were
from as early as 2BC. I wanted to go the
jade market in Taipei for a short visit – the information center at the museum
was very very helpful. She gave me the
taxi number, and asked me to wait outside at the curb for 3 mins for the taxi
to arrive. The taxi arrived within 3
mins!! Amazing efficiency!! http://www.npm.gov.tw/en/
I got dropped off at the jade market, which turned out to be
a bunch of shops along a block – the choices were good, but I had a lot of
problems getting the prices or bargaining since no one spoke English. Next time I need to go with someone who can
speak mandarin! Anyway, I managed to buy
an amethyst bead chain and bracelet.
Hopefully it is worth T$1800 for both of them.
On the way back, I got into a taxi again, that dropped me
off at Taipei 101 – I went to the supermarket to buy chocolates for home. New Lindt chocolates that are thin sheets,
gold bars, sugar free chocolates, and stuff.
Should be good for a couple of weeks!
Taiwan is fun, safe and entertaining!
