While I was in Taiwan, Davis and I took a plane to the southern most tip of Taiwan...Kenting. The scenery down there is gorgeous. It's a lot different than the crowded streets of Taipei. You are surrounded by the ocean and it's also pretty mountainous. While we were down there we went to the beach, the aquarium, did some shopping, and pretty much just relaxed. It was so nice to go down south because it was warm! Even though it was the end of December I was able to wear shorts. :)
Me inside the aquarium. I was able to get a discount because I am foreigner. Davis was able to get a discount too, but he had to show proof that he was an American because they didn't believe him.
I really like this picture because I was able to capture the reflection of my camera. It just looks artsy to me. A
Taipei 101 is currently the world's tallest building. It is 1,671 feet tall. Construction was started in 1999 and was completed in 2004. This building has 101 floors above ground (hence the name) and inside it houses the Taiwan Stock Exchange, restaurants, shops, and an observatory. In order to reach the observatory on the 89th floor, you can take the world's fastest elevator. It travels at 39 mph and will reach the 89th floor in less than 39 seconds. This building is also designed to withstand earthquakes over 7 on the Richter Scale. When Davis and I went to see it, the observatory wasn't opened to the public yet. :( It opened a week after I left Taiwan. So instead we went to another observatory downtown which was on top of a department store. So I was still able to get a good view of the city.
Chiang Kai-Shek (CKS) Memorial was built in memory of Taiwan's first President. Chiang Kai-Shek escaped China to setup Taiwan's first democratic government. The memorial itself is huge! Inside there is a statue of Chiang Kai-Shek that is heavily guarded. The guards remain motionless and then there is the changing of the guards every hour. It reminded me of the guards in London. Outside the memorial there is a large garden and pond. Apparently, when Davis was younger he liked to go to the pond to feed the fish and even fell in once. :) I had a funny story too when I tried to feed the fish there. So we bought fish food and as I was nearing the end of the container, I decided that I was just going to whip the rest of the food into the pond. Well, as I was bringing my arm back to throw it, all the food came out and spilled all over the bridge. The funny part was that all these little kids see all this food on the ground and they just start picking it up all around me so they could feed the fish. They weren't going to pass up free fish food!
I arrived in Taiwan on Christmas Day. After a three hour plane ride, I landed in Taipei. After getting off the plane, it didn't really feel like Christmas. For one, it was warm! It was weird not seeing snow on Christmas day. Two, it was the first Christmas that I didn't get to spend with my family. However, I am fortunate that I did get to spend it with Davis and his. Three, instead of the traditional Christmas meal that I am used to having with my family, Davis and I went to a restaurant called Grandma Nitty's. This restaurant had a wide selection of food and it was actually nice to not see Japanese seafood plastered all over the menu. So for Christmas dinner, I ordered a burrito. I guess I just wanted something that wasn't Japanese. The burrito, however, was a little too spicy for me so I didn't finish it. It was kind of a waste. After dinner, Davis and I walked around downtown Taipei and I was able to see some sights.
My friend Mike came to visit me in November. It was great to see a familiar face from back home plus it was also nice to take two weeks off from work to travel around Japan with your friend. Mike I covered a lot of ground. We traveled to Osaka, Hiroshima, Koya-san, Tokyo, and of course Hikone. :) Since it was November the weather was perfect, but the sun starting setting at like 4:30 because Japan doesn't have daylight savings time. So that meant that I had to get up early (ughh!) so we could make the most out of our day.
Mike this one's for you. :)
Shinkansens (a.k.a. bullet trains to Westerners) are one of the most reliable forms of transportation in Japan. They travel at an average speed of 164 mph and are extremely punctual like up to the second. In fact, in one year the total time all bullet trains were late by was 12 seconds. However, Shinkansens are also very expensive! To take a Shinkansen from Maibara (one stop over from Hikone) to Tokyo costs $100. So to go to Tokyo and back costs over $200 just to ride the train. Shinkansens, however, save you so much time. It takes me 2 and half hours to get to Tokyo by Shinkansen. If I were to take an Express train, however, it would take over 8 hours. The fastest recorded Shinkansen has traveled at 277 mph. China, however, now has a train that can travel at 287 mph because it uses magnetic levitation so there's less friction. It will be interesting to see if Japan follows in their footsteps.
Tokyo Tower is seen by many Japanese as this great architectural wonder. It's 1,093 feet tall and it's higher than the Eiffel Tower in Paris on which it is suppose to resemble. On the ground floor there is an aquarium and there are also elevator shafts to take you up to the different viewpoints. However, it's really expensive! They charge you to go up to the first viewpoint at 492 feet and then they charge you an additional fee if you want to go up to the second viewpoint at 820 feet. Mike and I thought it would be better to just go to one of the many tall buildings in Shinjuku where we could take the elevators to the top of those buildings and see a view of Tokyo for free.
I'm a recent graduate from the University of Michigan.
