Taiwan 101

Taipei 101

Yes, it is the tallest building in the world ( at one time I guess...) taken at dusk in Taipei...well the actually name of the building is Taipei 101. It looks very impressive, and you can see if from quite a distance away. However, my first impression of the building when I entered was ...." How come it feels like KLCC huh? Maybe all tall buildings have the same type of architectural...."

That's my impression of one of the finest building in Taiwan!
So this begins my tale of my trip to Taipei! :)

I was in Taiwan from 5-9 Sept, and since it was a short trip, we (Min & I) spend more of our time in Taipei city itself. I found the place quite different from what I imagined....it is a lot less crowded, and the air quality is not as bad. The people are orderly ( as in everyone will stand on the right side of the escalator, and wait in line for passengers from the MRT to alight before boarding) and very friendly. While we manage to visit some of the touristy sights like Shilin Night Market, Shida Night market, National Palace Museum, Ximending( where we stayed), it was the more unconventional places that we went that left the deepest impression.

Couple from Turn Left, Turn Right

We spend an afternoon at the Eslite Bookstore. It was a great experience. We visited an exhibition which showcase the work of artisit "Jimmy" He drew the pictorial "Turn Left, Turn Right" which has been made into a movie. This pictorial is also going to be made into a musical. The reason for the exhibition was also to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Jimmy's work. It was by pure chance that we were at the bookshop to view the exhibition and to attend Jimmy's talk & book signing event :) As part of the 10th anniversary celebrations, they had also created Scriptures and made installations of pictorials and had them all over Taipei city! It was a really great experience, as I have read some of his works and have really enjoyed them. His pictorials are often accompanied by short phrases that really makes you think....check his website out...you will know what I mean.


We also visited this area called 九份 which got its name from the nine households that started the village. Since there were nine families, everything in the village was divided by nine...hence the name ....well Communists at its best! :) The place is worth at least 1/2 a day of visit. We went in the afternoon and had tea in one of the tea houses while watching the sun set behind the hills. It was quite an experience. We took the train there, but as we didn't know the time-table & the complicated train schedule, it was quite an experience!! Some nice 'uncle' came and explain the system for us and help us buy tickets! ( we must look really lost!). The train from Taipei Main Station will take you to 瑞坊 (Rui Fang) in about 1 hour for NT$52. You need to then take a bus from the station to get you to 九份. The bus journey reminds me a lot of taking the bus in HK to Stanley Market...the roads are winding up and down the hills and the bus drivers and equally....fast! We realised after arriving that there was a direct bus from Taipei City to 九份! We just had to take it from the Zhong Xiao Fuxing station ( outside Sogo Dept store!) for NT$90! That would have saved us a lot of hassle! But the view & the experience in 九份 was certainly worth the trip...

More about the trip in another post!