Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Taiwan: Day 5



Sunday had really nice weather which was perfect for Yehliu Geopark, a park with many interesting rock formations.





We also hiked up the mountain and immensely enjoyed the views of the ocean and the rest of the park.







We then headed to the Core Pacific City mall which architecturally is quite amazing.







We only spent a short time at the mall before taking a cab to the Taipei 101 Observatory so we could get there before they close. The elevator ride is only about 37 seconds long and it hold the record for the world's fastest elevator. The main observatory is on the 89th floor and there is another one on the 88th floor, but the highlight is the outdoor observatory on the 91st floor.






This is called a "damper." It helps prevent the tower from swaying in strong winds or earthquakes.
After a full day we were ready to head back home and hit the sack. Stay tuned for Monday's exciting trip!

Monday, March 16, 2015

Taiwan: Days 3-4


view of Taipei from Maokong


Friday's itinerary consisted of taking the gondola to Maokong, a village which grows tea leaves. We chose to take the glass bottom gondola and the view was amazing! It was also really nice to be able to see Taipei city from the distance.






We returned by bus and went to the Taipei Zoo.






We kept things a bit on the short side as we had to get ready for Shabbat where we joined Chabad. During Shabbat we took a walk to a park and to Tonghua Night Market where we experienced the extremely unpleasant smell of stinky tofu, probably one of the worst things we have ever smelled in our lives!

After Shabbat was over, we went to the mall at Taipei 101, one of the tallest towers in the world!




 Stay tuned for more!

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Getting Started in Taiwan



I don't have time for the full happenings over our flight and the past 2 days here in Taiwan, but I will give you a quick overview.

After a short stopover in Japan, we finally landed in Taiwan late Tuesday night so there was no time to do anything other than get settled in and get some sleep.

Wednesday was raining the entire day so we went to the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, which in addition to being a memorial to Sun Yat-sen for being the first President and Founder of The Republic of China (Taiwan), it is a museum as well.
Every hour there is a changing of the guards by his statue located inside the building.

We went through the area fairly quick until we came to one of the special exhibit rooms showcasing embroidery. Besides having gorgeous embroidered patterns (no photos allowed), there was an embroidery arts-&-crafts area set up. You had to sign up a few days in advance, however since many people did not come because of the rain we were able to join!

The rest of the afternoon we were busy picking up another friend and getting her settled in and then falling asleep before we even realized.

Thursday was another rainy day so we all headed to the National Palace Museum.

We started off with a tour but quickly decided we wanted to go at our own pace and went off on our own. When we finished touring the museum it had just stopped raining so we walked around the small garden area next to the museum and ate lunch.



After the National Palace Museum we headed toward the Beitou area which is full of natural hot springs. It was so amazing to be there and feel the warmth coming from the springs. We also stepped into the small Hot Springs Museum which was built by the Japanese as bathhouse.


 We continued down the road to the Beitou Thermal Valley, otherwise known as Hell Valley.


As it was getting dark, we went to Shilin Night Market and walked around. We also chanced upon one of the toilet themed restaurants called Modern Toilet. The seats are toilets and the tables are bathtubs and they may even serve the food in mini toilet bowls!


That pretty much concludes our first few days. We are looking forward to the nicer weather that is coming. Stay tuned!

More pictures of the National Palace Museum here!