We landed at Taipei’s International Airport and cleared C&I about 2300 (11pm) Tuesday night. Our driver was waiting for us as arranged and on the long journey from the airport to the city (almost an hour by car) we rested and wondered if, apart from seeing Bastian, Holly and the kids, this trip would be worthwhile. Well we needn’t have worried. It’s Thursday as I type this (even though this post will deal solely with Wednesday) and so far the word “awesome” has been overused and worn out!
Our unit here is (you guessed it) awesome. It isn’t any bigger than the average hotel room but as an AirBnB rental it is fitted out much much better. The unit is 15 floors up and is pretty much sound proof. We have a kitchen plus all the mod cons of any standard hotel. We even have a balcony. Then there are the little touches of a home as apart from a cold hotel room. There are pictures of Winnie’s cat for instance and living plants. A washing machine and a gazillion TV stations, not that we watch much ‘telly’ when we’re away. The wi-fi is reasonably quick and the aircon, though a bit noisy, is terrific.
We slept in on Wednesday morning. Well, slept in means we got out of bed at our usual 0900. With no idea what was about and with nothing in the fridge we stepped out onto Nanjing Rd to see a MacDonalds just up the street. Pancakes and coffee for breaky! Back in the unit by 1030 we decided as “Taipei 101” was our number 2 priority we should see it first. It is visible from our balcony though it’s majesty isn’t as grand as when we eventually got to stand at it’s base. One short bus ride and a few blocks of walking and we were there. It is one overpowering building. Shaped like a Chinese pagoda the indoor observatory is on the 89th floor and the outdoor one is on 91. We thought we’d go up, have a peak around and get down to go elsewhere. We spent most of the afternoon up there. The view over Taipei is staggering. From up there you can see how Taipei has evolved as a very large modern, well planned city where the planners have done well to make the streets and avenues wide enough to cope with the millions of cars and scooters that ply the roads each day. Most prominent are the freeways which criss-cross the city making travel across town easy. The architecture of the high rise buildings is imaginative and stunning and at times beggars belief. Just take a close look at some of the buildings in the pictures. My favourite was the “winged” building under construction that has a central tube core off which “wings” sprout out and up while being offset from the floor below making the building a spiral shape. There are cranes everywhere as capitalism blossoms and grows more ‘money’. No wonder China claims Taipei and wants to bring it under her wings like it did Hong Kong. Like HK the locals often don’t identify as Chinese but as Taiwanese.
Time flew and before we knew it we were rushing to get to our dinner date with our number 1 priority, Holly, Bastian and the kids. Last time we saw this gorgeous couple they didn’t have the children but now they have two, Paul & Anna. Parenthood hasn’t changed this couple. They are still wonderful friends and it was an emotional reunion. They had organised dinner at Le Meridien Hotel and I must say that if you are ever in Taipei you really must eat here. It was an “all-you-can-eat” affair with pretty much anything you wanted. There was Suchi, seafood of all descriptions, wok fried foods, roast beef, tempura prawns and vegies, grilled steaks cooked to your order, pizza, cold cuts, salad, fruit, drinks and of course Shanes ‘fave’ a desert bar chock full of goodies. I haven’t eaten this much in one sitting since who knows when. What a great spread! After several hours of gorging and chatting away we had to say goodnight but Holly first sent us a link to our next day’s adventure and we agreed to get together on Saturday for another outing while we could.
For now it’s bed and thoughts of tomorrow’s adventure. In the meantime here’s some pictures to enjoy.
Read tomorrows blog. It’s already almost finished ready to post too.
What can I say other than WOW !!!!!!! and here I am looking forward to going to Tin Can Bay Markets in an hour……lol,lol.
Thanks for the comments Ian. Taipei is a real surprise packet. Worthy of a visit. Cheers mate & enjoy TCB. I do miss home at times.