NY NY, Danshui seaport, and a Taipei night market

Today started out late. I was up late the night before and I didn't wake until around 10:30am. We proceeded to get cleaned up and went over to my uncle Shau's house where my aunt had prepared a big lunch. My other uncle, Ogin, and his family had returned to town and joined us for lunch. Lunch was great as usual and after that all the younger crowd decided to take a trip away from the older folks. We hopped on a bus downtown and strolled around a big shopping mall called New York, New York. Not too bad, but it wasn't as big as I had expected. There was a replica of the Statue of Liberty right out front, I've got a pic of it in the photo album. After that we jumped on a train to Danshui, which is a touristy seaport town. We arrived shortly before sunset so the view was nice. Lots of shops and stuff to eat, plus the boardwalk was very nice with all the lights at night. We walked around for a few hours then caught the train back to Taipei to get something to eat at one of the night markets there. If I thought the night markets in Chiayi were big, I didn't understand the word until I went to the market last night. Like a rock concert there were people everywhere, jam packed into the tiny streets and shops. It was craziness and fun all at the same time. We found a few places were we picked up some small items to eat and browsed around the vendor stands. By now it was getting late and we caught the train followed by the bus back home for the night. Only one more full day to go here! Tony

Out on the town....finally!

I've been delinquent on my blog so I'll try to catch up. Two days ago I took it easy after going to Taipei 101. My cousin and I stayed in and watched a couple of movies and then went out to eat, nothing to exciting. My mom and her sister went to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial in Taipei. I believe he is one of the fathers of the revolutionary movement in Taiwan. Anyway, I've included a pic of the memorial with 101 in the background, its hard to take a pic around here without it in the background. There was another reason we stayed in instead of going to the memorial. My cousin had never been out to a bar before so we decided to go. She called one of her friends from school and we all went out to this lounge/wine bar called Champagne 2. It was real nice, they had about 150 different champagne's and sparkling wines. We started out with mixed drinks and ended the night with some wine. It was nice having a few drinks with friends after the constant family get togethers. After the bar my uncle just happened to be in the area (I blame my aunt for this coincidence) and we all went to get some late night eats. Pretty nice night. Yesterday we moved to my uncles place as he was out of town and my aunt had to go back to work. After that we went to this spa which was really a pool and sauna type place. Then we went to dinner with my other uncle who brought us to this really nice restaurant, kind of like a do it yourself cooking place but much better. We ate way too much and talked into the night, and now I'm typing this blog to you. Not too much longer here so I'll keep the posts coming till the end. Tony

Taipei 101

So yesterday we went to Taipai 101 finally. In case you don't know it already, Taipei 101 is the tallest building in the world. It is designed after traditional chinese architecture and has 101 habitable floors hence "Taipei 101" We went during the day but the tickets we purchased were for the evening. It was really impressive. Inside there is a 6 floor mall with some of the most expensive stores I've ever seen. It also has a full blown chinese market and a supermarket. All of this is underground. the observation deck is on the 89th floor and it takes 39 seconds to get there by elevator. The elevators are the fastest in the world as they travel at almost 40 miles an hour. They are also pressurized so your ears don't pop as much. The view from the top was amazing. 101 is the only skyscraper in Taipei so it towers over everything in the city. Also on the observation deck you can see the damper system that most tall building have, except this one is the only building where the damper is viewable by the public. So much cool stuff about the building and not enough room here to go into it. After we came back down we ate at the market in the building, bought some cheese and wine at the supermarket and went home to eat cheese, drink wine, and watch a movie. So now I can say that I've been to the tallest building in the world!! Tony

Wood carving craziness!

So we travelled up to Taipei yesterday. The drive itself was good, I had to drive my uncle's car because he was out of town at his in-laws place. Only a little traffic and all of the toll points were free so it made the trip a little faster. We stopped at this wood carving town, not a town carved out of wood. It was really cool, lots of nice stuff and amazing sculptures. The wood is finished in this really polished and solid way that makes it look and feel like stone. I had to buy a few pieces of wood for my house. After that we made it to my aunt's place and proceeded to dinner after hanging out for a while. It was nice. My aunt doesn't have cable so we had to make a stop at the video store on the way home. We watched Mr. and Mrs. Smith. It started out ok, but quickly went south fast. If it weren't for Angelina Jolie I would have shut off the movie two thirds of the way through. Anyway, I went for a run this morning and this afternoon I think we are planning on going to Taipei 101 so I should have some nice pics tomorrow. We'll see. Only 5 more days here including today so I better get going!! The pics above are of most of my cousins and one of the wood carvings from yesterday.... Tony