25 yo Melbournian. Born and bred in the shadows of a city called KL. Survives on chocolates, lots of sleep and the comfort of good company. Loves a good laugh, a good book, a good cry, a good movie.

"Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love and something to hope for." - Joseph Addison

Final days in Taiwan

19.8.07

One cannot come to Taiwan and not pay a visit to the many temples that this country boasts. Religion plays a big part in the lives of people here and there are temples dedicated to all the different deities be it the Warrior God, Kwan Yin, the Monkey God, not forgetting a temple dedicated to Confucius.

One of the tourist must see attractions in Taiwan are the famed binlang stalls. These are brightly neon-lit stalls selling betel nuts that are usually found at the entrance & exits to the freeways. Why the attraction? The girls of course! Most of these stalls are manned by young girls dressed in skimpy short skirts and bikinis.

Yehliu Geological Park is an hour's drive from Taipei city and is famous for the odd and rather unique stone formations that have come about as a result of erosion. Among some of these are the Nipple rocks, the Cinderella Slipper and the Queen's Head (below), so named for their resemblances.

Back in Taipei, the last stop was the visit to the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, a tribute to the former President of Taiwan and leader of the Kuomintang. Unfortunately, due to the recent political developments in Taiwan, the Memorial Hall is now closed to visitors, in a campaign to dilute the image of the former leader. I have been told that there are plans to re-name the structure, or even to demolish it. In the meantime, it stands firm at one end of the National square.

Taiwan Pt 2

2.8.07

Taiwan isn't just all food and shopping. I was surprised to find that there were quite a number of parks in and around the city area. There's the rather famous YangMingShan National Park, about 30 minutes from the city, which is a favourite with the locals for the morning walks. It is beautiful here in spring when the azaleas are in full bloom. Then there are other smaller parks tucked in little corners around Taipei, which are beautifully landscaped. Parks tend to be a favourite for locals for their morning exercise, and also for the young to showcase their talents -be it singing, or hip-hop dancing - to earn a quick buck.

One of the highlights was of course my rather late trip to Taipei 101, currently dubbed the world's tallest inhabited building. The retail mall occupies the first 5 floors of this grand structure. We got into the world's fastest elevator, taking us from the 5th to the 89th floor observatory deck in 37 seconds. The view from up above - simply magnificent. For an extra NTD100, you can go further up to the 91st floor outdoor observatory deck.

If you take a quick walk around town, you will notice a couple of things. Firstly, karaoke places are everywhere. Naturally, I didn't miss out on the Taiwanese KTV experience. For approx. NTD300, you get a nice huge room for 3 hours equipped with a plasma TV, touch screen controls and complete with drinks and a mini buffet (they serve steamed pork buns, rice, congee, toast, fried chicken things). Secondly, you cannot help but notice the number of convenience stores around in the form of 7-11s, Family Marts etc. The people here live, eat and breathe convenience stores I swear. But only because the 7-11s here are stocked with all sorts of delightful goodies that we don't get to see here.

Anyway, I was hoping beyond all hope to have the fortune to bump into some hot Taiwanese celebrity - like Jay Chou or Lee Hom. No such luck! The closest I got was this:

*melts*