Mid trip update

A good morning to all, or at least all on this side of the world. A good eve to all you wacky western hemispherians.

Yesterday was a day off for kVn here in Taiwan, so I took the opportunity to go see some sites. After lazying around a little in the morning, I headed out and hopped on the MRT. One line change and five stops later, I arrived at the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. Many pictures were taken, including a number of short videos of the changing of the guard. The hall itself, along with the National Concert Hall and National Theatre are quite impressive and large affairs; hopefully some of the pics will turn out decent. (Unfortunately, kVn neglected to bring his camera USB cable, so he must wait until he is home to see the pics).

The weather was somewhat cooperative - it was warm, but there was an on-and-off drizzle most of the day. Fortunately, the haviest rain occured when I was looking at the exhibitions in the C.K.S. Memorial Hall.

After a quick trip to the hotel, it was off to Taipei 101 for lunch, shopping, and more pictures. Lunch was had at a pretty neat restaurant whose menu had quite the mix of asian, western, and european foods. I had a set meal with pumpkin soup, caesar salad, chicken and steak fajitas (fah-jee-ta, according to the waiter), honey cake, and iced tea. All quite delicious. Entertainment out the window was watching one man using a lift to paint the underneath of a bridge-like sturcture by himself. In the States, there would be at least one or two others working on it for, at the very least, safety considerations. One thing you discover quickly is safety standards are not quite the same here ^_^

Taipei 101 itself was really frickin' tall. I didn't go up in it, but did hit the connected mall (which contains mostly expensive stores like Gucci), and hit a nice bookstore in there.

After Taipei 101, I took the MRT to the Nanjing E. Rd. exit, and hit an FNAC (fun to say as F'n AC, heehee) for browsing DVDs, CDs, and electronics. Unlike Japan, CD and DVD prices in Taiwan (talking legit here, not bootlegs) are on par with US prices. Since J-Pop is reasonably popular in Taiwan, this made kVn quite happy. I was able to pick up the latest cd from Ayu, as well as the most recent release from Aikawa Nanase for quite reasonable prices ... 1/3 of what I'd have paid in Japan.

I ended the day wandering around Ximenting, a cool shopping/restaurant area frequented by the Taiwanese youths. It felt like a mix between Shibuya and Harajuku.

Well, kVn must get some work done, but will be posting pictures on his return to the states.