Wednesday, February 1, 2012

The Misadventures of Taiwan: Zero Visibility

One thing the Harrington's did not fail to engage in while gallivanting around Taiwan was sleeping in. So upon finally dragging themselves out of bed the couple made their way to their recently (obviously) discovered breakfast joint which served up some amazing concoction that resembled a ham and cheese filled crepe with delectable, salty and spicy dipping sauces and served alongside a cup of hot milk tea, all for under 5US$. Bellies filled and time ticking away the couple headed down the line to Taipei Main Station where they were set to meet up with their CS host for the next two nights, Pete.


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Pete had recently set foot in Taiwan as an English teacher and although he was living in a small studio apartment, the Harrington's were excited to meet this California lad who exposed on his CS profile a love for World of Warcraft and more importantly, for country music. Additionally, Pete resides in a small town just north of Taipei that boasts the most famous of all street food markets which is impossible to pass up if you go by the name of Melissa Harrington.

From subway station to bus station, the Harrington's and Pete made their way to Keelung, deposited their luggage in Pete's studio and hit the rainy streets in search of foods and things to do. Initially overwhelmed by the volume of people and dining choices the Harrington's were soon snacking on candy coated strawberries and making note of other dishes to be sampled at a later time. However, owing to the rain the trio opted to step into Sushi Express for 30NTD (~1US$) a plate sushi. Once inside the group was thrilled to see a fully stocked conveyor belt of a wide variety of sushi, sashimi, beers, sakes, cheesecakes and some veggies making their way past each booth and seat waiting to be chosen by the diners. With a deep seaded love for sushi, it didn't take Mike long to polish off a good stack of plates, but at a dollar a pop it was of no consequence.


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Recognizing that the rain was not about to let up and the city of Taipei may provide a slightly dryer night-time location the crew reboarded a bus and found themselves in the city 30 minutes later. Quickly, they made their way to Taipei 101, the world's 2nd largest building and took the world's fastest elevator (88 floors in just over or under 30 seconds!) to take in the city views. Prior to entering the elevator, the trio was warned that visibility from the top was unimpressive to say the least, regardless, they made the trek and enjoyed the foggy view nonetheless. Aside from the view, the Harrington's enjoyed meeting the Damper Babies and learning about and seeing Taipei 101's 660 metric ton wind damper (really, a lot more awesome than it may sound, just click on that Damper Babies link to see CUTENESS and Awesomeness! Highly recommend the 'Wind Damper Functioning Film' ^.^)


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From city views above, the trio made their way back to ground level and enjoyed an evening of meandering the streets amongst the hip and trendy of Ximen district before grabbing a quick drink and making their way back to Keelung for a restful nights sleep, filled yet again with the sound of fireworks and the constant drizzle of rain, Taiwan winter 2012, a rainy one to be sure!

2 comments:

shellycoulter said...

Your pictures always make me smile. You can always tell you guys are having fun! :)

Holly said...

There were only a couple damper babies when we were there. Those holiday ones are so cute! We were of course freaking out about the coral displays and how long it takes for that specific coral to grow. Did you see the prices?! Craziness!

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