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What a relief to be in Taipei!!

It’s brilliant here!...I’ve been to Taiwan before, but I probably only spent about 4/5 days in Taipei itself, so I’m looking forward to seeing more of the city. Things are very much more western here, esp. in the wide grid formation boulevards, the fact that most shop assistants automatically speak to you in English and in that you can mostly find menus in English which are understandable and less of a surprise when your meal arrives!!

Unfortunately we had to go straight to work, as we had another press day for publicity, followed by 3 day fit-up. The Plumbing they put in was shocking and leaked all over the floor!..but after a little jigging around I managed to sort the water problem out. That just left us with the electricity being too low a voltage to run the drain and spin cycles on the washing machines!! But fortunately the sound boys came round and sorted us out, as the generator which had been brought in was set too low!

So eventually Monday came around and time for a day off. With the MRT stop being just around the corner we decided to get on the red line to the end, which is about 12 miles north of the city and by the sea!!...a return for less than £2! This is one of the overland metro lines, which follows the Danshui river through the city and to its mouth into the sea at Danshui town. A commuter town come fishing village set on the banks of the river, we had a lovely day wandering through the streets, seeing the temples and taking a boat ride to Bali. No not the island of Bali! But an even smaller fishing village on the west bank of the river, which has a wooden boardwalk winding its way along the ice cream selling front! 2 boat rides later and we had made it round to the Fisherman’s wharf, where the fishing boats head out to sea. The foot bridge was quite spectacular and we definitely benefited from being able to stay out until sunset (rather than having to go to work!) as the night views back over the Taipei were excellent.

Craving a good Indian curry, we found in the guide book a little place not far from the hotel, run by a Pakistani chef. Excellent! Best garlic naan bread and gorgeous chicken karahi , just what I needed! Wanting to keep up with the sightseeing, the Maokong Gondola was on the list for Tuesday before work. It’s only been open a month, but for £2, well worth a trip, even if we did have to queue for an hour!...dread to think of the weekend queues! To get there it’s another trip on the MRT, but this time all the way down the brown line to the zoo, where over the valley is an incinerator tower painted with a giraffe! The gondola winds its way up the hillside, with steep ascents and well as a few downward sections! Mum you would probably hate it! It’s a very smooth ride but some sections are quite high up and considering the price, it’s a good old lengthy journey, 15-20mins. The 4^th station isn’t the top of the hill but the end of the line, where if u like tea, there are more than 20 tea houses, as you’re in tea plantation central! We went back down to the 3^rd station to see the Zhinan Temple set up against the hillside. A beautiful place with good views down the hillside, you can even see tower 101 in the distance!

So the obvious choice then was to do the tower!...Taipei 101 is currently the tallest building in the world and its pretty spectacular. Its only when you leave the city do you really appreciate how it towers over everything else! Up close it’s supposed to look like a stalk of bamboo, representing the strength of the Taiwanese people. I prefer the analogy of the American Chinese take-away boxes stacked on top of one another! 101 holds many Guinness world records, including the fastest lift in the world, as I think it only took 37seconds to reach the 89^th floor! After viewing the city through blue tinted windows, you can walk up to the 91^st floor where the outside viewing deck is. For those that don’t like heights, make sure not to look down the stairwell, as it is obviously used as an emergency exit for the entire building, and it can be dizzying looking down 101 floors to the basement car parking!!! To finish the day off a visit to Karen’s Teppanyaki in the food court, where you sit at the bar and have your food cooked on the hot plate in front of you…gorgeous beef fillet with spicy sauce and bean sprouts, excellent!

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