Day Two - Taipei

I woke up feeling tentative about the food that was going to be served in the dining room.  All week Dad had been telling us that it was bizarre.  Colour me happy when we discovered it was just Chinese dinner food.  Dinner is my favourite meal and I was quite content to eat it in the morning.  Vegetables with noodles and soy sauce?  Check.  Green salad and warm steamed rolls with bean paste?  Check and check.  Each morning we ate two or three courses.  We usually started with fruit and toast, then we moved onto the dinner items and we'd finish with cocoa pops cereal.

Fruit, toast and salad?  Why not?

My second course, Daniel's third

Dad and Francoise were impressed to see our plates when they joined us in the morning.  Throughout the week they became more open to eating dinner for breakfast.  Although Dad refused to eat noodles before noon.  (We all have our quirks.)  That day they were keeping their plans for us a secret.  

Sufficiently full, we piled into a taxi on our way to the first destination.  The drivers are nuts and I pretty much loved it.  It is as though you are in a video game, weaving in and out of lanes, swerving quickly to avoid collisions with other vehicles and motor bikes; it's pretty insane.  We arrived in one piece at the Mengjia Longshan Temple.  Built in the early 1700's, it is a beautiful place where many come to pray to the deities.  It was very crowded and loud.  Those who are there for a spiritual practice like the busyness and the noise.   They are pleased to have visitors looking around, and are not bothered at all by the photo flashes.  It is a very different experience than any church I've been inside.

A bustling spirituality at Longshan

Waterfall just outside the temple.

Steve is sticking his tongue out at us, not you.

This part of the temple was bombed and destroyed by America in WW2

as it was thought Japanese troops were hiding here.

Longshan has been devastated by earthquakes and fires throughout the years

and folks just keep restoring it.

 The details are very ornate and beautiful

 I kept hearing the clinking sound of something falling on the floor.  My assumption was that this woman was very clumsy until Francoise explained to me what she was doing.  In her hands are two red crescent shaped blocks of wood.  Traditionally you ask God a question and then toss the pieces to the floor.  If they land side up, the answer is yes.  If they land face down, the answer is no.  If they fall one up and on down the answer is to either ask again later, or the answer is it's going to be okay.

(I might not have this entirely correct.)

 Francoise checking out the offerings.  The flowers smelled divine.

As you walk into the temple there is a counter where you may purchase fruits, biscuits, flowers and candies to offer the Gods.  At the end of the day, the temple then gives the food to the homeless.

 You can see the young lady in the background holding her incense up, she would then bow with it three times.  After this prayer of sorts, the incense went into this huge chamber.  Near the end of our visit, this chamber was on fire!  It quickly went out, making me believe it was done on purpose to burn the sticks and make room for new ones.

The columns were amazing.

 One of the seven Gods

This is the God of the sea who watches over fishermen 

This is the God who helps students with exams;

note all the people praying for finals!

(I said a little prayer for Daniel)

Daniel declared, "I want a dragon tattoo!"

I took this photo so you could see how diverse Taipei is.

Big beautiful temple in the center - Huge ugly hotel on the left

 - Small half circle shape building on the right. 

Look at all the incense smoke in the center!

Not far from Mengjia Longshan Temple is a place nicknamed, "Snake Alley".  Both of these places are located in the oldest part of Taipei and we walked to the infamous market during the day, which was infinitely fine with me!  It was once a legal red light district and there are perhaps a few shady things still happening in the evenings behind closed doors (no judgement).  It is much known for it's "delicacies"  - snake blood, by which they skin the snakes alive and folks drink their blood (personally I find this practice rude to the snakes - judgement), turtle meat, and (ready for this?!) deer penis wine.  

Snake Alley

Daniel mentioned a couple times that he'd like to see it at night.

I do not know if he was serious.  I was keen to just have an uneventful daylight experience.

 As we walked along, Daniel discovered a monkey he liked.

 Going down to the subway

We travelled from the oldest part of the city, to a very new part of the city.  Huge skyscrapers surrounded us as we exited the underground.  It took a couple minutes for our folks to reorient themselves to where we were.  And then we saw where we were, very close to Taipei 101.  They had taken us to see the World's tallest building from 2004 until 2010 (darn you, Dubai!).  It is still, however, the world's tallest and largest green building.

Francoise and I blending in with the locals

A glance at Taipei 101

I noticed this bird on the sidewalk and pointed it out asking if it was real.  Then it blinked at me.  It was very large and it apparently perplexed Daniel and Francoise who stayed to stare and poke near it while Dad and I continued on.  I turned around to find them both still examining the creature with a large crowd gathered around them.  Is it a rare bird for this area?  I've no idea.

Taipei 101 is connected to a massive shopping mall with many floors filled with many fancy shops.   (And I mean French fancy!)  First we went to the food court to get some juice that Francoise was craving.  She and I both chose carrot and apple, while the men picked papaya milk.  I helped Daniel with his, not because he couldn't finish it, but because my obsession with fruit milk was growing.  Then they left us in line to take the fastest elevator in the world up 91 floors!  There was an American man behind us on a date (we think first) with a Japanese woman.  Daniel and I felt sorry for her because the man would not stop talking about Budweiser beer, Ultraman, and Godzilla.  He was less than charming and we spoke French in order to avoid attention from him.  We didn't want him to have us help convince his lady friend what a travesty it is that an American beer, the "king of beers", sold out to a Belgian company.  

All visitors were having their photos taken for souvenirs while waiting and as our turn came closer Daniel asked me what I was going to do in the photo.  I told him, "I'm going to look bored and tired.  What are you going to do?"  He said, "I think I'll look happy and nuts."  Everyone's photo then appeared on television screens over our heads as we made our way through the line.  People started taking pictures of their photo with their phones.  Daniel decided to follow suit since we knew we would not be purchasing this specific keepsake.  

 I think we accomplished our roles.

 Listening to information about the building while enjoying the huge view

 I love all the green

Daniel getting a refresher about the city he lived in as a small child

Since typhoons and earthquakes are common in this part of Asia, some design innovation had to be well thought out and implemented so that the building would remain safe.  A pendulum serving as a "tuned mass damper" is suspended from the 93rd to the 87th floor.  It is the largest and heaviest in the world and also makes Taipei 101 one of the most stable structures ever built.  There is a ton of information on this part of the building, of which I understood as much as I told you.  Oh, I do remember that in 2002 there was a 7M earthquake that hit and Taipei 101 was left undamaged.  I also know that I could feel the building swaying and Daniel could not.  I kept stopping him and saying, "Yikes, there!  Can you feel that?  It's making my stomach turn a bit."  I told Francoise this and she says Steve can't feel it, either.  Those fellows must be related.  (Actually on this trip Francoise and I laughed a lot about how similar they are.)

 I do not know what this thing is, however Daniel really wanted me to stand near it for a photo.

 This is the largest geode I have ever seen.  I want it in my house!

 Ninety some odd floors above Taipei!

 I love this photo because everyone is smiling, sauf the one waitress who is concentrating on her tray.

We ate lunch in this mall restaurant that is famous for its jiaozi.

It was fabulous and you may notice the banner that boasts a Michelin Star.

After an afternoon of walking, Francoise decided to treat me to a hair appointment.  When she lived here she would often come to the same place for a wash and massage.  Steve taught me how to say, "Not too hard" because apparently in Taiwan, massages are not meant to feel good whatsoever!  Luckily he came with us into the salon and explained that I am a weakling who would also appreciate a trim.  My hair has never been so clean.  They wash and massage your scalp for at least ten minutes.  You just sit and meditate.  I'm so glad they went easy on me.  I couldn't believe the tiny person who was torturing Francoise next to me.  They dig into your neck, shoulders and back as well.  It's pretty awesome.  My favourite part was the rinsing sink and chair.  First, all sinks I've experienced have a huge dip where you put your neck and it hurts!  These sinks are flat and so comfortable.  Next, the chair gives you a massage while your head gets massaged again with warm water.  I was in this chair for what felt like an hour.  It got tricky when Francoise and I attempted what little Mandarin we knew to explain how little to cut off the ends of my hair.  (Counting to ten and saying ice cream do not help in these kinds of situations.)  I pointed to a photo in a magazine of a lady with longer curly hair and my girl nodded to me.  Alas, she cut off four inches in front, and three in back.  I about jumped out of the chair when she wanted to give me bangs.  As I live in a hot place, I need all my hair to be easily pulled back into a ponytail on a whim!  Francoise loves my hair and pet me on the way back to the hotel, helping me feel much better about it.  

While we were getting fancy, the boys did a little shopping and Daniel got a new shirt.  The four of us visited in their room for a bit and then got ready for dinner.  We went to a Vietnamese restaurant less than a block from our hotel.  It was wonderful food!  I'm already missing it!

That night, Daniel and I went back for another hot soak in the jacuzzi and again, had another restful sleep.