I started the day at Beitou, to the north of downtown. They have a traditional market during the day (as opposed to a “night market”).
On the way back to the metro station, I saw someone had come up with a clever idea for a rear reflector on a bicycle:
I had seen in a guidebook that the Guandu Temple was the oldest one in Taiwan, having been built in 1661. It was near a museum of art glass, so I decided to head out there. It turned out that the museum was not open at 9:30 a.m., so I figured I would go to the shrine. I thought “it’s probably some old relic and I’ll spend a couple of minutes there and then try the museum again.” Instead of waiting 30 minutes for a bus, I decided to walk to the shrine, which is only about one kilometer away. Here is a decorated underpass on the way to the shrine.
I got to the shrine soon, and was looking to the left, where I saw this rather unimpressive structure.
Then I turned to the right and saw: this.
To paraphrase a line from Casino Royale, there are temples and there are temples. This is the latter.
There is a tunnel in the shrine with walls coverd with gold-painted carvings:
But wait—there’s more.
When you get to the other side of the building, you see a wall, and it’s a long wall, with amazing carvings like these.
Here are a few more shots from the lower floors
The view from the top floor is spectacular, and the grounds around the main shrine do not disappoint either:
Various other photos, showing attention to design even on the floor tiles. (I think those were installed sometime well after 1661.)
I went back to the subway station area, found that the museum was not open at all, and headed back downtown to see Taipei 101, once the world’s tallest building. When I was with Amir and Lisa yesterday, she asked me if I could see it as she pointed it out. I said, “You mean the building that looks like a stack of nested cupcake liners?” I am now ready to start my new career as a full-time diplomat.
The abstract sculpture in the first photo is in the Taipei City Hall Metro station, the others on the way to Taipei 101.
Here is a view from inside, looking up to the first few floors of high-class stores like Dior, Tag Heuer, etc.
Yes, it was nice, but at that point it looked like just another very upscale mall. I was debating whether to take the elevator to the top of the building until the weather got cloudy and it looked like rain. I decided not to spend NT$50 (about US$17) to see—pretty much nothing.
Remember how I said that they didn’t allow any photography in the museum? Well, they had a small exhibit in the Taipei City Hall metro station, and they couldn’t stop me from taking pictures of that. So there, National Museum!
Here are a steamed bun that had cabbage and “glass noodles” in it, and a chocolate roll. That was breakfast.
Here was lunch; some take-out sushi for only US$3.50. Such a deal!
Sign for a take-out sushi place (not the one where I got lunch).
“You must be at most this height to ride for free.”
Yet another edition of “bad people on the subway.”
Every time I leave the main station near the hotel, I seem to get to a different exit. Here is a nice butterfly motif near the exit I used today.
