It sounds like a university course, perhaps on the history of Taiwan's capital. It appears as if several Chinese food containers have been stacked on top of each other. Once the world's tallest building at a height of 1,671 feet (509 metres), the Taipei 101 was on my radar for today. Taiwan is one of the very few countries where I feel like I didn't do any research before coming here. Having been places like Pitcairn Island and Antarctica, maybe I feel like Taiwan is too mainstream.
I got my morning tipple at Starbucks and then boarded the MRT at Daplingin Station. The MRT card has the likes of Hello Kitty.
Exiting at Xiangshan Station I had a full frontal view of the Taipei 101. Since I booked for 11 AM I had a bit of time to burn so I opted to walk up Elephant Mountain for what is regarded as the most "Instagrammable" view of Taipei. The walk is a little bit of exercise but not a mountain by any means. Taiwan is the first Asian country where I have an opportunity to find quite a few geocaches. In Japan and Korea I didn't have a smartphone and in the rest that I've been to there aren't many caches. I grabbed a view whilst I snapped this...
...and then I grabbed a few caches whilst I got drizzled on. Oh well, at least it's not hot and sticky. With my legs being given a workout I made my way to my "course in Taiwanese studies" in the observatory of the Taipei 101. Looking up, I looked in awe!
The lift (elevator) is an experience in itself as it whisked me from the first to the 89th floor in only 37 seconds, travelling at 60.6 km per hour.
The lift is lightning fast, though every year a vertical marathon is held for ambitious runners to run up the stairs to the 91st floor. At the observatory I observed Taipei on a gloomy day.
Unfortunately, the outdoor section of the observatory was closed today due to poor weather. Free wifi allowed me to sit with a coffee and make a call whilst I enjoyed the view. The Taipei 101 is home to the world's largest tuned mass damper, one of the very few open to the general public.
A tuned mass damper is designed to reduce the swaying of the building during earthquakes and strong winds; it swayed by 100 centimeters during a typhoon a few years ago. The damper has become such a popular tourist attraction that Sanrio created the Damper Baby, which comes in four versions.
Descending into the food court I was absolutely spoilt for choice with 32 restaurants to choose from. "What shall I have, I thought." Craig Smith, in Queenstown, suggested going to Din Tai Fung but some of the best dumpings around but it was chock-a-block in there so I wandered around. I settled for beef with corn and rice on a hot plate where you roast it right in front of you.
Delicious it was! My friend Jo said she's watched programs about cooking and eating in Taiwan and heard the food is brilliant. It sure is so far! With my time at my Taipei "course" (the 101, that is) wrapped up I was on a mission to find 10 geocaches today. Most often I get out and do as much as possible on my first day but yesterday I did almost nothing except get a bit to eat and go for a couple of walks near where I'm staying. I made it a point today to make up for what I didn't do yesterday. Collecting a couple of caches I made my way to the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. He was the first president of the Republic of China.
Round central Taipei I wandered in search of geocaches; one of them was even a bicycle with the log hidden inside the bell! There are some really cool caches out there. I reckon it took some serious effort to reach my goal this evening: 10 finds in 13 attempts. My 10th find gave me a fantastic view of the 101.
In one day I sure packed in a lot. Today I was city-slickin' but I reckon tomorrow I'll be up for something nature-oriented. Currently I'm staying with a young man named Erwin. He speaks English fluently and is working on his master's degree in math. He's new to CouchSurfing and I'm one of his first CSers. We chatted for awhile and then I was ready to study for my next course in Taipei 101.
