FLYGVA

Part VII
The City of Taipei

My friend was staying during the weekend outside of Taipei and we wanted to meet on Monday morning at 10.00 a.m.. I get several information by the Taiwanese Tourism Bureau and the office in Germay.


To travel in Taipei, one could best use the MRT and buses. In the MRT one could buy a single day ticket or choose a value card, which has a discount of 20% and is rechargeable. Also it could be given back at the information desk in every station and one gets paid back the rest of the value; several information about the MRT and the point of interest near every single MRT Station are available in the MRT Station. The MRT is very clean and a good way to travel in Taipei, announcements are made in English, but sometimes it is crowed.

To get a first impression, I started at Saturday with the Mitsukoshi Tower opposite the main station. It is the second highest building in Taipei and up to the finishing of “101” the highest building one could visit as Tourist.

The Provincial Museum in the Hsin Yuan Park (Park of the 28th February) is closed because it is undergoing renovation in the moment, but the park is worth a visit during the day, as it is a green place in the city. I looked after some new cameras in the photographers alley right next to the Mitsukoshi Tower, but they are not much cheaper than in Germany and as one gets only a Taiwanese Guaranty I did not bought a new one.

Then I take the MRT to Dr. Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall. There were several exhibitions, I visited, but most visible was the Changing of the Guard at every full hour. A very interesting process of military discipline.

Passing the Hyatt Hotel I headed for Taipei 101 and first had an Espresso at Lavazza in “101”. Then I visited the Shopping Mall at 101 and take several pictures of it, as I am interested in architecture. In the Souterrain of the mall are several food stall were one gets a very tasty and cheap meal. I then went to the nearby New York Mall by a covered walk way, and the two building of Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Stores were I finally bought a pair of Nike running shoes for half of the price I have to pay in Germany and a running Shirt of New Balance for a little bit more than half of the German price. But beside this, the most items are not cheaper than in Germany, so there is no reason to shop her (My friend told me later, that several items are available in Taiwan, which are not available in Germany, e.g. some ladies shirts of Burberry or some Todt Shoes, she bought in Taipei. Also the most items she wanted to buy she finally ended buying during a short visit in Hong Kong).

I was a little bit shocked a I take a look on my watch, meanwhile it was 8.00 p.m., so I headed back to the hotel, where I leave my camera and the bought items and went to Huaxi Street Tourist Night Market, also known as Snake Alley. The street and the neighbourhood was crowed by people, mostly Taiwanese People, but also some foreign tourist. Very interesting the snake presentations and I spend two hours in this area. As usual for such visits, I only have a small amount of money and no credit card with me, as I do not want to spend more time to look after my money than to look at the stall. Btw, the criminal rate in Taipei is not very high, it is a very safe place, but one should be aware of pickpockets.

Finally I return to the hotel at 10.45 p.m. and read the paper as I was not really tired.

On Sunday, I went to the National Palace Museum. Also it could not be reached by MRT directly and one has to take a bus, this is not really a problem, as there are some information at the MRT station Shilin which bus to take. Unfortunately the museum is undergoing a renovation, starting at the 1st April for the next two years. So only a few rooms are opened. It seems, that my stay in Taipei will be a visit of closed places and renovation. But, if you stay in Taipei, it is still worth a visit. The homepage has also information in English and German Language.

After I finished my visit in the Palace Museum, I headed back to the city and visited the National History Museum in the Botanic Garden.

Back in the hotel in the late afternoon I tried again to connect to the internet, but failed. So I went to the gym and do some exercises for the next 90 minutes.

On Monday morning I meet my friend an another friend and gave her the trolley. I get some strange views, as I leave the hotel with the luggage. We take a taxi and headed for her apartment, where she started packing her trolley. Another friend (who stayed in Taipei the same time than I does) and I headed during this time to the Baoan Temple which is very nice and on the UNESCO List. The nearby Confucius Temple and the Fine Arts Museum were closed; it is a Monday. So we phoned our friend and she told us, she had finished and we decided to meet at the main station and bring the luggage back to the hotel.

After some Sushi, we went to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, but it became dark and I decided to visit the hall again on Tuesday. We then went to Dingtaifung Restaurant in the Yongkang Street Area to have dinner.

After dinner, we decided to visit Shida Road Night Market, were we had a tea and Latte Macchiato before we head in direction Taipower Building Station. Finally I was back in the Sheraton at 11.00 p.m.

Tuesday Morning, I visited the reopened pool area, before I had a early breakfast at 7.20 a.m., because I meet the other friend to visit first CKS Memorial Hall again (again a nice changing of the Guard), and a very interesting exhibition about Dr. Sun Yat Sen and Chian Kai Shek. I learned something new about their life and their politics.

After the visit at CKS Memorial Hall Exhibition we headed further on to Wulai Scenic area with its hot springs and its famous Falls. Unfortunately it starts to rain on our way back to WuLai, so we waited in a coffee shop, drunk some cappuccino and went back to town after three hours in the Wulai area. My friend told me not to visit WuLai on the weekend, as it is very full during weekend.

We had decided in WuLai to visit the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. The museum offers some quite interesting view to Taiwanese Contemporary Art and is in my eyes worth a visit. Very interesting for my point of view, the fact, that some Taiwanese artist paint in the traditional Chinese Way, other paint in the European or international way. Also, there some interesting art installations and some artworks are – let’s say - strange.

We that headed again to the Confucius temple and visited it, again a nice temple (but again some part was in renovation process). Back to Guting, we meet our friend and had dinner in a Thai Restaurant.

At round about 9.00 p.m. I was back in the Sheraton and packed my own carry ons and went to bed at 10.30 after I confirmed the Limousine Service for the next morning, as I have to leave at 6.00 a.m. to go to the airport.