Top of Taipei

And so it continues.

No prizes for guessing where I went yesterday. Neko had to go back to work (insert Nelson laugh here), so her brother kindly took me around.

First stop was breakfast, of course. Second stop was Taipei 101. I'm glad I waited to go up - the sky had cleared quite a bit, and the sun was shining. Loved how fast the elevator was. It took less time to ascend 89 floors, than it does to go up 8 floors in my office building!

I'd love to go back on a clear day though. As it was, the view was terrific, but I can just imagine how much more amazing it would be when cloudless. When we were back on the ground though, everything just looked too big and really strange. Now all I have to do is go to the Burj Khalifa, and then I can proudly say that I've been to the to top three tallest buildings in the world (having been to the Willis Towers back in ...I think it was '03, when it was still called the Sears). No, hang on a sec. Sears is the 4th tallest. Darn it, now I gotta go to Petronas first!

We went to the National Palace Museum after that, to gaze in wonder at the artifacts. We trudged up the steps, gasped at the intricacy of the Jadeite Cabbage, got a craving for pork when we glimpsed the Meat-Shaped Stone, we....ok, I lied. We just drove up, took a couple pictures, went into the souvenir shop, and declared the trip completed. Took all of forty minutes to get in the car, drive there, go in, and drive out. But hey, I did go there!

Had a great lunch of spicy beef noodles. If that wasn't the best beef noodles I've ever tasted, it sure came pretty darn close! Then bought some goodies to bring home (and some for the office too), and made my way to the airport. Of course, I bought more goodies to bring home, but completely forgot to buy dinner for myself.

On the flight, I was ravenous. I just couldn't bring myself to pay five bucks for a Cup Noodles, so decided to wait til I was home to eat. Of course, I was too tired by the time I landed!

It was a pretty good flight, though. I didn't feel as claustrophobic as I did on the flight out, and I had pretty considerate seat mates too. Usually, sitting in the middle seat really agitates me, but this time it was fine. Taiwanese man on my left and Singaporean lady on the right were both friendly, and they just went to sleep shortly after take-off. It's a shame there wasn't as much turbulence though - I actually fall asleep during turbulence, and can't sleep otherwise.

Landed, and found to my amusement that Terminal 1 Changi Airport is undergoing construction/renovation, as is Terminal 1 in Taoyuan. I was too tired to get food, mostly because the lines for both food and taxis were stupidly long, so decided to queue up once, i.e. for a cab. Of course, though, I wasn't too tired to hit up Duty Free for some alcohol!

Got home about 2am, finally got to bed about 3am, to sleep for about 3 hours.

So my first trip to Taiwan was a success, and I got to hang out with Neko, which was great. Pictures are to come...eventually.

And so ended Day 8.