A Day Off in Taipei

We have been training for the past ten days or so.

Our second day ended up being canceled due to a typhoon which was basically a non-event. We waited anxiously, watching the Chinese news, deciphering what we could from the broadcast, googled "taiwan typhoon" and garnered what information we could until we finally got the call that the typhoon was indeed headed toward us and that the city would basically close down the next day. The following day, we watched and waited and waited for the wind and rain that would wreak havoc on the city, but alas, there was not much havoc wreaked.

I tell you all of this because since our training for that day was canceled we ended up making up the material during the rest of the week which made for some very very loong days. Finally, it was time for a day off...

With a full 36 hours of freedom at our eager fingertips we decided to head out to one of the larger night markets in Taipei. Now, what is a night market you ask? Pretty much like a normal market, just on like massive loads of steroids. Not to mention the 10,000 people and about 1,000 scooters that are trying to make their merry way through the middle of it all.

Oh, so you want to buy a puppy? You can find that here. So, you want to buy good luck charms? You can find those here, too. Oh, how about some Calven (no, I did not misspell it) Klein underwear? Yup, that too.

The next day we decided to head up to the top of Taipei 101, the tallest (completed) building in the world. As a quick side note, if you don't know anything about Taipei 101 I suggest looking it up. It really is an architectural and engineering wonder. So, we paid our $15 (the same price to get to the top of the Space Needle...rip-off) and headed in to the fastest elevator in the world. In a quick 30 seconds we were zipped from the 1st floor to the 89th floor observation deck.

The view from the top was seriously dizzying as well as a bit unnerving. The first time you look down, you can't believe how high you are. But, the sky was blue and there were clouds all around the mountains in the distance and all-in-all, it was pretty amazing.

Another side note…when we got out of the elevator we were assaulted with signs that read, “I’m a damper baby!” What is a damper baby, you ask? We wondered the same thing and upon a little bit of investigation, found out what it is.

Apparently, it’s Taipei 101’s mascot…or, er, something?! Here is a picture of me with it. I think I’m holding its, er, hand…?

Anyways, we failed to see the connection until we learned that the building has an enormous wind damper that weighs over 600 metric tons. Apparently it cuts the building’s swaying by about 40%. I guess all you engineering folks (dad) will find this interesting as it’s never been done before.

We were then ushered down one floor to an exhibit of the damper. I thought it was the real one until Luke laughed at me and pointed out that it was made from Styrofoam and covered in glitter. There’s another Rabie-ism for you, brothers. ; )

We still had about 16 hours left before we had to report back for training so we decided to hop on the MRT (Taipei’s subway) and go to this place we had heard about called Danshui.

Now, one of the great things about Taiwan is that when they say they’re going to do something, they do it. And fast. They said, “Hmm…we’d like to have the tallest building in the world.” Done. “We’d like to build an entire subway system in two years.” Done. And everything is done well. The MRT is wonderful. Quiet, efficient, clean and most importantly, air conditioned!

Danshui is a good ways out of town, the last stop on the subway. I was basically picturing Taipei on a river. We got off the MRT and it was so much better than that. The place actually felt like a beach town. There was a park and a whole boardwalk along the river with vendors and shops. The whole place had such a laid-back feel which was so refreshing after the hustle and bustle of Taipei. We definitely got a few more stares as there weren’t nearly as many foreigners here as in Taipei.

We wandered through a night market and got stuck in a traffic jam. There was an enormous truck blocking the intersection and people and cars and scooters were backed up for blocks.

But, the surprising thing was that nobody honked their horn furiously, nobody yelled, everyone just waited patiently for the truck to start moving again. All the Taiwanese people we’ve met and encountered walking down the street have all been extremely friendly. And people just deal patiently with the traffic. I haven’t seen one case of road rage whereas if these were the driving conditions in Seattle or anywhere in the states for that matter, brawls would probably break out in the streets daily.

After that we made our way back to the riverfront, took in a nice sunset and got back on the MRT to go home. To sum it all up, it was a pretty nice day off.