May 7, 2009
-
Wow
Has it really been a month since my last update?
I wonder if I will ever get back into the groove?
Asia Trip – 14th-26th January 2009
Taipei
National Concert Hall
Girl practising her dance moves outside the National Concert Hall.
Tutor teaching her pupil how to tango outside the National Concert Hall.
Dance crew warming up outside the National Concert Hall.
Dance crew rehearsing outside the National Concert Hall.
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall – he was the leader of the Chinese Nationalists who fled to Taiwan after their defeat by Mao’s Communists.
View from Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall
Statue of Chiang Kai-shek
Inside the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.
Inside the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.
Car used by Chiang Kai-shek.
View of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in the background.
Longshan Temple – built in 1738 and dedicated to Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy.
Interesting character sitting outside Longshan Temple.
District of Ximending – accessible via Ximen MRT. Ximending is the Taiwanese equivalent of Shibuya in Tokyo.
Street food in Ximending.
If you have been to Shibuya, you know what to expect in Ximending. If you haven’t, the area is mostly populated by hordes of teenagers.
I’d noticed this stand-out guy just planted on the spot for about an hour. Is he an undercover cop on the lookout for paedophiles or is he a paedophile? Directly across him stood two men also stationary in acute observation.
The fashionable youth of Taiwan follow the trend set by the Japanese.
Dusk in Ximending
Taipei 101 – the tallest skyscraper in the world.
Outside Taipei 101
Inside the shopping mall of Taipei 101
Locals sleeping the food court in the basement of Taipei 101 shopping mall.
Top floor of Taipei 101 shopping mall.
On the whole I’d found Taipei 101 rather disappointing.
Shopping district near Taipei 101
What A Lawyer
The Salvation Army realized that it had never received a donation from the city’s most successful lawyer. So a Salvation Army volunteer paid the lawyer a visit in his lavish office.
The volunteer opened the meeting by saying, “Our research shows that even though your annual income is over two million dollars, you don’t give a penny to charity. Wouldn’t you like to give something back to your community through the Salvation Army?”
The lawyer thinks for a minute and says, “First, did your research also show you that my mother is dying after a long, painful illness and she has huge medical bills that are far beyond her ability to pay?”
Embarrassed, the Salvation Army rep mumbles, “Uh… no, I didn’t know that.”
“Secondly,” says the lawyer, “did it show that my brother, a disabled veteran, is blind and confined to a wheelchair and is unable to support his wife and six children?”
The stricken Salvation Army rep begins to stammer an apology, but is cut off again.
“Thirdly, did your research also show you that my sister’s husband died in dreadful car accident, leaving her penniless with a mortgage and three children, one of whom is disabled and another that has learning disabilities requiring an array of private tutors?”
The humiliated Salvation Army rep, completely beaten, says, “I’m so sorry, I had no idea.”
And the lawyer says, “So…if I didn’t give any money to them, what the fuck makes you think I’d give any to you?”
If You Have Swine Flu
Comments (11)
Man…I grew up going to Longshan Temple.
So glad I’ll be going back soon
Taiwanese fashion = yum
@Wangium - I’m jealous, Jason. Have a good trip!
Great photos of Taiwan. I always find memorial statues very interesting. That one of Chiang Kai Shek with his face all smiling is so animated.
And that salvation army joke is just hilarious!
It’s beautiful there – and looks so clean! I’ve been trying really hard to keep updating but people seem to be pretty burned out on Xanga lately.
ahh…memories of Taiwan
That’s so funny a) that those people were sleeping like that and b) you took their photos! LOL
Ah, memories of my old homeland. Lived in Taiwan 1993,95,96,97, Jan’98. The Chiang Kai Shek Memorial was near the library, which was a destination for English reading in 1993 before there was an internet “before Al Gore opened up the information superhighway”. That library was freezing, blasting the airconditioning when it was 32C outside. Memories. But no memories of Taipei 101, such thing didn’t exist in my times then.
great photos! those students dancing made me remember old high school. that’s us students before performance. we’re like everywhere instead of us not showing what will our moves be till program starts.
my officemate went to a all chinese school named after Chiang Kai-shek. she was saying that she wished they had their fieldtrip there and thanking you for sharing the images online.
and do people sleep at the food court? wow, i want to experience that.
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