Sun Moon Lake to Taipei, Taiwan

I caught the bus at 9:45 for Taipei.  Along the way: city, city, city-

and the odd dried up river, waiting for the summer rains-

The Star Hostel-

 is on the fourth floor of this building, very close to the bus station/MRT/train station and beautiful.  There are numerous sitting areas-

A great kitchen and dining area-

I’m in an 8 bed all female dorm-

and on a bottom bunk!  I couldn’t check in until after 3 so I went to Taipei 101-

which used to be called the Taipei World Financial Center.  It’s 508 meters tall and has 101 stories.  It was the tallest building in the world when it opened in December 2004 but today it’s 11th.  On the way up-

First you go to the 89th floor where the views are great-

Then you go to the 101st floor where to me the views are the same.  I would not pay extra to go higher next time!  There is some quirkiness though as the floor is decorated with fake flowers and there are numerous picture taking spots for these goofy Asians-

The world’s largest passive tuned mass wind damper is in Taipei 101.  It was designed and built by engineers from Italy, Canada, France and Taipei.  On April 20, 2015, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake made it sway 15 cm on each side but it’s built to sway 1.5 meters each direction.  I’d have freaked out if I’d have been there at the time!  It has a diameter of 5.5 meters and weighs 660 tons.  It’s suspended between the 92nd and 87th floors.  It’s the only operational wind damper in the world exposed to the public and its purpose is to reduce the swaying of a building during strong winds and earthquakes. It’s made of 41 solid steel plates each 12.5 cm thick-

When I first got to the tower, I stopped at a popular restaurant called Din Tai Fung to get a number (there’s always a long wait) so I could eat there when I came down from 101.

Even though my number had been called a while ago, they let me come in.  I had a lot to eat but all my favourites.  My glass was always filled with hot tea and the staff buzzed around constantly clearing plates and bringing food.

Ollie brought me to my table-

and almost collided with this dude-

I started with a Din Tai Fung special salad which is strips of tofu, seaweed and glass noodles-

It was excellent!  Then I had pork XiaoLongBao which are small dumplings.  They and the spicy chilli sauce were very good-

My third dish was steamed shrimp and pork dumplings which were also great-

After I had spicy vegetable and ground pork wontons which seemed very similar to the dumplings, just with a different filling and shape-

Finally I had a taro bun for dessert.  It was my least favorite but still good-

This was one of the best meals I’ve had all trip!

Next to the restaurant is-

After, I took the metro one stop then walked past the lovely Xiangshan Park which might not look so great in the picture but had lovely walking paths, basketball courts, benches, water fountains, toilets and work out equipment.  It was such a nice escape from the busy populated streets-

I walked to Elephant Mountain to see a view of the city from the Six Boulders Platform-

Walking down-

I also passed some Asian elephant sculptures.  They need 400 pounds of food and 40 gallons of water each day!  

I caught the metro back to the hostel and relaxed.

Tomorrow I’m doing a tour to Yehliu Geopark, Juifen, Shifen and the Golden Waterfall.  I have no idea what to expect so it will be a surprise!