Taipei, Taiwan

There are 2.8 million people in Taipei. The 101 (pictured above) was the tallest building in the world in 2004 at 504 meters. It has the world's fastest elevator at 1,010 per minute. My ears popped going up! It also has the world's largest wind damper (pictured below right) with a diameter of 5.5 meters and weighs 660 tons!

Strolling through the city, all the Taiwanese people are friendly and go out of their way to help you. They all have a huge smile. It's a more modern and wealthy Asian city than the ones we've been traveling in the past 5 months. Taipei feels like a mix between Japanese and Chinese (ex: Oolong Chinese tea and Japanese Teppan Restaurants). We did some sightseeing including the National Palace Museum (above left) and Democracy Hall (above right).

The Asian markets always bring surprises and this time, the hello kitty fish balls made me open my mouth in wonder. Also, the woman selling her fresh squid and sardines in the front of the women's clothes shop was strange. I don't know about you, but I don't like the smell of fish when I am shopping for a cute outfit. Ewwww...

Our hosts for the first few nights in Taipei, Angel and Torah, were fantastic! We couch-surfed at their apartment in Beitou and went to the hot springs (above). On Sat. night we all went shopping at the Shilin Night Market and dancing at Club Plush. Here's a shout out to Steve Lynch, the club manager, who was a friend of a guy we met in Thailand. Thank you for getting us in free, giving us VIP treatment and a free round of drinks for 4 (yes, Paul worked the "McNeil Deal" all the way across the world in Taiwan)!