Taipei adventures - 台北101
Two week trips are not desirable for many reasons - being away from family and sustaining energy to work the long hours that business trips require being the top ones. But one thing that is good is that one can hope to do some sightseeing. And on my current trip to Taiwan, I managed to get two Sundays to look around (had to work on Saturday :( ).
The first Sunday I visited Taipei 101 (台北101) which is currently the world's tallest (considering ground to structural top measurement) building. It derives its name from the fact that it has 101 storeys. There is a very good mall in the basement of the building which looks no different from and is in fact a shade better than some malls in the Bay Area.
(Picture is courtesy some other site on the internet :))
After strolling through some of the Taiwanese/Chinese speciality shops (majority of the stores / brands are the ones you'd see in the US), I headed to the observatory desk present on the 87th floor (382m) of the building. The elevator that takes visitors up there is the fastest in the world (speed of upto 1010 meters / minute) and it took us up in 39s! And the elevator has advanced pressure control systems, so you don't feel your ears popping. The elevator had a display that gave statistics of ascension and the roof has some neat star studded effects once the elevator takes off. Announcements are made in Mandarin, English & Japanese. There are a lot of Japanese tourists in Taipei. There are a lot of them in the hotel that I am put up at too.
The view from the observator desk is fabulous. I wasn't blessed with the best weather as it was raining that afternoon. Initially I could get a good view but within minutes clouds swept in. So, though the information on my audio tour about landmarks that can be spotted from the observation deck did not hold any relevance anymore, I enjoyed the feeling of being among the clouds as the clouds brushed against the observatory windows.
The interior and exterior design of Taipei 101 is pleasing. The exterior resembles a bamboo shoot. The distinctive sections that give this impression contain 8 floors. The number 8 is considered lucky by Chinese.
Also open for public viewing is one of the tuned mass dampers that stabilize the building when there are high winds or earthquakes. These dampers are enormous balls of welded steel plates that hang inside the top of the building.
I heard that visitors are usually allowed a few levels higher too but since the weather was bad that day, it had been closed to public. So, I caught my last few sights of Taipei City from atop Taipei 101 and headed down the fastest descending ;) elevator.
I was feeling sufficiently hungry for dinner and was glad when my colleague & his wife who had accompanied me suggested going to the dinner place. They had hunted down an all-vegetarian Chinese restaurant close by and we headed out. The restaurant had a very nice ambience and had bright red pillars that we generally associate with China. Food was elaborate with many courses appearing. I was impressed by the number of vegetarian items they had. The menu card explained about how the items served in the restaurant are very healthy and are derived from recipies made for emperors of yesteryears to make them live longer. There was a lady playing a traditional Chinese instrument that resembled a santoor. Unfortunatley my hosts did not know the name of the instrument but I did take a picture that I will upload later.
With tummy filled and the satisfaction of having done some touristy stuff, I returned a happy soul to the hotel and tried not to think of the grind of the coming days.