Taipei...101
The start of the weekend, and the beginning of our trip to Taipei, Taiwan's capital just north of Taichung. We all got up early today and took a bus from Taichung to Taipei. It took 2-3 hours. I slept most of the way. The bus was pretty cool itself - it had video games and a tv on the back of each seat! Ok, enough about the bus...Byron, Tim, and Bill accompanied us all to Taipei since they are from here.
On the way here, I began to wish that I had brought my paper and pen journal...I had some really great thoughts as I gazed out the window and into the mountains with the city of Taichung tucked into the distance. I just thought about how sheltered I've been until this whole experience of going to another country; about how I want to see the rest of the world so badly. I felt that since I went through that horrible time trying to make it to Taiwan, I can do anything now. I finally felt 20 years old. I also thought about how blessed I am to be able to see another completely different country from my own, and how wonderful the people have been to us. It's a great feeling knowing that when I leave, I'll have friends on the other side of the world. Zona and Sean are coming to America next semester, so I plan on visiting them at WKU along with Kali...helping her take them places. It should be a lot of fun.
Back to the trip...
We got to our hotel (the Silken) and it's pretty awesome! Kali and I are sharing a room, and Dino and Wes have a room to share. But one bed though...that's ok. We have a nice HD TV in our room and free western style continental breakfast!!! JACKPOT!!! Along with wireless internet, this hotel is rocking. That sounded like an ad or something...
So we got here around 2pm, checked in, then took a MRT (tram) and bus to the Palace Musuem. We looked around there until it closed at 5. All of the stuff in there was from the Chinese dynasties...palace valuables, that were brought to Taiwan when it fell to communism. It was pretty amazing. This one piece that was worth more than all of the other pieces put together was this large piece of jade carved into a cabbage. It had a locust and cadydid carved onto it also...it was so intricate. I sat there and tried to memorize it knowing I'd never be there to see it again probably. After the musuem, we went to the Shilin night market where I got some souvenirs for some friends. Some of their birthdays are coming up.
Tomorrow should be a good day. Kali and I are sleeping in some, then going shopping and to Taipei 101, the world's tallest building so far at 101 floors! It should be another amazing day...and we're here until Tuesday! Well, until then, zijian!