Dong Wu Hotel Taipei

... Due to the sheer size of this collection only a small percentage is on display at a given time. This does not bother me because I can go several times a year and see different artifacts.

Whenever I go to Taipei I usually spend a good amount of time looking for food. As I previously mentioned night markets are great if you are looking for local delicacies at decent prices. Usually, I'll visit Shi Da Night Market (師 ...

... so a fine area to be based in. The first thing that I noticed was the unbelievable amount of scooters whizzing around, so I had to take care when crossing the street! In addition, despite the bustling environment, I found the streets to be much cleaner than in Korea, where finding a rubbish bin is like searching for a needle in a haystack at times.

After getting comfortable in my hotel, I braved the heat and ventured to Longshan Temple early evening, where the locals gather ...

... museum: the conclusions we had drawn from that experience was that the Taiwanese are NOT too conservative (the figurines of ancient women flaunted some serious cleavage), the Taiwanese are very trusting of their clients (there were no ropes or cases around many of the artifacts) and the use of pushpins for a golden scroll suggested their lack of interest in presentation which seems contradictory to the Chinese efforts to always put their ...

... Well, maybe add "the experience". We immediately went sightseeing. We walked to the Kowloon harbour front to see the Hong Kong City skyline, which is - in my humble opinion - the most impressive in the world. Too bad it was rather hazy. Then we hopped on the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island, "walked" on the longest combination of escalators in the world (800 m) and via the Zoological and Botanical Gardens arrived at the Lower Peak Tram Terminus, from where we took ...

... we couldn't even find the steps. I was greatly disappointed. The temple was not well kept, the views were not remarkable, and I knew that another long line awaited me in order to descend the mountain. When we finally did get down the mountain we were hungry, cranky, tired, and hot. In various failed attempts to find food, we finally gave up- filled our faces with some greasy snacks- and went to view the Colossus of ...

There are three main religions here on Taiwan - Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. Most people follow a mix of parts they like from all three of them, and temples are literally all over the place. There's huge ones taking up a whole city block, tiny tiny ones at the side of the road of stuck onto an apartment complex, and every size in between. One of the grandest Temples in Taiwan is the Longshan Temple in Taipei. It's very big, set in a large ...

... of each section protect the building - The center in the roof of the shopping mall is shaped like the spine of a dragon - Four discs mounted on each face of the building, where the pedestal meets the tower, represent ancient Chinese coins for good fortune - Metallic Ru-Yi symbols are mounted on each segment. They are in Chinese art associated with clouds of heaven - the motive is associated with authority, blessing and fulfilment - Feng-Shui ( meaning ...

... open two hours before a scheduled flight. On the way to Mexico from Korea, I had a 3hr stopover in Taipei (which sucked), then a 16hr stopover in LA (which sucked even more - since I had huge luggage with me and no money to go out). On the way back from Mexico after my course had finished, I had an 8 hour stopover in Taipei. With my luggage automatically transferred by EVA I was free, and had money left over to go out for the day. No one was ...

... and a cool winter from November to March. The north and north-east is in winter much colder ( 10 C and below ) than the south and has also much more rain. Better climate is in the spring months April/May, but rain ( called 'plum rain' ) is also frequent, which can continue through to August. The summer is hot all over Taiwan with temperatures reaching the mid 30th C ( we just had 38 C at the ...

... EVER seen fireworks like these. It's almost like these Chinese invented the things or something. The fireworks mpeg does an ok job showing it off, and I'm glad I captured some of the smiley face & mushroom-shaped fireworks. This show was a full hour long. On and on and on. I kept thinking, ok, that's the big finale.... On and on for an hour. An extraordinary way to finish my last Taiwan night. I've begun both Taiwan entries by saying it's been tough here, but let ...