Just Another Taiwan Monday.... (ohhhhh-oooo-ohhhhh)

Few random thoughts to start with:

• I forgot how intimidating it is to go through Hong Kong's airport. Guards don't have tazers, they have MACHINE GUNS!! Seriously, a little scary. I got stopped by the dude in declarations since I had no checked luggage but I explained that I was there for 24 hours to get my Taiwan resident visa and then I was headed back to Taiwan.
• I found a great "American Chinese" style place where you walk up, point to the food you want to eat, and they throw it in a container with rice for you (similar to the Panda Express days) then you leave. It's quick, it's easy, and they understand the word "Chicken". I've eaten there a couple of times since it's discovery.
• It's still pretty humid here. Lost power last night at the hotel around 4am. I called the front desk when I heard the air (and my fan) turn off... plus the "lost power" noise of my laptop. They said it was the whole hotel and the electric company was on the case. It was on about 20 minutes later but I heard the generators kick in. Interesting.... it was raining last night but nothing that severe.

This past weekend I did some more site seeing. Friday night went down to my first Taiwan Night Market! It was pretty cool! Imagine VEISHEA but this time it's every single weekend! There are wall to wall of people walking up and down the street, plus side streets - enjoying the food (greasy and sometimes "unusual"), lots of shopping (cheap clothes), and even some "not so legal" goods. I found that last part out in a startling moment when I walked by a guy with an open briefcase, heard someone else yell something and then all the briefcases shut and they tore off.... then around the corner comes the 5-0 (on a scooter of course) but he was just out to check out the area. Most of the stuff down there is legit though. Got some good walking in that night as I walked around the area for a while then made the trip home. Another lesson learned - avoid diagonal streets (that end up winding) if you can since it causes you to lose your sense of which way North is! I'm in search for a compass though. Friday night was a beautiful Spring evening with a nice breeze - mid-60s for temperature. I could have walked all night!

Saturday was a day of adventuring to the older part of Taipei.... Closer to the river, this area has a much more historic relevance to the days of the Japanese invasion, the Chinese takeover, etc. First stop was the Chiang Kia-shek Memorial. It's a beautiful plaza that holds not only the Memorial (white building with blue roof), but the East Gate, the National Theater, and the National Concert Hall. Chiang Kai-shek was a major figure in the post-Japanese developments in Taiwan. He's seen as a major political figure and it was neat to not only see his memorial (with a giant Lincoln-Memorial-esque statue inside) and read the development of his life inside the museum (found underneath the memorial hall). The Concert Hall and Theaters are under construction to renovate the roof (you should be on THAT project Jamie). Good thing I'm here for a while and can see them after their construction.

There was also a National Geographic display that showed some environmental stats between the US and Taiwan. You'll see the artwork of Sunday Afternoon In The Park (by Seurat) but up close it's actually a lot of different pop cans. I thought that one was the coolest.

I also made it to the 228 Memorial Park. The Feb 28 incident was a dark time in the Taiwan history that only recently was allowed to be discussed (and remembered publicly). Again, it's amazing that in the thousands of years of history in Asia, especially in the dynasty after dynasty in China... that a lot of the revolutionary type history (that occurred in the US during the 18th Century) happened in the past 50 years!!!

So here are a bunch of pictures to get caught up on from this weekend:

CKS Memorial and 228 Park
A couple of Hong Kong pictures and some Work photos (with US visitors)

GO RED WINGS!!! Onto Round TWO!!!