Taiwan - Buildings, Barbie & Bogus

On Sunday Chris and I ventured to find coffee in the morning with no luck. Unlike Korea, there was not a coffee shop every second storefront. Everything was so empty! We eventually realized that we had left an hour earlier than planned because our phones were still set to Korea time. So when we left at what we thought was 9am, it was only 8am. We did find McDonalds though! Leave it to me to find and eat McDonalds.

Our first stop was Taipei 101 which is a famous landmark building used as a financial centre. It goes without saying that there are 101 floors. We went up to floor 98 to the viewing area. They have this special elevator in the building that is crazy fast. We went up 98 floors in 37 seconds. I did not count, there is a screen that times each trip. Amazing, and you don't even feel like, so smooth. We took some pictures, took in the view, ate ice cream, did some photobooth pictures and sent postcards (Dad, Bruno and Claudia, I hope you received them!!) 

Taipei 101 from outside at the base

The view - Taipei!

Below is the damper, this helps stabilize the building and keep it from swaying so much

Outside! Unfortunately they had these awful metal beams that blocked the view ... I'm sure put up to prevent other things

Blurry picture of me posing with the "damper baby", basically the building's mascot. 

From Taipei 101 we decided to check out the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. We didn't stay here long as it was extremely hot out but we snapped a few pictures. 

Children's drawings in the subway station 

Concert Hall next to the Memorial Hall - there were wedding photos being taken at this one

The arches as you enter into the area of the Memorial Hall

Another concert hall

The Memorial Hall

Looking from the Memorial Hall

The landscaping was gorgeous

Next up was the Barbie Cafe! The best part about this was that the lady at the subway station whom we asked directions from knew them without hesitation. Clearly this is an often visited spot! I was excited. We had coffee and cake (that was way too sweet!) The workers didn't look totally thrilled to be working there, but it was a fun place to check out! 

The "Slim Package" 

So fun though, let's be honest! 

We decided to spend a bit of time in nature after this so we headed to Dahu Park after I saw this gorgeous picture of the park on Pinterest. 

Their photography skills are obviously better than mine, but here are some photos I took. This is a spot I would frequent if I lived in Taipei. 

To finish off the day, we went to the Longshan Temple:

On our way back, we decided to get our fortunes read as there is a famous fortune telling road close to the temple. It was a funny experience, as these things always are. What made it even more interesting was the fact that they used live birds who picked cards for your reading. 

Highlights from my reading:

- I will find Mr.Right and he will be born in 1986, 1989 or 1990.

- I need to forgive people

- Lucky colours: pink, white & orange

- I need to be mindful of my digestion and not have too many sweets or drink too much coffee

- I will be popular in the Winter and next Spring

- I should not invest with other people

- My career will be focussed on me talking

So there's that. 

That night we walked into a random side vendor food stop and we had our first Taiwanese bubble tea that night! 

I will be blogging about my last day in Taipei and the rest of what I was up to in September soon I promise!! <3