Longshan Temple, Taiwan

After visiting Taipei 101 we headed to Longshan (Dragon Mountain) Temple, one of Taiwan's oldest and most important temples. Originally built in 1738, often hailed as Taiwan's Forbidden City, the temple is the best preserved of its kind in Taiwan. The temple is famous for the exquisite detail of its stone sculptures, woodcarvings, and bronze-work.

Taipei 101

The Taipei 101 building has 101 stories above ground and five underground. The building holds the world records in 2004 for: ground to structural top [508-m (1,667-ft)] and fastest ascending elevator speed [16.83-m/s (37.5-miles/hr)]. The building's design is meant to symbolize the growth of bamboo, with each shoot unfolding from the one below. Our journey to Taipei 101 began with a ride on a high-speed train, a ride on the Metro, and a short walk.

Train station.

Metro coin; this is the first time I've seen re-usable coins for public transportation.

Geocaching in Taipei; it took some time but Ken finally located the cache.

The International Flora Exposition was occurring while in Taipei; I think that is a giant bulb creature.

Taipei 101.

Inside of the Taipei 101 building.

View from the observation deck.

The steel pendulum that serves as a tuned mass damper. The damper is suspended from the 92nd to the 88th floor and sways to offset movements in the building caused by strong gusts. Its sphere, the largest damper in the world, consists of 41 circular steel plates, each with a height of 125-mm (4.92-in) being welded together to form a 5.5-m (18-ft) diameter sphere.

View from the observation deck.

Ken next to the world's tallest Gemstone Coral (width: 131-cm (4.3-ft), height: 141-cm (4.6-ft)). This Gemstone Coral tree comes from 200-m (656-ft) below the Pacific Ocean, North-East of Taiwan. Gemstone Coral takes 10-years to grow 1-cm.

Status screen in the elevator.

Another geocache found in a park across the street from the Taipei 101 building.

Title: LOVE (2002) by Robert Indiana (USA).

Taiwan's Night Markets

Let The FOODENING begin! Helen and Sandy weren't joking when they said there was going to be a lot of eating going on in Taiwan. In the evenings, we hit Taiwan's night markets with Helen and Sandy's family and started tasting everything suggested! Below are photographs from three of the night markets we visited.

Feng Chia Night Market - Situn District, Taichung City

A search on information regarding this market showed this market may be the biggest in Taiwan, with an estimated 15,000 shops, restaurants, and stalls and around thirty to forty thousand shoppers on weekday evenings. Taichung is Taiwan's third largest city. This is the first night market we visited, during our first day in Taiwan; I have to admit, I was taken back by the sheer number of people and shops.

Jeremiah happy to find spiced corn on the cob.

CLAW MACHINE OVERLOAD!

Ken and boba!

Boba (a.k.a. "pearl milk tea" or "bubble tea"): milk tea with tapioca on the bottom.

B-O-B-A time!!!

The guys in their Yamaha jackets.

Famous stinky tofu.

Stinky tofu (or chou doufu): tofu marinated in a fermented brine and then usually deep fried (it can also be steamed or grilled). An internet search to discover the the ingredients of the brine was not promising; however, I found most brines consist of fermented vegetables plus any of the following additions: milk, meat, greens, dried shrimp, Chinese herbs, and/or bamboo shoots.

My take on stinky tofu? Poor, poor soybean curd; I don't even recognize you! The adjective"stinky" is an understatement; walking the night markets, one knows a stinky tofu vendor stand is coming-up even before seeing it. At least I can say, "I've tried it" and the next time I encounter it, I am going to take a pass (sorry Sandy; on a positive note this means there is more for you!).

Huasi (Huaxi) Tourist Night Market - Taipei City

This market is located near Longshan Temple and is famously known as Snake Alley. In early days, Huasi Street was the red-light district in Taipei. How can you go to Snake Alley without eating snake? We couldn't resist! The snake was covered in a teriyaki-type glaze and was super tough; I don't think I will be requesting to eat snake again for a while.

Shops are lined-up on both sides of the 352-meter (0.22-miles) covered walkway.

S-N-A-K-E

After eating the snake, we were permitted to take a photograph with the albino snake displayed at the entry of the restaurant (before, photographs were forbidden).

We returned on a high-speed train.

Shihlin Night Market - Taipei City

This market is one of the largest night markets in Taipei and it is famous for its various eateries selling authentic Taiwanese snacks. Even after snacking all day, we continued to snack into the night. :)

Sausage wrapped in glutinous rice (Asian version of a hot dog).

The making of oyster omelets.

Oyster omelet: made from fresh oysters, eggs, and vegetables.

Sparerib soup with Chinese medicine: herbal stew of ribs in a soup stock, which usually includes more than ten varieties of Chinese herbal medicines.

Goodbye night markets, I shall return.