june 16th

The first day in Taipei

I met a girl on Couchsurfing.com that offered me a bed at her house in New Taipei City. I gladly accepted the offer. Lisa met me at the airport and we were off to Taipei via bus. I'm glad she met me, because Taipei is really confusing and the locals don't speak English all that well. 

The first stop was her apartment in the city to drop off my backpack. We then took a MRT (the local train) to the Taipei 101 building. We ended up going to the top floor. I was a little scared...

Taipei 101 has the fastest elevator in the world. I didn't enjoy that one... It took 15 seconds to go 90 stories. 

This massive sphere keeps Taipei 101 from blowing over in a wind storm. Wind storms are common in Taipei. This ball reduces the wind by 40%. It looks small in the photo. However, it was 5 stories tall.

After going to the top, we met up with another American I met on CS. Kelvin, Lisa and I then climbed to the top of a hill to see Taipei 101 at dusk. What a site. 

After Taipei 101, we went to Shilin Public Market. The market is famous for it's incredibly tasty street food. I ate so much food... and, for only $NT200 or $6USD. 

I ate a crazy amount of food at this market. I couldn't get enough. I had pig blood rice on a stick, candied strawberries, rolled sausage on a stick, donuts, fresh squeezed orange and lemon juice, fried quail eggs, fried squid, crab on a stick, green onions wrapped around bacon, lamb kebab, and more. I can't even remember the rest I ate. SO MUCH FOOD! And all delicious. Taiwanese food is to die for. Incredibly tasty food with flavor and spice.