Back in August, I visited the Petronas Towers which was the tallest building in the world prior to the completion of Taipei 101 in 2004.
It doesn’t look tall but it really is!
Unlike Petronas, which only takes you up to the skybridge midway up, Taipei 101 takes you up to the 89th floor which is closer to the top. 89 stories is hella high! From that height, everything looks like small landscape models.
People live down there…
There’s also a recently opened outdoor observation deck on the 91st floor. When I went up there, it was hella windy and there was a storm moving in. But it was neat to be up that high and outside.
Floors 92-101 are for VIP events. Not VI yet so couldn’t go up…
I thought Singapore had all the rules!
Taipei 101 also has the world’s fastest elevators which are pressurized because they get you to the top in under 40 seconds going 37.5 MPH. If they weren’t pressurized, your ears would really pop. And you’d probably get sick too…
Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about fast elevators
Like Petronas, Taipei 101 has about six floors of mall at the base filled with high end stores, so you can spend a lot of time (and money) here. The food court here is very good and the prices are decent. One difference between these two landmarks is that going up to the Petronas skybridge is free and there’s no outdoor deck. Taipei 101 charges NT$350 to the main observation deck and another NT$100 to go up to the outdoor deck. But it was worth it! From the observation deck, you get a commanding view of the entire city. Cool!
More Basi Misadventures
So there I was in Taipei last night, waiting for a cross-town basi to get me back to the hostel since the MRT shuts down at midnight.
Waiting 35 minutes in the rain.
Then the 203 Basi comes into view…
and ROARS by at full speed, right past me and the basi stop. Frakkin’ basi!!!
Wound up taking a taxi back, NT$220 I could have spent on drinks and food!!
I dun like basi…!
Old Taipei Landmarks
Taipei in its current incarnation is a young city; most of it was built since the end of WWII. There are famous landmarks here that look really old, but were constructed bewteen the 50s and the 80s in the Tang Dynasty style and layout. I visited the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Park that has the CKS Memorial Hall, the National Concert Hall, Theater and two gates that remind me of the layout of Tiananmen Square and its related buildings in Beijing.
The Concert Hall near the MRT
The National Theatre on the other side of the square
Arrival Taipei
So here I am at the newly rechristened Taiyuan Int’l Airport in Taipei sucking in diesel, waiting for another late basi…
They’re supposedly building an extension to their MRT that will be done in about four years. A bit late for this trip…or maybe i’m here a bit early.
Actually, if I was looking forward to riding the new High Speed Rail here, I’m allegedly over a week early. Hope it gets finished soon!
Basi rant
Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike riding the basi (bus in Chinese)? I’ll say “dislike” as opposed to “hate” for now because in many parts of the world, the basi is the primary mode of transport. But i’m in Hong Kong, a first world colony with a third world master with great infrastructure and at least on paper, good transport options even if you were to choose to ride the basi to HKG compared to the swish Airport Express (mostly due to price and time considerations).
First off, basi have a unfortunate tendency to never be on time. Ever. And when you are waiting at the basi stop, waiting for “your basi”, every other basi goes roaring past spewing diesel and dirt onto your freshly showered self. Meanwhile, the basi that is supposed to run “every 15 minutes” is, of course, LATE!!
And that gets me to the topic of basi stops. They’re poorly marked and leaves you exposed to the elements whether it be sun or smog. By contrast, rail transport is clearly marked, the stations themselves being landmarks in their neighborhood. People know where the MTR station is but not necessarily where the A11 stop is. There’s also a cool factor at work. “Meet me at Mong Kok MTR” is definitely better than “meet me at the Delaware and Glouchester basi stop. And don’t forget your hazmat suit and particle mask. And provisions when we are stranded there cuz the basi kanna run on schedule.”
Rail generally runs on schedule here. I’ve never seen or heard of a late MTR train. But i’ve heard of late A11 basi to HKG. In fact, i’m finally on one. Only waited 25 minutes for a basi that was supposed to arrive in 12. So I’m cutting it close yet again. Figures.
Yawn…I mean yay
After two consecutive nights that ended in the morning, I’m up early. That means instead of going to bed at 0600, I’m awake at 0600…
Heading off to Taipei today. Part of the “I’ve never been there” travel series. But it’s still early here!
Yawn… *stretches* Yay!
Lost Evening in Hong Kong!
Like all lost evenings, it began with the most innocent of occasions. Well, first it was Friday night, the official start of the weekend. And second, my fren Wallace, who was visiting HKG with our other fren Coy, was flying back to the land of tax (AKA USA) on Saturday. So there were two excuses to debauch!
We began the evening at Alcove, a restaurant located in the upper part of Central. It’s a very very small place that serves Beijing style fusion food. The dishes didn’t necessarily match like a typical Chinese banquet but it was very good and the decor was funky in a mainland sorta way.
The front door!
Our table was the entire depth of the restaurant! That’s how small lah!
I broke one of the rules of food blogging…I put the camera down and enjoyed the meal and the company. If you want to check the place out, call first! It’s one of those places that great for a party or great for a date…
Alcove
55 Peel Street
Central, Hong Kong
+852 29759788
We then adjourned for several hours of debauching. Actually, it was from 2300 to 0330. Hong Kong is one of those progressive places where there is NO last call and the owners of the drinking establishments determine when to close. What a concept! Since I was inebriated (that means “drunk”) for much of the evening, I don’t remember specifics. We went to three different places as a group and I took silly pictures (and drank a lot).
Here’s an outtake
Here’s the real picture!
This is what happens when you collect for the bill for ten people…and you’re smashed!
Wal and Helen. Helen’s the one who prepped the hairy crabs…thank you!
Helen and Kevin. They live in HKG. She’s from SFO. He’s not.
We went on like this, gradually losing people on the way, until we called the evening at 0330. Then Wal, Coy and I got the munchies and wound up in Causeway Bay at some late night place. It was fine for me because I was 5 minutes walking distance from my place. It wasn’t so fine for Wal and Coy because they were staying in Kowloon Tong, it’s a HK$300+ cabride back & the MTR dun open until 0550. So what do you do to kill time?
You haggle for porn!
and take pretty pictures…
“thank you for riding the MTR”
Which way?
To Causeway Bay, of cors!
Amber Rainstorm Signal
Back in Hong Kong for 32 hours. And so far I’ve experienced:
A torrential downpour for 5 hours yesterday afternoon. Home cooked food (thanks Helen!). Old HK movies on cable (God of Gamblers 2). Dessert (mango with sago). Won ton Mein and Daan Taats (they ALWAYS go together). Flaky people (if you can’t make it, let people know!). Kopi. Yum cha. High ticket window shopping (LV, Dunhill, Dupont). Star Ferry to HK side (the seksi-est commute in da world!) and the HK Tram. 7.8 kilos of laundry.
And the day’s not done yet! Wahahahah.
Amazing…
“The flight is full, so you’re being moved to Business Class”…
I heard these words about 20 minutes ago as I checked in for my return flight to Hong Kong.
Amazing!