The Longshan Temple and the Taipei 101 are accessible via the MRT on the blue line, hence, I did not change trains going to Taipei 101 from Longshan Temple. After alighting from the train, I asked the Information where the shuttle buses for Taipei 101 pick-up passengers. I saw the place all right, but it was only 10:00 in the morning and there were no shuttle buses yet so I just walked to Taipei 101.
Along the way, my eyes feasted on the beautiful commercial buildings, the wide, empty streets (it was a Saturday), and the peaceful and extremely sunny skies. On the downside, it was very hot and humid and even my umbrella couldn't offer me enough shade. Nonetheless, I had a great time walking around the area.
I passed by the Discovery Center of Taipei and there were a lot of preschool-aged kids on a field trip and who seemed to be waiting to get inside. The kids were so adorable in their white and blue shirt and shorts with their baseball caps. Too bad I didn't take their pictures.
After a long walk, I finally reached Taipei 101 but the mall was still closed and I had to wait for it to open. When it finally did, I proceeded to the food court to eat and to savor the airconditioning. The food court was small but the varieties offered were great. I rounded up the area twice before deciding where to dine. IMy lunch was tasty and the meal I chose could have fed two persons, so unfortunately, I wasn't able to consume it all. And oh, I was so amused by the colorful receipts issued to me with the Taipei 101 logo at the end.
I then proceeded to the ticketing counter for the observatory but I realized that I only have around NTD 600.00 with me as I haven't exchanged my dollars yet. I searched for a money changer but decided not to exchange my money. There was a transaction charge of NTD 200.00, and that was way too high. So, I skipped the observatory; I was afraid of heights anyway and I didn't want to go there by myself.
With nothing much to do, I made an exit towards New York, New York. But it was already in the middle of the day and the sun was scorching hot. I was tired and I wanted to take a bath, so I went back to Taipei 101 to catch a shuttle bus going back to the MRT station. I promised myself that I'd go back there before I leave for Manila. I wasn't able to go back, though. It was raining hard the last day I was in Taiwan.
My lunch: pork cutlet with vegetable side dish, meat and fish ball soup and a refreshing lemon drink. Good thing I asked the hotel concierge to translate "I'm allergic to shellfish/seafood," for me in my notebook. The server changed my soup when she read it. Apparently, there were squid balls in my soup.
Bicycles and taxi cabs neatly lined
Wide, almost empty streets
Taipei 101 and the blue sky
