I was really tired so I woke up late, and as a result ended up going out in a semi-hurry (forgot my nuis) and arrived at Taipei 101 around 12pm.
When I came up the stairs from the MRT station I was greeted by a huge Eva statue/showpiece. There was a Asuka cosplayer taking photos with it lol. Amazing.
I was confused once I got up to the 5th floor for entry. After I paid (you get a discount if you show national ID, $460) They said to take the elevator... I thought it was the normal elevator... but no they have a special section to line up for the special elevator... I managed to find it. At the time I went in it wasn't busy, but when I came back down I got in just before all the tour groups lined up.
The elevator going up goes SO FAST like omg, your ears pop and you can feel the slight G. The elevator goes dark and the lights on the top come on, and there's a screen that shows you what floor you're on. Once you get to Floor 88, it's the observatory deck. The visibility said 50-70% today but it was really clear! I could see so far, they say on a good day you can see Hsinchu but I couldn't figure out the correct direction lol. I just took some time to admire the awe of the height of the building, and decided to change back into an N95 (after changing out of it as I got out from the MRT), as it wasn't that busy but I could hear people coughing, so better be safe than sorry. There's a cafe and souvenir shops up here.
I eventually went up to the observatory deck, floor 91, and it's an outdoors one. So cool~~~ it's really sunny and there were iron chairs/tables so I decided to sit down and eat my suijianbao despite the sun. Lol no one else was sitting here. Ah well, like, how many can say they ate lunch on the 91st floor deck, with the wind blowing in their face? I really wanted shade but I'm committed now. Ate my 3 buns. Then had a look at the fireworks showcase/exhibition on the 91st floor. The videos of how they put the fireworks show together in 2015 was cool. They had engineers from France come to help. And then it became a tradition lol.
Once done, I went back to the 88th floor, browsed the souvenir shop (everything is so epensive here, like NZ pricing but expensive gift shop pricing), and bought some postcards. The cheapest was $50... and those are photos only. The watercolour art ones are $100...
Then I wanted to go see the ball, and finally found the hallway entrance for the ball!! What I came to see!! It's pretty still today (as with only small breeze up on deck), so won't see the ball move. But it's soooo cool. The damper ball is covered in yellow paint that has glittery shine to it. They have these damper babies mascots too. You can go to the exit floor to view the ball as well and the thick cables that hold it. Amazing feat of engineering. So coooooool. They also had a short video showing what the ball does and an intro for it.
Then I could see a tour group coming, and there was already a line for the elevator down, so I quicky got in line before they did. I can't belive I spent 3 hrs up here lol (its 3pm) and once down I wanted to go to 44 Village.
The Village is just a small area now. Like 3 or 4 rows if houses. Once row is a daycare cenre for kids. The other has been converted into a museum, and the other row across the broad street are a drinks shop, cafe, and gift shop. I spent some time in the musuem.
The narrow alleys (albiet nice and tidy and free of clutter now) are what the old alleyways at Laolao's village felt like.
I found a tree with rectangular roots just outside the row of houses. This tree must've grown in a contraint, maybe against walls of a house? Very peculiar. Inside the musuem they have a TV with documentaries and other clips about 44 South Military Village. I didn't have enough time... since I wanted to fit CKS Memorial Hall in as well. I asked the keeper if the clip were available online somewhere, or if they could only be seen here, since I was tight on time. He said he's not aware they're online. I had a small chat and he asked where I was from, etc, and then had to take a call. I said bye~
I was thirsty so got a drink $55 (donggua and oat milk) at the Cupfy shop just outside, and then decided to go back in because even if I left now, at most I will have 1.5 hr before the Memorial Hall closes. And it'll be a repeat of Anping Treehouse. So I talked to the keeper again telling him I changed plans and decided to watch the videos until close. It's 4:30pm now. He said there's like 8 clips. I think I managed to get through 6 of them. One of them is a history of the village. Another is a documentary with stories from the residents. Two of them were about the light shows (3 yr plan) for the village. One was a wedding video about a kid from the village getting married at the village. The keeper let me watch until 5:20pm, and that was also exactly when one of the videos finished. I said thank you to him, I enjoyed it, and left.
Outside I sat on the small hills made in the shape of rooftops of where the old houses were. I had a look and pondered if I should go to the Pili shop as they're open until 9:30pm. But it was actually a little chilly and decided to go home as I was also getting hungry. It's so hard to do this, because if I could dine indoors I could just keep going... but because of covid, it's much harder to find outdoor dining in Taipei compared to other cities. *sigh*
I went home, it's a shorter commute on the MRT than compared to going to Taipei Main Station. If by car it's like 16-20 mins on the freeway. By MRT it's like 25 mins.
I had a good dinner, the kids left just as I got home, as they have music class. I saw cousin (Yima's son) and his wife. I skinned a papaya and ate half of it, it's really sweet.
Tried to write on the zoo postcards, but because it's pearly paper, it's super hard to write with a ballpoint pen. Ugh took double the time and my hand is so sore.
I wanted to sleep early but it's 11pm now. Lol. :') Try get up early tomorrow but like not counting on it, sob.
No comments:
Post a Comment