Taiwanese Adventure, part III (back to Taipei)

Day V: Back to Taipei

Picking up where we left off, Thursday we hopped on the HSR for the two hour train ride back to Taipei.

Arriving around four, we settled back in, and got ready for the evening.


Our first stop in the evening was another of the 100TWD a plate restaurants for a lengthy dinner. Fortunately, we got a waitress who spoke some English!

Peter even showed off his chopstick skills before we went on a semi-successful bar hunt.

So, it wasn't a bar, but a Chicago-style steakhouse.
Taiwan didn't seem to have many bars, so we had to expand our definition.

We drank enough that Bill's hand vanished and then we walked home, enjoying a snicker at the,
"Sandy Ho Big Shoes for Ladies".




Day VI: Achievement

Prior to the trip, Hildo sent around this slideshow in the Guardian, which summarized some of Taipei's many theme restaurants.

We decided to visit out first, The Hello Kitty restaurant, for lunch.

We joined the other waiting people, who were looking at the massive cake display, and we took our place on a hot pink couch for a bit.

We basked in the sugary glow of many a Hello Kitty cake...


...until it all went awry. Hungry Time arrived for Hildo, and there was no going back.

It was a bit like when the Hulk transforms, only there was no violence or green.



We headed to the Italian restaurant next door, and thanks to
some foccacia, peace was restored in our time.

Our entrees were delicious!









Our next stop, Taipei 101 is currently the tallest building on Earth.

It has two observation decks on the 89th floor, and one takes the Guiness Record- holding elevators to get there.


While enjoying the very brief elevator ride, one can watch one's ascent/ descent, complete with snazzy animation, on the display to the left.

The building's design was modelled after a stalk of bamboo. There are eight sections, as eight is considered a very lucky number.


The view from the top is impressive, even on a very overcast day:

as is the view from inside:




















Later in the day, we headed out to a restaurant that Bill (check out his site) found, Five Dime.

The restaurant is full of carved driftwood and other art by the restaurant's owner.

The food was excellent; although we didn't have a seat next to the koi pond.