Taipei, November 2007

Recently I went to Taipei, Taiwan to teach two classes for IBM. This is my informal trip report ... Click on the thumbnails for a larger picture.

My trip started in Rochester, MN with a 5:10AM flight. Next was Minneapolis, MN, then Detroit, MI. After Detroit was this fuel stop at Osaka, and then finally Taipei. Total elapsed time door-to-door was about 30 hours.

This is my ride getting a cleaning and more fuel in Osaka, Japan before continuing onto Taipei. Business class on a 747 is civilized, but 16 hours is still a long time in an airplane. My 3 windows are #7 - 9th from the front of the nose.

The Longshan Temple in Wanhua, Taipei City. Sorry, the camera did not do too well at night. See here (Wikipedia) for more details.

The "Tourist Night Market" near the Longshan Temple. It's like a carnival, but without the rides. Cheap stuff to buy, unhealthy food, live snakes, etc.

I only ate what my trusty colleagues told me was safe to eat.

Inside the Night Market. It resembles a collection of alleys that looks like a crazy street market. The alleys stretch for a few blocks.

Scooters! There are scooters everywhere - it is the primary mode of transport in the city. Scooters must outnumber cars at least 20 or 30 to 1. The scooters also seem to have no fear of bigger vehicles.

The only places safe from the scooters are the highways. Otherwise, cars move very slowly because the scooters take the right of way.

The Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. Early in the morning people will come to the grounds to excersise, walk around, etc. I came here early in the morning on Saturday just to people watch.

A 'Smart' car by Mercedes Benz. This street also featured two 7-11 stores. (The usual quota for a street is just one 7-11.) Most of the vehicles are Japanese, and most are on the small side. The Cadillac that took me to and from the airport was one of two Cadillacs that I saw the entire time.

Taipei 101 looking up. At the moment this technically is the world's tallest building. (Somebody in the Middle East is building something bigger and it is already taller, but it is under construction so technically it does not qualify for the record yet.)

My hotel (The Grand Hyatt Taipei) was one block away.

The 101st floor is reserved for somebody's private party room so it is not open to visitors. The highest floor one can get to is the 89th floor, where the observation deck is. Since I've been to the top of the Empire State Building, I decided to be a snob and pass on this.

Outside of the 'New York, New York' department store.

Every department store in the area has a food court or supermarket in the basement. If you ever get hungry, go shopping!

Mike at the Palace Museum. If mainland China invades this place will be left untouched ... it has all of the treasures from the mainland that they want back.

A city park outside of the Palace Museum.

I taught at ITRI (Industrial Technology Research Institute) which is a non-profit R&D organization sponsored by the government of Taiwan.

This is our classroom at ITRI. In the photo are Jim, Sam, Charlie and Vincent who are my colleagues at IBM in Taiwan.

The room actually has three big screens. When class was done I took the liberty of trying the flight simulator on the 100" screen. Except for not having a joystick, it was quite fun.

Taipei 101 again.

Just a small number of scooters during the morning commute. (I am standing on a pedestrian overpass for safety reasons.)

The cable system wiring in a residential neighborhood. I am told that this is normal.

Some of the residential neighborhood near the hotel. I didn't take pictures of the market a block away where they were selling clothing, fresh produce, fish and chickens in the street. I figured that I would look too much like a tourist. In retrospect, a big white guy from the Midwest wearing business casual is not going to blend in anywhere.

2022-01-09 Wow, that trip was 14 years ago!

	My trip started in Rochester, MN with a 5:10AM flight. Next was Minneapolis, MN, then Detroit, MI. After Detroit was this fuel stop at Osaka, and then finally Taipei. Total elapsed time door-to-door was about 30 hours. This is my ride getting a cleaning and more fuel in Osaka, Japan before continuing onto Taipei. Business class on a 747 is civilized, but 16 hours is still a long time in an airplane. My 3 windows are #7 - 9th from the front of the nose.
	The Longshan Temple in Wanhua, Taipei City. Sorry, the camera did not do too well at night. See here (Wikipedia) for more details.
	The "Tourist Night Market" near the Longshan Temple. It's like a carnival, but without the rides. Cheap stuff to buy, unhealthy food, live snakes, etc. I only ate what my trusty colleagues told me was safe to eat.
	Inside the Night Market. It resembles a collection of alleys that looks like a crazy street market. The alleys stretch for a few blocks.
	Scooters! There are scooters everywhere - it is the primary mode of transport in the city. Scooters must outnumber cars at least 20 or 30 to 1. The scooters also seem to have no fear of bigger vehicles. The only places safe from the scooters are the highways. Otherwise, cars move very slowly because the scooters take the right of way.
	The Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. Early in the morning people will come to the grounds to excersise, walk around, etc. I came here early in the morning on Saturday just to people watch.
	A 'Smart' car by Mercedes Benz. This street also featured two 7-11 stores. (The usual quota for a street is just one 7-11.) Most of the vehicles are Japanese, and most are on the small side. The Cadillac that took me to and from the airport was one of two Cadillacs that I saw the entire time.
	Taipei 101 looking up. At the moment this technically is the world's tallest building. (Somebody in the Middle East is building something bigger and it is already taller, but it is under construction so technically it does not qualify for the record yet.) My hotel (The Grand Hyatt Taipei) was one block away. The 101st floor is reserved for somebody's private party room so it is not open to visitors. The highest floor one can get to is the 89th floor, where the observation deck is. Since I've been to the top of the Empire State Building, I decided to be a snob and pass on this.
	Outside of the 'New York, New York' department store. Every department store in the area has a food court or supermarket in the basement. If you ever get hungry, go shopping!
	Mike at the Palace Museum. If mainland China invades this place will be left untouched ... it has all of the treasures from the mainland that they want back.
	A city park outside of the Palace Museum.
	I taught at ITRI (Industrial Technology Research Institute) which is a non-profit R&D organization sponsored by the government of Taiwan. This is our classroom at ITRI. In the photo are Jim, Sam, Charlie and Vincent who are my colleagues at IBM in Taiwan. The room actually has three big screens. When class was done I took the liberty of trying the flight simulator on the 100" screen. Except for not having a joystick, it was quite fun.
	Taipei 101 again.
	Just a small number of scooters during the morning commute. (I am standing on a pedestrian overpass for safety reasons.)
	The cable system wiring in a residential neighborhood. I am told that this is normal.
	Some of the residential neighborhood near the hotel. I didn't take pictures of the market a block away where they were selling clothing, fresh produce, fish and chickens in the street. I figured that I would look too much like a tourist. In retrospect, a big white guy from the Midwest wearing business casual is not going to blend in anywhere.