Taipei: Days 1-4

"Have a Good Time". ZhongXiao East Road.


Near Yuanshan Station.


Taipei 101.




Xinyi Commercial District.






Near Taipei 101.


Din Tai Fung.


Dumpling chefs at Din Tai Fung.


Axa Cheng and us at Din Tai Fung.




Delicacies at Sogo.


Near Yongchun Station.


Intersection in Xinyi Commercial District.






Near Minzu East Road. The giant bug art is advertisement for the 2010 Flora Expo.


Near Yuanshan Station.


Near Yuanshan Station.


Installation in progress at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum.


Men and women taking a break from hanging the cars for the installation.


The installation will be part of Cai Guo-Qiang's exhibition slated to run from November 21 through February. This piece is titled "Inopportune: Stage One" and, once finished, the cars will simulate falling and exploding.


"A Sparrow in a Studio" by Nofearsam921, a video installation at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. A sparrow is inside a "bird-sized" studio apartment and his reaction was filmed and is played on loop in this dark room. No birds were harmed in the making of the video. Note: I've taped the video and will try and make it available soon.


"Girl Holding Tangerine" by Wong Hsiu-chi, a variation of the Kuan Yin statue (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuan_yin). Located on the grounds of the Taipei Story House, a 1914 Tudor-style home used by tea merchant Chen Chao-chun as a meeting place for the local gentry. It has been a museum since 2003. Before that, it was used as an artist activity center.


Sculpture in the Xinyi Commercial District.




Near Yongchun Station.






Red Sandalwood miniature of a courtyard dwelling (not so miniature if you ask me).


Red Sandalwood miniature of the Corner Tower at the Palace Museum.


The China Red Sandalwood Museum, which opened in 1999 as a gift project for the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.


Trevor took this picture at the Sandalwood Museum and I Photoshopped it. I think it resulted in a good collaborative effort.


Another example of Trevor's "eye for art".


ZhongXiao East Road. The building with the flags is either a daycare or a preschool.


The National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. The hall honors the man who helped to end China's dynasties and is also the home for many historical and artistic exhibits and galleries. Among the galleries was an art show for the works of Lin Tien-jui, who was a post-WWI painter specializing in ocean scenes in small fishing villages. No pictures were allowed but I was able to meet and converse with the artist's sister-in-law, who was in from New York to oversea the exhibit.


Schoolchildren practicing drawing around the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall.


Passers by check out the students' progress. Some of them were really good.




I know, I took a lot of pictures of these kids. But they were so much fun! Here the girls are sitting on Sun Yat-sen.


I love it.


I was asked to sign the questbook in one of the calligraphy exhibits at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. The lady asked if I knew my Chinese name and I said that I didn't so she turned the book horizontally so that I could sign it.


Sun Yat-sen in all his glory.


People gather to watch the changing of the guard at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall.


There are two guards that stand at the Memorial Hall plus one suited man who goes back and forth between the guards straitening their uniforms and giving them shoulder rubs. I don't think the boys at Buckingham Palace get that kind of treatment!


My tour girls. They needed to practice their English--I needed my exhibit translated. It was a wonderful system. After I took their photo they each took a picture with me using their cameras. I got a souvenir pencil and I gave them my business card. It was all very delightful. Behind them is the young Sun Yat-sen.


Dr. Sun Yat-sen on November 24, 1894 esptablishing the Hsing Chung Hui (Revive China Society) in Honolulu. The society pledges to expel Tartars (an ethnic group in present-day Russia, this term formerly extended to nearly all Central Asian, Turkic and Mongol ethnic groups), restore the Chinese race, and establish a republican government.


Lunch break.


By now you may have noticed people wearing face masks in the pictures. Sore throats, coughs, and runny noses need to be reported (for tourists this just consists of telling hotel staff) and a face mask needs to be worn. Fresh tissues are often handed out on the streets, disinfectant is sprayed in the hallways, and alcohol solution is available near many public entrances. Trevor's temperature had to be checked twice before reporting for work.


Sleeping Buddha in City Hall Square.


The view near where Trevor works.


Posing with Lady Liberty near the New York New York shopping center on SongJhih Road.


Designer t-shirts on display at New York New York.


I happened across a demonstration at the Nan Shan Financial Center near the World Trade Center.


The demonstration was organized by Nan Shan Agents Stand Up in protest of Hong Kong's Primus Financial Holdings' plan to buy the Taipei-based Nan Shan Life Insurance from AIG. Taiwan has not yet opened its financial service market, including its insurance industry, to Chinese investment. To find out more about the protest, see: http://www.chinapost.com.tw/business/company-focus/2009/11/12/232398/Pension-funds.htm


Songs were sung and people clapped along.




I found an information booth to find out what the heck was going on. They had English-language pamphlets available. I appeared to be the only American in the crowd (though I can't be certain, the crowd was large).


This is the type of thing I get myself into when Trevor is stuck working. The volunteers were enthusiastic about stamping my face. I have no idea what it said but the arm bands, purportedly, said "anger". I got the thumbs up from many people in the crowd after that so apparently it was the thing to do (but I did get a couple of double takes when I was walking around with it after the demonstration).




In the middle of the commercial area that houses the Taipei World Trade Center, the Xinyi Assembly Hall, and the Nan Shan Financial Center is a community garden. Here a woman weeds her plot.


A farmer inspects an orange in the community garden in the middle of the bustling Xinyi Commercial District.