D’s old coworkers are in Taiwan visiting family, so we decided to take the high-speed rail to Taipei Saturday afternoon. We had open house on Saturday morning, think back to school night, but on Saturday morning. I was told since the parent community works in the technology industry many of them work late, so Saturday morning is the best option. However, many of the parents told me it was too early 💤😆 Once that was done, it was off to the high speed rail.

 

It was our second time on the high-speed rail, first time during the daylight hours. It is truly a quick trip only 34 minutes. It is an hour driving without traffic (and that never happens, so I am told… and from what I have seen I believe it). It reminded me of the shinkansen that I rode when I was in Japan with grandma, but after a little research we discovered that the high speed rail does not break 200mph, so it is slower than the shinkansen, but 186mph is pretty fast.

It was a very smooth and relaxing ride with lots of tunnels through the hillside. In a few short minutes (it seemed) we were out of the subway tunnels and meeting a couple of D’s old coworkers.

Taipei is the capital of Taiwan and full of 2+ million people. It has an amazing subway system, which reminded me of NYC. We transferred to a local line and met his coworkers off one of the red line stops. There are definitely more people in Taipei and many more expats, it was almost strange to see so many foreigners 😜.

They were with other friends who were traveling through Taiwan for the first time, so we just joined the group in their Taipei adventure. We went to a small hole in the wall restaurant for shrimp dumplings. They were tasty.

It is not the place in the video, but I was so amused with the display I had to take a video. The best part of traveling with a “local” is the places you end up going are never places that you would go to yourself. In a big city there are lots of places and people to look at. We went to National Taiwan University campus (NTU) the most prestigious university in Taiwan. They have a farm there and it really is a public gathering space for people to enjoy some green space in a big concrete jungle. It is so pretty and you forget briefly you are in such a large city.

After wandering around Taipei and traveling on the train with them for a while they had to go, since they had other plans, but they gave us directions to the ultimate touristy destination: Taipei 101.

Taipei 101 used to hold the title for tallest building in the world. It, like most places in Asia is a giant shopping mall. We did not go up to the observation deck, but we did wander around the malls appreciating the street vendors, shops, and food. There was a lot of live music and street performers. We enjoyed our half-day Taipei adventure, next time we will explore another part of the city.

P.S. I have time to update my blog because we have an actual typhoon day (I am certain the students are ecstatic about it), so schools and businesses are closed by the government. The entire island has cancelled school and work. We have been told to stay inside. It is very windy outside and the grocery store was crazy last night! Not to worry I am busy blogging and D is sleeping😘😎