*UPDATED 10/09/2008* Waiting...
"Fleeting Encounter" I really like this shot for some reason. Maybe just how that girl's light color jeans stand out so much. Oddly this might be my favorite Taipei shot.
The front entrance to The Grand Hotel (圓山大飯店)
This use to be THE hotel to go to... one of the best. This is where you host weddings, large celebrations... etc. Now it's more of a tourist attraction/landmark for what use to be (IMO).
The garden right infront of the hotel.
It's not a Chinese style building without a lion statue guarding the door.
This might be my favorite picture from the day
The main lobby of the hotel
Very delicate wood carvings...
Taipei Story House (台北故事館)
I really like this picture with the people and entrance to the story house as the background.
Taipei Fine Arts Museum
Entrance to the art museum
I was really facinated by this rock garden... it presented some interesting photo opportunities. Unfortunately I'm not sure I was able to adequately capture the beauty here...
There was a Kaiyodo and Otaku culture exhibition at the fine arts museum, it had a (very) large selection of various models (and garage kits) on display.
This gives a pretty good feel of the type of models on display... robots (EVA in particular) to young (sometimes scantily clad) girls
台大巨蛋 (National Taiwan University Gym... aka NTU Giant Egg...)
NTU Physics department.
醉月湖 (Drunken Moon Lake...) Popular hangout for couples.
Bike rack... I spent a few minutes trying to get the lighting I want for this shot... and also get the lens flare the way I wanted... It isn't perfect, but I sitll like it.
There was some kind of anniversary celebration at NTU... school fair of sorts with various clubs selling all sorts of food and random stuff.
Some booths had people performing to draw attention...
She is playing what is called a ?鈴 (aka Chinese YoYo) where you spin the yo yo on a string connected by two sticks. As you start spinning the YoYo it'll start to make a whistling sound and you can do all sorts of cool tricks with it.
Main library at NTU
Experimental Agriculture fields at NTU.
Royal Palm Road... the main road through NTU
傳鍾 Fu Bell (... not sure why its called that on the map...)
Gallery of university History
Interesting building architecture... building with lots of holes as people typically refer to it...
CKS Memorial Hall main gate, 中正紀念堂 大中至正門
The sign roughly translates to “Great Centrality and Perfect Uprightness” according to Wikipedia.
總統府 (Presidential Hall)
中正紀念堂 正門 (Main gate of CKS Memorial Hall)
下次回來 不知大中至正還在不在
You can see Taipei 101 from almost any place in Taipei...
大安森林公園 (DaAn forest park... just a large open space in the middle of the city. Kind of rare for Taiwan).
Lots of people come here during the day to rest and exercise (tai chi, run, etc). At night.. its a perfect place for couples to... well... do their thing.
內湖科學園區 (One of the technology parks in Taipei in NeiHu to be exact). All the buildings are suppose to have their lights on and its suppose to be beautiful...
These pictures were taken in a park outside the floor gates.
Taipei 101 in the distance. Too bad the water wasn't sitll enogh for a better reflection.
Needless to say, it wasn't as beautiful as I had hoped.
大直橋以圓山飯店當背景. That is a hotel in the background, it use to be one of the most famous and high-class hotels around.
All the world needs is love...
Dedicated to all the people who worked on the Taipei 101 project.
Beautiful weather... but it started pouring rain an hour later...
More pictures of Taipei 101
I took this quick snap shot on the way home... it feels so... “moody”. It's the end of a long day... and everyone is rushing to get home.
Suddenly there are a lot of street performers in this area near Taipei 101... not sure why.
“Tea street” 茶街 (東區) is known for all the tea “inns” that lets you come in order some food and a drink and stay for as long as you want (usually there is a ~$3 minimum per person). It's a great place to just hang out, chat, or play cards. My friends and I usually come here to play Uno... the only down side is that half the people here smokes (no non-smoking area).
Inside of a “tea inn”
西門町 (Ximen) is not what it use to be... I feel old walking along these streets now, it's for a whole new generation of youngsters...
Nestea was holding some kind of event giving out free ice tea to any one who lines up...
Heaven for any Gundam otaku/fan...
Alas, I'm not familiar with Gundam Seed so I do not know which ones these are...
Unfortunately the construction of these models were also kinda poor... horrible paint job :(
That's nearly every Master Grade Gundam model known to man... I seriously was drooling...
Did I mention this store probably had the most complete collection of Gundam models ever? Ｅｖｅｒｙｔｈｉｎｇ ｆｒｏｍ ＳＤ Ｇｕｎｄａｍ, G Generation, High Grade, Master Grade, Perfect Grade... you name it, they have it... every series, every model (just about anyways)... It took every ounce of will power in me to walk away without buying something.
Water show at 龍山寺 (LongShan Temple).... it really has gotten worse...
Near empty metro train...
Roses folded by a friend of mine...
