Today we woke up at 4 in the morning to go to Taiwan.  I got my backpack on and we left. Our driver was waiting for us in the lobby and we drove to the airport in 30 minutes.  We had to do our blog and school while we waited for the lounge to open. Finally it opened at 6am and we went in and had breakfast and relaxed.  They had really good dumplings with shrimp inside and a lot of other yummy Vietnamese food. We finally boarded our flight and flew for two and a half hours.  We arrived in Taipei in the middle of the day and met our driver, Joe. We drove through the city and saw a lot. He took us to our apartment and gave us a lot of local tips.   I thought our apartment looked a little dark, but when we got inside, it was bright and nice. We walked around our neighborhood and got groceries. Then we relaxed at home.

The next day we had school in the morning and then we went to Taipei 101, a famous tower in Taipei that used to be the tallest building in the world until 2010.  It is 101 stories tall We took the fastest elevator in the world to the top, it only takes 37 seconds to get to the 89th floor!! It was so fast that my ears popped!!  When we got to the top there was a really cool view! There were even post boxes up there where you could send postcards that you buy from the gift shop. I bought one and I wrote it to myself.  I can’t wait to get it when I get back to the States. We got to watch the sunset. You could also go to the upper part for an outside view of the whole city. There is a huge damper that is five stories high that helps decrease the building from swaying during windy days, an earthquake or a typhoon.  

The following day we were SO EXCITED to go hiking, but that’s not all, we were meeting our friend, Livia,  who we met at the Elephant Nature Park to go hiking with her!! She lives in Taipei and we were so happy that we were going to see her again.  It was funny that the hiking trail was on Elephant Mountain, because we met her at Elephant Nature Park!! She met us after work at the subway and we walked together through the city to the Elephant Mountain.  Almost the whole hike was steps until we reached the top and went onto platform to check out the view of the city. The view of the city was pretty. Especially of the Taipei 101 building. It was also a little scary because we were up very high and it looked like there was a storm coming from the west.  We hiked down and Livia took us to a local night market. We got sushi and stinky tofu. Stinky tofu is a kind of tofu that everyone here thinks is stinky smelling, but tastes really good. Truthfully, I didn’t really like it. I think it was because I didn’t have enough sauce on mine. I probably will try it again sometime.  Cole and my parents liked it and it is one of Livia’s favorites. Then we went home and Livia came over. We played and talked and she brought us a gift. Her roommate sent a gift for us, too! It was a traditional Taiwanese sweet. And from her roommate were very thin cookies. Both treats were very delicious. We gave her a gift, too, that we picked up in Vietnam.  We read that Taiwanese people like to receive gifts from different countries. She stayed for a while and tried to teach us Chinese characters and how to pronounce Chinese words in four different ways. It got late and she had to go and we had to go to bed. I was sad to see her go, but I knew we would stay in touch.   

Another thing we did was go Songshan Cultural and Creative Park.  There was a craft fair happening with all the local artists and crafters from Taipei. It was fun to look at all the booths of all the things that people make.  I miss doing arts and crafts and I got some good ideas from this place and I can’t wait to do them when I get back to California!! There was also a big pond with turtles and frogs and pretty birds there.  It was peaceful. We also visited monuments, but they were boring, but I did like visiting the Longshan Temple. It was crowded because there was a protest going on, but it was still nice to be there and light incense.

Taipei had an AMAZING zoo!! I feel badly for the animals in zoos, but I think this zoo is really careful with the animals and does the best job that they can. Mom took us because we needed to get out so dad could work even though it was raining a little. I’m SO glad we went because it was one of my favorite things in Taiwan and I saw some animals that I might never see again, like the Giant Panda. Every single Giant Panda in the world belongs to China. The Giant Panda is from western China and only is in other countries if China loaned it to them. China can take them back at any time. It is the law. So I am glad I got to see one. Also, the hippo was awesome because it swam right over to us and kissed the glass!!! Did you know that hippos kill more humans than any other mammal? But the one we met was so cute and nice.

Taiwan was fun.  I can’t wait to come back.  I will miss Livia and Taipei, but I am excited to go to Japan tomorrow!