Taipei - Part II - Taipei 101

Hi there again!!! . . . had been sick for almost a week . . . not much energy to edit my photos and blog . . . anyway . . . here is Part II

Taipei 101 aka Taipei Financial Center is the Tallest Building in the World since 2004 not until the opening of Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2010 . . . exactly as it named . . . it has 101 stories counting from above ground . . . there are 5 floors of underground and if you add it up its a total of 106 stories . . . hahaha!!! . . . errr . . . so its Taipei 106 . . . doesn't sounds right la!!! . . . hahaha!!! . . .

Anyway . . . it is quite easy to get there . . . just take the subway and stop at the Taipei City Hall station . . . from there you can get free bus ride to the building provided by Taipei 101 itself . . . which is not more than 10mins away . . . so convenient!!! . . . does our Tallest Building do that??? . . . any idea? I do not know coz I stop taking Buses in Malaysia since like 1996 I think!!! . . . lol!!! . . .

Here it is!!! . . . Taipei 101

Now here's a tip . . . you can always go to the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall station if you want to get this angle of photos . . . over there you'll get a big clearance to take these pictures . . . after taking all the pictures you want . . . you can always visit the Memorial Hall 1st and than you can walk to the building by foot which is almost 20mins by walking . . . just what we did that day . . .

Another tip is that . . . do go there early to get a beautiful sky!!! . . . we were quite late that day coz I got some business work back over here to follow up before I could leave the hotel and I want to thank all my friends as they where determined to wait for me!!! . . .THANKS GUYS!!! . . .

After a few snaps . . . straight away the sky turn dark and started to rain again!!! second day in a row!!! . . . couldn't get much nice photos!!!sigh!!! . . .

Inside the 101 . . . exactly like KLCC . . . a shopping mall . . . 80% of it are all branded outlets like LV . Channel . Gucci . IWC . Piaget . Panerai . etc . . .

After getting all the information about the observatory deck . . . we decided to come back at night to see the night view of Taipei . . .

Tip : if you decided to go at night . . . make sure their 91st floor (open air) is open for visit . . . this is because it is depend on the weather . . . it is closed if the weather is bad . . . you can get their brochures which have their phone number at their ticketing counter . . . call before you go . . .

Took this picture from inside the free bus ride while we were heading back there at night time . . .

The entrance ticket cost NTD400.00 for excess to all 4 decks . . .

There are 4 floors of observatory deck . . . 88th - 91st floor . . . their elevator is incredible . . . the fastest elevator in the world . . . it can go up to speed of 37.7mph . . . it only took exactly 37seconds to reach the 89th floor from the 5th floor . . . and what surprise me is that the pressure inside the elevator was quite normal as my ears didn't go deaf . . . then going back down was slightly slower . . . it took 40seconds to reach back the 5th floor . . . they will play a nice tune of music which sounds like you're in outer space (like the sci-fi movies) and the lady elevator attendant will explain the ride in Mandarin . English and Japanese . all in 3 languages under 40seconds!!! . . . oh yeah . . . did I said she was quite pretty and cute too . . . hahaha!!!

Ok!!! . . . you'll reach the 89th floor 1st which is the indoor observatory deck . . . 360 degree nice view of Taipei!!! . . .

You will be able to see these everywhere in Taipei 101 . . . it is actually their mascot . . . they are called Damper Baby . . .

Here's the famous Damper on the 88th floor . . . the purpose of this Damper is to balance the whole Building . . . its like a center weight or something like that . . . it is designed to withstand strong typhoon wind and earthquake tremors . . . this round ball weighs at 730 tons!!!

The 91st floor . . . outdoor!!! . . . just pure beautiful view!!! . . . did not take much pictures though . . . as I was quite dizzy all the time!!! . . . coz I can feel the Building is actually swaying from left to right!!! . . . lol!!! . . .

How can I not camwhore over here!!! . . . hehehe!!! . . .

Part III coming . . . stay tuned!!!

Taipei - Part 1

Hi there!!! . . . it's been a week since I came back from Taiwan . . . was so busy with my company's work right after I came back . . . follow ups after follow ups . . . I even brought my laptop over to Taiwan so that I could do my work over there!!! . . . WTF right!!! . . . I guess running a company alone does have this problem whenever you travel . . .but what the heck!!! . . . It is not my first time doing so!!! . . . hehehe!!! . . .

Well . . . had a really fun trip with my friends . . . in total 6 of us included me and my brother . . . all 'Ma Lat Lou' . . . hahahah!!! . . . this trip was a bit tiring cause I think averagely each day we walk for about 10hours!!! . . . some bad luck though . . . was raining in Taiwan everyday without failed!!!

I think we brought the Thunderstorm from Kuala Lumpur to Taiwan . . . hahaha!!! . . .

Tao Yuan Airport . . . definitely not taking the Taxi . . . on the way to the Bus Station . . .

If you ever need a mobile prepaid card . . . do purchase it at the airport as it is cheaper than you buy in the town . . . This only cost NT350.00 - 5 days of unlimited data usage and NT50.00 is for your voice calls . . . to call back to Malaysia cost NT11.2 per minute . . . still cheaper than roaming your Malaysia local line isn't it!!! . . .

The bus ticket was rather cheap . . . NT 260.00 for 2 ways . . . and whats best is that when you return to the airport . . . just give them a call and they will pick you up from your Hotel!!! . . .

Before going to Taiwan . . . I already had the looked on the weather forecast . . . it will be raining for the whole week . . . but 5 mins away from the airport . . . this is what I got . . . bright blue sky!!! . . . yay!!!

but another 10mins . . . here comes the dark clouds and in matter of seconds it just starts raining!!! . . . just wonder why the forecast is so accurate this time . . . damn!!!

it was all wet wet wet!!! . . . the cons of taking the bus . . . you have to switch from 1 bus to another . . . but only for 1 time . . . and the next bus is already there waiting for you . . .

This is the hotel we're staying . . . Paradise Hotel . . . sounds decent right!!! . . . hehehe . . . we booked it for 2nights only . . . initial plan was to look for another Hotel and go to TaiZhong for a day or two . . . but end up others was either fully booked or more expensive . . . so we decided to ditch our plan and stayed at Taipei for the whole trip as we worried we could not get a room at TaiZhong or Taipei later . . . for the 6nights . . . it only cost each of us NT4700.00 which is not more than RM500.00

The entrance to the Hotel . . . looks old right . . . but I can tell you . . . all buildings in Taipei looks like this . . .

Hotel Lobby

This is what I like!!! the old school room key!!! . . . although its old but I still find it beautiful!!!hahaha . . .

The Room - 2 Queen size bed . . . enough for 3 person each room right . . . money well spent!!!

To me . . . the bathroom is more important than the bed!!! . . . CLEANLINESS is important . . . it looks kinda old but very clean!!! . . . thumbs up!!!

Right after we throw all our luggage at the Hotel room . . . straight we went to look for foods!!! . . . everyone is just so hungry!!! . . . hehehe!!! . . . just 5mins walk from our Hotel . . .and here we are!!! Xi Men Ding . . . 1 of the famous Taipei's night market . . .

Straight we head for the famous Ah Chung Flour-Rice Noodle . . . luckily Jordan came along this trip otherwise the other 5 of us will be very much in trouble cause non of us can read chinese!!!hahaha . . . except for Jordan . . .

Over here . . . people just like to line up . . . they will line up for everything as long as that food or brand or whatever is famous . . .

Here it is . . . the Flour - Rice noodle . . . it was very hot . . . it has this thick soup that will burn your tongue easily . . . however . . . I dunno why it is so famous cause I find it absolutely not rich in taste . . . you have to add in some of their homemade chili sauce then it will become really good . . . maybe because I'm a chili lover . . . but but but . . . when it is not that hot (as I take away back to hotel on the 3rd day) . . . I find it rather good . . . this is when you can really taste its full flavour . . . it is something like shark fins soup but only it is flour - rice noodle . . . overall - 6/10

This is how you dine at the night markets!!! . . . hahaha!!!

Taiwan's Bubble Tea . . . it is just everywhere . . . this shop is just next to Ah Chung Flour - Rice Noodle . . .

Cold Stone Creamery !!! . . . this you really have to taste . . . it is just so good . . . especially when the Banana is mix with the Ice - Cream!!! . . . not cheap though . . .

Xi Men Ding Station . . .

to be continue . . . . . . .