Blessed by the Buddha

 Taipei has a major Buddhist temple that serves as a big tourist attraction.  It's a little weird going there, checking it out, wandering around, while knowing the religious significance and trying to be respectful.

Inside the main gate, the plaza is encompassed on all sides by small shrines with different depictions of Buddha.  This is the main one.

The plaza has many wonderful features.  People leave weird foodstuffs, as well as more appropriate flowers, as offerings.   There's also a counter where people buy small trinkets to have blessed in the incense pot.  I have mine.

Traveling around Taiwan, there are many small shrines/temples scattered throughout the cities and towns.  Seemed odd to me until I realized these small shrines are similar to the scattered Mormon wards or occasional smaller protestant churches.  

Father of the Country--Taiwan Pt. 10

 No visit to Taiwan would be complete without paying respects at the tomb of Chiang Kai-Shek.  Exiled by the Communist takeover of mainland China, Kai-Shek preserved Chinese democracy by establishing his government on Taiwan.  There were growing pains, and conflicts with the Commies that continues today.  Kai-Shek is honored as we do Washongton and Lincoln.  Kai-Shek's tomb is part of a huge square.

From the inside.  And one of the guards, very still similar to the soldiers at Buckingham Palace.  The changing of the guard ceremony is quite something to experience, takes about 15 minutes.  I have a video, but it's too big a file for this blog.

Day at the Zoo--Taiwan Pt. 9

 

Taipei has a wonderful zoo, but it's an all day walk...  our feet were dead by the time we finished, but the animals were worth it.

We also watched a hippo who watched us!

I got lost in the jungle and barely escaped from the clutches of this dude...

And, of course, there are the pandas.  A fan favorite for good reason.  

Some interesting food choices at the Taipei zoo...

And after enjoying the food, be sure to deposit your trash...

Zoo sustainability...  The animals are doing their part...

We walked and walked, thankfully we had foot massages scheduled later that day.

Blue Pacific--Taiwan Pt. 8

With my feet restored, we traveled on, to an overlook of the harbor area and then to lunch at the docks.

 I enjoyed the fishing boats, quite the industry, and of course seafood is a major part of the Taiwanese diet.

We had lunch across from the docks.  Best scallops ever!

After lunch we drove to a small park and hiked to a secluded beach.  Fun seeing the Pacific by looking East rather than West.

Docked near the beach was an interesting boat.  Check out the labeling.

Then it was back to Taipei for an upcoming day at the zoo.

On the Road--Taiwan Pt. 7

 With a van and driver, the whole crew took off to the Wilan area and some port towns.  The first stop was the Lanyang Museum.

Inside this beautiful building were displays of the oldest peoples of Taiwan.  Sort of a natural history museum.  Great displays, great artifacts, and...  some curious modernist twists.  Here's Miriam CGI'd or something into a traditionalist scene.

From the traditional to the modern, yet still traditional...  this bark dress...

More computer fun, me jumping around in some sort of virtual reality, AI, multi-camera projection...

Outside the museum were a couple sculptures made from cables left over from the construction of Taipei 101... 

Then it was off to lunch at a wonderful little cafe...  and another 100 or so courses!  Eventually we checked into a local hotel and then went off to a spa where fish ate my feet!

Night Market-- Taiwan Pt. 6

 Leaving the ballgame, we went off to the Taichung night market (actually opened at 4 PM).  This was in an older part of town, using several narrow streets lined with kiosks featuring all sorts of foods, clothing, gizmos, and just about anything you can think of.  I grabbed some delicious dumplings, Nisa had her nails done, Willis found some vegetarian goodies.  We also tried some sort of smoothie with granola, only to find that the night market idea of granola was corn flakes!

A few shots from the market area:

Quite fun experiencing a more traditional part of Asian culture.  Then it was the long drive back to Taipei.  Many thanks to Nisa's brother, Andrew, who handled the driving duties in excellent fashion.

Baseball in Taiwan--Pt. 5

 Watching the World Baseball Championship over the years, I noted that the fans at the Asian venues (Tokyo Dome + Korea) were extra exuberant, cheer leaders, horns, percussion, etc.  So I wanted to check out a game in Taiwan to see what the fan experience is like.  Well...  

First, the stadium.  The Taipei Dome was just finished (sort of) but the home team was on the road.  So Nisa got us all tickets and we drove down to Taitung for the game.  I thought the stadiums would be on the level of US AAA teams, but they are bigger than that...  and nicely designed.

I got an early preview of fan loyalty right in front of me.  The elephant is the mascot of the Taichung Brothers (formerly the Elephants).

As the game progressed, insanity ruled.  The cheerleaders came out between innings (as some MLB teams do), got the fans up singing, dancing, waving...  but never sitting down!  We were up for the full half inning doing the cheering thing, which, since the home team scored a couple, was about a half hour...  in 85 degree heat and 80% humidity...  as least we were in the shade, but the poor (and constantly energetic) cheerleaders were not).

When the visiting team came up to bat, suddenly several hundred fans in the bleachers stood up with their band, banners, signs, cheers, etc.  for the entire at bat.  Then back to the home team.

And all the while (inning), the band plays, with some guy encouraging via the PA.

After a few innings, the cheerleads pooped out, so a bunch of kids were recruited for a few innings. Ages 14-2 (so cute).

In the bottom of the 5th, the home team got a 2 run homer to take the lead (and eventually win).  Needless to say, the insanity ramped up beyond belief.  High fives all around, more and more band, cheerleaders, cheering, waving chanting, etc.  We had to get involved.

After 6 innings of extreme interval training (up half an inning, down half an inning) in the high heat and humidity, we bailed to get to the night market.  Exhausting, but so much fun.  No more sedate game watching for me...