Taipei 101, Jhangshan Temple and the Lantern Festival

I'm sorry I haven't written in so long - the days are just flying by and I may be having too much fun!

There isn't much to say about Thursday as it was the day after the first night out and I spent most of the day in bed. When I finally got up around 5pm a group of us left for Taipei 101 (we are all joking that Taipei 101 is our second home - Taipei is such a large city but we only ever seem to make it as far as here). Felix had already been to the top and suggested we check it out - what a view. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so I didn't get any pictures from the top, but here is a view from outside:


Oh and I have to show you this as well:


We had this taken right before we went up - such a touristy thing to do. Tatjana and I decided not to buy it but all the boys did. Sorry for the bad quality - it is actually a picture of a picture. Don't we look cute?

Friday was the last day of my "vacation" before classes so I wanted to get out and see a few things. Tatjana, Felix, Pim, Michael and I decided to head up the mountain to the Jhangshan temple. I took a picture of the sign this time so I wouldn't forget the name.




Just starting our hike up the never ending stairs.


It was a bit tiring ...


But we made it. That big pot right in front of us is filled with incense sticks which made the air smell really nice.


Check out the view behind Tatjana and Felix.


This is what it looks like inside the temple - you cannot enter but you are allowed to buy food items and place them on the take to offer them to the gods. There were all kinds of things including old mouldy clementines - not too appealing for a God.


Felix lighting incense and asking the God's for a life of prosperity, happiness, and good fortune (ha ha). It's funny because there are so many things that are said to bring these things.

When we were done looking around we had the option to keep walking up the mountain or to continue back down. All of us looked up, then down, then at each other ... and then we started back down. Now we are kicking ourselves because that night, one of the other exchange students (Rob) told us that just up a bit higher was one of the most beautiful places he's seen while hiking. Oops.


That night Tajana's buddy kindly took a large group of us downtown to the Lantern Festival - again to Taipei 101.


It was incredibly beautiful - the park was fully lit up with all sorts of fun fairy tale characters and the trees were all covered in christmas lights. From left: Shaun, Tatjana, Daria, Felix and Kaia.


Tatjana and I posing with a cute looking character.


I thought this scene was very romantic.


It was the first night of the festival so we got to see them light the big lantern in the center of the park. We were all getting a bit bored waiting for them to light the lantern because they had to introduce all of the sponsors of the event, in Mandarin of course. To pass the time we all huddled around this big bubble machine with all the little kids. We would wait for the bubbles to pop out and then try to grab them before they took off into the sky - touching one is considered good luck (of course).


It was so cute. While we were waiting to see the lantern light up, a little Taiwanese girl took a liking to Marie. She literally stood there just starring for about 5 minutes.


This is a view of the crowd watching the big lantern. It seems like a pretty big event - there must have been thousands there to see the show and it continues on all week long.


After the festival we went to a posh lounge in the center of the city. It was so nice out that we were able to sit outside on these comfy couches. It's funny because most of the Taiwanese people at the bar chose to sit inside. Shaun told us that this is common - most Taiwanese prefer to stay inside.

This was was the first time since i've been here that I got to enjoy a glass of red wine. The Taiwanese don't drink much wine so it is really hard to find - literally impossible in all of the restaurants around campus. This is hard for me because those of you who know me well know how much my family and I enjoy our wine.

We sat there for quite a while because - as we joked - there are no rest areas around campus or in our dorms that are that comfortable. Another great night and a nice way to end my vacation period.