10/1/2001

10:30pm JYAC bedroom
Yesterday was a lazy day. We all slept in after our crazy night at the snake place. Our first job was to get a cab to TGI Friday's. It was great. We ate tons of food. Jalapeño poppers, hamburgers, mudslides, the list goes on and on. We finished that (it was relatively cheap) and went exploring. We didn't know where we were on the map, just that we were North. There were lots of little shops along the side walk. I tried on some shoes but nothing fit. Instead I bought perfume at The Body Shop and film. The streets very very difficult to walk on. They were all broken apart, flooded out, and many pipes in the street were being dug up and replaced. It smelled very bad in many places.

G and I went to a coffee shop to try to get away from the crowded dirty streets, but it was just as crowded and dirty there- but the bathroom was nice.

We took a cab back here and spent the rest of the evening hanging out like college students. We ordered pizza, watched movies and played games.


(Monday) Today was more interesting. After class and a nap we walked North. We went to the Taipei Astronomical Museum. On our way I noticed a different Taipei. The sun was shining, it was drier, it smelled better (in places) and it was cooler with a nice breeze. There wasn't too much of a difference in the crowd, except as we got near Taiwan Sea World. There were tons of families and children all running around. At the museum there were more families.

It was an ok place. Nothing was in English so it was a fast visit. There were three floors covering space flights, the history of astronomy (East and West), the solar system, and many other topics relating to space. Most of the exhibits were about America, and the NASA space program. It made me think a lot about how much we take our science for granted. There's no way Taiwan could build a rocket or a shuttle. They just have to learn about ours. The museum did have much more of a global perspective about things though. Russian missions, French and Chinese and Indian rocketry were all included with American developments. The history of astronomy also had interesting sections about Chinese astronomers and their tools and models of the universe. Unfortunately, the explanations were all in Chinese so I may never know what the "Quarter Model" was. They also have an IMAX and 3D theater. It was $100NT so I didn't go.

We walked from there to the Shih Lin night market and Jungle City. Jungle City reminded me of Navy Pier with the carts that sell jewelry. We ate at the McDonalds (again- we really need to stop doing that. Perhaps we could ask for recommendations of good local restaurants to supplement our steadily degrading diet). We walked around the side streets for a while, watching the vendors set up their stalls and blankets on the street. This market looked smaller, but with fewer kitsch and more clothing and accessories. It was more crowded and more uncomfortable. We ducked into a CD shop to see wha the prices were like. They were a little better than at home. I got a CD of popular American music for $320NT. G heard a good song playing and bought the CD. The chorus was "ichi ni san she" or "1 2 3 4" in Japanese. But I think it's a Chinese group.

We walked back and did out share of hanging out.When it got dark enough we made an excursion to the roof. It was creepy up there until we looked at the view. We could see the entire city. Right next to us the big hotel was all lit up. We could see the bright top of the tallest building in Taipei. Airplanes flew low over the city to land nearby. The city looked beautiful from where we were. Overhead a thin later of textured clouds veiled the full moon. It was very bright. Some Germans came up and Jeremy, to my surprise, spoke fluent German to them. When Emily came up some fireworks started. They looked like just someone lighting them off by themselves, but it made the Moon Viewing night really great. We stated out there for a long time.It was hard to imagine that the city below was cracked and muddy, that people often wear face masks to avoid breathing the fumes of cars and scooters. Today I finally began to see Taipei like it probably was before the typhoon. The physical damage to the city must have changed it a lot. I would love to have seen it a few weeks before now, before the flooding.