36 hours in Taipei

I’m sitting in the Taipei airport awaiting the next leg of this trip to Singapore. What I’m realizing is that this whole thing has been a whirlwind already… 24 hours of travel, ~40 hours in Hong Kong, and now just having enjoyed ~36 hours in Taiwan. I’ll be settling into Singapore soon… but not until after a 2hr flight, 2hr layover in Hong Kong, and four more hours in the air. The good news is that I’ll have seven nights in Singapore – enough to get to unpack my suitcase!

Although brief, my time in Taiwan was wonderful. The folks at the Microsoft office as well as any we encountered – from baristas to cab drivers to people on the street – were incredibly kind and welcoming. Point being, it wasn’t just the temperature that was warm.

Taipei was a short flight from Hong Kong – and Michelle & I were able to get on an earlier flight. Our hotel was in the heart of the downtown area, literally a block from Taipei 101 – the second largest skyscraper in the world (2nd to the Burj in Dubai as of 4-Jan-2010; I literally missed being in the world's tallest building by under 50 days! COOL!). My colleague TeQ & I quickly dropped off our suitcases and backpacks, tucked sleepy Michelle in for the night, then wandered around the neighborhood to enjoy the Lantern Festival. Avid Reader, the Year of the Tiger is in full force in Taipei; I’ve never seen more tigers in my life! We roamed paths of lanterns, caught a 10PM concert in the park, watched the City Hall light show, wrote our 2010 wishes for all to see, and enjoyed "flora" from around the world as part of the Flora Festival. Taipei was truly a city of lights. It seemed more like Christmas in New York than March in China.

After a productive work day – more than five hours of meetings and a group lunch – Michelle & I opted to scale Taipei 101 and catch the sights of the city. More than that, however, we knew we were in store for another adventure and also proceeded to make our own! Armed with cameras and a spirit of adventure, we enjoyed own our photo shoots, being a part of others (literally, three groups of tourists asked to take photos with us!), making friends, and creating the shot of a lifetime!

Our wonderful Microsoft colleagues Grace and Daniel then escorted us to the Shilin Night Market such that we could experience the sights, sounds and tastes of one of Taipei’s most famous local markets. The market was a throbbing world of food stalls, gift shops, clothing & accessories carts, and more. We enjoyed fresh dumplings, some crazy and DELICIOUS spicy chicken patty, and a humbow(?)-like bun stuffed with meat & scallions. One could call it complete mayhem, but there was a normal-ness to the market that is comforting, if not at least settling as if this is how things should be.

Relative to how things should be, these trips should be filled with hard work and hard play. So far, it has certainly been filled with both with more to come!