Wednesday, January 2, 2008

A tale of two Taipei buildings (Photo-essay)


Some 12 hours from now, it'll be time to get back to work. Thus will end a much needed 12 day vacation that I have to admit to wishing could go on for a little while longer. At the same time, I'm not going to deny that I managed to fit in quite a bit of fun, activity and travel into these holidays; with the tail-end of it seeing me back in Penang to say goodbye to 2007 and bid welcome to 2008, and a quintet of earlier days, including December 25 (which, incidentally, is
not a public holiday in that land), having been spent in Taipei, Taiwan.

Despite a good friend (and fellow Asian film fanatic) having wondered otherwise, I did not go to Taipei in search of Brigitte Lin Ching-Hsia; and this not least since Taiwan may be where she was born and rose to fame but it being the case that she currently resides in Hong Kong and has done so for some years now. Rather, by far the main attraction for me in that East Asian territory -- which I had hitherto never visited -- was the National Palace Museum.

Unfortunately but, also, expectedly, photography is barred while inside of that museological institution. So I have no pictures to show of it and/or to provide proof of my visit there. On the other hand, many other sections of Taiwan's capital city, be they new or old, were freely photographable. Consequently, I was able to click away and thus provide you with the following sample views of two of Taipei's more remarkable buildings:-


Taipei 101 currently is the world's tallest building
-- but, rather than show you the skyscraper per se,
here's first offering up a view
from its 89th floor Observation Deck...

...and another from a different, more acute angle
that can be vertigo-inducing, and perhaps especially so
when you're behind the camera taking such a photo! ;S

The upper portion of Taipei 101, as viewed from
the hilly as well as southern suburbs of Maokong


If only the top of it were as visible from up close!
But on a cloudy day, like the day my mother and I visited,
this actually is far from the case!! ;(

And the weather conditions also were far from optimal
when we paid a visit to the second building in focus --
the Lungshan (Dragon Mountain) Temple
that's Taipei's oldest and most popular...

But, as it so happened though, the day of our visit
turned out to also have been a major festive day

Thus the temple was specially decorated
with such as flowers galore, filled with devout worshippers,
and the overall mood there that day felt really special

Additionally, let's face it:
a little -- or even a lot... -- of rain

really wasn't going to deter me from appreciating
ornamental architectural touches like these... :b

So, want to see more of my Taipei photos? Hope so, as I'm already planning to put up a second Taiwan photo-essay on this blog before too long! :)

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very good pictures and I hope you enjoyed your holiday. I for one am eager to see more :)

YTSL said...

Hi 'eliza bennet' --

Thanks and I did enjoy my holiday. Am sorry to be back at work, especially since I appear to have caught a cold! :(

Willow said...

Yes, one can admire architecture and its ornateness through rain. Thank goodness for that. ;D

YTSL said...

Hi Willow --

Speaking of the rain: I wonder whether that contributed to my current cold... ;S

sarah bailey knight said...

Yes, please, more Taipei photos. I thoroughly enjoy your travel photo essays! Hope you feel better soon. How about a photo essay(s) on less well know, in terms of tourists visiting them, sections of urban Hong Kong.

YTSL said...

Hi sbk --

Will be happy to oblige re Taipei. As for untouristy sections of urban Hong Kong: Have a few photos but find myself scratching my head to think up a common theme for them (they seem so random), so often wait for an appropriate Photo Hunt theme to come along for me to use those.

And thanks, I like to think that I am getting as well as feeling better today. :)

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year! You got a wonderful trip in Taibei! I like the photo of 101 Tower without it's top, very interesting!Talk to you later.

YTSL said...

Hi Sophia --

To be honest, the Taipei trip was more interesting and full of surprises than outright wonderful. Still, am glad to have visited Taiwan. And yeah, look forward to talking to you soon. :)