Taipei (Finally)

So, I've got about 15 minutes that I'm going to attempt to write about Taipei with. Wish me luck!

I left off on the bus from Taichung at 5a, bleary-eyed and sleepless, realizing I had no clue if there were many stops in Taipei, or where I was going anyway. I slept briefly, then watched Oceans 13, though I couldn't figure out the sound. When we pulled into a random stop on teh street, the nice lady across the aisle from me (did I mention how posh Taiwan buses are? One seat per side, big, cushy armchairs for everyone) says, "OK" and nods to me, so I get off. Immediately, there are taxis waiting and I show my paperwork and hope they understand the address I just gave them to the hotel. He seems confused, but we pull up to the hotel only a few minutes later! Score!

I cehck in to the hotel and try to figure out if John has arrived yet. I'd booked him a transfer, but had no way of knowing if he was picked up or not. Finally I spot his bag tucked behind the counter, but no one knows where he is. I step out and survey the block, thinking WWJG - Where Would John Go... Strolling up teh block, I hear a shout, and the answer is obvious: 7-11. There he is in front of one, trying to get a SIM card. We chat for a bit, head back to the hotel, try to get on the day tour that day and fail, discover we can't check in for 5 more hours and decide to set off and see some city on our own. After a brief stroll, we head back to the hotel to get a map and directions to internet cafes, metro systems, and general info on where the hell we are! Now we can set out!

Man, out of time already! More updates soon!

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OK, more updates, as promised!

We walked up the block, and stopped in a really high-end internet cafe. Each computer had a private booth and you could watch movies, read books, etc there. We quickly figured out we couldn't afford it, but the girl working there was hilarious! She was like anime! When she couldn't think of how to say something in English, she would smile big and scrunch up her eyes and wave her arms around and jump up and down and make noises! She quickly became my new favorite person in Taiwan, haha! Even though we didn't use the internet services, she ended up telling us most of the info we were after (like where to go out at night) and even looked up addresses and stuff for us. It was cool!

We headed out, found the metro system, and figured out how to work it. Since Taipei 101 wasn't on the tour we had set for the next day, we headed straight there. Walking from the metro station was a fair distance, and we ran into so much stuff! Starting with some simple street vendors, we crossed through a shopping area of classy stores, then found them setting up a street fair, complete with giant balloon arch urging people to not be depressed and to have a good attitude! We wondered what was going on, and then spotted a big warehouse door opening that we wondered into.

Having no clue what we just walked into, we discovered booths of people displaying products at some sort of convention. We walked to one booth and they were giving out rice samples! We walked 2 more down and were given another rice sample, as they told us about the region it was grown in, etc. A few more stalls down, more rice... We had wandered into a RICE CONVENTION!!!

Out of time again, more soon...