The Heavens, to Betsy, would always be just out of reach.

I'm making this post from the MRT station (Starbucks already closed), and it's a little strange sitting here on a bench on a raised platform, outside but covered, with my laptop on my lap and people constantly walking past and staring at me.

Today I met up with my Celia, the sister of my friend and conversation partner Dora. Celia actually lives in China, but she's visiting Taipei for the week. First she took me to a big restaurant for lunch. The place could probably seat over 200 people, but there were only about 10 diners when we arrived. The tables each had a gas burner in the middle. Soon the waiters brought out a big pot of broth with different objects floating in it which resembled obscure species of nuts and berries. They placed this on the burner, and turned it on. Then they brought several plates of mushrooms, vegetables I had also never seen before, and a few that I had, like broccoli. We would put some of these items into the boiling broth, and after a few minutes they would be ready to eat. This, it turned out, was hot pot, which I've gathered is especially popular in Sichuan.

After lunch Celia took me to the Taipei 101 building, which some of you may know as "the tallest building in the world," or even simply "Henry" or "Pete". The first five floors are an enormous shopping center, with crisscrossing escalators and walkways that make it look sort of like a giant space colony. From there we got in line for "the world's fastest elevator" ("Micah"), which ran at a maximum speed of about 20 mph.





Waiting in line for the elevator, we were welcomed by the four Taipei 101 mascots, Cool Black, Lucky Red, Rich Gold, and Smart Silver, representing the four aspects of Taipei 101's personality (I highly recommend zooming in and reading the character details).





The mascots didn't seem to do much from that point on, but there were action figures for sale in the gift shop.

The air was slightly murky, but the view from the top was still spectacular. For someone coming from the Pacific Northwest, where the mountains are all far away and snowy, the landscape around Taipei is dramatic; the mountains are completely green and the city is directly at their feet (and sometimes partway up their legs).











Before heading back down we stopped at the gift shop. One of the most prominent types of gifts for sale were intricate sculptures made of coral. Another section seemed to revolve around this display:





After that we went into a nearby department store for dinner, and the went around looking at the various shops. One home furnishing store sold the new lowest maintenance pet ever: a little green ball of algae in a glass jar (or plastic bag).





There was also a nifty hat that just said "SINCE" and unobtrusively on the brim in cursive had the word "tendencies".





Then we went to a clothing store selling the two brand names "Ecstasy" (with another four mascots, including Lula), and "Manager". I almost bought a "Manager Style" trucker cap. There was even one with the McDonald's logo in the background.





I booked a room for Monday night at a guest house in Hong Kong. If it's fine there's probably a good chance I can stay there the whole time, and if not at least I'll have more time and a place to keep my stuff while I look for another. I actually met a couple from Hong Kong while I was having dinner tonight at that Shilin Night Market stir-fry place again (this time I noticed how much butter and MSG they were adding to the food), and they said they're in the hotel business. We exchanged contact information. It seems that's a good place for meeting people.