Taipei

Got up at 5am to get to the airport for another flight. 4 hours to taipei. Much to my surprise, all the bars outside my hotel were still open at 530am when i stepped outside. Crazy.

On landing in taipei, customs noticed my passport binding is becoming frayed and sent me to higher officials to chat. Was worried they might not let me enter but they said i really need to get a new passport when i get home. Hopefully not a problem anywhere else.

Took the subway into the center and took me quite a while to find my hotel. Very confusing city. Mostly chinese signs and ground floor of most buildings are shops and corridors to center where theres an elevator. After a while i ventured into the center of the building and realized my hotel was up an elevator on the 6th floor.

Rested for a couple of hours then got some food very nearby. The area i was in is quite the scene. Tons of pedestrian streets for blocks and blocks, and every kind of store. Weird coin operated vending machines for entire blocks for toys, shopping items, food etc.

Found a great small place called beer bar and hung out there for a few hours. Mostly with two guys, one from detroit, the other from england who have both been living there for 5+ years. Might meet up with them again in a few days when i return to taipei.

Back to the hotel at a reasonable hour as i had a big driving day coming up. Still catching up from jetlag. Looking forward to starting to see the country.Read more