Day Two: 10:30-23:00

Day 2 of Taipei: The Vacation began at 10:30 am, precisely 2.5 hours later than it should have. Thus our morning plans were ruined before the day began. Paul and I boldly decided to ditch our roommates, which turned into an excellent plan as we 1) visited the Shandao Temple, 2)Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, 3) expensive restaurant section near Sun Yatsen's Memorial Hall, and 4)the Longshan Temple district. Meanwhile, our roommates 1)were ambushed by Audra's old mission president and pressed into service. Clearly, we got the better half of the bargain. Paul particularly liked the Shandao Temple, as it lacked the elaborate ornamentation common to Chinese temples and shrines. I liked it, because the nuns were more than happy to let us wander around and take pictures. (Temple pictures make me nervous, ever since the Matzu temple in Lugang politely showed us the door. Although, that was the only temple that has ever shown us the door, so maybe it was just that temple's policy, not standard practice.) The Chiang Kai Shek Memorial was a lot of fun. The museum was quirky, but enjoyable--unlike that ultra-low budget Sun Yatsen Memorial with its photocopies of pictures of objects. (That's true, BTW.) We overlapped a little with an English tour group, whose guide was informing them that if Eisenhower had listened to MacArthur and Chiang, there would be no North Korea. He also almost exploded from pride while naming every country that had given an honorary medal to Chiang. The restaurant section was a little disorienting. You literally exit the metro and there are four Italian places within 30 ft. Go an extra 30 ft. and you find an alley of nothing but Japanese restaurants. We ate at a tasty Italian place recommended by our travel guide and it was quite good. Paul got a really good pizza on super-thin crust and the Caesar salad was top-notch. Of course, I was charmed by the free--though warm, because cold water doesn't exist here--Evian. The Lungshan Temple district was probably the highlight of the day. We went at night, which made the Temple look extra-dramatic with all the candles and lit incense sticks. Of course, all of the gold everywhere helped too. It was packed with people and it was nice to be in a functioning temple, not just a historical relic. We were also able to get really close and hopefully our pictures from there turn out. While at the the temple, we saw a little girl (3-ish) take one of the divining blocks. Naturally, her parents were upset about this, but the girl refused to give it back. When they tried to take it, she simply screamed. They appeared tremendously embarassed. I was tickled pink to see someone else have to deal with a misbehaving child. We also wandered around the night markets there, finding a wonderful jade shop (where nothing could be purchased because the owner was out and he did not trust his assistant enough to give him the key to the cases) and a used book store decorated with random antiques (included a giant poster from the premiere of Pink Floyd's "The Wall") with an equally random selection of books. It was a really eclectic and cool place. Thus ended Day Two.