We're home after a long and tiring, but enjoyable nonetheless, day trip to Taipei 台北. I've spent a lot of time in the capital city over the years, and it never fails to underwhelm me. I suppose it's because I used to live in Tōkyō 東京, and I'm also familiar with Ōsaka 大阪, but compared to those two megalopolises, Taipei seems much quieter and slower-paced. This may come as a surprise to those Western bloggers for whom Taipei is their first experience in coming to terms with living in a large Asian city, but to me, Taipei is no more intimidating than Nagoya 名古屋, for example. It's unfair to compare Taipei with Tōkyō, but seeing as how Taiwan's capital tries so hard to be like Japan's largest city, I'll go ahead and point out that while Tōkyō serves as a gateway to the rest of Japan, Taipei acts as a protective cocoon sheltering its citizens (and resident Westerners) from the oftentimes ugly reality that can be life in (the rest of) Taiwan. Which is probably why I look forward to visiting Taipei each time!
We began our trip by catching the 9:22am Tze-Chiang 自強 express train from Fengyuan 豊原...:
...and arriving at Taipei Main Station before 11:30. On the way, the train passed a Taoist temple with a somewhat garish statue perched on top (unfortunately, I forgot to note the location, but thanks to a commenter below, I remember now that it was in Jhunan in Miaoli County):
Once in Taipei, we transferred to the MRT 台北捷運 subway system, and took it to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall 中正記念堂 Station. Upon entering the CKS Memorial Hall after lunch, we came to the main reason for our trip up north today - the Taipei 2008 Mammoth Exhibition:
On display were the head (including the two tusks) and left foreleg of an adult woolly mammoth, and the head and part of the torso of a mammoth calf, both discovered frozen in Siberia. The exhibit was small, but interesting, and for Pamela and I, seeing these remains was the completion of some unfinished business. Back in 2005, when we were living in Yokkaichi 四日市, Mie Prefecture 三重県, in Japan, we traveled one afternoon to the Expo 2005 2005年日本国際博覧会 in Aichi Prefecture 愛知県, which was being held on the outskirts of Nagoya. One of the most popular attractions at the expo was the aforementioned adult mammoth. However, it proved to be too popular, as the line to get into the hall displaying the remains was one of the longest I've ever seen, and so we ended up concentrating on the less-popular exhibits (and getting to see more of the expo in the process than most single-trip visitors, but that's another story). So when my wife heard that the mammoth was coming to Taipei, she suggested we try again. Mission accomplished, we then headed upstairs to visit the memorial proper.
The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial may be offensive (as would any monument showing respect to a dictator responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of his own people), but it certainly is damn impressive, if just for the sheer size of the structure, and the vast grounds it occupies. Gargantuanism obviously has a role to play in Chinese culture:
Walking towards the front gate, we lucked out in a big way, as rehearsals for next Friday's Double Ten Day 中華民国国慶日 celebrations were just about to get under way. Drill teams from the army, navy and air force (with the sailors being the ones closest to where we were standing) went through their precision routines flawlessly, at least as far I could tell. It was quite a show, and we were able to see it all up close, and without having to deal with the crowds that will no doubt be lining the parade route on the 10th. Here are three video clips of the rehearsal. I filmed the first one, and my wife recorded the other two, while I was holding Amber aloft so that she could see the show. Please excuse the poor quality of our digital camera, and the sometimes shaky camera work - Pamela was getting tired holding the camera up for several minutes straight!
It was getting late in the afternoon, so we left the CKS Memorial, and headed back on the MRT towards Taipei Station.
At last, we boarded our 6:10pm Tze Chiang for the trip back to Fengyuan (with reservations having been made several days in advance, of course). Amber was a non-stop ball of energy the entire two hours on the train, but once we got home, after she had a shower and a bottle of milk, it didn't take her long to pass out from the day's activities. I'm guessing it won't take me long tonight, either!
ためになりました！
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