Taipei 2

Today is already the last day in Taiwan! Since Lem and I are flying out of Taipei International at about the same time, we decided to go and do some sightseeing in the few hours we have left. Ann came with us and was our "tour guide". We decided to go and see the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. On the way we came across the beautiful art gallery below:

Got Ya! It is actually not an art gallery at all - it is a subway station! Unbelievable how beautiful it is kept, and how it is possible at all! Anywhere else it would be vandalised, stolen, etc.

The subway station at the memorial square was quite nice as well. Beautiful architecture, and a bit later you will see what architecture it was matching...

Just out of the subway station we went to see four main buildings on the square: The Concert Hall, the National Theatre, a large gate, and the memorial. Both the Concert Hall and the National Theatre were partly covered in scaffolding while undergoing some major restoration.

Here is the gate at one end of the square:

Lem

Ann

Hmm, I would have guessed that cars are not allowed on the square. I found the shape of this one quite funky!

And here is the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. He was the former president of Taiwan. The memorial is partly scaffolded as well, and as a result of that you currently cannot see the statue inside. But you can go inside the lower part. It is from this memorial, the subway station got its architecture from (see above). The hall is made of white marble, and its roof of deep-blue glass tiles.

The square, seen from the memorial, with National Theatre, Concert Hall, and the large gate in the middle.

There has been some debate about Chiang Kai-shek, and more recently the memorial got a new name:

This is inside downstairs. Beautiful and much larger than you would expect. The large space includes a few different exhibitions, the largest one dedicated to Chiang Kai-shek, a souvenir and post shop, washrooms, etc.

Ann and Lem at the entrance to the exhibition

We then walked back at the outskirts of the square, which included a quiet little park, which was a real oasis.

We then walked across a large intersection, with a temple like building on it. Lots of traffic buzzed around it.

At the same square is a huge hospital complex.

If I remember right, this is the prime minister's office. But I am not too sure - please correct me if I am wrong, Ann! The large posters were part of a huge campaign for acceptance into the United Nations, which Taiwan recently failed to achieve again.

Ann in front of her old High School :)

Returning back to the gate from the other side on the way back to the subway station.

Opposite the gate is the State Library

And finally back at the subway station close to out hotel, we walked by these old houses. In the middle of large modern buildings are the remnants of the old Taiwan.

Back at the hotel, we grabbed our bags, bid Ann farewell, and were driven to the airport. Check-in was a breeze (thanks to the Star Alliance Gold Card), and I spent some time in the SIA lounge, before I went to the gate. The flights from Taipei to Singapore, and on to Auckland were uneventful and very comfortable. Singapore's biggest asset is their great stuff. They really do their best to make your flight as comfortable as possible.

Conclusion: An amazing trip, on which I learned a lot. My first time to Taiwan (and except Hong Kong to China overall). We saw some nice parts of the country, and were welcomed warmly wherever we went. But most importantly, the people I spent time with were great. We had so much fun, and went on extremely well. That way work is fun! Big thanks to Lien and her team for the invitation, and for the incredibly hard work to put it all together! Having just organised a large conference myself I know what it means!

Taipei 1

At the end of the second conference day we once again boarded a bus and headed north to Taipei. The trip is only about 2 hours, and we soon checked in at the hotel. Next morning we met at the lobby and walked together to the NTU campus for the scheduled Round Table Meeting. On the way we came across a bike repair station on campus, which was pretty cool. In the first photo you can see the orange pipes which are air supply pipes to pump up your tires. The second photo shows a workshop, where all sorts of bike repairs are done. Great idea!



At NTU we met with a pretty large group of people from academia, NGOs, government, etc. We started with the first of four sessions, and quickly realised that the group was too big. Thus, we split up in two groups and were able to be much more focused and productive. I chaired the session on whale watching, and we had a really good working group. I think we made some good progress and came up with pretty good ideas. It is now important to follow these up and move something...




After the two separate sessions we met in the large group again and summarised the results for information, and to get them logged.
In the evening our last dinner was at a private club at the bottom of the Grand Hotel. The restaurant was absolutely beautiful, and the dinner (Mongolian BBQ) was delicious! It certainly was a night to remember...















After dinner we walked up the hill to the Grand Hotel to have a look at it. It was so incredibly beautiful. I felt in awe and could hardly suck it all in. The photos show a little of it, but can't really portrait the atmosphere and overall beauty of it!










And finally, a few of us headed to Taipei 101, which was at 508 meters the tallest building in the world (until the twin towers in Malaysia were built). Unfortunately, the observation deck was already closed. We just had the chance to quickly go into a book shop in the mall at the first few floors of the building, and buy a few things. It was quite nice, but just like any other mall. So yes, we have to come back to get up to the top of the building!