Impressions of Taipei

April 14th, 2013

Kiev, Ukraine

Song of the Day: It is Well With My Soul by Chris Rice

Mood: Peaceful

Taiwan

Before I went to Taiwan I didn't know what to expect, but I ended up really enjoying Taipei.

Truman show + rehab

Taipei is a beautiful mix of the Truman Show and rehab. The Truman show is a 1998 movie starring Jim Carey. Unbeknownst to Jim Carey's character, he lives in a TV studio that has videotaped every moment of his life since his birth. Millions of people tune in every day and producers manipulate the world. Taiepei felt like this because everything seemed too perfect. Someone must be behind the scenes making sure that people feel comfortable. Everyone we met was peaceful and polite. I felt totally safe.

My friends lives near the Central Park of Taipei

Yes, I went there

It also seemed like rehab because it was so peaceful. The people are quiet. There are playgrounds everywhere. The parks are gorgeous and there aren't many tall skyscrapers. If I was designing a place to escape from the stress of the world, I would make it like Taipei.

Even the sewer covers have trees and fish on them 

The seat covers smile at you 

I liked random sculptures like this fat man

At the airport, they even had a wonderland. I think we call them
toy stores in America, but clearly we're doing it wrong

Rules

One of the ways that order is maintained is that there are many rules

At a certain point, you feel that if it's not on the sign, it must be allowed 

This possibly means that you can't use a pooper scooper to
create a dust cloud of leaves and fruits

Passengers in taxis need to be fully aware that driving into
a giant wine glass is totally unacceptable

Biking

If you like biking, I definitely recommend a bike ride around the river. The path actually goes around the entire island of Taiwan, but you can stop and turn around whenever you want. Biking was the first activity I did when I met up with my friend, the Indefinite Immigrant.

As we rode, I felt like I was in a national park instead of a capital city. You could barely hear the cars and the scenery was beautiful. There were tons of little parks, tennis and basketball courts, and families walking around.

Brief pause for a rant

For those of you who know me super well, you know that are a few things that I detest. One is lawn mowing. Another is biking. 

Biking makes no sense. If you want to go somewhere fast, driving a car is better. If you're into beauty, walking is more enjoyable. As far as safety, biking is dangerous due to riding in streets with cars and my nemesis: mounting/dismounting. For me, biking involves pain such as blisters on my thumbs, soreness on my rump, and back pain. Before Taipei, I had not biked in nearly a decade. It will be another decade before I try again. *end rant*

A city of peace

Taipei is the most peaceful capital city I have ever been in. Although it has many of the same cultural roots, it doesn't have the same frenzy of mainland Chinese cities. If you spoke the language, Taipei would be a great place to raise a family.