Here is a wet leaf. I took this photo in Taipei ZOO. Some plants were continuously irrigated by some water jets that were spraying a mist of water particles onto the plants. I saw the glittering in the sun and thought it make a good shot, and I am not disappointed.
This photo has some history (the subject that is...). It is a memorial shrine in Tarokko Gorge in Hualien county Taiwan. The Tarokko Gorge is a very popular attraction, and if you visit it you can see why. It is indeed a lovely place. One of the reasons Tarokko is so well known, is because some 50 years ago, the Taiwanese build the central cross country highway. That led them through the gorge. It sadly cost the lives of 500 workers to build the highway in the gorge. They build this temple to remember their sacrifice. The temple had to be rebuild several times afterwards due to land slides and earth quakes.
This is a bridge that ran next to the memorial temple. I thought it was pretty interesting. It led to a tunnel where you could take a food path to the temple, but that was off limits due to the risk of falling rocks, something not uncommon.
At the end of the tour through Tarokko Gorge we arrived here. Whilst most of the tourists in our group went buying souvenirs and having coffee, I walked up the steep stairs to visit the buddhist temple. They were just restoring the damage done by one of the typhoons that had hit the area not too long ago. Little did they know that the same evening another typhoon, force 3, would sweep the land...
The temple featured this golden buddha statue. There was also a nice pagoda of which I also took some photos. I may show that one some other time.
This photo is of a fishing boat on Green Island, another popular tourist location in Taiwan. Green Island is very small and it is best to book your trip well in advance. ALthough they fly on Green Island, they use VFR, so if the weather is slightly off, you can count on all flights being cancelled. There is still a boat though. We took the boat on the way up, which was in the middle of a small typhoon, so you can imagine that almost everyone on board got pretty ill. Luckily I kept everything in. Tina insisted on taking a flight back.
Taipei 101, for now the tallest building in the world, shaped like a bamboo tree.
The photo you see here is the interior of this little orifice of 500+ meters. It is part of the construction that keeps a counter weight suspended in mid air. Several hydraulic dampers dampen the movement of this massive ball, that acts as a buffer for any movements caused by earth quakes and typhoons. A clever gadget if you tell me...
Martyr's shrine. This place is a huge shrine where they honour those that gave their lives during the endless wars over the past millenia. It is mostly oriented to those who gave their lives in their fight against communism and the second world war. The guard change is quite impressive and always managed to get a crowd of people attending. The soldiers twist and whirl their rifles in a well practised routine. If you are visiting, note the yellow/brown stripes on the pavement, worn by army boots marching every day multiple times per day. SInce the guards have to stand still perfectly in the blistering heat, they have awhole crew that waters them, dabs their sweaty foreheads, tug their uniforms, etc etc.
I think this is a little memorial that was constructed for the women that lost their husbands during the construction of the central cross island highway in Tarokko Gorge. I don't know the exact details because we didn't really have the time to stop and have a look.
Taipei MRT at peak hours...
"...yeah, I'm gonna have to work late darling, so don't wait up for me."
The railing on Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall.
I can't remember the name of the shopping mall where I took this shot. The mall is huge though! It contains a cinema as well where we watched Deuce Bigalow does Amsterdam. They have stuff for everyone. Mind you, it is not as crazy as Ximen Ding, a shopping mall Japan style, fashion shopping!
The mountains of Hualien County. Actually quite impressive! The landscape in Taiwan can be really gorgeous. The day we took this train from Taipei to Hualien was gorgeous as you can see. Too bad that many a factory poluted the view as well as teh environment. When you want to go swimming on the coast of Taiwan, make sure you check if you can. Treacherous currents and dubious sea creatures are not the only dangers that lure in the water.
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