I didn't decide to join my friends in Taipei until Wednesday during school. After school, I had Mr. Huang take me to the HSR (high speed rail) station to begin my weekend by the seat of my pants. No plans, just a backpack and some money. So, Kevin and I met at the HSR station before 7pm and decided find our way to Taipei 101 and figure out some plans for the evening. It was surprisingly easy to get around the MRT(subway) in a town I've only been to once before. Once Kevin and I were around 101 and scoped out the area, we decided to find Outback Steakhouse for a nice New Years Dinner. It took a while, but once we found it, our appitites has preceeded us! Dinner was nice, and I treated myself to a fancy drink. With still two hours until "the ball dropped" we walked around a little, got some drinks amidst the crowds, and found our seat with a great view. Not many people were drinking, I noticed, but everyone was sitting in the streets waiting for the excitement. At about 11 pm, Kevin and I decided that we had better pick our seat and get situated before it's too late. For the next hour, we took turns walking around and going to 7-11. The last time Kevin left, people decided to make his seat the new walkway - they were stepping all over me and I was about to lose my patience. There was a crosswalk for the road only 100 feet away....but they chose to walk through the crowd. Mere seconds before I blew up, Kevin came out of nowhere to rescue me like the big Long Island Angel that he is...and he got everyone to stop walking through....in a nice polite way.
When there were only a few minutes until midnight, we waited with anticipation and excitement of not knowing what would happen. There was no countdown, and I think the fireworks started 2 minutes after midnight. I was so surprised by no countdown...I thought that was a world-wide thing. No one knew when it was really midnight. Just AROUND that time, the lights to Taipei 101 went out and seconds later the fireworks began. To my surprise, the fireworks were set off the actual building....I was expecting fireworks in the skies by Taipei 101...not off the actual building! That was really cool! The fireworks lasted a whole 6-10 minutes and on the last explosion, Kevin screamed "HAPPPPYYYY NNNEEEWWW YEEAARRR" and everyone, thousands and thousands of people, got up and left. I'm sure it was just a funny coincidence, but it seemed as if Kevin's yell was the announcing of the end of the show. Being a new yorker, Kevin knew that when a huge show like this is over, it is not the best idea to get up and leave with the crowd...there is a lot of pushing and frustration. So, we sat and watched everyone else leave. Many people wanted to get their picture taken with the funny and loud Americans. For one couple, Kevin layed completely on his back so he could get a good shot with 101 in the background. Many others found this awesome, so he took about 5 more couples' pictures in this position. Onlookers were even taking pictures of Kevin because it was quite the scene.
Since the whole Taipei trip was last minute for me, I had no place to stay. When Kevin told me that he had reserved a bed at a hostel, I figured he had a room where I could sleep on the floor. Unknown to me, a hostel is a bunk room for cheap travelers, and you can't have guests. Kevin didn't have a hostel bed for the first night, so we both agreed to not worry about where we would sleep until after 2am so that we could have a good night. Eventually, we would find somewhere to sleep. This is the craziest thing I've ever done, and I wouldn't have done anything like this if I weren't with Kevin. Kevin is like an uncle to me...he's a lot of fun and a crazy guy to be around, but he's responsible and always puts my safety before anything else. So...I figured we'd be ok. So, we walked around Taipei around 101 for a few more hours and carried around drinks (it's legal to drink in public). When the clock struck 2am, I decided we had better try to find somewhere because I was getting cold and tired. We both refrained from drinking much, because in the back of our minds, we wanted to have control when it came to finding somewhere to stay. We got on the MRT and went to the stop where our hostel for the next night was. Kevin was trying to follow some directions, but later we found out we were walking completely in the wrong direction. We walked into about 3 hotels where they nearly laughed us when we asked for a room. At the last hostel that rejected us, that was on the 3rd floor of a building, Kevin decided to find a nook in this building that we could crash. He left me in the stairwell to find a spot. He came back and said that it was the best place we were going to find...so he led me up some stairs to a balcony with two comforters either drying out or airing out in the wind. There were some walls to protect us from the wind, and some blankets to lay on....so we each took an end and soon Kevin was snoring. I don't think I fell asleep until after the sun rose, and soon Kevin was telling me that we needed to leave before we were found. So, about 9am January 1, we rolled into McDonald's after a night of being homeless, and refueled.
Kevin was able to check in to his hostel after 12 noon, so we were able to lock our bags and take a shower. Being a hostel, there is nothing provided....no towels for wet hair, no shampoo, conditioner...etc.... This I didn't realize until after I'm in the shower. Yesterdays clothes worked well as a towel, and I found a sample of shampoo that worked for everything else. Still feeling homeless. I asked the hostel if they had a bed for that night, and didn't, so I told them I would sleep on a couch. Later, after a day and night of walking around Taipei with my friends, I was told they gave the couches away. So, there I fell asleep on a lounge chair...until I was woke up and told that the small couch was available. Another bad night of sleep, but atleast I felt a little rested.
Emilie, James, Kevin, and I decided to do some touring around the museum district on Friday. We met Julie and Tony and we all went to the National Palace Museum. We spent about three hours there, but many more hours could've been spent. It was great...my favorite was the pottery...ancient Chinese and Chi'ing dynasty pottery and artifacts. It was really disappointing that no pictures could be taken.
After the NPM, we had lunch, departed from Tony and Jules, then checked out the gardens. We were all feeling tired, but we still wanted to see the Aboriginal Museum, so we walked across the road to see that. It was only three small floors, which we saw in only an hour. It was clear that everyone was ready for a nap, so we got back to the MRT, to the hostel, and everyone took a nap. Once we were rested, we decided to find hot pot for dinner, then we would go to the Taiwan brewery because a band was playing that night. My shoes has done a toll on my feet (I have bad feet anyway...so walking long distances is difficult) and I had horrible blisters, so I was becoming frustrated when we couldnt' find the place....so we decided to go into the next nice place we saw...which was a Korean BBQ. It ended up being really good and decent priced. We were all satisfied. The meat was boneless, skinless, marinated, and delicious. Something new for my 4 months here so far :-)
After dinner, we walked to the brewery where the band was playing for a small crowd. They played cover songs from the 80's and were pretty good. A little girl that knew the words to a song was invited on stage and was like a miniature star....she was adorable! Then, it must've been her baby brother, wanted to join too....and he just imitated everyone's actions. He was so cute! Of course, I was going nuts because kids are so adorable and I love em!
When everyone was ready to walk on to the next bar, I was feeling like going back to the hostel, and James mentioned it, so we decided to walk back together. I fell asleep in Emilie's bed until there was a cancelation. They woke me up and showed me to my very own bed for the night! WOW! Finally a bed to myself, with blankets and a pillow! Luxury! lol!
I knew I was going to go home on Saturday. As much as I enjoy being with my expat friends, my feet were killing me, I needed a decent shower, and just wanted to relax. So, after breakfast I had planned to go home. But, when I woke up, my glasses were missing. I knew that I left them at the hostel, and aparently, someone stole them. For about 30 minutes I looked everywhere and asked everyone, with no answers. I left a note with my phone number since I will be back in the area in three weeks. I'm pretty sure they are gone for good, which is very disappointing. I left all my friends in a bad mood, which I feel bad about....I was so upset about my glasses.
I decided to take the normal train instead of the high speed, to save a few bucks. HSR is about an hour and a half, but the slow train took more than 4 hours. After the train and the bus to my house, I was traveling for 6 hours...boy was I glad to be home!
So, overall, New Years was enjoyable...I definetely learned a lot about travel around Taipei...my Mom comes to Taiwan in 3 weeks and we'll be in Taipei, so I'm glad I have some experience of traveling there so I can show my Mom around!
KEVIN'S RENDITION ON THE EVENING: http://www.kevindennis.com/2009.01.04_arch.html#1231330138533
LINK TO TAIPEI 101 FIREWORKS AND ME SINGING: http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=sDnsuX8O6ww
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