2014 Vacation: Japan and Taiwan, Part IX: Gallivanting in Taipei

After having spent nine days in Japan, you'd think we'd be pretty beat up from all of the traveling. And we were, but alas, this vacation wasn't over yet! From typhoon-trodden Tokyo, we flew to Taoyuan, Taiwan, to continue our vacation.

Our reasons for visiting Taiwan were numerous - Firstly most of my extended family in Taiwan had not yet met Baby Lukas. Secondly, the last time were were here as a family, we didn't get to do much in the way of sight seeing due to being ill for much of the time. Last but not least, we had been wanting to take Fifi to see a neurologist in Taiwan for some time - she'd complained a few times about some sharp pains in the back of her head, and though doctors in Shanghai said they didn't see anything unusual, they recommended we see a specialist in Taiwan if the opportunity arose.

As such, our first major stop in Taiwan was actually the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital halfway between Taoyuan and Taipei. My aunt had done most of the legwork beforehand, making the appointment to see the doctor, so the process was relatively smooth. In fact, we went ahead and had another doctor in the hospital check out Lukas, who had picked up a little bug of some sort in Japan as well. We loaded up on some cold medications in preparation for what would be, for us soft Floridians anyway, a cold winter in Shanghai.

Following our doctor appointments, we figured, since we were already halfway to Taipei, why not just go ahead and visit the capital city properly? So, we hopped on a cab and headed for none other than the original Din Tai Fung restaurant! In my visit to Taipei last November, my friend Liz had recommended that we eat here, but the wait was too long and it was raining outside so we skipped it then. This time, the weather was great, so wait be damned - we were eating here today!

People lined up outside of the restaurant

Note the photos of Tom Cruise :)

Some of the history of Din Tai Fung - one of the only restaurants in Asia with a Michelin Star

Getting ready to eat!

Din Tai Fung's specialty is their steamed Xiao Long Bao dumplings..

But we didn't stop at dumplings... we also had some spinach, cabbage, and famous Taiwanese Beef Noodle!

Xiao Long Bao Man!

Din Tai Fung is actually quite popular in Shanghai - there are at least six restaurants there - but we found the original to not only be more delicious, but quite a bit less expensive than its Shanghainese brethren! We stuffed ourselves silly for about $900 NT, or around $30 USD, for the whole family. By comparison, in our last trip to Din Tai Fung in Shanghai, we spent nearly $50 USD but all we had was two baskets of the dumplings...

From Din Tai Fung, it was a 20 minute walk or so to the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, one of Taipei's most signature attractions. The walk was a pleasant one, too, so again, while we could have walked 5 minutes to the station and gotten to the other station in 5 minutes for another 5 minute walk to the actual memorial hall, we figured we'd walk an extra 10 minutes for the scenic route.

The Taipei 101 can be seen down the street

A guy practicing with a kung fu staff in the park

At the gate of the CKS Memorial Hall

The backside of the CKS Memorial Hall

A scale model of the hall inside

I vaguely remember having visited the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall about 15 years ago or so, but apparently, I don't recall hardly any of what I saw. First, some background. The CKS Memorial Hall was built, of course, to commemorate Chiang Kai-Shek, the Generalissimo of the Republic of China from the last Chinese Civil War during the 1940s. While he is often remembered as the man who lost Mainland China, in Taiwan, he is revered to as the first "President" of modern Taiwan after Japan was ousted from the island following World War II. "President" is in quotation marks because, by any modern accepted definition, he was a dictator, retaining his seat of power for nearly 30 years and even passing it on, dynasty style, to his son, before the first actual elections in Taiwan in the 1990s. That being said, for the most part, CKS was a dictator of the benevolent variety. Despite the witch-hunts for Communists and forcing the island to use Mandarin instead of the local Hokkien dialects (or any local dialects, for that matter), under CKS's leadership, Taiwan thrived as one of the "Four Small Tigers of Asia" along with Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea as it quickly industrialized and modernized.

On this particular visit to the CKS Memorial Hall, my original intent was actually just to visit the gardens and hall grounds, which are a popular spot for Taiwanese to get their wedding portraits taken. However, before long, we signed up for a free guided tour of the place! To help us cope with our multiple young children, they even lent us a second stroller!

The CKS Memorial Hall features a treasure trove of old photographs from various periods of Chiang Kai-Shek's life

One of CKS's bulletproof state vehicles, presented to him by the Americans

A replica of one of the CKS's main offices during his tenure

A portrait of CKS drawn using very tiny Chinese script from a work that he wrote

The Generalissimo with President FD Roosevelt and one Winston Churchill

Blueprints showing the Eastern/Western hybrid architecture of the CKS Memorial Hall

Replicas of the various gargoyles on the roofs of the buildings at the CKS Memorial Hall compound

Showing how the extended scaffolding works to create the Asian "Pagoda" look

We were fortunate enough to see the final Changing of the Guard for the day - these silent cadence performances are always a crowd pleaser in Taiwan!

Up next, we visit Chiang Kai Shek's favorite vacation spot in Taiwan!

2014 Vacation: Japan and Taiwan, Part VIII: Japan Final

After fantastic weather for the first week of our trip to Japan, our final days in Japan were marred by heavy, heavy rains. In fact, it was the effects of Typhoon Phanfone, which had just got done pummeling Southeast Asia.

Despite the heavy rains, since we technically had another full day left in Tokyo, we decided to brave the weather for one more outing. Our destination of choice on this day was actually not listed particularly high as a tourist spot, though it is a very heavily trafficked local district. Instead it was featured heavily in the 2009 Nintendo DS game, The World Ends with You. Of course, this location is none other than Shibuya! This awesome game really gave us Westerner's a contemporary glimpse into life in modern Tokyo, ranging from hipster styles to local eats, all the while progressing through one of the more unique video game plots and combat systems we've ever seen!

But most importantly, for purposes of today's travelogue post, it gave me an inspiration to see the real Shibuya!

Shibuya's famous "Scramble Crossing", as seen in the mobile version of "The World Ends With You...

... and as seen from the lens of my Moto X on a very rainy day, after some Auto Awesome treatment!

Due to the heavy rains, we were not able to properly explore Shibuya much outside of the Shibuya Station. However, the Shibuya Station itself has another famous story - one that's much older than The World Ends With You, though, once again, if it weren't for seeing this spot in the game, I would not have known to look for it in real life!

But of course I am talking about the Statue of Hachiko! Hachiko was a Japanese Akita dog that belonged to a professor who lived in Shibuya in the 1920s. Every day, Hachiko (who's name means "Eighth", indicating his birth position in his litter) would come to Shibuya Station to wait for his master until one day, the good professor passed away. however, Hachiko would continue his loyal practice of waiting for the professor for nearly a decade until his own death! His loyalty was an inspiration for the Japanese and thus this statue was erected in his honor!

The Statue of Hachiko as seen on the DS version of "The World Ends With You"...

Hachiko with Fifi

I had to go back and get a shot with him m'self!

Due to the rains, we retreated to the hotel for the remainder of the day in hopes that it would clear up later. It didn't - but in retrospect, we needed the rest too - instead I went out and did a little exploring around Akasaka:

Arming myself with fuel for the walk - this is Peach Nectar

I had a ton of this stuff in Japan - Orange flavored water!

I wish we'd spent more time in this huge toy store that was right down the street!

Dragonball dolls!

Disney and Nintendo characters!

One Piece Models!

3DS!!!

Nintendo Games!

A Shrimp burger from McDonald's!

Japan Observation #12: Food in Japan, like transportation, is quite expensive. The magazine, The Economist, runs an annual feature called the "Big Mac Index", where they attempt to gauge the purchasing power parity in various countries around the world by using the cost of a Big Mac in said country. In theory, Big Macs would cost more in countries with higher cost of living. For the most part, in China, it seems to be fairly priced, as a Big Mac will run you around 20 RMB (around $3.50 USD), meaning that the cost of living is somewhat on par with that of the U.S. (though the cost of housing in China usually blows that of the U.S. out of the water). In Japan, the cost of a Big Mac is around 700 Yen - or almost SEVEN DOLLARS! Which would usually get you a burger at a mid-tier sports bar and grill in Florida! I learned that this is largely attributed to the high cost of fresh food - especially vegetables - in Japan. In fact, through our whole trip in Japan, I nary had any vegetables at all - it seems that most Japanese live on a diet of large quantities of rice, Ramen, or Udon, paired with small quantities of picked vegetables and beef, as well the occasional squid ball (Takoyaki)... Mostly tasty stuff, but it would take some getting used to no doubt!

On our last day in Tokyo, we were scheduled originally to depart from Narita International at about 2 in the afternoon, so we took the shuttle bus from the nearby Tokyu Excel hotel at around 10 AM to account for the 90 minute bus ride. However, due to Typoon-induced delays, we ended up hanging out in the airport until around 6 PM - giving us some time to catch a last (but rather poor) meal in the Tokyo. On the plus side, we got to see the famous Tokyo Tower from the bus! The Tokyo Tower is also a  tourist destination that is somewhat near and dear to the Otaku part of my heart... it was prominently featured in the full length Tenchi Muyo feature film, "Tenchi Muyo in Love" back in the 90s!

Trudging through the rain with our luggage in tow to get to the shuttle bus. Fortunately, the Japanese hotel staff were helpful as always, and they helped us pull some of our luggage all the way to the bus!

We could use these in China...

Tokyo Tower from the bus, during a typhoon

Narita International!

Our last meal in Japan - some Sobu, curry, and really, really bad sushi...

Sparkling peach beer at the First Class Lounge...

Twilight

Up Next - Taiwan!