Last additions - spewmuffin

2011-05-20_19_29_47.jpgXimen is one of the hippest places to be!2 viewsThis is a pedestrian mall that is roughly three by five blocks long. Tons and tons of shops all crammed together, including stores on second, third, and sometimes fourth and fifth floors. When we were walking out of the underground mall and exiting the subway station, it felt like water flowing out from underground. If I were to put an estimate, probably 150 people were coming out every minute! With two subway lines converging at this station and trains coming every three minutes, it can get intense! spewmuffinJun 02, 2011	2011-05-20_19_59_05.jpgTaipei Cinema Park (臺北市電影主題公園)2 viewsTowards the back of the Ximen shopping district is the Taipei Cinema Park, which had seven or eight cinemas all next to each other. Most of the cinemas showed the most popular showings, but they still had the smaller films that specialized in each location. One cinema was almost exclusively romance while another had a lot of science fiction.spewmuffinJun 02, 2011	2011-05-20_19_18_35.jpgXimen Underground Street Directory (西門地下街平面配置圖)2 viewsThere are several shopping malls underground, which is a genius considering Taiwan often rains or is humid and hot during the summer. When underground, you're shielded from the weather. In addition, while building the subway, the dirt is already evacuated, so might as well make use of the land rather than filling it back in! Also, Ximen used to be the western door to the Taipei city wall, built by the Japanese during their colonial rule of the island.spewmuffinJun 02, 2011	2011-05-20_19_54_57.jpg大同﹗(Tatong Appliance Company)3 viewsFor many years, Tatong Company are famous for their rice cookers and other kitchen electrical appliances. Their mascot is the football player on the left side of the image, with the year of manufacturer printed on the mascot's jersey. Keep in mind that Taiwan uses the (民國) to denote the republic era, which started in 1911. This year is known as 民國100, or 100th year of the republic era or Modern China. The picture shows 91, which translates to 2002.spewmuffinJun 02, 2011
2011-05-20_17_34_13.jpgWalking along the sidewalk2 viewsAlong a major thoroughfare, there are plenty of scenery to see, and TONS of scooters whizzing by. <cough coughs> The air isn't exactly the best there. <sighs>spewmuffinJun 02, 2011	2011-05-19_11_48_25.jpgCleaning up a 40 pound watermelon!4 viewsAfter two days, the five of us put away 40 pounds of a watermelon, for USD$5. Fruits are so cheap, plentiful, and deliciously sweet there!spewmuffinJun 02, 2011	2011-05-19_10_03_23.jpgThis brings back memories!3 viewsWhile I attended kindergarten on the first floor, the family lived here in this fourth floor room. This is converted into a bedroom, but it used to be the living room. The kitchen is towards the back (left of the glass case) and bedroom is next to the kitchen.spewmuffinJun 02, 2011	2011-05-19_10_04_11.jpgYep, it is still the original!2 viewsThis really is the original bath tub that I took countless showers in, mostly while crying or in tears. I had an irrational fear of water all the way until I was 11 years old! Scary.spewmuffinJun 02, 2011
2011-05-19_10_03_44.jpgWas the bathroom really like this?7 viewsEverything looks big when you're small... This bathroom actually has a ceiling height of 5'8". I'm 5'7-1/2", so if I straighten my neck too fast, I'll bump. :(spewmuffinJun 02, 2011	2011-05-19_10_02_24.jpgCaution: Narrow Stairs3 viewsDuring my stay, I lived on the fourth floor, while my mom stayed on the first floor. This view is between second and third floors, and is probably no more than three feet wide. With the house renovated and no stairs inside the house, all of the staircases were wrapped around the outside of the building and in this case, built to connect to the hallway on the third floor. The staircase to the fourth floor is immediately to the left at the top of the staircase. Confusing?spewmuffinJun 02, 2011	2011-05-19_10_01_13.jpgTaipei City Wenshan District Community Center (台北市﹑文山區﹑萬年里里民活動場所)3 viewsRight around the corner is the local community center, often hosting young children and senior activities in a classroom setting.spewmuffinJun 02, 2011	2011-05-19_10_02_53.jpgCaution: Narrow Stairs, Part 23 viewsThis is the third floor to fourth floor staircase, looking down from the fourth floor. The door at the bottom is the top of the staircase shown in the previous image.spewmuffinJun 02, 2011
2011-05-19_09_56_23.jpg3 viewsThis is actually the neighbor's tree (I think it's a tropical fruit tree, but I don't recall exactly which one). The four story building behind is my uncle's residence.spewmuffinJun 02, 2011	2011-05-19_09_53_18.jpgSteel Oh My!3 viewsIt is quite common to have steel doors as shown here. However, my uncle actually having enough space to park a car inside the garage (left) is quite rare in Taipei.spewmuffinJun 02, 2011	2011-05-19_09_49_33.jpg3 viewsThis alleyway, as we can tell, is much wider and thus is bidirectional. Right behind the tree on the right side is the back door access to my uncle's place.spewmuffinJun 02, 2011	2011-05-19_09_52_27.jpgFront Door!3 viewsA snapshot of the front door. Before this, this same location was the front entrance to my uncle & aunt's Jian kindergarten school (吉安幼稚園), of whom I attended (and graduated!) from 1983 to 1986.spewmuffinJun 02, 2011
2011-05-19_09_43_14.jpg3 viewsMany alleyways are no more than ten feet wide, to which there are many scooters parked on the side. Most buildings in this "older" section of town are four to six stories tall and mostly built in the 60s and 70s. This lane is a one way road. If the road is about 25% wider, then it can be made to be two way. Driving is highly technical there if you have a four wheeled vehicle.spewmuffinJun 02, 2011	2011-05-19_09_43_36.jpg3 viewsA little "artwork" along the side of the alleyway. This tree was grown after piling three scooter tires together.spewmuffinJun 02, 2011	2011-05-19_09_25_25.jpg3 viewsIn the same building, this is the fruits market section. We were out shopping in the morning with mom and uncle.spewmuffinJun 02, 2011	2011-05-19_09_00_08.jpgScooter Covered Parking1 viewsTaipei is quite possibly the scooter capital of the world! What you can see in this photo is perhaps only 20% of the entire length. This lot can fit about 1200 scooters, if I estimated right. Conveniently, this is the main parking lot for the Shifan University Gongguan branch campus. (台灣師範大學公館分部)spewmuffinJun 02, 2011
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