This has been a busy evening.
Michelle had a late class today and when it was over, we finally got a break on the weather, so we headed to Taipei 101, the world’s tallest building – at least for now.
Buildings in Taipei are rarely over 6-8 stories high, so the 101 story behemoth really stands out. Since we’ve returned from the mountains, it’s been in the clouds most of the time.
The building is really a showcase for a couple pieces of technology, the first is the elevator system like no other. It’s apparently the fastest in the world, it certainly does an impressive job wisking you from the 5th to the 89th floor in about 45 seconds.
The complex digital readout shows how fast you’re moving, but you can’t feel it. The only thing you notice is rapid ear clogging. Even that it being lessened by the pressurized elevator.
It’s a great view from the lower (inside) observation deck on the 89th floor, but being night, and having throw away my crummy tripod, even at 1600 ASA I couldn’t get many good pictures through the windows.
So, we paid the extra $NT100 and walked to the upper (outside) observation deck on the 91st floor.
Few people went to the upper deck, which is ringed by metal guard poles that sing in the constant blasting wind.
After our trip to the top of the world, we headed down to the basement for dinner. I had two, Singaporean curried chicken cutlets… two because Michelle wouldn’t eat hers.
And so it was with a very heavy stomach I set out on my next adventure….
(More on that tomorrow, I’m having trouble posting a file right now, I’ll link to it later. I’ve got some good sound of the singing at the top.)