Taipei - you touched my heart! - Taipei and Tamsui District street view

Followed by my previous two posts of "Taipei - you touched my heart!", I'd like to share some pictures of Taipei.

Taipei street view

Mopeds are very popular in Taipei

Night market - visiting Taipei's many night markets is one of the most fun things to do in the city.  There are several night markets in the city limits.  And usually they stay open well after midnight.  You can find food, street fashion and even fortune tellers there. 

Taipei 101 - the tallest building in Taipei.  Because Taipei is in an earthquake zone, it is very special for Taipei people to have a skyscraper.  And also according to the local people, the building was designed under strict feng shui rules.

Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall

Ximending - as a fashionista, I love Ximending.  I saw a lot of Taiwan local fashion trends.  Though it is not my personal style, I do appreciate their looks and creativity.  I will show a few pictures of local Taipei fashion in my next blog post.

Tamsui District - Steve wished to go to Tamsui, an area northwest of Taipei where the Tamsui River meets the Taiwan Strait and home to some interesting European colonial history and several universities.   When he lived in Taipei 20 years ago, there was no subway.  It would take him a couple of hours each way on buses to go to Tamsui, so he had never been there.  This time, the convenient Taipei Metro took us to Tamsui from Taipei downtown within 30 minutes.  Here we are:

Statue of George Leslie Mackay

Can you see the pigs hanging around outside this restaurant.  I just found it is hilarious.  I guess those pigs are the pets for this family.

Singapore = Wonderland? - hotel, luxury retail and other miscellaneous thoughts

Not surprisingly, we relied on Trip Advisor to find our hotel in Singapore - Royal Plaza on Scotts.  I am not going to elaborate it more.  In general it is not bad, a standard 5 star hotel in a very good location.  It is clean, spacious, convenient and it met our needs.

Hotel lobby  

There was a flower arrangement art exhibition in our hotel when we were there.  I took a few pictures.

Orchard and Scotts = Luxury Retailing Ground Zero

In Singapore, because I stayed right on Orchard and Scotts (one of the premium shopping locations) in Singapore, I encountered one of the most overwhelming branded luxury experiences every time I walked out the front door.  Honestly, even Fifth Avenue in New York does not compare.  Orchard Road is like a luxury brand magnet.  France's Hermes is one of the world's premier luxury brands.  Within a 0.5 mile radius of my hotel, I saw 5 Hermes stores. (there are 3 more in the Changi airport).  I never seen so many luxury stores in such a small area in my life.  (OK, I had my game face on and didn't take as many photos as I probably should have done of the shops...but check out ION Orchard or other people's photos for a sense of what I'm talking about.)


Other observations from Singapore worth noting:

• Singapore traffic relies on something called the ERP (electronic road pricing) system.  If you want to drive in restricted (high traffic) areas during peak demand periods, you pay a variable fee.  I know that Singapore is a very expensive place to own a car, and I'm sure Singaporeans have their own views about this, but one thing I noticed was the complete lack of traffic jams.  

• Food court trust system - people leave their cell phones on the table to reserve a seat.

• Nice and clean subway system with air conditioning that works!