Taiwan

Well, I had to leave Japan.  My three months were up and I had not found a job to keep me there.  So, I went to Kaohsuing Taiwan.  I havent been here since I was around 18 years old and things have changed in little ways.  There are a lot more scooters than there are bikes that I can see.  There are some newer shops, but they are amid old, ramshackle buildings.  Things seem a little gray and dingy.  I do not know if it is because it being overcast or not.

So I went on AirBnB and got myself a room.  The place is basically a share house that houses six people, above a restaurant. To get in, we have to go though a little alley, barely big enough to walk down.  I kinda like it, all things considered.  It is grungy like the city.  They are working on it though.

The smells of the Kaohsuing is rather pungent.  It is a mix of big city sewers, food smells from all of the stalls and shops selling food and the sea air.  There are other smells that waft through, like the high-end cosmetics shop that smells of lavender.  The night market brings a whole host of smells as well.  Everything from cooked chicken to the sweet smell of the candies that are made there as well.

More to come...

Sky Tree

I went to the Sky Tree the other day and it was pretty good.  It was getting close to dusk so I didnt go to the Sumida Aquarium that was right in the Sky Tree Town.  The line was large to get the tickets was large, but it wasnt as bad as it could have been.  In fact the line went fairly fast.

I went to the Tenbo Deck which is some 350 meters up, a over half of the 634 meters.  It cost a little over 2000 yen to get up to the Tenbo Deck.  Now the Tenbo Deck isnt the top.  Nooo, you can go an additional 100 meters up to the Tenbo Galleria.  That costs over a thousand yen more to continue the trek up.  I didnt however continue the trip up.  I wanted to save that for another time, when I have somebody go go with, to be there with me.  Got that +Rynyn?  hehe

The most terrifying thing was doing the walks over the glass floor.  Oh my gods I thought I was going to have a heart attack.  The thing is, dont look down.  I kept my eyes straight ahead and didnt look down.  That was the way I was able to walk upon the glass.  I got pictures that I am showing below to prove that I did it!  Now I got the souvenir picture that came with the purchase of 1300 yen.  I know I shouldnt but then I did.  Unfortunately I dont have a full set up here, so you can not see.  They had a restaurant, a souvenir shop, a snack bar and a cafe as well.

Now I took some nice shots.  We have them here.

 

And finally I left and saw that the Sky Tree was lit up like a giant green candle.  I went to the Ghibli Store that they had there and I got a cool little hat that I didnt see at the Museum.  That reminds me.  I dont think I have done one of these for the Ghibli Museum.  I will have to rectify that.

Halloween 2014 at Shibuya Crossing

Halloween in Japan, it is quite a show.  I went to Shibuya Crossing for Halloween and it was a lot of people and most of them are dressed in costumes.  There were several groups that rushed to the middle of the road and did a little skit of some sort.  The first group that I saw was a tumbling group that did backflips and tossed one of their members high into the air.  They were all done in thirty seconds and I didnt have my camera ready :(

It seems that zombies was the theme of this halloween.  Sure, there were alot of policewomen and convicts and the such, but I would have to say that well over half of them were zombified.  With torn clothes and bloody scars across their faces, it was quite the show.