Taipei, Taiwan

Winds were picking up when I took this photo. The typhoons (three typhoons were suppose to merge in Taiwan) were expected to arrive during our visit, but arrived after our stay.

Scooters are driven all over Taiwan, night and day, rain or shine. You’ll see rows of sometimes 50 scooters perfectly parked along the streets. Totally forgot to take pictures of those.

Somebody taking a picture of me taking a picture of somebody – using Josh’s huge, badass camera.

Wasn’t completely sure what these were when these first caught my eye – Taiwanese mail-boxes.

That’s me and Beth waiting to order western food at a cute restaurant called “Grandma Nitti’s.” For some reason, the whole place had a Greek look to it even though they served just about every foreign food you could think of.

I have wanted to visit Taiwan for a few months now, but the deciding factor in visiting Taiwan last week was to see my friend Beth. She came to Taiwan to visit her friends Josh and Tessa, and to see her newborn niece in Tokyo, Japan. Beth and I have had a special friendship for almost 10 years now. She and I met in Minneapolis when she was attending the Aveda Institute and I was attending the University of Minnesota.

Day’s end at a reggae-themed bar near Taipei 101. Eunmi, me, Beth, Tessa, and Josh. Everything was reggae-themed, but they had a solo act, a single guy singing the blues with his guitar, harmonica, and some sort of a drum machine he operated with his foot. Pretty good, but pricey drinks.

Eunmi waiting in line for her drink at a club in Taipei. Popular in Taiwan, clubs charge a cover (usually around $20 USD) with free drinks. Very different atmosphere in the bar since everyone is on a level playing field. This is not where the “ballers” hang out. As you can see in the picture, everyone has to wait in line for their drink – it doesn’t matter who you are.Everyone was well-behaved. No idiot alcoholics causing problems or issues with bar tabs. It was actually a little boring because that whole glitz and glamour of a nightclub just wasn’t there.