The problem with traveling around in a place where I can’t really speak the language is that it’s always questionable as to whether or not I’ll make it back home.  Sure I’ll end up somewhere but is it going to be close enough to where I really want to be?  That’s always an interesting problem to run into.  Today I decided to go check out the Taipei Fine Arts Museum.

 

The museum is located a few miles northwest of where I’m staying at.  The taxi driver was pretty good about getting there.  Judging by the directions that he took I think he ended up taking the most optimal path to get to the destination.  That’s definitely better than 99% of the taxi drivers I ran into while I was staying in Beijing.  I may be jumping the gun a little bit, but if nothing else, that makes Taipei better than Beijing.  But to be honest I haven’t really ridden in that many taxis so it’s too early to say that it’s really that good here but my sources tell me they’re pretty dependable.

 

The museum is like many other museums I’ve been to.  The temperature is cool, the floors are really clean, things are on the wall, and you’re not allowed to touch anything.  There was a lot of anime stuff there which was interesting to see but I’m not sure I understand the huge fascination with it all.  Unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to take any pictures inside so I can’t show any of it.  It was cool but I’m not sure it deserved a whole floor dedicated to that.  Then again, I am in another culture and animation is a big thing so whatever.

 

After trotting around the museum I decided to walk around the Taipei Art Park which was right behind the building.  To say the least I didn’t see anything there that made me go “wow”.  It was an interesting contrast though looking at plants and the open area with the backdrop of the old buildings that looked like they missed one too many cleanings.  You can easily pick out where I live by looking for the 101 building which sticks out like a sore thumb.  There was some cool looking building off in the distance which I was curious about but I wasn’t curious enough to find out what was inside.

 

At this point I was getting a bit tired so I decided to trek along Minzu E. Road and ended up in front of the Xinsheng Park.  It looked like this was just a big recreation area with ballparks of sorts on it.  To say the least I was pretty beat already so I didn’t run around to find out.  I did however stick around long enough to do a really bad over the should photo shot and I found a pack of dogs just chilling.  If it were sunny outside they could get a tan or something.  They looked all cute and stuff lying out there but I figured it was probably better not to approach them.

 

Afterwards I decided to go back toward the hotel and search for the Starbucks.  I’m still aching for a Chai Tea Latte.  Of course hunger got the best of me and at exactly the right moment, I spotted a McDonald’s.  Of course no trip would be complete unless I stop at a McDonald’s for some stupid reason.  Don’t ask.  Anyhow, after getting some grub I decided to walk down the strip a little bit and of course I ran smack into a Starbucks.  Mental note for next time, if you can’t find a Starbucks, look for a McDonald’s and surely there will be a Starbucks nearby.  I doubt that’s always true but it might be more true in Asian countries.

 

Unfortunately after all that hunting I still don’t have my damn Chai Tea Latte.  No, it wasn’t on the stupid menu so I had to stick with a Green Tea Latte.  Well, a Green Tea Latte is definitely no Chai Tea Latte so of course I’m not a happy camper.

 

As I’m sitting here thinking about the day thus far I’ve come to realize that I’m smack dab in the touristy part of town.  Everything here is pretty, clean, and fairly new.  It’s easy to get around and there are a lot of people just chilling.  It was interesting to walk around the streets earlier today in a different part of town.  It helped me get a better perspective on how upscale everything is around me.  I can’t say that I want to run around the back alleys of Taipei but I’m sure there are some interesting stories to be made back there.