Yay! I didn’t waste two days of sunshine.  I’m not sure that’s really an accomplishment but it is in my book for now.  Now if only I can figure out how to lie out and get a tan that would be an accomplishment.  In retrospect I probably should’ve just gone to Melbourne instead but whatever.

Today I dropped in on the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall.  I’m not really sure what to make of it.  It’s big.  It’s white.  It’s got a pretty blue top.  It’s roped off.  It isn’t my idea of a great time but it’s definitely something to see while I’m in town.  There were a few people chilling around there and I guess it was pretty pleasant to just hang out and enjoy the weather.  There was a lot of renovation going on so I didn’t get the full effect but I got what I wanted out of there I guess.

The Taipei taxi service is definitely better than the drivers in Beijing.  They’ve been pretty good about getting me to the places I’ve pointed out but then again most the places that I’ve been to are touristy and the town isn’t really all that big.  The place is cleaner than Beijing as well.  The air quality is much better.  Even though there is some smog going on here there isn’t that terrible smell that comes with living in Beijing.  I still stand by the assumption that any place with a weather condition of “smoke” isn’t necessarily a great tourist spot regardless of whether or not that only occurs in the winter.

With New Years Eve just a few days away I’m still curious as to what’s going to unfold.  I’m right in the shadow of the 101 so perhaps there will be some fireworks.  Perhaps we’ll just go straight for the clubs and hole up in a table.  Perhaps I’ll be sick again and just ditch on the whole thing and stay in bed the whole time.  I really hope the latter doesn’t happen but it’s hard to tell at this point.  Last year was very forgettable so I’m hoping for better things this year.