First Weekend in videsh....

And finally the most awaited part had arrived-'Friday'. The weather was sunny, with serene winds blowing. The clock was well past 4, and a piece of me excited about the pretty sights of what this beautiful city had in store for me, and another trying to close the day at work, I was still at work, awaiting for it to finish rather impatiently. Sometime after 6, everything was done, and I stormed the way out and rushed to the Hotel.

Come 8, and I was in the bus to reach the famous shopping district of the new city, 'Xinyi' district. Along the way, I was delighted to see the city at night. Well-lit streets with supercars zooming away, artificial greenery beautifying the streets, super-awesome-fashionable girls, 'Neon'ified buidlings, I was falling for the city rather steeply. Xinyi is the newer shopping districts of the city, boasting of the magnificent Taipei 101, among a number of important places. Walking along the streets, looking at the stores of almost-all brands, buzzing youth, time flew rather quickly. I met a few friends there at this place called "Room18". It is one of the first night clubs in Taipei, and since has been showing a good time to an entire generation. We reached to the EDM room (the other is for Hip-Hop), and boy the scene was electric. The music was loud, LED's and Lasers were trippy, the crowd was mad. Although the BC friends got missing midway through the night, it was probably the best party I had been to until now. We partied as crazy fucks allnight, and hence Friday was over-and probably Saturday too...

Xinyi with 101 in backdrop

Xinyi Shining 

VieShow Cinema (Near 101 and Room 18)

Saturday was as thought ruined, the day passed in a jiffy. The day went out to clean the 'system', and by then Sunday had arrived, and it was time to explore the city. Longshan Temple was the first stop. From a cultural point of view, its interesting to see how people practice religion differently. Architecturally, its okay. I left the place after sometime, and moved to the next lane to explore some lunch options. After light lunch, I reached Da'an Park. It is Taipei's answer to New York City's famous Central Park. Lush green with well-connected pathways to roam the park. Many beautiful kids playing around on a lazy afternoon, couples relaxing, parents enjoying a day-out with their kids, the atmosphere was very calm and happy-ish. I took solace near a lake in the park (yes, there are 2 lakes too), and just trying to breathe-in the place. Very near to it is the famous weekly Flower and Jade market. These markets work only on weekends, and is quite an attraction for locals as well as travellers.

Longshan Temple

Daan Forest Park

Greenery everywhere

Kids having a great time

I had heard a lot about this Elephant Mountain. I was told that it is one-of-the-best places to enjoy a sunset and boasts of a great look of the city's skyline. It was a little far from the park, and I managed to reach at the summit by 6 (The trail comprises of roughly 150-200 stairs, and you reach the viewing deck, and this is called the 'Xiangshan Hiking Trail'). The sunset was still 40 mins away, so I was well-on-time. It was almost time for lighting-up-the-101-building. (Every evening around sunset, the lights of the building lits up in a synchronized manner).Well, everything they said about this mountain is completely true. It offered a great view of the city, with the 101 lighting up (It was one of the major highlight of the day), and all other so-called sky-scrappers looking minuscule in front of the majestic 101. As the sun was settling down, the lights of the city started to lit-up slowly and steadily.  At that moment, I could say that I had never seen anything like it. I am writing about it, almost after a month, but the charm is still there and yes I still miss the place.

The way to Xiangshan Hiking Trail

Almost there !!! :)

Wonderful Skyline

This had to done !!

Glittering Taipei 

The 101 is not very far from the trail. The next thing I know, I am in the vicinity of 101 neighborhood. I was smitten by this building, to be honest, and call it universe's-way-of-working, but I used to find myself at 101 every weekend, sometimes planned, sometimes unplanned. The building is truly an extra-ordinary piece of architecture. As one enters the main area, one would find little things (some glass-work, statues of the damper in a cute-sort-of-way, a big L-O-V-E statue, a neon-lit fountain which performs for 10 mins every hour, etc.) here and there, which makes it even more beautiful. This place had a different positive vibe around it. I think I can write another complete post (and pouring my heart out) on the 101, but that's for later. It has 101 floors, out of which first 5 floors boasts of a shopping mall for the elite (pun intended). I was taking a stroll looking at super-brands outlets, all of this was over-whelming, Since, it was a long day, I decided to experiment with the Food Court. The first reaction on entering the court was 'Fck! Its huge'. The variety available here is undoubtedly its USP. From Indian, to Thai, to American, to practically every place one can think of, one'll find everything here.

Indeed

The entrance to a brand new world

After complete satifaction of taste-buds, the stroll continued. The clock struck well past 10:30, and tiredness crept in, I came back to hotel, as Monday had almost approached. But something strange happened midway to hotel, I was not dreading it, instead I was embracing it, as I was one day closer to next weekend.