Down in Tainan: Taipei weekend

Since I have been here I haven't done much travelling, so going to Taipei for the weekend was a welcomed break from Tainan.
Taipei is just fantastic, it is a really trendy place; lots of fun shopping areas, night markets, cool bars and cultural sights to keep me busy for the whole weekend.
And it is true what they say, Taipei has some of the best Asian food available. I can take my pic from local Taiwanese food, to the best of China, Korea, Japan and so on. Even the down and dirty night markets have good food.
At the weekend, I visited most of the famous sights.
The Chiang Kai shek memorial was impresive from the outside, but once I entered it, it was a bit of a let down. I was expecting more than just a statue of the man for such a huge building.

The Lonely Planet raved about Longshan temple, however, compared to the temples here in Tainan, it doesn't really compare. (By the amount that I have seen, I would assume Tainan has the most and some of the oldest temples in Taiwan).

The National Palace Museum holds the largest and probably the best collection of Chinese art. Whilst walking around the musuem, I was listening to the earphone guide which gave me a good giggle as it said things like 'Who hasn't heard of the Jadeite cabbage' or 'When you think of bronze vessels, the Mao-kung-ting comes to mind'. Firstly, I have never heard of the Jadeite cabbage, and I dont think I have ever paused to think about bronze vessels, so I am sure the Mao-kung-tink would never come to mind.

And last on the trip was the Taipei 101, the worlds tallest builing, and the worlds fastest lift. It probably takes the same amount of time to reach the 85th floor of the Taipei 101 as it does to reach the 8th floor of my apartment block!
The only reason I paid the expensive ticket to get to the top was just so I could say I have been to the top of the worlds tallest building. And the view form there was ....... crap. Taipei's smog blocked just about most of the skyline.

Still, it was a great trip, and I am sure I will be returning to Taipei again.