One picture from Kaohsiung that I forgot to post, this 85 story building that dominates the city. The architect is the same man who designed Taipei 101, for now the world’s tallest building.

All over Taichung I saw different ads featuring Kelly Chan for Toto toilet seats. This is not the best one, but it’s the one I got. Can you imagine any western celebrity endorsing toilet seats, especially butt-washing ones? Wanting their image associated with this kind of product? Apparently in Asia either it’s not an issue or Kelly is just that desperate for money. “When you think about taking a shit, think about Kelly! (Or at least her music?)”

The U.S. has “park ‘n ride,” low cost parking lots near commuter rail and bus stations. Here in Taiwan they have the much nicer “kiss and ride.” But apparently you have to bring someone with you for the kiss, they don’t just have people employed to stand there and do that for you.

This is the workstation area at Hotel One in Taichung. 42 inch TV, Sony DVD with 5.1 surround – note the subwoofer in the central base of the workstation area. On the bottom right, note the laser printer in the cabinet. Lastly, on the back of the Aeron-style chair, it says “Enjoy!” I certainly did.

The view from the 36th floor of Hotel One in Taichung. Heavy rains meant the windows were not that clear and it was also difficult to get a shot without my reflection in the glass. Note the bank of low clouds coming in over the mountains. (I’ve now figured out how to get the G7 into manual focus mode, which turns out to be as simple as pushing one button and then using the scroll wheel on the back. In the LCD screen, they provide a magnified area in the center as well as a digital read-out of the selected distance of the focus, making this really as easy as possible. I know this may sound crazy but now I’m wondering if I really need the Nikon D80 or if I should look to sell it.)

In Taipei, half of the sidewalk on all of the main streets is given over to scooter parking. Terrible for pedestrians, especially because these scooters scoot down what’s left of the sidewalk going to and from the parking spots. But of course, if you have a scooter, it means you can park almost anywhere.

Lingerie shop along Fuxing Road. Love this window display!

Last Taipei shot.

Last but not least, no photos unfortunately but I jotted down the Chinglish names of some menu items from the hotpot place in Taichung:

• Selected rectum
• Selected honey cumb
• Selected hog bowel
• Rice nuddles

Of course, I’m actually grateful that they went to the trouble of having an English menu and while it wasn’t the best hotpot I’ve ever had, everything was fresh and tasty and the service there was first rate. Plus I’m glad they would take the trouble to actually select the rectum as opposed to just tossing random pieces of ass at you.