Away to Taipei!

This summer, as I mentioned in my about page, I went to a nerd camp in Baltimore and made a bunch of friends from all over the world, and one of the really good friends that I made lived in Taipei. Taipei is one of the biggest cities in the world, bigger than L.A. even, but when Kavya (my friend) first told me she lived in Taipei, I thought she was referring to some little Czechoslovakian village or something. To be clear, Taipei is not a little Czechoslovakian village. It is on the island of Taiwan, which is kind of its own and country and kind of not, and also, at the same time, kind of part of China and kind of not (I'm still a little fuzzy on that part). Anyways, Kavya started telling me about Taipei, and I thought it sounded really cool, so ever since then, it's been on my "Dream Vacations" list.

For any other people out there who maybe are little bit confuzzed about
the location of Taipei.
Image Courtesy of: Hackpad

Taipei 101 is the third tallest building in the world, and (get this!) it is in Taipei and has 101 stories. So far, the tallest building I have ever been in is the Empire State Building, which is 417 feet shorter than Taipei 101. The Empire State Building was pretty dang cool; it had an awesome view and gave me that tingly-kind-of-nauseous-but-not-really feeling in my stomach just looking down from on top of it. I can only imagine what standing on Taipei 101 would be like! To make it all even better, Taipei 101 is home to a six-story mall and two observation decks with 360º panoramic views!

No... It doesn't stand out at all!
Image Courtesy of: ArchiTravel

Inside Taipei 101 Mall
Image Courtesy of: Distro Home

One thing Taipei is pretty well-known for is their night markets. Night markets are common fixtures in Taiwan where you can go to buy food, clothes, and cool but totally useless crap you don't really need (e.g. a solar-powered dancing cat toy). To be honest, just looking at pictures of the night markets, they look a little bit tacky and touristy and crowded, but I might as well go for a little while I'm there, just to see what the hype's all about. (Did I say that right?) Plus, I'll never turn down a chance to buy food! Taipei is also famous for having awesome street food (a whole separate thing from the night markets), so I'd want to try a taste of that while I'm there, as well.

Shilin Night Market, the biggest night market in Taipei.
Hopefully some of those signs say "horse," "well," "child," or "woman,"
because those are the only words I can read in Chinese!
Image Courtesy of: Taipei Hostel

Finally, every year, Taipei holds an amazing festival called the Lantern Festival to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Gorgeous lanterns are hung up around the Taipei Expo Park, and there are usually fireworks, too. (And who doesn't love fireworks?!) In the last few years, the Lantern Festival has added some high tech touches; they have made some really elaborate and colorful dragon lanterns and a pretty dope Snoopy one, too. I would LOVE to go to Taipei during the Chinese New Year (usually around late January/February) to be able to go to the Lantern Festival.

Sky lanterns being released at the Taiwan Lantern Festival.
I'm not too sure how safe it is to send a bunch of firey candles
into the sky, but YOGTTTLFO (You Only Go To The Taiwan
Lantern Festival Once).
Image Courtesy of: Taiwan.net