… continuation
Right after our feast, we left for another site visit. This time, it was the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall
The National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (traditional Chinese: 國立中正紀念堂; simplified Chinese: 国立中正纪念堂) is a famous monument erected in memory of Chiang Kai-shek, former President of the Republic of China. It is located in Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China. The monument, surrounded by a park, stands at the east end of Liberty Square. The structure is framed on the north and south by theNational Theater and National Concert Hall. The entire plaza is located within sight of the Presidential Office Building. – Wikipedia (link)
The vicinity was huge. It was so big that they could afford to hold events and concerts in front of the hall. It took us at least 5 minutes to reach to the main building from the entrance. On that day itself, they were preparing for a charity concert which to be held in front of the main vault.
Upon entering the main vault, there lies a huge statue of the late Chiang Kai-shek. By the looks of it, it could easily be 10 feet tall and the statue was facing the entrance of the main vault. We took a couple of pictures before proceeding to another level whereby the museum and library were situated.
We spent quite a while in the building itself (as well as resting) before we made a move to another important site in Taipei, Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall.
The National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is located in Taipei City, Taiwan, Republic of China. It is a memorial to the Republic of China‘s National Father, Dr.Sun Yat-sen, and was completed on May 16, 1972. As the hall was opened in the very beginning, its main displays were revolutionary events of the national father at the end of the Qing Dynasty. Recently it became a multi-purpose social,educational and cultural center for the Taiwanese public. – Wikipedia (link)
The location of this said memorial hall was quite near to the Taipei 101. There weren’t much things to see as we didn’t enter the main building. We took our time enjoying the sights of locals exercising and strolling around the park. At the same time, we also took a few pictures of Taipei 101 before the sun sets.
There was an event held at the memorial hall vicinity too. Yes, the area was as huge as the first memorial hall we visited. It was dusk before we decided to make our way to Taipei 101.
The distance wasn’t as near as what we perceived. Initially, we wanted to take a cab to the said building but was told that we could actually walk there, say 15 minutes walk. Lazy, we were. Hehe.
We paid about RM80 each to get to the top of Taipei 101. There were discounts for students. Shesshh… Up there, we get to view the city of Taipei. It was breathtaking but not as good as Kenting’s ocean view. LOL.
Besides, we get to see the big-ass damper which was installed on top of Taipei 101 to counter the movements of the building whenever there is an earthquake or strong winds. It said to be the largest sphere damper in the world and it weighs 660 metric tons!!
After an hour or so, we left to have our dinner. This time, we decided to have a proper dinner instead of the ever-normal night market food. There was a food court in the building itself. So, it was no brainer where we had our dinner. We feasted with smile on our face but left with a huge whole in our wallet as the price of the food was a lil on the high side as compare to the food in night market.
I ordered a beef masala and some sausage thingy. The curry was as close as I could get in Taiwan if I were to compare it to the ones in Malaysia. In fact, the curry was quite ok if you ask me, unlike the one we had in Jiufen’s night market. Blerghh.. We left the building at about 9.30pm and headed back to our ‘crib’ to call it a day.