Weekend in Taichung

Brian and I decided to get out of the city for a weekend. We received a recommendation from one of Brian's coworkers that the city of Taichung would be a good place to go for the weekend.

To get to Taichung we took the T.H.S.R. or Taiwan high speed rail.

This building is one of many KTV (Karaoke TV) night clubs found around Taiwan. Outside of Japan, the largest number of karaoke clubs are found in Taiwan. Taichung is said to have the largest number of KTVs on the island.

On our walk we found the perfect Barbie pink scooter for me.

When we checked into our motel we were not sure what to expect. To get to our room we walked down a driveway and into the garage. Once in the garage we went up the stairs and open the doors to the following...

It was a very plush room complete with a massage chair (seen on the right) and track lighting around the bed.

This is a picture of half of our bathroom. Brian was able to lay down in the bottom of the tub, it only took about an hour and a half to fill up.

We found out once we returned to Taipei that the type of motel room we stayed in also have hourly rates which also explains the why the entry into the motel room is through the garage, allowing for maximum privacy for the guests; information I could definitely have lived without knowing...

On Sunday Brian and I decided to hit the major hot spots listed in our tour book for Taichung. One was Paochueh Temple which we found to be under construction upon our arrival. We began to look up how to get to our next destination on the map and tour book (looking very touristy). A local woman approached us to ask if we needed any help. When we told her we were trying to get to the National Museum of Natural Science she said that it was very close to her home and since she was on her way there, she would drive us. Brian accepted her offer and she replied with a big smile and the first of many "Welcome to Taiwan!" She helped us load our suitcase into her car and offered us snacks that she and her niece were eating. She informed us of the best places to get lunch and what parts of the museum and gardens we should see.

Here is a picture of Brian with Carol and her niece after they dropped us off at the National Museum of Science.

The museum has several different buildings covering various natural science topics. One we went through was about the dinosaurs and evolution.

We went to a garden area, which was still under construction but, will mimic the Amazon forests when complete.

Although under construction, the fish tanks were up and running. Any idea what kind of big fish are swimming behind Brian?

I made a new friend at the gardens, he is a very good listener. I really think he understands me.

This is was an interesting exhibit. There were a series of glass tubes which would fill with blue water. After staring at it for a while Brian realized that it actually kept the time.

You can see the three bottom circles on the left are filled as well as about 6 or so smaller ones on the right, making it 3:06pm. It was a pretty interesting display. It reminded me of the ball machine in front of the San Jose Tech Museum. I spent some time on the internet trying to find the artist for this exhibit and the one for the Tech museum in San Jose but, had no luck.