Taiwan - Day Four

Today, we visited Taipei 101, which was until recently the tallest building in the world:

The building is a true engineering marvel:

The view of the city from inside:


A view from the (windy) outdoor observation deck:

A giant "damper" keeps the building stable:

You can actually see it inside the building:

I saw this good-looking girl on the 91st floor:


On floor 88, there is a lot of art, here is a piece of coral (coral gem - not coral reef - and therefore acceptable to harvest.) The detail carved into this piece was amazing:

Some Taiwanese accomplishments:


Later, we visited Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall:


We spotted some turtles in a lake nearby:

Taiwan - Day Three

A quick recap of day three...

Confucius Temple:


Baoan Gang Temple:

Where's Waldo?

Kim is hidden somewhere in the picture below. Can you find her?

Huge Outdoor Flower Market:

Very Large Jade Market:

You never know what you'll come across next on the sidewalk!

Waiting for a table at Din Tai Fung - an incredible Dumpling restaurant!

A nice pathway in the middle of the busy street:

We stumbled across this really large and beautiful park - Daan Forest Park - right in the middle of the city:

Nighttime Shopping, things are nicely decorated for the holidays:

Taiwan - Day Two

Not a lot to report today; lots of rain and very overcast. We did some shopping at the Handicraft market (very large - four floors) which sells only things made locally. We got caught up on some sleep... we laid down for a few minutes this afternoon AFTER each drinking a Latte and we still slept for over four hours, so I'd say that we needed the rest. It is time to get caught up on sleep now, before we get baby sister!

Our hotel is beautifully decorated for Christmas:


Out and about in the rain:

This was pretty neat, a living wall surrounding a building that had thousands of plants, providing some nice greenery:

We stopped by a huge department store, which was all decked out for the holidays:
All hail the new master of the chopstick!

Taiwan - Day One!

It was great to return to the Hotel where we stayed the last time, the Agora Garden:


Today, we visited Longshan Temple - a very old temple in the middle of the city where a many people stop to pray and make offerings:


Next, it was on to the Botanical Gardens, which were beautiful:


Then, we visited the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, which was truly impressive:

Did I mention how large this building is?!?!


Across the way is the beautiful Natural Cultural Center:


Tired from sightseeing, it was time for some dumplings!

Taipei just would not be Taipei without scooters everywhere!

Lastly, Taipei 101 is a beautiful sight all lit up at night:

New Kyri Pictures

Cuter than ever!

Final Ruling!

We received Kyri's final ruling this week, on November 8th! Momma and Daddy were at Homeland Security being re-fingerprinted for the adoption when the call came! We are all very excited and Momma and Daddy are waiting for their travel dates. They think they may be there the first week in December. They are leaving me with Gammy, because someone needs to keep an eye on her while they are gone! I don't mind...

One thing I don't understand is that, for all this good news, all of a sudden Momma and Daddy seem to be a little frantic these days...adults!