Formosa is not just a plastics company

March 10, 2005

The view of Taipei from my hotel room fascinates. The mountainous backdrop is muddied by an abundance of smog. The juxtaposition of the shantytowns that proliferate the city with the existence of Taipei 101, the world's tallest building, boggles the mind. The city is spread out but low, the buildings are aging and this tall, nubian structure is built in an earthquake zone. (Apparently there was 5.9 magnitude quake I missed this weekend.) The airport here gives you the sense you are truly in a second-tier country. But of course, did you forget that the average income in Taiwan is $22,000 USD? Some things to ponder in addition to the ridiculousless that is this.

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Nice pictures. I'm hoping you post a lot more. An interesting comparison.. I went to NYC about a week before New Years. The view out of my hotel room was ground zero. The view out of your hotel is somewhat the inverted version of mine in NYC. While the rest of the skyline in "The Worlds Second Home" was strong, the infamous void of the dominating towers from a few years back, is still there. Just an observation. Gotte get back to java hw now..

f.y.i. it was the Millenium Hilton

Your pics from Shanghai & Taiwan are lovely! You must put up the pics from the rest of the trip.