Pooped Past Taipei

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We are worn out. Literally exhausted from the trip, to the point of nausea. This realization hit as we were getting ready to leave Taiwan and go to Bangkok, our last stop on this journey. Our last day in Taiwan started early, as we prepared for yet another meeting with a vendor. They picked us up at 9:00 for the hour ride to their offices, we spent several hours (longer than usual) in training -- they are doing quite well, and we were very pleased with the outcome. They dropped us back at our hotel at 3:30, just in time to check out and rest in the "executive" lounge for a hour and a half before catching a taxi to the airport.

Our flight arrived at 11:00pm in Bangkok, we got to the hotel around 12:45am (customs/luggage/exchange), and I've picked up a sinus cold that had my eyes burning and head aching. Five hours of sleep, and we'll meet with our last vendor, then home tomorrow.

A shot for the Taiwanese "BeefCake" calendar. These guys were working on one of the busiest streets in the area, cars flying by them and not giving them a second glance, and no safety cones or even semblance that they notice the traffic around them.

Now... I think this is a glorified golf cart, but I'm told it's designed by Mercedes, packs a whopping 600cc gas engine, and gets upwards of 80 mpg.

Sorry this is only one duck (I was hoping to capture an open window full of this type of fare)... evidently a popular item at this street vendor's shop.

The best noodle lunch we had while in Taiwan. These were spicy, with sweet potato fries, fried scallops and schwe-jaudz (I still think mine are better).

Another noodle lunch, with some mystery meat/vegetable paste on the side.

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor dark of night keeps the scooters from running. Sometimes the streets were extremely wet, and I was just waiting for one to go down.

A typical parking lot... "Where's my scooter?"

Taipei 101 - the tallest building in the world (at least until they finish the one they're working on in Shanghai). Several different intended symbolisms from this 101 story building... exceeding 100%, digital age, etc... Of course, we rode the fastest elevator in the world (89 floors in 37 seconds) to take in the observation deck in the fog and rain.

Another shot from the street as we approached the building.

Inside, on the first 5 floors (and extending down into the basement 2-3 floors, is the most upscale mall I've ever seen. With names like Gucci, Versace, Louis Vuitton, Rolex, and many others, we didn't see many shoppers... just a lot of "looky loos" like us.

From the 89th floor, looking through the window. I would really like this shot if the glass were cleaner and it wasn't raining.

As the lights start to come one. This is really something to see at night, but we were a little too early to get that picture.

As we were getting ready to head back to our hotel, I caught this wet street with the lights reflected in it. I think this is my favorite night shot of the whole trip.