Trees and bubble gun.

Does this tree not look like it should be in a Seuss book? Sure, it's no Truffula tree, but it's cool, right?

I'm so right, right? Incidentally, there is also a small child in this picture with a bubble gun. I was quite envious.

Anyway, the reason we were there wasn't because of the trees...

....or the dinosaurs...

...or this adorable tiny poodle...(what can I say? Purple + Black for the win!)

...or even the Dali exhibition...(a shame really)

...it was for the architecture. And, y'know, history. I've got an aerial picture of the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall

(the 1:300 scale model, though!)

(4th from the left on the top of the pens.) Opinions vary a bit on Chiang Kai-Shek - officially (and according to the building) he is a founding father of modern Taiwan, but as I'm sure most people are aware, Taiwan didn't just poof into existence around 1949, and there were a few small issues when he was in power, such as the whole enforced military rule and White Terror thing. I would perhaps rephrase him as being a huge influence on Taiwan.

 One of the performance halls - either for opera/theatre or concerts.

 Giant Impressive Building with Huge Metal Statue of Military Leader in situ. I'm seriously impressed by the building though.

Teacups for sale.


And on a lighter note......

Giant koi carp - for reference, the turtle on the right is a fully grown red-ear which I estimated at approximately 20cm shell length. These can be found at NTU.

Kit and Hamish are fond of koi carp and turtles too. I think this is the first post with deliberate people-pictures in it! I don't do photogenic in temperatures of 26-30 with high humidity, just sweaty and gross.