Random Picture of the Week #15

Two girls check out the menu at Grandma Nitti's on a rainy Friday Night, ShiDa.

CKS Memorial Hall

We spent a recent afternoon checking out the National Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. CKS was Taiwan's first president and generalissimo of the Kuomintang in mainland China before they had to flee to Taiwan when the Communist Party won the civil war.

As you can see in the following pics, the memorial hall has some fantastic architecture, the main central hall resembling the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. A small park with walking trails encircles the grounds and it's only a few bus stops away so we'll definitely check it out again in the future.

We managed to catch the changing of the guard in front of the CKS statue and spy a heron in the park before it started to rain and we headed home.

Me and Al in front of the main hall.

The grand Ceremonial Gateway from the National Concert Hall's steps.

Looking through the Ceremonial Gateway from the street.

The National Theater from the steps of the Memorial Hall.

Al!

Changing of the guard.

Changing of the guard.

Changing of the guard.

Lovely fish pond.

Da-an Park

IMG_2212, originally uploaded by MacKensie!.

A black-crowned night heron at Da-an Park.

Da-an Park

IMG_2210, originally uploaded by MacKensie!.

Da-an Park, a few blocks from our apartment.

Shi Da

IMG_2206, originally uploaded by MacKensie!.

Al on our street. We have about a dozen restaurants at our doorstep including Korean, Tibetan, Indian, and Middle Eastern food.

Jobless but not lifeless...

Still no jobs, but lots of adventures.....

Sunset over Danshui, north of Taipei, where the river meets the sea.

Me, at the outdoor observatory at the Taipei 101 building (tallest in the world)!

Taipei 101 at night (it's designed to look like a stalk of bamboo).

Relaxing over tea at Maokong, south of Taipei.

The city on a rainy day from Maokong.