Lantern Festival 2010

One of the BEST Festivals/Holidays celebrated in Taiwan has got to be the Annual Lantern Festival! One beautiful float of creative lanterns (all lit up!), after another, are on display for all spectators to revel in. Each year, the festival focuses the welcoming of the current Lunar Year Sign - this year is the Year of the Tiger. So most of the exhibit on displays are on this theme - Tigers in all forms are celebrated.

This year also focused on the upcoming International Floral Exhibition that will be held in Taipei come Nov 6th thru April 25th, 2011. So along with the many incarnations of the Tiger, floats after floats of were devoted in the promotion of the upcoming International Event. An exhibition of some of the countries participating in the event were on hand, led by Macau.. each country diorama consists of a mini recreation of a particular site that defines the country, surrounded by the country's National Flower, and a little blurb about each nation. For someone who has the TRAVEL BUG like me, it was definitely eye catching!!! I spent a long time just admiring each diorama...

COMPLETE PHOTOS HERE

such a beautiful nite...

...with cool temperature to boot!!! the better to take a stroll and take in the site...

and admire all the creative floats for this year's Lantern Festival....

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On A Clear Day You Can See Forever!!!

Indeed!!! Woke up today with the sun shining brightly, albeit still pretty cold, as it has been since coming home from the Holidays. Still we are HAPPY as it is not gloomy, cloudy, or worse, rainy... today's weather was really pretty much like San Francisco weather -- the kind I miss most in the winter time...

So David and I did our quick early morning errands and we decided to indulge Liya for a hike up the mountains right behind Taipei 101, Shi Sou San (4 Animals Mountain)... it was a nice hike with many many routes to take: steps for the elderly and not so keen on hiking on a regular basis... and the dirt route -- muddy and tough, as there are parts where you have to climb up steeply, pulling yourself on ropes... making one feel like they are really mountain climbing professionals... that's the route we took, of course, proving to ourselves we can still be pretty adventurous... LOLs....

It was a good hour hike each way.... and you do see people of all ages through the hike... plus the mountain is actually filled with different temples along the way... so one can find refuge, water, toilets, and even food, along the way.... and at the very top, one is rewarded with not just really fresh air but a spectacular view of the city, along with the Taipei 101... After the hike, we rewarded ourselves with a bit of Xiao Chi (Little eats) -- dumplings, dumplings, & more dumplings -- as we happen upon this 20 year old, family run, dumpling place... nice treat after a nice little hike...

And equally nice, was ending the day with lounging about the Eslite Bookstore right on the Taipei 101 Building... magazines from all over the world... books on just about anything.... and floors and floors of different kinds of specailty shops ranging from clothing to computer software and add ons, gift items and novelty items, funiture and my most fave of all, toys!!! So another hour was spent just unwinding here and enjoying all that Eslite has to offer...
More Photos Here