Yesterday I arrived in Taipei after a short flight from Xiamen. The temperature was 82 degrees and it was sunny, before night fall came a cloud ceiling and a light sprinkle of rain. This helped to create a very pleasant start to my trip.

我会少一点普通话！ I only speak a little of the common language (Mandarin) so I mostly have to rely on my English and the English skills of the people I meet. Currently the only real advantage my Chinese Language skills provide is the ability to show courtesy, respect and politeness at the basic level. It also provides a curiosity level of entertainment or conversation with most people saying I am doing well. However I know I have a long journey ahead of me but I appreciate the positive feedback and encouragement.

My bus journey from the airport to the center of the city, at first showed scenes familiar to scenes I saw in cities in China. Then when I got to the heart of the city I made my first real observation which was confirmed when I got off the bus and started walking around. Pedestrians could safely walk out into the intersections when they had the walk signal as all or most vehicles and bicycles yielded the right of way to the pedestrians. I also noticed that they have painted markings in the cross walks to designate separate areas for bicycles and pedestrians. It is still advisable to look both ways when crossing the street, but it was pleasant to see the vehicles going the right direction in the lanes not having to dodge vehicles and bicycles from both directions.

On my first day I found that the majority of people that I met could speak English either fluently or enough to offer assistance. That is one of my goals of learning Mandarin is to be able to communicate at the basic level to ask for and offer assistance and improve my ability to communicate.

Taipei appears to be a very clean city in the areas that I saw, as well as a very extensive public transportation system with several subway lines. On my first day I gave my camera a rest and just relaxed and tried to get my bearings on the city. On my excursion today I plan to take the Mookong Gondolo to get a bird’s eye view and hopefully take some nice pictures.

Updated Oct 25 to add pictures.

Well I have finally loaded up the first batch of my pictures you can chech them in my Taipei Album but here are a few. The Taipei zoo is one of the best if not the best Zoo's I have ever been to. They have taken great care to provide comfortable space for the animals to make them feel at home while providing save veiwing for people. I like the Gorilla's attitude the best.
My home in Taipei is (Mu homes fashion hotel) The Loft Hostel. I enjoyed my 6 days there so far.

I love Taipei and i love (Mu homes fashion hotel) The Loft Hostel
我爱台北，
我爱沐舍時尚酒店
wǒ ài táiběi, wǒ ài mù shě shíshàng jiǔdiàn