Have you been to the top floor of Taipei 101, the bamboo-shaped skyscraper renowned as one of the most beautiful in the world? I did in my most recent trip with my dad, and since it was his first visit; I thought it would be better for me to top up the basic ticket just so we can check out the highest level!
My accommodative dad being the model for my photographs; it helped that the place was spruced up with so many flowers, one of the things he really likes in real life; regardless of whether they are real or fake.
Taking the lift up to level 101.
Current level: level 89.
There's a roof level where you can take the picture as shown on the television screen. The pricing for it was expensive; 3,000 Taiwan dollars! A typical basic ticket only cost 600 Taiwan dollars! No, I wouldn't pay for it; free I take.
Dad getting all excited to be "top of the world"! The ticket price for this level 101 access, which would include the basic access, cost 380 Taiwan dollars more, about S$16 extra. Not that cheap but given its exclusivity, with lesser visitors; I thought it's worth the money.
The sign near the ceiling indicated the direction.
This one looked out to the north!
Level 101 wasn't big; only about 2,200 square meters in size but limited only to the outer corridors that surrounded a center consisting of washrooms, exit staircases and the lift.
p.s. I look uglier in his photographs.
Given the extras I paid for this access, I am so going to make full use of my money to record time-lapse videos! To be fair, I shall only do four videos; one for each direction.
This also grant me opportunity to appreciate the view on top, pointing out noticeable landmarks to my father, like the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in the above photograph.
That tallest mountain at the back was part of the Yangmingshan National Park. Strangely, I have never quite had the urge to pay it a visit.
Taipei Songshan Airport, which served both domestic and international destinations; not to Singapore though. Notice that yellow-golden roofed building? That's the National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine, "dedicated to the war dead of the Republic of China".
See if you could spot the plane that just took off from Taipei Songshan Airport.
圓山大飯店 - Grand Hotel Taipei; the impressive hotel that's I would love to tick off from my bucket list! Hm.... Should I go Taipei for my upcoming trip? Dilemma, dilemma, dilemma.
Isn't this building with a helipad super unique?! Called Agora Garden, it's a residential block skewed for the rich as one unit was said to cost 1.8 billion Taiwan dollars, about 73 million Singapore dollars! I read from an article dated August 2023 that even though it was completed in 2018, only one unit had been sold.
It should have been easy since swathes of greenery were not that common near city areas and I finally found the area where my dad and I were at earlier that morning; Elephant Hill.
Check out the red arrow for the above two photographs! They were the Quanzhen Donghua Taoist Temple and Photographer's Lookout; the few destinations as part of our hike up elephant hill! Strangely, I can't find Fireworks Lookout.
What's the population of Taipei, capital of Taiwan? The whole place felt so densely populated, I thought it would exceed Singapore! Surprise, its population was only about 2.5 million!
Wide-angle shots for the four directions!
Here's the stitched up time-lapse video of the four directions for your viewing pleasure! It's not very long; only about 40 seconds, and so therapeutic for the soul!
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