More Taipei

More Taipei randomness from some time spent out on the streets.

Some street doggies:

 (first time I've seen a Labrador retriever in Taiwan)

 Some Engrish:

 Angry onion:

 Hog:

Grocery store goodies:

 

 

 Seafood, Japanese-style oatmeal

Night Market treats:

Night market shirts with Engrish:

Actually

Vintage

Brilliant

Solutely

Superb

(actually French-ish)

1960 VW American

Minibus

Volkswagen

Germany's Volkswagen used its Czech

Subsidiary Skoda to start 

Full of dueaors

And full of Hopeb

I'm not even going to attempt this one.

Linsanity is on full display in the island nation.

A friend bought this for his son. Cost = NT$100 (about US $3.20)

Vintage Sneakers

Have I forgotten something?

new sneakers from my beloved

These Shoes Seen Everything

Here I Go Again On My Own, Going Down The Only Road I've

Only Road I've Ever Know, Like A Drifter I Was Born To Walk

Alone*

*the last three lines were poorly ripped from a horrible hit from the horrible band Whitesnake

Funnys Smiker on the subway

Homies For Life

(I've been called "Homie" or "Holmsey" by some for a large part of my life)

Dumpling man from the excellent Din Tai Fung dumpling restaurant.

Giant luumber ball (about 8' tall), in the Grand Hyatt Taipei lobby

One view of a grey Taipei from the rooftop garden of the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Hall:

And another:

Taipei 101:

Distracted cabbie (GPS, dash cam, dash TV):

Beware of aggressive blue crabs in this elevator:

This waitress' English name was "Doggy":

 Dolce & Garbana?

Year of the Dragon:

Shanghai'd

A few quick pix from a recent quick trip to China's most populous city, Shanghai. Here on the banks of the Yangtze River live some 23 million people. Thankfully I had a bit more time to get out (and to actually see the city) compared to my first visit back in December '10.

It's also home of the world's fastest train, the Shanghai Maglev Train:

Longyang Road Station
we saw it hit 431 km/h (267 MPH), but the picture was even worse than this

daytime skyline, complete with Gobi Desert dust storm fallout:
Shanghai's iconic Oriental Pearl Tower (2004) on the left:
the much smaller Gutzlaff Signal Tower (1907):
and via the cliché Hipstamatic:
the Bund:
being there feels as if you're in an older European city...
...'cept for the various Chinese signs:
red flags fly over most buildings:
tourist-trap flea market:
trinkets:
boobies, Jesus, Mao and Big Ben lenticulars:
piles and piles of watches, I was offered plenty of "Rolex", "Bell & Ross" and other models - most hidden behind false walls:
also available: iPhone 4s (even the elusive white versions) and knockoff handbags from just about every luxury brand.

prototype bike, as built by a garage tinkerer:
trade show Engrish:
hotel lobby chandelier:
cabbing it back to the Bund, in traffic:
skyline looks better at night, even if the phone's camera took noisy pix:
Hipstamatic hides such sins:
from a bar:

and back to the hotel, via a tunnel:

結束