Friday

My alarm went off at 4:45am. Ouch. It was for a good reason though. Tyler set me up to go on a tour of one of our company's new plants that is wrapping up construction. There was no way I was missing this tour, as my steel-toed boots I packed for it put me right at the 50.0lb baggage limit, so I was definitely getting use out of them.

Since I was up so early, I had the privilege of trying Tyler's favorite breakfast spot - a tiny store front with a roll-up door a short walk away. His favorite was a spicy chicken sandwich with egg and cheese, and a hash brown as a side. It was cheap and delicious! This was also the reason that Tyler moved hotels a few weeks ago. The other hotel was too far away from the breakfast sandwich. Hilarious!

I took a taxi to a nearby hotel, where I met up with my guide for the day. We hopped on a van and took a ~1 hour ride up the Taiwan coast to the plant. The ride was breathtaking (I wasn't allowed to bring my camera...). The road ran alongside a huge mountain that overlooked the water. It was picturesque- dark clouds, rough waves crashing up against rocks, and a few golden sand beaches scattered about. Fulong Beach is right near the plant, and is a popular spot for a day trip to the ocean. Taiwan is cool, you can get to just about any climate and geography within an 8-hour drive.

I geared up with a hard hat and safety glasses and enjoyed a very informative tour. I won't bore you with the details. Afterwards, I took a train back into the city. It was a long trip between the train ride and the couple MRT transfers after that. At this point, my back, which has been hurting all week, was reaching my pain threshold, so I walked around the block near the hotel to find a massage parlor. It was either that or find a bar...

A 60-minute body massage was 1000 NT, not bad. This was the craziest massage I've ever had. The lady cracked my body in places I didn't know could be cracked! She was also doing what I would call a mix between yoga and acrobatics. From standing on my back, to twisting my arms in weird positions, it was very interesting. As great as the massage felt, I swear it put me in more pain. I laid down to rest for an hour and could hardly get up after. Alcohol it is, haha!

Tyler and I then headed to the Taipei 101 with every intention of buying tickets to go to the top for Sunday night. It's better to buy in advance, and Sunday is supposed to have the best weather for viewing. Funny enough, we completely forgot about the tickets. There was so much to see! We walked around the base of the 101, which is a multiple story high-end mall. Upscale, luxury stores like BVLGARI, Dior, Cartier, and Hermes. As well as an excess of Christmas decorations, of course. We did a little window shopping, I had a delicious (but expensive..100NT?!) strawberry cream cheese macaron, and then we sat down for dinner at Karen Teppanyaki. Both of us had a combination meal containing prawns, fish fillet, rice, bean sprouts and fried cabbage, and our favorite - a thin-sliced Ribeye wrapped in a green bean and served with fried garlic. The picture looks kind of gross, but I promise it was awesome! It was a laid back and relaxed restaurant with meals ranging from 200-650 NT. Much better than the 3000+ NT dinners at most of the other Taipei 101 restaurants.




Shortly after, I was ready for bed. Need to rest my back so I can be up and running tomorrow.