Day 3 as 3

Since we did not have to return to the AIT until 11:30 am, this morning was the first opportunity we had to take advantage of the hotel's free breakfast. Troy got our coupons for a free sandwich meal at the Subber down the street. The little 3" sandwiches and coffee were pretty good.

Then we lounged around and played until we got our taxi at 11 am. We showed our appointment receipt to the security guard, went upstairs to check-in and were given Kaylee's papers after just a few minutes. We were also given strict instructions not to open any of the envelopes. That's the last bit of paperwork on this side of the world! Kaylee is now free to leave with us!!!

We took a cab to the Taipei 101 - currently the tallest building in the world (101 stories). We walked around the mall on the bottom few floors and then went to the basement for lunch. We got noodle dishes in big strainer-type bowls and took turns eating while holding Kaylee. After lunch we headed to the 5th floor to purchase tickets to go to the observation deck. It only took us 37 seconds in the elevator and we were told it is in the Guiness Book of World Records as the fastest elevator.

They offered free English tour recordings and we listened while we looked at Taipei. It was pretty cool. Kaylee lasted most of the time and then decided to take a nap. We then went to the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, which we had seen from the top of the Taipei 101. We caught the end of the changing of the guard. Kaylee amazed me and made not a peep as the guards high-stepped within just a few inches of her.

We started looking for a taxi to head home, but in passing the MRT station decided to give the subway a try. We went downstairs and in looking at the map saw that we were very close to the Longshan Temple, which I wanted to see. As we were trying to figure out the system, we were approached by an American who explained how we got our passes. We ended up going in the same direction as he was and rode with him for a few stops.

The Longshan Temple is quite impressive and very busy with many worshippers burning incense and providing food and flower offerings to Buddhist and Taoist deities. It has a waterfall and giant koi fish pond in the courtyard. The Temple is the oldest in Taipei and was built in 1738.

After returning to the hotel and feeding Kaylee, we headed out to Jake's Country Kitchen for dinner. It was fun to see the restaurant decorated in American record albums - Foreigner, Grease, etc. The food was actually pretty good. I had pot roast and Troy had a chimichanga.