Adjusting

Bo is having some trouble adjusting his sleep schedule to being on this side of the planet.  Grampy picked him up from his parents room slightly before 6:00 AM this morning (October 22).  He had been awake and very active from 9:30 last night.  He is now sleeping in our room. His parents are now sleeping also.

We are in Taipei instead of Kaohsiung (at the request of Chung-Yi Social Welfare Foundation, the Taiwanese adoption agency).  We are all staying at the "Taipei M Hotel - Main Station", about four blocks from the city's main train station.  This part of downtown is showing its age but fascinating to view on foot.  Nearly all buildings have their second floor extended out to the edge of the street, making the sidewalk like a tunnel, open on the street side.

Our hotel doesn't have brewed coffee, only machines that 

create a kind of pseudo-coffee.  So, a three minute walk 

from our hotel: Starbucks.

Small shops line the sidewalks and alleys.  

This "Dumpling Bun" stall is one of our favorites.

Motor scooters outnumber automobiles in Taiwan, and they are driven aggressively!  At red lights, the scooters weave around cars and buses to be at the front of the line for the green light.  At the light change, they accelerate to approximately 80 kms per hour in a swarm.  In slower traffic, they zoom through narrow gaps between vehicles. They appear fearless, but statistics suggest that they shouldn't be --see Charting Taiwan’s Sea of Scooters and Scooters are Death Machines in Taiwan

http://thedailyviz.com/2016/07/30/charting-taiwans-sea-of-scooters/

Most alarmingly, when they are turning right at a red light with the crosswalk full of pedestrians, they see the smallest opening between people and charge through - no waiting for the crosswalk to clear.  It is mind boggling!

In the midst of densely packed buildings, shops and traffic, this part of the city (Zhongzheng District - and no doubt many other parts) has several large parks that appear well cared for and filled with trees, flowers, ponds, sculpture and interesting architecture.  A short walk from our hotel took us to the 2/28 Peace Park.

The 2/28 Massacre Monument

At the southwest corner of the park, with the
Presidential Office Building (previously known
as the Presidential Palace) in the background.