Blue and Sweltering

Wednesday was a beautiful day here in Taipei. I said beautiful. NOT comfortable. Blue skies were visible. Those are hard to come by in Taiwan. We met up with Cody and about a dozen + of his co-workers for a farewell lunch in his honor. Mind you, another portion of his office held one the day before. Apparently the two groups hate each other so much, they couldn't even be at the same lunch! Oh, the drama we are saying goodbye to!

Cody's office is fairly close to Taipei 101, and is about a 10-15 minute walk from the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall. On our way back from the lunch, I decided it was too rare of an opportunity not to walk over to the hall and get pictures of 101 amidst the blue skies.

Here's the view from the corner by the metro entrance; I love this picture because it embodies so many of Taiwan's characteristics in one photo. [A] The entrance to the metro. [B] Funky cartoon ad. [C] The cyclist with a face mask, hat, and long sleeves. [D] The herd of scooters waiting at the light. [E] The blue utility truck that is used by almost everyone for almost anything. [F] Taipei 101 looming in the background.

The view from in front of the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall:

Now see that look on my face?
That's the look of misery: "It's bright. It's hot. I'm sweaty." Now click on the picture, then zoom in even further if you can. Look at my forehead. That is the result of Taiwan weather. Yah, gross. No woman should have the ability to form so many beads on her forehead, unless it's from heavy exercise. I was probably out walking in the heat for 15 to 20 minutes and I was literally dripping (not that that's unusual in this weather)! I looked up the weather when I got home. It was 34.7° C or 94.46° F with 57% humidity. And I promise that is not even a bad humidity day! According to the heat index, that means it feels like 109° F! It's SEPTEMBER, people!!!