Taipei - Day 2

I didn't sleep very well last night (I never sleep well in dorms), and felt tired for much of the day. I started out by going to the Confucian Temple, which to my disapointment has been closed for renovations. I went to the nearby Baoan temple next door, which was ok. The temple architecture here is different from that that I've seen on the mainland. It's a bit more garish. I next went for lunch and then went to the Longshan temple to make up for the missed Confucian temple. It turns out this temple was having some sort of special day. According to a security guard, I asked, every month there is one day that attracts tons of people to the temple who leave offerings. There was tons of food and other offerings in the temple. Unlike the mainland, it appears as though religion is alive and well in Taiwan. Also, no temple has admission charges here, which is nice. Nor should temples charge admission. Taipei has recently built a couple of distinctive buildings, one of which is the Taipei 101, which I visited yesterday. The other is called the Living Mall, and while it is just a boring old mall on the inside, the building is quite distinctive, containing a sphere that is witihin a standard building. I went to the Starbucks there, and it wasn't too expensive (compared to the one in Singapore). I fell asleep in the plush chair for about half an hour, and then returned to the hostel for a longer nap. I like the subway here. I compare it immediately to the one in Beijing, and the difference in the way passengers behave is striking. There is no pushing, people stand to the right on escalators, and people wait for people to get off the train before boarding. There is still hope for the mainland, thank goodness.