Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling… (2 Cor 5:2)

OK, the Lord gave me a real litmus test for my heart this week. He asked if I was longing for Him to return… today! After thinking about this (couldn’t stop myself from posting the picture of deep thinking) for probably much longer than should be the case for a believer of, let’s say… quite a few years, I decided I was longing for His return… after I checked off my list of things to do.

I mean, come on, there’s a reason you don’t see a whole lot of bands traveling with harp players- they’re just not that exciting. And floating on a cloud would be really cool… for about 30 minutes. I really want to know what streets of gold look like, but I don’t see me staring at a road for the next zillion years. So I find myself more often intrigued with the “here and now” rather than the “hereafter”. So how do I find myself where Paul was in groaning and longing for His return- today?

I believe the key is in making an educated decision. I feel confident in choosing between a Yugo or Ferrarri; sickness or health; rain or shine. But between this age and the age to come? Hmm.

The reality of not having sufficient knowledge of the age to come has hit me recently. I spend altogether too little time meditating and pondering on the realities of what the Lord has prepared for us. We know the verse in 1 Cor. 2:9- “No eye has seen, no ear heard, no mind conceived…”, but we rarely grab ahold of verse 10- “but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit.”

I’m provoked I need only to look at scripture and begin to ponder for the Holy Spirit to shift the scales a little in my comparisons. For instance:

How about Rev. 5:11-12. The most conservative number here has to be 100 million angels around the throne- singing in a loud voice! For perspective the largest stadium in the world is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which seats 250,000. That would be at least 400 sold out stadiums all singing at the same time in a loud voice! Can we even begin to imagine what this must look like! what it must sound like!

How about the New Jerusalem in Rev. 21 that will eventually rest on the earth. It is 1380 miles wide and high. The entire city is made out of pure, clear gold and 12 precious stones. It has 12 gates (that must be huge) that are each made of a single pearl. For a little fun, think about just the aspect of the dimensions alone:

The tallest building in the world is the Taipei 101. It is 1671 ft. tall, which is less than 1/3 of a mile. The tallest mountain- Everest, 29,028 ft., 5.5 miles. The common height of where the earth’s atmosphere becomes outer space- 62 miles! That is only 1,318 miles short of the New Jerusalem, which by the way would stretch from approx. San Francisco to St. Louis.

What about the 200 million horsemen? Or the radiance of Jesus in Rev. 1? Or the living creatures with 6 wings and eyes all over? Or the demonic locusts?

Can we even imagine these things? Not really. But the Spirit will begin to unlock the hearts and spiritual imaginations of those who meditate on the truths of His word to such a degree we can speak as Paul, and David as he said the one thing I want is to gaze on your beauty. It brings a new understanding of the counsel to think upon “that which is lovely”. In comparison to the age to come, what on the fallen earth is lovely that would warrant any thought at all?

This doesn’t mean not to appreciate, or even enjoy this present time. And this doesn’t invalidate my desires, or even diminish  them. I am still praying for the fulfilment of those things. It just brings a little perspective. And if we begin to take the scripture and fill our minds with thinking about what God has in store, and asking the Holy Spirit to reveal the sights and sounds and smells of those days, I believe our hearts will begin to long and groan for those days of being forever in His presence. And as a side item of no small account, the trivial things of our day to day lives won’t illicit quite the same anxiety in our hearts in light of His coming.

The revelation that we can experience when we gaze on the beauty of Jeusus will cause our hearts to come fully alive at the expectation of His coming. Is this not what we were told Christianity was supposed to be? Well, it is! And God is anxiously awaiting one who will set his gaze on this One who is the Resurrection and the Life. Selah, His blessings roll on…

Although as I write this, there is 1 week remaining in the 1st of my 3 terms of study here, I have already taken my final exam for this term.  We are covering one more chapter, with the normal 2 tests to come at the end of the unit, but there is a logistical reason why Shi-Da has its comprehensive exams early.  Returning students are registered for the next term and assigned to their new class before any new students arrive, and the class assignments are determined based upon our results on the comprehensive exams.  You must pass the comprehensive exam in order to advance the next highest level class; if you don’t pass, you have to re-take the same level class again.  Once the test results are in, the university needs a little time to sort out all the classes for the next term.  Everyone in my class passed, so there is a chance that we could be together again next term, although they may separate those of us with higher scores from those with lower scores.  I don’t care either way, because it’d be good to be reunited since we all get along well, but if I get new classmates then I can make new friends easily that way, too.  I will probably have a new teacher, since usually the teachers always teach the same level class term after term.  Next week is probably when we’ll find out our class assignments for the upcoming term.  As far as the exam itself, its 4 sections correspond to the 4 aspects of language proficiency – listening comprehension, speaking, reading comprehension, and writing.  The listening section is the hardest, because each question is read just once, and you only have 5 seconds to select the correct answer (multiple-choice) before the next question is read.  The speaking part was the shortest, taking just a couple minutes; we had 45 seconds to formulate our thoughts in response to a discussion question, and then we had 90 seconds to talk, during which we actually recorded our voices on a cassette tape.  The reading and writing sections were the easiest, because we could prepare for them by studying the vocabulary and grammar structures we’ve learned over the past 2 months, although obviously that’s no small amount of material.  Basically, the idea is that the points on these sections ought to be a “given,” but I also knew it’d be easy to forget how to write a character or two and thus unnecessarily lose some points I should’ve gotten; so, I still spent a good deal of time reviewing every night as we got closer to test day (which was Thursday, November 5).  In an impressive example of Asian efficiency, our exams were all already graded by class-time the next day (Friday, November 6) afternoon; that’s when my class found out we all passed.  I’m quite relieved to be done with the exam, even though I knew all along that I probably didn’t have anything to worry about, especially since we just had to pass.  However, because we would either advance or be held back on the sole basis of our score on this one test, no matter how well we may have done all term on our homework and unit tests, the build-up to exam day was still stressful.  But, the students who did best on the test were, of course, the ones who had been doing best all term long on the homework and unit tests.  The top 3 students in the class were the French girl Carla (the 3rd of the 3 Caucasian Westerners in the class, besides myself and the Brazilian guy Wu-Yang); a Japanese girl named Mei-bao (the first syllable is pronounced “may”, and the second syllable rhymes with “ow,” not “oh”), who I’ve found out is also a Christian; and myself.  We three had emerged at the head of the class in the past month, and our exam results were all true to form.  Now that the exam is past, we’re pretty much cruising for this last bit before our “fall break.”

The only other things I had to take care of were paying my tuition for the upcoming term at Shi-Da and then renewing my student visa, both of which I did last week.  Student visas are valid for 60 days, so most foreign students probably had to renew theirs about a month ago (since I’ve been here almost 3 months now).  However, I have a multiple-entry visa since I knew I wanted to travel to other parts of Southeast Asia and reenter Taiwan, and there is a “loophole” for multiple-entry visa holders:  my 60 days is reset every time I reenter Taiwan within 60 days of my last entry.  Thus, my Thailand trip reset my 60 days, effectively buying me an extra month here before I had to go renew my visa.  This is nice because a student visa can only be renewed twice, after which you either have to have secured an Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) or leave the country, and 2 renewals would normally total 180 days.  But with the “extensions” from my Thailand trip and from any travels I do in the next couple months, I will actually be able to stay in Taiwan a good bit longer than that before I have to file my paperwork for the ARC, meaning that I will get to miss the mass rush on Immigration of all the foreign students applying for their ARCs at the same time.  Since I’ll be submitting my application to Immigration at a later, lighter time, theoretically it should be less of a hassle and my application should get processed faster.  That’s what I’m hoping for, anyway.  (The reason I had to pay my tuition at Shi-Da before I renewed my visa is that Immigration renews your visa for 60 days or until the end of the last term for which you have enrolled, whichever comes first.  Thus I went ahead and paid my tuition for the next term in advance, so that my visa would be renewed for a full 60-day period instead of for another week and a half!  If I hadn’t paid in advance, I would have had to use up my 2nd and last renewal almost right away again, cancelling out the benefits I just explained about travel resetting my visa extension.)

Last weekend both my First Division team and my Premier League team (Taipei City, or TC as I’ve started calling it) had a bye, but the weekend before that, both teams had a game on Sunday – one right after the other, in fact.  First I had the Premier League season opener with TC, which we won emphatically.  We were playing a local Taiwanese team, and we dominated them from start to finish.  I started and went 90 at left mid.  Midway through the 2nd half, I stole the ball with an open-field tackle and pushed the counterattack which led to our 3rd goal.  After the final whistle, I hailed a cab and went across town, from the fields where the Premier League games are held to the fields where the First Division games are held, straight to my First Division match.  It was a fun game; we ended up winning 7-0.  I played all of that game too, at right back.  Afterwards I got some food and then went back to my room and slept!

Action shot of me in the Premier League season opener with TC

In addition to the fact that they are a better team than the Red Lions, another benefit of playing for TC in the Premier League is that now each of my teams, in the Premier League and the First Division respectively, is only competing in that one league and concentrating fully on that league’s title race.  The Red Lions are competing in both leagues, but their roster is only a normal size, and since the 2 seasons have a few months of overlap (November-January), ultimately the Red Lions don’t really have enough depth to cope with 2 games scheduled on the same day.  Of course, a perfect example is the Sunday before last, which I just recounted in the previous paragraph.  Although I played 2 games back-to-back, personally I am fit enough to do that, and all my teammates in the 2nd game were fresh, since that was their first and only game that day.  However, if I were on Red Lions, the whole squad would have been exhausted for the 2nd game.  This is indeed exactly what happened to them; they won their 1st game, but might as well have forfeited the 2nd match.  I think it would have been very frustrating for me to suffer through a series of inevitable losses, thus making it much less worthwhile for me to participate in both leagues instead of just one.  As is, both my teams are very competitive in their respective leagues, and we have a real chance to win every game.  That makes it more fun, as well as more beneficial to me from the standpoint of soccer development. 

Since both my games were on Sunday the weekend before last, I had Saturday free, and I decided to check off another Taipei tourist destination:  the Palace Museum.  The Chinese name of this attraction is Gugong (“goo-gong”), which means “Ancient Palace.”  Instead of housing royalty, the palace complex now houses a humongous museum collection.  Apart from a couple mainstay exhibits, the entire contents of every exhibit are changed every 3 months, and it takes a few years for them to cycle through the whole collection that the museum owns; this is not to mention special exhibits which come to the museum from time to time.  Of the exhibits on display when I went, there was a lot of ancient pottery and ceramics, but my favorite items were the miniatures.  One ivory carving of a palace was smaller than a ping-pong ball, but with such an ornate profusion of tiny details that even with a magnifying glass it was hard to see.  I have absolutely no idea how the sculptor could have done it – it would be a marvel even with modern tools and machines.  But the most amazing carving was an olive pit.  Some ancient Chinese dude ate an olive and spit out the seed/stone and thought, “Instead of just throwing this away, why don’t I spend 3 solid years carving it into a ship?”  So that’s what he did.  The olive pit is carved into an ornate ship and 8 people with detailed faces and outfits.  Once again, even viewing it through a magnifying glass was barely sufficient to pick out all the tiny details.  Furthermore, the entire text of an ancient ode – more than 300 characters long – is immaculately inscribed on the hull of the boat.  It blows my mind how it could’ve been done without modern technology.  You can see it here:  http://www.npm.gov.tw/en/collection/selections_02.htm?docno=904&catno=12&pageno=2.  The other miniature items that really impressed me were not carvings but paintings.  These paintings were done on the inside of tiny vials.  The paintbrushes were no thicker than toothpicks, because the bottlenecks are so narrow.  The brush-tips were curved so as to paint on the sides of the vial even with the brush in a mostly vertical position, since its movement is restricted by the walls of the bottleneck.  And using this method – awkward to the point of near impossibility – ancient Chinese artists rendered masterful landscape scenes with exquisite detail on the inside walls of these tiny vials.  Here’s one example:  http://www.npm.gov.tw/en/collection/selections_02.htm?docno=898&catno=12&pageno=2.  While the time, effort, and craftsmanship that went into creating these miniature masterpieces could have been invested in a myriad of much more pragmatic ways, the Chinese clearly took great pleasure in admiring them.  Thus, in addition to the miniatures, they created miniature curio boxes to display them!  A curio box is a display item in itself, with a beautiful exterior, but it also opens to display the miniatures which are stored inside it.  Furthermore, a curio box is kind of like a 3-D puzzle, because it doesn’t just open like a (miniature) cabinet.  Usually there are multiple latches opening different parts of the curio box, as well as hidden drawers and compartments which reward their discovery by revealing the additional miniatures which they contain.  It would be really hard to describe these adequately, so I’ll just show you.  Here’s a simple one, believe it or not:  http://www.npm.gov.tw/en/collection/selections_02.htm?docno=920&catno=12&pageno=3.  And here’s my favorite one:  http://www.npm.gov.tw/en/collection/selections_02.htm?docno=174&catno=12.  Besides all these miniatures, one other item also ranked among my favorites.  It was a magnificent Tibetan dagger, gilded and inset with jewels, like something straight out of your imagination.  Incredible.  Once I’d gone through all the exhibits, I walked through the beautiful garden which is on the palace grounds.  You can see my photos and descriptions here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/ecartee/sets/72157622754514804/.  .

To get to the Gugong, I took the Metro to Shilin (“sure-lean”) station, but then instead of getting a cab or a bus, I decided to do the half-hour walk to the Gugong on foot, so that I could take my time in admiring the gardens and parks along the way.  I really like Asian-style gardens, and it’s fascinating how they maximize the usage of what really isn’t that large of a space to make it feel like you’re in the middle of nature.  These parks are quiet, peaceful refuges tucked into the lay-out of a noisy, on-the-go metropolis.  Here are my photos:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/ecartee/sets/72157622630385275/.  .

So, that was my sight-seeing from the Saturday before last.  Last Saturday, I spent part of my day hiking in the mountains.  The interesting thing is that the hiking trail is not further away than the Shilin suburbs, but actually much closer – in the vicinity of the Taipei 101, currently the world’s tallest building (until they finish constructing its successor in Dubai).  The area around the 101 is a highly-developed, premium area of downtown, with the Xinyi (“sheen-yee”) Shopping District’s high-end stores and the Taipei City Hall and municipal government buildings.  However, this area is also at the lower right corner of what is the “city proper” as opposed to suburban districts.  Taipei is surrounded by mountains – they’re low mountains, more like the Appalachians than the Rockies, but still very pretty – and the foothills begin to rise in the suburbs, which is one feature making those areas more beautiful and more desirable than living downtown in the metropolis.  (You can see this in my photos from the walk between Shilin Metro station and the Gugong.)  Thus, since the 101 area is at the edge of the city proper, it’s right next to a suburban area; and that particular suburb doesn’t just have foothills, but legitimate mountains.  Thus, it’s a favorite place to go hiking, because when you get to the top of the mountain, you can take pictures of the city skyline, and the 101 in particular.  Last Saturday was a bit foggy at the top of the mountain, which made for a beautiful sight with the 101 emerging from the mist, but also made all my photos too gray and blurry, unfortunately.  So you’ll just have to try to imagine the scene.  It was a serene setting, quiet in the middle of nature, where you could see the sprawl of the metropolis but not hear its cacophony or feel its stress.  And while looking down on other skyscrapers, I was still looking up at the 101, since the mountain’s peak is only about half the 101’s height.  (Now I need to go to the top of the 101 itself!  That’s one of the next tourist activities on my list of things to do.)  Going back down, you pass several mountain residences and temples, and then about halfway down the mountain you start to see the suburban developments and a couple high schools.  (As an aside, let me say a bit more about geography and topography.  Taipei is surrounded by mountains because it is basically in a valley.  Most of the island of Taiwan consists of mountainous terrain, and there are almost no level plains.  My first taste of this landscape was my weekend excursion to the mountaintop village market with Jason and Sandy a while ago, if you remember back that far.)

This week I had a game with TC on Wednesday night, against another Taiwanese team.  They had a couple fast forwards and were much a much tougher opponent than the squad we steamrolled in our season opener.  After a strong first half we should’ve been up 1-0, but we had a goal called back for an incorrect offside call.  (You cannot be closer to the goal than all the other team’s defenders at the moment when the ball is played; obviously you can run behind them once the ball is passed through, but if you are already behind everyone when your teammate plays the ball, you are offside.)  We started the second half a bit slow, but then we broke through for 2 goals.  That should’ve iced the game, but late in the 2nd half they got a goal off of a missed offside call (he was behind us when the ball was played, but the ref didn’t call it).  Now within reach of tying the game, they pressed us hard for the last 10 minutes, but we held on to our lead and came out with the 2-1 win.  Although the game never should’ve been that close, we showed character to persevere and get a result.

This weekend I had a tournament with my First Division team.  It was an island-wide event of all the expat teams from every city’s First Division level men’s-league.  (We played 30-minute games, so that the schedule could accommodate all the weekend’s matches on just 2 fields.  I have yet to see a soccer complex here with more than 2 fields.)  Our 1st game on Saturday was against the best team from Taichung’s First Division men’s-league.  It was a really scrappy game, but after a shaky start, we locked things down in the back and started ramping up our defensive pressure on them.  And late in the game, that pressure paid off; we forced them into making an error near their own goal and poached a goal for a 1-0 win.  Our 2nd game was against a strong, fast Nigerian team.  Our back line rose to the occasion and didn’t allow a single shot on goal.  I scored a goal, bending a shot into the top far corner from about 25 yards out, and it proved to be the game-winner.  Our 3rd game of the day was against the Red Lions.  On the heels of 2 hard-fought 1-0 wins, we had a breakout game.  I don’t think the Red Lions knew what hit them.  We completely dominated the game, with way more possession than them, and they had no answer for our crisp passing attack.  Our speed of play and combination play were excellent.  We put 4 goals past them in what turned out to be a total rout, and one of the most fun and satisfying soccer games in which I’ve ever had the pleasure of participating.  (Although we made the Red Lions look really bad, I know that they’re usually better than this.  Still, it made me feel even better about my decision to play with TC in the Premier League, after my First Division team beat the same Red Lions squad in such decisive fashion.)  On Sunday we played a team much inferior to ourselves – and much inferior to any of the 3 teams we’d already beaten – but although they never threatened to score, they bunkered and we weren’t able to penetrate, either.  (To “bunker” is to employ a defensive strategy with exactly the mentality that the metaphor implies – i.e., take up a defensive position, dig in, and hold the fort.  In soccer terms, that means keeping all 11 players on your own defensive half.  Thus, you are basically giving up on trying to score, except maybe off a counterattack, but you are packing your defensive half with bodies so that it is really hard for the other team to get through.  This is anti-soccer, with the entire objective being to kill the game; and thus it is universally despised.  Nevertheless, it is a very effective tactical ploy for weaker teams to use against better teams, because you don’t have to be skillful soccer players to defend collectively in a block.)  Anyway, although we were clearly the better soccer team, we weren’t able to beat their bunker and score, so the game was decided by a penalty kick (PK) shootout.  Their goalkeeper was one of their best players, and he saved one of our PKs, so they won the shootout and advanced.  It was very disheartening to be knocked out even though we still had not conceded a goal in the tournament!  (My teammates and friends of Trinity Soccer are surely groaning, or worse, at this point.  My junior year we did not concede a goal in the Final Four, but we lost in PKs in the national championship game to a far inferior team which successfully bunkered against us.  Although we knew, and everyone else knew too, that we truly were the best team in the nation that year, this inner satisfaction still wasn’t quite the same as bringing home the hardware.)  Anyway, we still had 2 consolation games left to play.  The 1st consolation game (our 2nd match on Sunday, our 5th of the weekend) was a poor performance, with everybody still feeling the disappointment of the shootout, and a 1-0 loss.  Then we started reminding each other that we had played very well in all of our first 4 games and we shouldn’t let our level of play drop now, just because of the cruel outcome of the shootout.  With a better attitude, we played well again in our last game.  Fatigue and an unlucky bounce gifted the other team an early goal, but we fought back to tie the game 1-1, and it went to PKs.  I hit mine, as did all of our shooters, and they sent one over the bar, giving us the victory.  Winning the last game was a good ending to what really had been a very good weekend for us, all in all, and it helped take some of the sour taste out of our mouths from our hard luck earlier in the day.

Since this weekend’s tournament consisted only of expat teams, we got to see local Taiwanese refs at their impartial best; and while nobody’s perfect, the refereeing crew did a really good job game after game.  This proved that the Taiwanese refs are indeed very capable refs.  It also went a long way towards proving something else much less complimentary.  Without fail, every time one of my teams has played a Taiwanese team, the officiating has been blatantly biased in the Taiwanese team’s favor.  Right in front of the refs, the Taiwanese players kick and elbow us with impunity; but the refs call bogus fouls on us for the slightest physical contact.  And when that happens, we have to be careful not to show dissent in any way – not even a gesture or facial expression, let alone a verbal volley – or we’re almost guaranteed to get a yellow card.  (A yellow card is a warning, a red card is an ejection, and 2 yellow cards equal a red card.  If you get sent off, your team cannot substitute for you; they must play the rest of the game down a man.)  On the other hand, in the unlikely event that a foul is called on our Taiwanese opponents, they go ballistic, and the ref stoically ignores their vehement dissent.  Finally, by themselves, the 2 blown offside calls in this Wednesday’s TC game – wrongly denying us a goal, and wrongly gifting them one – could be chalked up to human error that unluckily went against us both times.  However, taken in context, these calls fit an obvious pattern.  I’m convinced that the refs deliberately and flagrantly cheat for our Taiwanese opponents at every conceivable opportunity.  I know this is a harsh statement, but the double standard is plain as day.  They are not bad referees – the excellent officiating at this weekend’s expat tournament testified to that.  No, they’re simply not capable of missing that many calls, and it’s simply not coincidence that their bad calls favor the Taiwanese team every single time.  Furthermore, at the tournament, the officiating was eminently fair.  In other words, not only were very few calls missed because of the quality of the officiating, but there was no conspicuous disproportionality between questionable calls that favored one team versus questionable calls that favored the other team.  This is a stark, glaring contrast with the situation every time we’ve played a Taiwanese opponent.  But the tournament was only for expat teams, so every game featured an expat team versus another expat team.  Thus, it seems apparent that not only are the local Taiwanese refs deliberately cheating against us whenever we play a Taiwanese team, but that they are doing so because we’re a foreign team playing a Taiwanese team.  If it was the case that they had something against our teams specifically (because I’ve observed this consistently with both my teams, not just one), then they would cheat against us every time.  But that’s not the case; the refereeing is impartial and fair when we play another expat team, yet it is blatantly biased against us when we play a Taiwanese team.  I have gone to great lengths to explain my reasoning and justification for these accusations because it is an uncomfortable accusation to make, and I want to show that I am not being rash, or misinterpreting or over-generalizing certain isolated incidents.  The incidents are not isolated, and the verdict is hardly difficult to reach.  The unpleasant but unavoidable conclusion is that they don’t like us because we’re foreign, so they cheat against us every chance they get, to help our Taiwanese opponents.  This has made a lot of my teammates and new soccer friends very bitter towards the locals, and although that’s the wrong way to be, it’s an understandable response.

However, compared to lingering bitterness after the game, I think that emotional responses during the game are much harder to restrain.  After the game, heads cool, but during the game, you get caught up in it.  In all honesty, it is very hard not to react emotionally in the heat of the moment, when they cheat against us so blatantly.  Yet, we have no choice but to silently bear it and to win the game anyway by outplaying and outscoring our opponent.  Since the cheating is a given, we can’t let that be an excuse for tying or losing games that we should win.  (If our opponent is weak, the cheating usually doesn’t even matter; but if the game is close anyway, we have to work hard not to let the cheating tip the scales, as last Wednesday’s game illustrated.)  Like any adversity, this is something we simply have to overcome – no two ways about it.  But on a related note, I am not unsympathetic to professional athletes who occasionally lose their temper or let some words fly during competition, because I know firsthand what it’s like to be in the heat of battle, with your emotions on your sleeve as you’re playing your heart out, and how hard it can be to keep certain emotions pent up within you even as you are riding the surge of other emotions to help you compete at the highest level of intensity.  Although I do not condone profanity and temper, and I do my best to restrain myself from both, I also don’t think it’s that difficult to understand why an athlete might have such a reaction under high-pressure circumstances.  (Especially when the athlete is not Christian; what is surprising about a non-Christian individual behaving in a non-Christian way?  We are quick to judge athletes since they are under the spotlight, but even when they fail, I think it is better not to throw stones.  Sinners need love and mercy, not condemnation.)  And it is indeed high pressure – when your livelihood depends on your performance, and you’ve spent years practicing a given skill, and at a critical moment you mess up something that you’ve done thousands of times before, frustration is an extremely logical and understandable response.  It doesn’t necessarily even point to anger issues; it simply testifies to the player’s passion.  But returning to my case here in Taiwan:  since the local refs will seize upon any excuse to give us a yellow card, the situation forces me to especially concentrate on my emotional and verbal self-control while on the field here in Taiwan.  That is probably a good thing, even though the circumstances are unfair.

Since I’ve discussed the apparent discrimination by the local refs, I should clarify that I do not feel I have been discriminated against by any other Taiwanese people since I’ve been here.  On the contrary, once the ice is broken, they often are very friendly and helpful towards me.  However, I have observed that in general, Chinese and Taiwanese people are very discriminatory.  This is on the basis of various distinctions ranging from race to upbringing.  For example, they do tend to look down on black people; they are very conscious of who is native Taiwanese and who came over from the mainland after the Communist takeover, and they definitely do treat folks differently based on these categories; they strongly dislike current mainlanders; and they look down on any “overseas Chinese” whose Mandarin is not fluent (even though it’s logical that a different language may well have been used in that household in their country of residence).  Also, although people in this last category have to learn Chinese the same as people like me, they studiously avoid associating with us.  For example, at Shi-Da there are a lot of people with partial or full Asian ancestry who look totally Asian (of course) but speak English as their primary language; yet they never come up to talk to us white students, and sometimes they’ll brush you off even if you approach them.  When it comes to “pride and prejudice” (Do you have the “sense and sensibility” to appreciate my allusions?), I would say that these Asians have more haughtiness than actual hatred, but that still is pernicious.  So, the contexts of discrimination here are much different than in the U.S., but if anything I think there is more discrimination here than there is in America, on a daily basis.

I know it has been 3 weeks since my last post, again.  It is my sincere intention to resume a more regular timetable for posting, and I will endeavor to follow through on that intention.

Taipei 101, famous for being one of the worlds tallest buildings, is set to get some major eco-upgrades in an effort to save money, reduce its impact, and gain the much coveted title of Worlds Tallest Green Building. The $1.8 million in energy efficiency upgrades are expected to yield $20 million annually in savings.

Source:
http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/11/05/taipei-101-worlds-tallest-green-building/

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Um dos edifícios mais altos do mundo – o Taipei 101, com 509 metros de altura e 101 andares – deve passar por uma extensa reforma no valor de US$ 1,8 milhão (cerca de R$ 3,09 mi), para se tornar o arranha céu ecológico mais alto do mundo.

Edifício deve se tornar arranha-céu ecológico mais alto do mundo

A administração do prédio, um marco de Taiwan, espera receber um certificado do programa americano Liderança em Design de Energia e Meio Ambiente (LEED, na sigla em inglês), o maior programa de certificados deste tipo e também o que mais cresce.

A corporação financeira de Taiwan, proprietária do prédio, anunciou o investimento nos próximos 18 meses para cortar o uso de energia e de água e diminuir as emissões de carbono em até 10%.

Para isso, deverão ser instalados novos e mais eficientes sistemas de energia e encanamento. A administração também pretende encorajar as 10 mil pessoas que trabalham no prédio a reciclar, manter o ar-condicionado a uma temperatura de 26 graus e usar o transporte público.

A administração também vai pedir aos ocupantes que comprem comida nos arredores, para cortar a emissão de carbono das entregas de refeições.

A vice-presidente assistente do Taipei 101, Kathy Yang, disse que o projeto deve gerar uma economia de US$ 615 mil (cerca de R$ 1,06 milhão) por ano e atrair como novos locatários empresas que desejam ser ambientalmente responsáveis.

“É realmente importante para a indústria da construção olhar para a questão ambiental, levá-la a sério”, disse Yang. “Então, queremos mostrar para o mundo que mesmo um edifício alto como o nosso pode começar a fazer isso, que podemos fazer o melhor para nos tornar um edifício ‘verde’.”

Como se fossem cidades verticais, os arranha-céus do mundo estão entre alguns dos maiores poluidores em zonas urbanas.

Construído em 2004, o Taipei 101 já foi projetado com algumas características de respeito ao meio-ambiente. O prédio coleta água da chuva, que é usada nas descargas e para regar seu jardim, e suas janelas, de duas folhas de vidro, ajudam a evitar que o calor do exterior entre no edifício.

Há cerca de 3.500 prédios em todo o mundo com certificado de ambientalmente responsável, mas a administração do Taipei 101 espera que ele seja o primeiro arranha-céu a obter o documento.

Via BBC Brasil

Stop over’s and transit time in Airports can often be one of the major pitfalls of International travel.

Picture this: You have just been on an 11 hour flight and you now have to wait 6 hours in a sterile, cold, unfriendly and busy International Airport Terminal. You are then faced with another 12 hours or so of flying time before you touch down wearily at your destination. Transit is not all that terrible when you are on your way to a country and your fun filled holiday, but it’s a whole other story on the way back. You are dreaming of your own bed but the wait continues to drag on, will you ever see your beloved pillow again?

Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is combating this problem with the Transit Tourist program. The Taiwan Tourism Bureau offers FREE half day tours from the Airport on either the cultural route or the City route. This allows travellers to get out for 4-5 hours and enjoy the sites of Taiwan. This is especially good in an airport such as Taiwan Toayuan as it really is a big, sterile, quiet and lonely airport.

I was lucky enough to arrive at 6.30am on February 12th 2007, so with what felt like a hangover and 12 hours until my flight left, I was not looking forward to the day. Luckily I bumped into some other weary travellers and we all headed to the tourism desk which we had been notified about on the plane. There were 6 of us there and we quickly formed a bond and chose to do a cultural tour of the city in the morning, this meant that we could get back to the Airport by lunchtime and then travel all together by shuttle to the central Taipei. This way we got the best of both tours.

I was so thankful to have something to do for the day and to have met such a unique and interesting bunch of people to spend the time with. A Greek/ Aussie guy named Zoran, A Canadian girl living in Oz named Sarah (Nugs), A Japanese/ Australian whose name evades me and Tony and Nick from Newcastle. We clicked right away and spent the journey to the temple and ancient city chatting about our trips to date.

The cultural tour was definitely worth braving the wet and foggy morning for. The ancient city was fascinating with intricately designed buildings containing little businesses that had been running for many years. We really got a great peek into the Taiwanese culture. The guide was brilliant as well. He was knowledgeable, animated and very open to questions. We had 3 hours to stroll around the old city, temple, morning market and small art museum. I was so fascinated by the culture and really was disappointed now that I only had a short day here. Taiwan is onto something with there little taste tester tourist trips. Marketing 101 – free samples!

After shopping, seeing the sights and being stunned by some of the Taiwanese customs- including having a live fish on hooks at your stall to show just how fresh your produce is, we boarded the bus and headed back to the airport. Our now tight knit group then jumped on the city shuttle to head to the famous Taipei 101! How lucky are we to have such a fun filled day with only 10 hours to spare!

We arrived at the incredible Taipei 101 and decided lunch was probably the best option first and as the tallest tower in the world also doubles as a shopping centre, we were able to find a rather large food court to satisfy our appetites. Choosing lunch was interesting….. and finding almost an entire chicken in Sarahs soup was an experience, but overall the food was delicious and the choice unfathomable. Great Asian flavours and at wonderfully low prices.

We decided to walk through the many levels of shops that we could never afford to purchase things from and amused ourselves with the many gadgets and products on offer. It was then time for the tallest tower in the world, Taipei 101! Once you reach the top you are greeted with both indoor and outdoor viewing decks which offer amazing views over what appears to be the entire island that is the tiny Taiwan. There was also a museum inside containing strange and unusual coloured lights – we didn’t know the purpose of it but it was fun to explore. Photos were in abundance and many oohs and ahs were spoken. It’s definitely a sight to be seen and one to cross off the old traveller list.

We got back to the airport around 8pm as we were all rather tired from our Big Day Out. Happy to realise once we had checked in that we had most certainly made the right decision in having a day out as the Airport was so quiet , sterile and un-welcoming.

Of all the airports to have to spend the day in- Taiwan’s International Airport is the best. What a great idea to help tourists on their long journeys and to entice them back to this beautiful and interesting country. If you have the option, choose Taiwan as your international stop-over, all you need is a day to have a fantastic taste of Taiwan!

You can take advantage of the Free Half-Day Tour for Transit Passengers offered by the Tourism Bureau. The Presidential Office Building, the Taipei 101 Mall, and several other places of interest are included in the tour. You may register at the Arrival Lobby Tourist Service Center.

Terminal I: Morning tour: bus leaves at 7:45 a.m. and returns to the airport before 1 p.m.* Afternoon tour: bus leaves at 1:45 p.m. and returns to the airport before 6:30 p.m.*

Terminal II: Morning tour: bus leaves at 7:30 a.m. and returns to the airport before 1 p.m.* Afternoon tour: bus leaves at 1:30 p.m. and returns to the airport before 6:30 p.m.* *Actual return time to terminal may vary according to traffic conditions.

For information at the airport go to: http://www.taoyuanairport.gov.tw/english/about/item_e_e.jsp?itemid=6

For information on Travel in Taiwan visit the Tourism Bureau website: http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/m1.aspx?sNo=0000236

Young adults enjoying an obscenely large game of Jenga in a wooded forest

Architect Dr. David Fisher is proposing two rotating skyscrapers. One eighty story structure is to be built in Dubai and the other, a seventy story work, is being proposed for Moscow. The buildings will be made up of prefabricated floors which will be mounted to a central core. This type of design will let the building constantly be in motion. Each floor will move independently of the others, similar to a large game of Jenga.

The building will harness solar and wind power to be one of the “greenest” developments to date. If you are worried about swinging around quickly in a storm while watching “Alf” in your apartment, don’t worry, that won’t be a problem. No matter what wind or storm conditions are like outside, it will take anywhere from (1 – 3) hours for your floor to make a complete 360 degree rotation. The structure in Dubai will be built by 2010.

Tallest Buildings Comparison

This rotating structure is not the only new piece of the “Jenga” puzzle for Dubai. For the last decade Dubai has envisioned a building spree unlike the world has ever seen. From “Project World” to the “Palm Islands” Dubai has set its sights on being the worlds Las Vegas. Not to be out done on any level, the world tallest structure, Burj Dubai, will be completed later this year, rendering my two trips up the current tallest building, Taipei 101, to silver medal status.

Ten years ago this plan looked very feasible but since the global economic slowdown, many people are not willing to make an international flight to experience great shopping and restaurants. All factors seem top be pointing that Dubai may have overestimated growth and is living on a dangerous economic bubble at the moment. As construction cranes extend across the desert landscape, finished buildings are having trouble renting corporate and retail space.

As dwindiling resources will continue to drive up travel prices, the world will actully begin to reverse its current trend of global travel. With the advent of internet conference calls and government pressure for businesses to become green, world travel in my opinion, will become less common in future decades. For places like Dubai, which require long flights for most of the clientele they are marketing these new entertainment options to, only time will tell if it will become a modern day Babylon.

W ostatnią sobotę miałem przyjemność odwiedzić Taipei 101, czyli budynek uważany za najwyższy wieżowiec na świecie. Dojazd nie był wygodny, gdyż krótki odcinek trzeba było przejechać autobusem. Jak się okazało, tutejsze autobusy strasznie trzęsą. Może jestem uprzedzony ze względu na moje dolegliwości (oczywiście wziąłem Aviomarin;), ale i tak uważam, że drgania są większe niż w pojazdach ZTM (nie licząc Ikarusów sprzed ćwierćwiecza, rzecz jasna). Zaletą są natomiast wygodne, skórzane fotele o rozmiarach rekompensujących brak zagłówka oraz efektywna klimatyzacja. Szczęśliwie, na przystanku Taipei Zoo (straszny tam tłok, ale mają pandę:) przesiedliśmy się do metra. Tego nadziemnego, którym jechałem do szpitala, czyli Muzha Line. Po drodze jeszcze jedna przesiadka, a potem poszukiwanie autobusu (prywatny i darmowy :> ) wożącego turystów (i miłośników drogich zakupów) do Taipei 101.

Budynek jest OGROMNY. Spojrzenie w górę niemal zapiera dech w piersiach, nawet jeśli widziało się niewiele niższe przecież gmachy na Manhattanie. Pstryk, pstryk, wchodzimy do środka. Eleganckie galerie handlowe składają się niemal wyłącznie ze sklepów oferujących produkty ekskluzywne. Szyldy reklamujące światowej sławy marki odzieży, obuwia, perfum czy zegarków są wszechobecne. Nie robimy (towarzyszą mi dwie Chinki, które tu jeszcze nie były) zakupów, tylko udajemy się w stronę kasy z biletami wstępu do Obserwatorium. Chodzi oczywiście o taras widokowy na wysokości ponad 400 metrów, na którym można poczuć, czym jest naprawdę silny wiatr. Wjazd na górę zajmuje niecałą minutę, którą spędza się w windzie reklamowanej jako najszybsza na świecie.

Niestety, widok na miasto jest nieco poniżej oczekiwań. Ograniczona widoczność utrudnia rozkoszowanie się chwilą, ale na pocieszenie zostają interesujące galerie i audio-przewodnik, nie tylko po chińsku. Zabawny wydał mi się zakaz skakania, umieszczony na dużych tablicach na tarasie widokowym.

Takie miejsce musi być nie lada gratką dla wszelkiej maści samobójców. Szybka i raczej bezbolesna śmierć przy lądowaniu zapewniona, a jakim niesamowitym doznaniem jest sam skok… Może to i sensowne, skoro niektórzy twierdzą, że 500 zł mandat skuteczniej odstrasza ich od jazdy samochodem bez stosownych umiejętności, niż perspektywa śmierci w zmasakrowanym samochodzie?? W każdym razie – twórcy tego znaku z pewności kierowali się podobną ‘logiką’.

Na koniec kilka opinii zasłyszanych od różnych ludzi. Przesłanie jest jasne i właśnie taka świadomość sprawiła, że (dane z wykładu Historia Tajwanu) PKB na głowę na Tajwanie podniósł się z 576$ w 1970 roku do 31 100$ obecnie:

„I must work hard because I want to be rich.” Chih-Ta Chu, matematyk
„The more money you have, the more fun you can have.” dr John Eaton, historyk
„You must prove you are rich and you are welcome everywhere.” prof. Whei-Ming Chou, historyk

Just off the coast of China you´ll find the beautiful island of Taiwan, which is small in size but rich in culture. After flying into the capital city of Taipei the smartest thing to do is hop on the bus and get busy- believe me, you don’t want to miss a thing!

Temples, Temples, Temples….and some Impressive Architecture

You don’t have to go overboard, but there is a lot to see. In a city of 2.5 million people, Taipei is home to nearly as many must-see religious sites! However, for an early morning start with a spiritual slant, head to 2-28 Peace Park where you can observe the locals practicing their daily tai-chi, relax and feel the calm of this morning ritual infuse your soul. Of course, you should also feel free to join them in their early morning contemplation if you think you have the discipline!

To being your temple trek the place to start is the Longshan Temple, built in 1738 it is always abuzz with visitors and worshippers alike. No matter the time of day, or day of the week, this temple always seems to attract a crowd, and no wonder; take the smell of incense combined with the musical chanting of the monks and one can’t help but be inspired. Like most temples in Taiwan this temple worships deities from Buddhist, Taoist and other folk religions, and makes for an interesting change from our churches of the West.

If its an incredible piece of architecture which you can´t resist, then come and enjoy the Chinese-style Confucius Temple. Modeled on the temple in Confucius’ home town, this site dates back to 1928. Each year a huge, costumed , music-filled celebration is held there on Confucius’ birthday and to make sure you don´t miss it this year get there before the  28^th September. It´s a night to remember!

Additionally, a trip to Taipei 101 should be a must on your architectural ”to-see” list. At 508 meters, once the world’s tallest building, this skyscraper offers phenomenal panoramic views. And for all thrill-seekers it should be noted that Taipei 101 holds the record for the fastest elevator in the world, taking only 40 short seconds to get from the ground floor to the 89^th floor observation deck.

The Night Markets

Although there are nearly as many wonderful night markets in Taipei as there are wonderful temples, it is the Shilin Night Market which is by far the most famous. This is for good reason; while lined with rows of shopping stalls, carnival games and more, the real treat is the mouth-watering array of food that´s available. Some grilled squid on a stick? Or perhaps some stir-fried intestines may be more tempting? No matter your choice, it has to be said that no visit is complete without sampling the famous stinky tofu.

Snake Alley, once a popular destination, is certainly not for the weak-hearted. Today it is generally only frequented by visitors interested in Taipei’s darker past, a place where snake handlers show off their somewhat sinister but impressive skills to tourists, and end the spectacle with offers of snake-meat soups or stir-fries.

Working Hard  on the Caoling (Tsaoling) Historic Trail

If you’re craving a little more nature than city then there´s an awesome one-day hike about of an hour north of Taipei that I highly recommend. It’s wonderfully easy to catch a train to Fulong where you can begin the Caoling (Tsaoling) Historic Trail, which is 16 km long and depending on how much “stopping-to-gaze-at-the-scenery” you want to do, should take between five and eight hours to complete.

The best part of the trail is the recent add-on called the Taoyuan Valley Trail. If you aren´t planning on slogging through the entire 16km hike this section is only 4.5 km long and is certainly the most beautiful part. Elevated on grassy bluffs high above the ocean you are surrounded by the Pacific on one side and Taiwan’s mountainous lanscape on the other, while wild buffalo graze all around you. It is truly idyllic!

Hot Springs Resorts

When you´re feeling the need to relax make sure to head to the little aboriginal town of Wulai, whose name literally translates into the tribe’s name for “hot springs.” It´s only a forty minute drive from the city, and given that this little place is known for having some of the best hot-spring resorts in Taiwan I´d say its worth the trip.

If you´re craving even more intense pampering you can head to one of the top-notch resorts in the town, or should I say…in the jungle! The lush tropical ecosystem surrounding Wulai is an impressive setting and the resorts there offer a variety of hot and cold, indoor and outdoor baths where you can relax and let someone else meet your every need.

While in Wulai take a chance to enjoy some aboriginal cuisine from the area. Wild boar is a good choice, and the steamed rice in a bamboo shoot is natural and delicious. During my stay in Wulai I was lucky enough to have an native tribe member as my cab driver(!), and despite the language barrier his main sentiment, “Taiwan beautiful”, was one with which I couldn´t help but agree.

When to go to Taiwan

It has to be sais that the best time to visit Taiwan is either before or after monsoon season. Heavy rains fall in the summer, and starting in September the weather clears up for an impressive fall season all the way through to November. take advantage of this reasonable time frame and go see a little piece of paradise while its dry!

Go to AgoVita Travel

Written by: Robyn

Edited by: Megan

Taipei 101 is currently the tallest building in the world. That distinction will only be held until December 2009, when Burj Dubai in Dubai, UAE, will take over the crown.  This is an unbelievable structure. The elevator to the top takes just a few seconds. When at the top, the observation deck is quite windy but offers some interesting views, as this structure just towers over the city. I was only up on the top during the day but I think night shots would be better, because the smog does not allow much depth to images taken in natural lighting.

The building was designed to withstand 135mph wind and almost any earthquake possible. To do this, the building can sway to prevent structural damage. It is truely an engineering marvel to put up a skyscraper like this in an environment like Taiwan which recieves typhoons and earthquakes on regular occasion.

Today’s major highlight, besides, you know, more shopping & eating, was a trip to Taipei 101, still—until December anyway—the tallest building in the world. Seriously, folks? This building is really, really impressive.

What an impressive feat of architecture. Because there’s nothing that comes close to it in the city of Taipei, you can really see it from miles away. At night, it’s lit up with messages, like the way they light the Tower at UT Austin. Last night for example, it had Taipei 1<31 lit in pink. Very cute.

The bottom floors are actually part of an ultra-upscale—I’m talking like Rodeo Drive, times five—mall. It’s beautiful. Seriously, it’s like the most beautiful mall you could imagine. I mean, I couldn’t remotely afford to buy anything in it or anything, but it made me feel like kinda a big deal just walking around in there. It’s awesome.

The mall also sold a lot of overpriced souvenirs featuring the Taipei 101 mascot, which is this robot-looking thing that I am posing with here:

Look, we’re even wearing kind-of matching outfits, ha!

Mom & I also had some lovely/snotty overpriced tea at a cafe-slash-flower shop up on the 35th floor, with a great birds-eye view of Taipei, a la Reunion Tower in Dallas. And listen, I appreciate the business idea of selling overpriced tea with a view to tourists as much as the next person, but we left hungry, so afterward, we went & got some absurdly cheap & delicious noodles from a street vendor. It was better than about 90% of what I’ve had in the US.

Up next…day trip to Tainan, where my uncle-who-I-haven’t-seen-for-about-12-years lives!

French "Spiderman" Alain Robert climbs Malaysia's Petronas Towers

Alain Robert, 47, used the cover of pre-dawn darkness to avoid detection from security guards at the 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers, and reached the top floor in around an hour and 45 minutes.

“I did try twice to climb, and climbing to the top is one of my dreams. It’s a bit like a love story, not only about climbing the tallest building to make it official… but about completing something unfinished,” Robert told Reuters ahead of the climb.

Robert reached the top of a spire at the peak of Tower 2 of the iconic twin buildings which houses state oil firm Petronas, then climbed down to an observation platform before being led inside by security personnel.

A police official told a Reuters photographer that Robert was later arrested and is being held at a police station. It is not known whether he will be charged for anything.

Robert has climbed over 80 buildings around the world, including the Eiffel Tower, London’s Canary Wharf building, New York’s Empire State Building and Chicago’s Sear’s Tower.

In 2004 he fended off stormy weather to climb the world’s tallest building, Taipei 101, in Taiwan’s capital.

“As a young boy I was afraid of heights and lacked self confidence,” said Robert.

Who would’ve known I’d match Taipei 101 tonight? After finding those amazing tights in red, I wanted more red. It seems to be the color for Fall/Winter jackets. It’s not only Vogue who’s pushing the red. More about that in detail with some examples I found later in the week.

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

“Our lives get darker as the sky gets brighter.” Thanks, Justin.

Wool skirt – Dancing Dress (vintage)

red tank under – ?

Blouse – Purchased under a bridge in Bangkok by Chitlom BTS from a street vendor

Necklace – Jungle Tribe (Beau & Dustin!)

The scorpion necklace is suuuuper dope. The strap is all braided leather, and the back is smooth, soft genuine leather. It’s fun showing kids what a real scorpion looks like and they try to figure out how they got it in there.

The designers of the necklace, Beau & Dustin, make many other INSANELY rad pieces. Like this belt bag named MAIDEN’S MOM. They use crocodile, stingray, lizard, onyx, opal, turquiose, metals….. These boys are really, really talented and I love their creativity.

Cop their shit at their Etsy site: Jungle Tribe It’s worth the visit just to check it out.

An even closer look

Jungle Tribe Necklace

My amazing host family plus some other rotary people! yay!

Hello all! So I have now been in Taipei Taiwan since last last tuesday, and it is pretty great. The people are, among many things, not as short as I thought they would be hahha may not seem like a big deal, but when you are about 5′10″ it is not that enjoyable to talk to the top of peoples heads. They are also EXTREMELY nice. I live right by Dingxi station and meet a new friend about every other time I take the MRT. I have also come across some great advice for anyone planning to come here for a long time and try to learn the language; learn Bopomofo first! It is a simple sound alphabet that you learn as a kid here, and it only has 37 little symbols! I have almost got it down now and it is already very helpful in prononciation.

On to another aspect of living in another country is the schools there, and let me say that in my limited experiance of seeing only two schools here, both public, they are gorgeous and ginormous and extremely awesome! I will be attending Nanhu Senior High and I went there today and a son of a friend of my host mom gave me a tour. It had 9 floors, three courtyards, and four different restaurants, not to mention a pool, a minnie waterfall-ish thing, and a rooftop level dedicated to music! Amazing! And people wonder why kids here get such good grades? It draws you in. Along with the schools, there is wonderful public transportation to practically everywhere. And, they have the worlds tallest building in which lies a 5 or 6 level shopping mall! Though I am not an avid shopper, it had a great book store and endless window-shopping possibilities ^_^ All in all, come to Taiwan and you will not regret it.

I can see the sign “Taiwan 加油” on Taipei 101 building from my room. Yesterday, I took this picture…

加油....

加油…

Le gratte-ciel Burj Dubaï atteint sa hauteur maximale: 818 mètres

818 mètres… Il s’agit de la hauteur (La hauteur a plusieurs significations suivant le domaine abordé.) finale officielle (à l’antenne (En radioélectricité, une antenne est un dispositif permettant de rayonner (émetteur) ou de capter (récepteur) les ondes…), 739 mètres au toit) du plus haut bâtiment du monde (Le mot monde peut désigner :). Etincelante, la tour Burj Dubaï (Burj Dubaï ou Tour de Dubaï (en arabe : ??? ???), est un gratte-ciel en cours de construction à Dubaï (Émirats…) sera inaugurée le mois (Le mois (Du lat. mensis «mois», et anciennement au plur. «menstrues») est une période de temps arbitraire.) prochain, et pourra alors officiellement détrôner Taipei 101 (Taipei 101 qui a été inauguré, à Taiwan, début 2004 est le plus haut gratte-ciel du monde.), reléguée au second rang ( Mathématiques En algèbre linéaire, le rang d’une famille de vecteurs est la dimension du sous-espace vectoriel…) avec ses “seulement” 508 mètres de hauteur. Les nouvelles techniques de constructions et les nouveaux matériaux montrent ici tous leurs potentiels. Avec ses 818 mètres de hauteurs pour 162 étages, 517 240 mètres carrés exploitables, une capacité de 35000 personnes et 5 années de constructions, l’ouvrage sera celui des superlatifs. Le bâtiment regroupe bureaux, habitations, commerces et loisirs, un aménagement indispensable pour ce type de structure où l’on doit pouvoir vivre sans sortir.

Le gratte-ciel Burj Dubaï en avril 2009

Le Burj Dubaï a été conçu en tenant compte des effets du vent et des mouvements sismiques. Un béton à haute résistance compose la superstructure de la tour, qui repose sur de grands piliers en béton renforcé. La dalle de fondation de 7 500 mètres carrés et les piles de 50 mètres de profondeur sont imperméabilisées et bénéficient d’une protection cathodique contre la corrosion. L’immeuble se situe en plein milieu de Downtown Burj Dubai, un projet (Un projet est – dans un contexte professionnel – une aventure temporaire entreprise dans le but de créer un produit ou…) d’aménagement du centre ville de Dubaï de 2 kilomètres carrés et d’un coût total ( Total est la qualité de ce qui est complet, sans exception. D’un point de vue comptable, un total est le…) de 20 milliards de dollars.

Là où les records précédents en termes de hauteur se contentaient de n’apporter que quelques dizaines de mètres sur le “building à battre”, Burj Dubaï impose sa suprématie. En apportant quelques 310 mètres de plus sur Taipei 101, soit un ajout équivalent à la hauteur de la Tour Eiffel, Dubaï confirme son ambition de nouveau pôle international. Mais ce bâtiment gardera-t’il pour longtemps son statut ? Rien n’est moins sûr, de grandioses projets sont actuellement à l’étude, certains dépassant le kilomètre de hauteur, voire le mile (plus de 1600 mètres), en Asie et au Moyen-Orient. Mais du rêve au projet concret, bien des étapes restent à franchir, désormais plus économiques et politiques que technologiques.

via techno-science.net

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Skyscrapers are the buildings built with a super tall height. These skyscrapers are standing proudly with multi-storey. There is no official definition to describe the height of the skyscrapers. The concept of the skyscrapers evolved only in the 19^th century. These skyscrapers grabbed the attention of the peoples all over the world. Many architects turned their attention towards these skyscrapers. As a result of this, many skyscrapers starts residing in the world. Most of the skyscrapers are also playing the role of green and eco-friendly buildings. A symposium about the gorgeous skyscrapers called Mixed Green was also held in 2006. Let us go through few of the top most skyscrapers in the world.

Burj Dubai

Burj Dubai, a popping skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates is the present tallest man-made building, which is under construction. The construction of this building began on 21^st September 2004 and the construction is expected to be completed by the end of the year 2009. The height of the building is 818m, which is equal to 2,684 ft. The total budget of the Burj Dubai is about US $4.1 billion. This tower is composed of three elements arranged around a central core and it contains 26 terraces.

As the tower is residing in a flat desert base, setbacks occur at each element in an upward spiraling pattern to decrease the cross section of the tower as it reaches towards the sky.This dazzling building contains totally 162 floors. Notably the exterior cladding of this massive tower is of reflective glazing. The cladding is designed in such a manner that it can withstand even Dubai’s extreme summer temperatures. The 56 elevators with double-deck elevators will be installed. The speed of the elevators would be 700m/min. 

Taipei 101

Taipei 101 is stunning skyscraper located in Xinyi district, Taipei, Taiwan. This skyscraper received the Emporis Skyscraper Award in 2004. This building contains 101 buildings above the ground and 5 floors as underground floors. It is designed to withstand typhoons and earthquakes. This skyscraper is flexible against the strong winds. Its flexibility prevents the structural damages of that building. Its resistive capacity gives the occupants a comfortable environment to work and protection to the glass and to the curtain walls. The transparent and non-reflective curtain walls are made up of double glazed blue-green (solar control) glass, which offers required heat and UV protection, and it is sustainable to impacts of 7 metric tons.

The few highlights of this building are its expansive area of energy efficient double glazing and column-free corner views. The elevator in this building runs with the speed of 1010m per minute sweeps the peoples from 5^th to 89^th floor within 37 seconds. The indoor observatory provides a very pleasing environment, large glass windows with UV protection, recorded voice tours in eight languages and informative display and special exhibits. This roof of this stunning skyscraper is powered by the solar, makes it to take part as one of the green buildings.

Shanghai World Financial center

Shanghai World Financial center in Pudong, china stands with a height of 492m and it contains 101 floors. This financial center occupies a ground area of about 377,300 square-meters. This energy saving building includes 30 elevators and 33 escalators. The circular aperture in the top reduces the stress of the wind pressure. This center encloses energy efficient LED displays on the external walls of the building. Water recycling tanks are used to recycle the waters used all over the building. This building provides more space for the bicycle parking to encourage the peoples to reduce driving the vehicles, emitting more carbon. UV resistant windows are used to save energy. It was awarded with the LEED gold pre-certification by the USGBC.

International Commerce Center

International Commerce Center will be the tallest building in the Hong Kong. This building earned the platinum rating under the Hong Kong Building Environmental Assessment Methods (HK-BEAM). The height of the building is 483m and the total number of floors present in the building is 118. At this commercial center, Credit Suisse will become the first office world wide to introduce the “thin client” computer terminals for its employees replacing the individual Personal computers. This elimination of PCs led to the cost and energy savings, resulting 20 percent power consumption.

Petronas twin towers

Petronas twin towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia were the world tallest building from 1998 to 2004. As the bedrock was in a great depth, this twin towers were built on the world’s deepest foundation. Petronas tower 1 and Petronas tower 2 are collectively known as Petronas twin tower. Each of the two towers holds 88 floors and the façade includes steel and glass. The underscore of this building is the skybridge between the floors of 41 and 42, which is the second world largest skybridge. The skybridge would be very useful during the time of emergency. All the lifts in this building are double-decker lifts.

View the large.

The Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and Taipei 101.

This is one of my favorite cards showing Taipei 101 at sunset.

Taipei is the largest city in Taiwan and has served as the de facto capital of the Republic of China (ROC) since the Chinese Civil War in 1949. It is situated on the Danshui River, almost at the northern tip of the country. Taipei lies in the relatively narrow, bowl-shaped valley of the Danshui and two of its main tributaries, the Jilong (Keelung) and Xindian (Sindian) rivers. The generally low-lying terrain of the central areas on the western side of the municipality slopes upward to the south and east and especially to the north, where it reaches 1,120 metres (or 3,675 feet) at Qixing Mountain. The climate is humid subtropical, with hot, muggy, rainy summers and cool, damp winters. It is also the political, economic, and cultural center of the country.

Taipei 101 is a 101-floor landmark skyscraper that claimed the title of world’s tallest building when it opened in 2004. Designed by C.Y. Lee & Partners and constructed by KTRT Joint Venture, Taipei 101 remains the tallest completed skyscraper in the world, measuring 449 m (1,474 ft) from ground to roof. (The tallest incomplete skyscraper is the Burj Dubai now under construction in Dubai, UAE). Taipei 101 also set new records for ascending elevator speed. The landmark has won numerous international awards for its innovations. Its Indoor and Outdoor Observatories draw visitors from all over the world and its New Year’s Eve fireworks display is a regular feature of international broadcasts. A large mall is located at the base of the tower. (source: Wikipedia)

It’s time for another edition of “Random Photographs from Taiwan.”

Whenever I have a handful of photos and no ideas for a specific post about them, they go into this category.

I guess it’s sort-of a weekly or bi-weekly gallery…

anywho…

This first one was taken on my recent four day trip to promote tourism in Taiwan.  Most of the trip I was worried about getting video footage and not photos, but when whenever we had a few minutes to take some goofy pictures, we did.

Here, Phil from 老外的臺灣旅遊日記 (A travel blog in Chinese) jumps over me and my camera.  It’s definitely a quick and dirty shot, and I hope to take more with more proper lighting in the future…  On camera SB-800 shot TTL… 1/250 sec at f/22.  14-24mm at 14mm…  And the lens was real dirty from the previous four-wheeling shoot.

This next one is just a quickie, taken near the Bitan Bridge in Xindian, Taiwan.

The next two are taken from a nice observation point high above the hot spring resort town of Wulai, Taiwan 台灣烏來.

And the last offering just seems sort-of odd to me.  It’s a Daoist temple found in the middle of the road on the outskirts of Taipei.  Not only is it set in the middle of a traffic circle, but it’s raised 5 meters off the ground!

Thanks again for looking,
-neil

Taipei 101 adalah gedung pencakar langit tertinggi di dunia yang terletak di kota taiwan. Gedung ini berhasil mengalahkan Petronasnya malaysia sejak tahun 2004. Salah satu pencakar langit yang paling maju yang pernah dibuat sampai sekarang ini memiliki keunggulan seperti fiber optik dan hubungan internet satelit yang dapat mencapai kecepatan 1 gigabyte per detik. Toshiba telah menyediakan dua lift tercepat di dunia yang dapat mencapai kecepatan maksimum 1.008 meter per menit (63 km/jam atau 39 mil/jam) dan mampu membawa pengunjung dari lantai dasar ke lantai pengamat di lantai 89 dalam waktu 39 detik. Sebuah pendulum seberat 800 ton dipasang di lantai 88, menstabilkan menara ini terhadap goyangan yang timbul dari gempa bumi, angin topan maupun gaya geser dari angin.

Luas total 450.000 meter persegi, dengan 214.000 meter persegi untuk fasilitas perkantoran, 77.500 meter persegi untuk kebutuhan komersial sedangkan 73.000 meter perseigi lainnya untuk area parkir.

Hmm… kira2 kapan Indonesia bisa buat kayak gini ya? …

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