Part II: Next Part of our weekend in Taipei: 4/18/09

On Saturday, Ted, Maren and I headed to Taipei, to show Maren Taiwan's capital city. We again took the high speed train, which never fails to amaze us with its speed, its comfort, its ease of booking, and its convenience of schedules. Of course, snarfing a mocha frappucino at the Starbucks just before boarding the train did not hurt our attitude (just out waistlines!!) at all!
As we were thinking about what we wanted to do that afternoon in Taipei, we discovered that Maren loves zoos as much as we do. So off we went to the zoo, Ted's and my second visit, and had a wonderful time. AND, for me, best of all, was that this time I succeeded in getting a mini-video of a panda!!






Then, we scurried to be able to see, before it closed at 5pm, a Buddhist temple called Shandao Temple. It was very, very simple on the outside, a total contrast to the very elaborate and colorful "multi-denominational" Longshan Temple to which we went right after Shandao, because Ted and I were so dazzled by its opulence from our previous visit. I have included a short video of the chanting at Shandao, and in the background you will see the three brass Buddhas. Shandao was constructed by the Japanese Buddhists during the occupied period; its nine story structure is architecturally quite unlike other Taiwanese temples, faintly resembling, according to one guidebook, "a giant funerary tower in its stark austerity." Inside it lacks the bustle and clamor of other temples, like Longshan; the mood is, as you can tell perhaps from the video, contemplative and meditative.



In contrast, at most of the other temples we saw, like Longshan and another temple called Baoan,which is a Taoist temple, the atmosphere is busy, with throngs of worshippers burning incense sticks, bringing platters of food or flowers, etc. In keeping with Taoism, many deities are in residence! Its architecture is considered as one of the country's masterpieces.