These days, mega-skyscrapers have balls. Huge balls, up in their attic spaces, designed to swing back and forth in the opposite direction of the building's sway. These tuned mass dampers, as they're known, prevent the feeling of seasickness by occupants of the upper floors, but their real benefit comes during times of natural disasters, like tornadoes, typhoons and earthquakes.
Such was the case recently with the world's tallest completed building, Taipei 101, which felt aftershocks from the devastating 7.9 magnitude earthquake that hit China's Sichuan region on May 12 of this year. As it happens, a traveler with a video camera was enjoying a tour of the building and was wandering past the 728-ton stabilizing ball when the aftershocks hit, capturing this amazing video of the damper doing exactly what it was designed to do.
The iconic tower emerged unscathed, and nobody was injured, which both speaks to the amazing advances in architectural technology and the unspeakable devastation that results when builders lack the means--and scruples--to ensure that every building holds up against the forces of nature as well as possible.
Chasing Racers is back, with a brand new Amazing Race 12 mashup. This map will update the morning after every new episode. Send along tips, rumors, gossip, locations and spoilers to our map editors, become a member and comment on the stories below and add to the Jaunted-Flickr photo pool to get in on the fray.
Remember to zoom in, out and around on the map--with so much happening in each episode, it's easy to miss a map point.
After another non-elimination round, all bets are off as we head into this week's episode. Last time, TK and Rachel gambled and lost to the airlines, coming in three hours behind the other teams. As a penalty, they'll have to complete a Speed Bump task somewhere along the way--as we find out which set of racers will miss out on the season finale.
Will Nick and Don be able to run a more balanced race, or with Gramps weigh them down? Will Christina and Ron stay harmonious and focused, or will Nate and Jennifer push even harder and move in front? And will TK and Rachel be able to make up that three-hour deficit?
While "2/28" doesn't sound quite as familiar as "9/11," in Taiwan it has just as much meaning, symbolizing a February 28, 1947 massacre of Taiwanese by the then-Republic of China. And that's why Taipei's National 228 Memorial Museum--which opened on February 28 ten years ago--was an extremely popular place to visit this week.
While the historical and political value of the 228 is something we won't (and can't) dispute, what interested us especially was the rules for museum visitors. They include:
Please wear proper attire, i.e., no slippers.
Please do not smoke or bring food into the museum (includes chewing gum and betelnut).
Please do not speak loudly or engage in horseplay inside the museum.
Please keep in mind that handling museum articles can damage them, and unduly influence other visitors.
Exactly how touching a museum article (not that we condone this) can unduly influence another visitor is a bit of a mystery. But what we are clear about is that we should bring along with us a betelnut-chewing horse wearing slippers. Politics, history and etiquette lessons, all in one.
Lonely Planet author Joshua Brown is on the road in Taiwan, where he's updating LP's guidebook. We're pleased they're keeping up with that one and not going decades in between refreshes. He's keeping a blog on his own, but recently checked in with Lonely Planet's blog to report on a "fascinating conversation" he had with a prostitute on Lane 32 in Taipei. Fascinating. Conversation. Uh huh.
One of the women, thin, about 30 with dark eyes and a puffy white sweater drawn over her shoulders, looked me up and down, her eyes resting on my copy of the old Lonely Planet guide I was updating.
"What I mean to say," I continued "is that our book is really focused more on introducing westerners to Taiwan's customs and history - parks and museums. Culture, that sort of thing."
The woman in the white sweater spoke up softly. "I have culture."
"I have culture!" Don't we all? It's an instant classic. We are so looking forward to that new guide book.
Some hotels demand Hamiltons for broadband connections and act like you should be honored for the holy gift of internet access for upwards of $10 and as much as triple that. Sometimes, the expensive stuff even comes in the form of ethernet as opposed to WiFi. Never mind that it's not that hard to offer for free, as chains such as Holiday Inn and Kimpton already do.
While some properties get away with charging guests $15 just for internet, the Grand Formosa Regent is bringing back its late-night "Moonwalker" buffet (for guests and visitors) with a techie twist. For about $15, from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, the hotel's Brasserie restaurant will be putting on a serious food party, offering up an all-you-can-eat selection of everything from salad to sushi to Taiwanese specialties and cooked-to-order pasta. As an added bonus--and this is where the value comes in, because $15 isn't total pocket change--access to the restaurant's WiFi service is included in the price, meaning you can work or blog about your dumpling hangover late into the night. Quite a classy setting for a WiFi cafe.
We've actually eaten at this place, and we're not usually into buffets. That stuff is tasty. The current incarnation of Moonwalker will run until February 24.
We had to laugh at this post from the Taipei Kid, because he really called novelty potato chips for what they are: dream blog fodder. We're guilty, though not ashamed, of a love for Engrish brand names and flat-out weird food product flavors, and we know we're not alone. Former America's Next Top Model contestant Elyse Sewell in particular has made a sport of the foreign grocery game, and recently spotted some pickle-flavored Lays in Germany.
The Kid's latest find is a package of roasted turkey flavored Doritos, and in the shape of Christmas trees no less. He swiped the last bag of 'em at 7-11 and figures "every foreigner in the neighborhood must have bought a bag to blog about." No word on how they taste, but we're pretty sure it would be easy to have just one, if that. The discontinued "guacamole x-mas trees" praised by a commenter actually sound sort of appealing. So yeah, as far as the potato chip game goes, the ubiquitous 7-11s of Taipei are not a bad hunting ground.
¿Es loco, no? And that's as much Spanish as we remember from high school. Anyway, who knew that Taipei was bubbling over with the Latin spirit? The powers that be at the Grand Formosa Regent, that's who, and they're up to their old tricks again.
The Grand Formosa is a great high-end hotel. That's why management's obsession with throwing festivals, particularly food festivals, is especially confusing. Then they go and turn up the camp by giving them names like the "Central American Gourmet Fiesta." There's a definite A+ for effort here, as they have flown in top chefs from six Central American countries, but is dining in Taipei so boring that someone needs to organize a theme party? No, it isn't, and we'd rather pig out at Taipei 101 anyway.
Teasing aside, we suspect this might be something most appreciated by the hotel's heavy load of Japanese guests who, by nature of geography, might have a harder time finding varied ethnic eats at home than those in the Americas. Either way, if you're in the area, it's Belizean food today, and Costa Rican food tomorrow, so get thyself to 41 Chung Shan North if you're so inclined. They do have a nice lobby that's worth a tour.
This just in from the Ilha Formosa: Taiwan's busiest airport, Chiang Kai-shek International, has been renamed Taiwan Taoyuan International. The change swung through cabinet quickly, and was officially approved on September 6. The airport code, TPE, will stay the same.
"TTI" lies about 25 miles outside Taipei, in Taoyuan county, and was previously named for former president Chiang Kai-shek. Claims that the switch was not politically motivated have been doubted by, oh, pretty much everyone, but at least officials from the People's Republic of China should be tickled pink.
Also, in what is surely a nod to those who have suffered extended layovers there, a poster on FlyerTalk is reporting that when the airport's name is shortened for convenience, it translates to "cut off your head" in Taiwanese.
