Greetings from Taiwan!

Hello from Taipei! Kelly and I arrived yesterday evening and so far, I absolutely adore this country. It doesn't hurt that the weather is temperate (perfect for t-shirt and jeans), but it's also a lot cheaper than Japan, I love the food (real Chinese food again!) and everyone we have met has been kind to us. We arrived downtown around 6pm yesterday, but haven't seen that much of the city yet (especially having been spoiled by friends who were familiar with the transportation system or spoke Chinese and showed us around yesterday), but just hearing Chinese and feeling the strong traces of the Chinese culture (with a slightly different twist) is definately something that makes me happily reminisce.
We met Emerald and Christian, two Canadians living in Japan, at the airport yesterday. It was nice traveling with them, and Emerald definately helped us out with transportation and currency details since she speaks Chinese (she grew up in Taipei), but I was definately impressed when I saw their bags. They're also going to India and both managed to bring about 2 outfits per person. That is definately the way to travel. Kel and I are backpacking and didn't bring that much stuff, but I wanted to be prepared for the climate changes (hot city sun in Agra, cold mountains in Nepal, freezing desert in Jaisalmer) and might have more than I need.

The hostel we are staying at (Taipei Backpackers) is really new, clean and central compared to most places I've stayed, and we were lucky to get a 4-person room for Hong (the American girl living in Japan I met in Korea last year and is in Taipei with us before going to Chennai, India), Kelly and I... plus one other, this really nice guy from Singapore. The bathrooms are similar to Thailand and other Asian countries (you can't flush the toilet paper and mostly squatters), but they have been clean. The only complaint is the smell (moth balls), but I guess we'll be spending most of our time out of the hostel anyways.
So first and foremost, the best thing about Taipei is the subway. The public transportation system blows my mind!! It's cheap, well-connected and looks very sleek. The cars on the Metro (called the MRT) are wider than in Japan and don't have a door separating each compartment. It makes them look bigger when you can see from one end to the other (like a bus) and it feels more natural to hear the slight hum of people chatting, even after a year and a half of experienced the dead silence on Japanese public transportation everyday.

Today we just got here, did dinner at Modern Toilet, a bathroom-themed restaraunt in Taipei that Hong found online and visited the Taipei 101 (world's tallest building) but tomorrow should be full-on sightseeing.

Looking forward to it!