Taipei 101
This was our last stop for our fourth day's hop-on, hop-off bus tour. My husband's company had prepared this day's activities especially our tickets for the observatory experience. For the sake of those who have not followed my Taipei Trip series, this trip was sponsored by my husband's company for their Five Years club, a perk for those who stayed in the company for five years and more. We were more than 30 persons on this trip and everything was laid out for us, our tour packages, our hotel, we stayed at Hotel Papa Whale, and even our airfare. They allow the employees to bring along a family member and I was tagged by my husband of course.
Read more of this Taipei Travel series here:
This uniquely designed building as I had mentioned in the previous article was once referred to as the world's tallest building until 2010. Having 101 floors is an advantage in terms of viewing the city at this height and so an indoor observatory deck was dedicated, it is on the 89th floor of the building. They also offer an outdoor observatory deck which is on the 91st floor.
Since we were on a bus tour, it was easy to reach here, we just have to show the driver our tour tickets and wait for the bus to stop, it won't be missed as the building is huge and the driver also stops right in front of it.
My husband and I arrived at two in the afternoon while our schedule was at three. We had a look at the surrounding area, there were food stalls outside, we had milk tea and also we ate our late lunch at the Maccas. It was raining and it was a little chilly, we entered the adjacent mall and used the footbridge leading to Taipei 101 shopping mall.
A closer look at the building's glass walls:
This is how Taipei 101 looks inside the bus on our way there:
Taipei 101 Mall
The first five floors of the building are occupied by several luxury brand stores. It was our first time to see these stores. Brands such as Gucci, LV, Cartier, Dior, and more.
We also found many restaurants and eateries inside, there was even one cooking classroom and there's a TWG Tea store too! With free wifi, it was easy to locate our friends and we had agreed to meet on the fifth floor where the entrance to the observatory deck is located.
But since we have some time, we decided to roam around, I love how huge the pillars are inside the mall, the design though is somewhat similar to that in Ayala Center in Cebu, I guess they got the inspiration from Taipei 101.
Observatory Entrance
Quarter to three, we went to the fifth floor, entered the observatory deck entrance and there were so many tourists around, we were still waiting for the person assigned for our tickets and so we waited at the area in front of this huge LED screen which displays the city view from morning till midnight. It displays a 180-degree view time lapse of Taipei which was very pretty, from sunrise to sunset, and how the city looks at night, it was already a treat for us, we took photos of ourselves with this screen.
It looked like we were in Taipei 101 viewing deck at night already! Finally, our tickets were given to us, we learned that our allocated entry time was 2:30 - 3:00 PM, we still had time though as it was still 2:50 PM. We went straight to the elevator.
Less Than a Minute to Reach the 89th Floor!
It takes only 37 seconds for the elevator to transport tourists from the 5th floor to the 89th floor. The speed was at 16.8m per second and there was an electronic meter inside which displays which floor we were at. I forgot to take a video though but in just less than a minute, we were assisted to get off the elevator to the inside of the observatory deck.
Everything seemed to happen fast while inside the elevator, I wished there was a view from the inside looking at the outside but no, the walls of the elevator has some star design and it was a little dark in there, I guess it's because they want the passengers to just focus on how fast we were moving.
Inside the 89th Floor
Make sure to take a photo of this spot which has a best position mark for a wide view of the city!
The 89th floor is an enclosed observatory, all the windows are floor-to-ceiling, offering panoramic views of Taipei but it is at night that it is most interesting, we wanted to wait until evening but we got over it before five in the afternoon and can't wait further.
There are souvenir shops offering postcards, shirts, mugs, ref magnets, and more, there were also eateries and coin-operated telescopes! A touch screen device is also available in some window sections which guides you on the specific attractions of the city.
Our time here was all spent taking photos, I even forgot to take videos on the mirrorless camera and just used my cellphone which was a bad move. I wished we had taken more videos on the camera though which by the way are still waiting to be edited.
Fog or clouds?
Aside from the city view, the mountains of Taipei can be seen as well from here. I took photos of them as the clouds kiss.
Love this panoramic view of the city behind the slopes of the mountain ridges!
Tuned Mass Damper
Aside from the beauty of the panoramic cityscape of Taipei, another thing to look forward to here was the building's tuned mass damper which can be seen from the observatory deck. This tuned mass damper large pendulum is used for stabilizing the tower against movements caused by earthquakes and strong winds.
Tourists are allowed to go into and observe this huge pendulum. They even have set up exhibitions and video samples of how it works during earthquakes. It was quite an experience to see it personally.
It was past five in the evening when we went out of Taipei 101, the husband's bosses decided to treat everyone to a buffet seafood hotpot as it was our last night in Taipei, I will talk about that in the next blog! See you!
xoxo,
momentswithmatti
Mother | Boholana | Cebu | Philippines | Travel | Photography Enthusiast | Calligraphy | Art | Crypto Noob
Ang galing nung night photo parang nasusunog un city hehe. Interesting un mass damper.