Let's start off with a picture my mother will hate.

So I decided to compile a list of mountains I've climbed. I've gotta be honest, some of these were a bitch and a half to find. In fact, for several I could not find any official postings on their altitude, so I guessed based on other mountains around them. Those are marked by a squiggly, and I hope I'm in the ballpark.

And looking over this list, holy shit. I've climbed a lot of godamn mountains. Honestly looking at the height I use the word "mountain" very liberally, they're more like hills. But hey, they all have "山" after their names, so mountain it is. Without further stalling for time...

Bailu: 147m
Kangle: ~200m
Hemei: 152m
Xiaoshi: ~140m
Shou: 362m
Neipo: 402m
Tianxia: ~350m
Nantianhai: ~350m
Qingyuan: ~350m
Jiantan: 153m
Yuan: ~120m
Datong: 237m
Jiandong: ~250m
Qinglong: 269m
Xizikou: 142m
Jingmei: ~200m
Tangming: ~250m
Junjianyan: 185m
Danfeng: 117m
Huangxi: 281m
Wujianlian: 263m
Qilian: 145m
Qiyan: 91m

Aaaaaaaand the grand total is: 5156 meters! I'm speechless after writing that, I had no idea I had made such progress. Everest's total height per Wikipedia is 8848 meters - which means I am 58% of the way to my goal. When I first said this stupid challenge, I wasn't sure if it was even obtainable. I'm glad it is, and I've made a hell of a dent in it. My legs are going to look pretty buff after this. Also, I have a newfound appreciation for Everest. Shit that thing is tall.

Right, aside from a buttload of hiking I've been doing quite a bit lately. I finally made it out to the zoo with my new friend Tiffany. Of course yes, I saw a panda. Yes it was cute, and yes it was eating bamboo. More interesting was near the restrooms they had "poop art" where you too can play in a giant sized turd. I do think poop is more interesting than a panda.

The lion exhibit was also quite cool, as at first they were just laying there. Then a dad but his toddler up on the ledge to the window, and she started yelling for the kitties to come over. Suddenly they appeared to be quite interested in that window, and got up very close to take a lick... errr, peek.










Afterwards Tiffany took me shopping, because apparently my clothes are just not Taiwanese enough. But ya know, Taiwan... I see dudes that wear neon pink pants and hair slicked taller than Elvis. There is nowhere on the planet where that is fashionable. She first selected for me some bright, stoplight red pants. I had to draw the line at some point. It's true I'm a fashion idiot, and maybe I could get away with some of that stuff here, but I think the TSA would send it to quarantine on arrival. We were joking around how jeans and button up shirts are pretty standard as far as I know. She smiled and said that in no way is that fashionable. Almost on cue, a white foreigner walks the other way on the sidewalk wearing a near identical outfit to me. I did a quick nod up with "Hey man", and he responded with "Sup." I turned back to her with a stupid grin on my face.

We were out pretty late, and said goodbye at the MRT station. We were both going different ways, and while I was waiting, I got to see something I never have before - a completely empty station. I thought this might be a fun time to make a video about the Taipei subway, so I did.

I guess it's also worth mentioning I visited the Taipei Martyrs Hall, which is something I never saw listed in any guidebook. I will say out of big monuments to Blank, this one was by far the coolest. First of all it has the same guards like at CKS and Sun Yat Sen's place, but you can get right up in their face. There's a plain clothes guy nearby, so unfortunately you probably won't get away with any shenanigans. But the place itself is much more moving, listing all the people that died for Taiwanese independence. I especially liked the series of maps with accompanying text telling the story of the Chinese civil war, and the flight to Taiwan.

The first pic of the post today is from Danfeng mountain, or at least partway up it. Danfeng is one of the least well maintained places I've been to, as I think the trail was created just by people repeatedly walking on it. As a result of the rain, it was more like hiking through a creek. At the rock there, I met some foreigners who I greeted with "Ni hao!" They asked in Chinese what country I was from, and I said America. They switched to English and said "Oh, we're from South Carolina." with a smile. Although by their accent, I could tell they definitely weren't. I laughed and said bullshit, and they played along for a little longer. Turns out they're from Munich. Crafty Germans!

About partway up, I came across something really damn weird. The once muddy footpath suddenly gave way to a large marble plaza. Curious, I took a look. Whereas the ground was covered with leaves and other stuff from the trees, this place was impeccably maintained. It turns out I found a tomb of some fairly important guy... or at least rich. They must pay someone a lot of money to keep it looking so nice, because it  was at least a mile from the nearest road. With it being a foggy day and dead silent, this was a pretty damn creepy place to me.

The pic of the white statue was a nice surprise at the peak of Danfeng. But what was more appealing to me is that they had a vending machine up there! And they had juice boxes for $10! They're usually like $25 at 7-11, so I'm guessing they're sold at cost to thirsty hikers or subsidized by temple donations. Ya know, if god wants followers, maybe he could start with 30 cent juice boxes - just sayin'.

Whew! And that just about brings us up to today. I saw Star Trek 2 last night, which I understand it doesn't come out for a few more days in the US. I mean, I thought Star Trek 1 was pretty awesome, but this one is even better. Go see it, watch Sherlock kick some ass.