Day 5, the last full day in Taiwan.

The weather for the last 4 days has been pleasant and tolerable for the most part. Checking the weather forecast that morning, the weather was supposed to hold until the afternoon. So we decided to visit one last historic site National Revolutionary Martyr’s Shrine, which was about a 15-minute walk from the hotel.

It was around 7:30 in the morning and silly me, I didn’t think to check the opening times on my phone. When we got there, it was not yet open. The sign next to the gate informed that it opens from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Well crap, we got a little over an hour to kill.

What to do?

We walked to the nearest bus stop and sat down. My mom started looking at the bus schedule on the walls of the bus stop to find us a bus that would take us to a place. Any place. Almost like throw a pin on the map. Buses come every 15-30 minutes, so it’s convenient enough.

As we waited, the weather began to change. The wind began to pick up, the dark clouds began to move in. The rain was coming.

Before we knew it, over 30 minutes had already ticked by. We decided to just wait until the shrine open as opposed to going somewhere and coming back later in the day.

Before it opened for the day, there would be a changing of the guard ceremony. This would be the second of such ceremony I’ve seen since I’ve been in Taiwan. I thought it was more elaborate than the ones I saw when I went to the UK 2 years ago.

At last, we were let in.

Shortly after, there was another ceremony inside -another changing of the guard. The National Anthem was played – my first time to hear the anthem. I felt the tone was solemn, perhaps it was meant to be.

As the second and final set of guards took their places inside the shrine, it began to rain. Drizzling at first, then that drizzle turned into a downpour, like a hole had been opened in the sky. Anyone caught without an umbrella would be like standing beneath a shower head with clothes on. We decided in that moment to get back to the hotel after.

We ended up spending most of the day in our hotel room, taking it easy before heading down the mountain for dinner later in the afternoon. I was glad for the rest after so much walking.

Well, this concludes the first leg of the trip in Taipei. I guess we shall meet again in Kumamoto on the island of Kyushu in Japan.