Visiting Taipei 101

It was the third time for me to visit Taipei 101. Each time I got different feelings....

During the visit for the first time, someone took me there while we were still in love. We took some pictures there. In the pictures, I smiled happily and broadly, though I was fat. Then, we took a walk around the whole building, admiring the expensive products inside each window. Though we were not wealthy enough to buy anything from those stores, we were happy because we had each other. I guessed that was the feeling of contentment.

One year later, during the second visit, the same person took me there after we broke up. Before we got to the skyscraper, tears couldn't stop dropping. Pictures of happy memories flashed through my mind. The one who took me there was like a stranger standing beside me. "Why do you act like this?" "Do you know you are ruining the trip?" he shouted angrily. "Didn't these places remind you of any happy moment?" I wanted to ask, but I didn't. The stranger wouldn't give me his inner thoughts, I thought.

Today, since we were in Taipei and both Tako and my mom were busy, my father proudly told me that he wanted to take me to one of his accomplishment in his work, Taipei 101. When we got there, those pictures still flashed into my mind. But I tried not to think of those memories, and try to hold my tears. My father proudly told me that his name was carved on the monument beside the skyscraper. Like a child, I happily ran around the monument one after another, looking for his name. Later, we had a happy meal down in the basement. Then, we took a walk around the department stores and took the MRT back to the train station.

After I came back to Hsinchu, I told myself, "Alice, you've overcome the obstacle. You're brave enough to visit the place that once made you sad. You shall look forward to your unknown future, not back to your past." Though I still cried when typing this story, I'm still glad that I am gradually healing my pain.


17:23 September8, 2007