After the tour of Taipei 101 Observatory, we walked to the National Dr Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall. The hall was built to commemorate the 100th birthday of Dr Sun, the founding father of the Republic of China.
The government began planning construction in 1964 and finally completed it in May 1972 funded by the private sector. The height of the building is 30.4 metres with each side 100 metres long to symbolizing Dr Sun’s centennial birthday. The memorial hall has thirty thousand square metres of space.
Upon entering the 20 metres height front door, I could see the majestic bronze statue of Dr Sun with its height of 5.8 metres and weight of 16.7metric tons. We arrived just in time to watch the Honor Guards Changing Ceremony.
The changing of guards takes place hourly from 9 am to 5 pm. For a better view, you could watch it on the first floor.
In 1879, Dr Sun Yat-Sen went to Honolulu. For the first time, he experienced Western culture and was also exposed to Christianity which greatly inspired him. In 1892 he graduated summa cum laude from the University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, formerly known as the College of Medicine for Chinese.
Dr Sun Yat-Sen often talked about the revolution with his friends Yang Heling, You Lie and Chen Shaobai, they were nicknamed “The Four Bandits”.
In 1894, Dr Sun Yat-Sen wrote a proposal to an official in the Imperial court named Li Hongzhang. Although his proposal was rejected, he never gave up.
When the Sino-Japanese war began in 1894, he went to Honolulu and founded the Society for the Revival of China “Hsing-Chung Hui”. It was the first revolutionary organization in China that gained support from Chinese living overseas.
After 17 years of attempting revolution and with 10 failures, he finally succeeded with the Wuchang Uprising and the Xinhai Revolution that followed. The two thousand years of monarchical dictatorship had finally been replaced with democratic governance.
Following the success of the Xinhai Revolution, he became the provisional president of the Republic of China. His contribution in establishing the Republic of China earned him the title of “Founder of the Nation” in 1940.
The whole area was 115,500 square meters, and if we were to cover the whole area, we would be tired. So, once we’d had enough of the place, we took the subway from Sun Yat-Sen station to Zhongshan Junior High School. It cost NT$16.
Jolly Bar
We rested for a while in the hotel before heading out for dinner. It was drizzling when we stepped out of the hotel. We stopped by at the 7-Eleven to get an umbrella. It costs NT$399 for a small folded umbrella, way too pricey considering the size.
We also went to a bar called Jolly and tasted their beer brew. However, Mike didn’t like it, so we only had a few glasses. Less time spent means less money spent, making up the bill of NT$288 only. He told me that he preferred the Queens Head brew in Seoul to this place.
Some of the Food & Drink prices in Jolly Bar
Craft Beer
Pilsener (Bitterness 20 IBU 5 % ABV)
Pale Ale (Bitterness 24 IBU 5 % ABV)
Stout (Bitterness 40 IBU 6 % ABV)
Scotch Ale (Bitterness 30 IBU 7.2 % ABV)
Weizen (Bitterness 10 IBU 4.6 % ABV)
Price: 250ml (S) @ NT$120, 375ml (M) @ NT$180, 600ml (L) @ NT$288 & 800ml (XL) @ NT$384
Jolly beer set price: 3 x 160ml @ NT$230 & 6 x 160ml @ NT$460
Beer Blend
Shandy (Pilsener & Sprite) @ NT$195
Plum Beer (Pilsener & Plum liqueur) @ NT$215
Passionfruit beer (Weizen & Passionfruit syrup) @ NT$195
Weizen Sour-Tamarind (Weizen & home-mae tamarind syrup) @ NT$195
Red Eye (Pilsener & Cranberry juice) @ NT$195
Cocktail
Mojito (Rum, white mint liqueur, mint leaves, lemon juice & soda water) @ NT$300
Cosmopolitan (Vodka, Cointreau, lemon & cranberry juice) @ NT$250
Sex on the beach (Vodka, peach liqueur, orange juice, cranberry & lemon juice) @ NT$250
Long island iced tea (Gin, rum, vodka, tequila, triple sec, lemon juice & coke) @ NT$320
Basil Mojito (Rum, Grand Marnier, basil leaves, lime juice & sprite) @ NT$320
Lemongrass Margarita (Lemongrass-infused tequila, Grand Marnier & lemon juice) @ NT$250
New Thai Fizz (Gin, cream, lemon juice, palm sugar, soda water, triple sec & vanilla syrup) @ NT$280
Whiskey Sour-Tamarind (Whisky, home-made tamarind syrup) @ NT$280
Soft Drink
Lime soda @ NT$145
Grapefruit soda @ NT$145
Coke @ NT$65
Sprite@ NT$65
Coca-cola zero @ NT$65
S.pellegrino sparkling mineral water @ NT$120
Juice
Mango @ NT$110
Coconut @ NT$120
Fresh orange @ NT$145
Fresh grapefruit @ NT$145
Grilled & Deep Fried Dishes
Shrimp cake @ NT$295
Fish cake @ NT$285
Fried fish fillet in lemongrass sauce @ NT$455
Fried chicken @ NT$245
Grilled chicken on stick @ NT$285
Spice sausage @ NT$295
Grilled beef short rib @ NT$415
Grilled lamb rib chop @ NT$515
Grilled pork back rib @ NT$395
Grilled pork jowl @ NT$395
Grilled chicken @ NT$285
There’s a bar next to the hotel called My Other Place, the place wasn’t crowded, unlike Jolly and the drinks were much cheaper too. We had a few drinks and then paid the bill of NT$957 before retreating for the night. I can’t wait for tomorrow to come as we will be going to the Wenshan district for the Taipei Zoo and also Maokong. It would be refreshing to get away from the city to a more greener place.
Travel Date: 29th December 2017