Our First Guest: Sean

– By Passionfruit

Three engi-nerds walk in to a bar

Sean, who we’ve known since 2006 when we all worked together at Wild Planet toys, flew to Taipei for business (with his colleague Wes). Today, these big brains work with Igor Institute.

Scott and I jetted up on the HSR (high speed rail) on Friday night to meet these nerds at R&D Cocktail Lab. This is the hottest place in town for drinks, with no drink menu. You simply tell the waiter what your taste buds are craving and a glass of delicious shows up. It was a busy night because there was a guy celebrating his divorce. I like to think his ex had Saturday night reserved for her party.

Minus the cilantro garnish, R&D nailed my favorite cocktail of all times, the Going Up at Sapphire Hotel in Portland.

R&D’s unassuming exterior

FLASH BACK PHOTO

This is what working in the toy business circa 2006 looks like, kids.

We neglected to inform Sean that it was on the warm side

Luckily, we found a NET (the Gap of Taiwan) and he acquired some tropical appropriate clothing.

Sarah did some shopping too

Taipei 101 has big balls

That’s Taipei 101, the tall one with blue lights. We went to the upper viewing deck.

It was the world’s tallest building until 2009 when some other building in Dubai added a taller spire. Umpff. Taipei 101 has the largest damper sphere in the world and it’s one of the most stable buildings ever constructed which is incredible when you consider…

The building is located just 660 feet away from a major fault line
There are 101 floors above ground (as it should with a name like that)
Taiwan can get gale winds of 134 mph during typhoons

Source: wiki

BUT HOW COULD IT POSSIBLE BE SAFE?

It’s got a big ball – 18 feet in diameter, yo! It’s a gigantic suspended tuned mass damper or basically a big hanging ball. It takes up four stories and sways to offset movements in the building caused by strong gusts.