Kyoto trip: Gion-kaku (祇園閣) in Daiunin (大雲院) temple

This tower is called Gion-kaku and it is on the grounds of Daiunin Temple. I didn't actually go inside since they aren't always open to the public, but I got a view of it while walking from Kiyomizudera towards Yasaka Shrine in Gion. Through Google searches, I found out that when it is open to the public, you can go up the tower and get a nice view of the Higashiyama district. The walls inside are decorated with paintings. It is a relatively new structure (built around 1928), so it looks a bit different from the older temples that are present in Kyoto. The roof is bronze, and even the color of the wood looks kind of new.

There's not much information about Daiunin Temple in English, but here's the TripAdvisor site. Here's a google map of the temple:

Places to visit in Keelung: Zhongzheng Park (中正公園)

Zhongzheng Park is on top of a mountain in Keelung. There are several play areas for kids, a basketball court, and several temples and pavilions in the park area. The temple that I went to visit was the one that has a giant white statue of the goddess of mercy. The statue is hollow on the inside, and visitors who make a small donation can climb up to get a view of Keelung City and the harbor. I've never been up since the view from the area around the statue is pretty decent.
The day that we went to the park was gloomy, raining, and quite windy, so I sketched in the veranda of the temple. The weather was not ideal for sketching at all, but at least there were less people up there than usual and it wasn't super crowded. I caught a horrible cold (lasted 2 weeks!) after coming back and wasn't able to sketch for a while. I still have residual symptoms from the cold along with seasonal allergies and will also be off on vacation for a while soon, so I probably will be posting very sporadically.
Back to the topic: I wouldn't really rate Zhongzheng Park as a must see for Keelung since none of the temples and pavilions are that old. In my opinion, a lot of the stuff can be a bit garish looking. If you do happen to be around in the summer for Zhongyuan Festival, one of the temples (Zhuputan) is really famous for their festival and it might be worthwhile to go. Don't get too close though, as they set off a lot of fire crackers which can be dangerous when it is crowded. Here is a google map of the park location:

Places to visit in Hsinchu: Hsinchu city government building

The Hsinchu city government building is another example of Baroque style architecture from back when Taiwan was under Japanese control. It is a nice place to stop by if you ever visit Hsinchu. It is in the downtown area and is nearby lots of shopping/eating areas. The inside of the building is pretty much just offices for city officials though, so there is no point in going in.

Here's the location via google maps:

Places to visit in Taipei: the Control Yuan (監察院)

The Control Yuan is one of the branches of the Taiwanese government. It's duty is to audit the other branches of government to make sure that there is no corruption. The building that houses the Control Yuan was built back when Taiwan was under Japanese rule. It is the most intact example of baroque style architecture in Taiwan. 
 
The Control Yuan is in downtown Taipei, so it is really easy to stop by (3-5 min walking from the Taipei train station), and there are lots of other places to go to within walking distance. To get a tour of the building, you can either make a reservation through their website or go on Fridays (9am-12pm, 2pm-5pm) when it is open to the public without advanced reservations. I can't find an English version of their reservation page, so I would suggest going on Fridays if you have problems navigating the page. They do seem to have English tours available if you go the reservation route. Note that if you go on Fridays, you still need to bring a passport or resident I.D. card. Since the building is not that big, I'd even recommend just walking around on the street and looking at it from the outside without going through the trouble of getting a tour unless you really want to. There's also a convenient pedestrian overpass across the street where you can get a nice view of the entire building.

 Here's a link to Google maps for the Control Yuan: