To be honest, Taipei was not very high on the list of places I wanted to visit. If not for the concert, I don’t think I would have ever gone to Taipei on my own. Nevertheless, it’s a place I can now check off my list!

We managed to fit in quite a lot during our week in Taipei, although I am surpised that we found so many things to do. (Not to say there’s nothing to do in Taipei, but everyone I’ve talked to only recommends going to Taipei for 3-4 days.) I guess once you’ve done the touristy thing once, you don’t feel inclined to repeat it again.

*****

We arrived in the late in the afternoon after spending the last 24hrs or so trapped in a plane/airport. I was too exhausted to navigate through the airport to find out where we buy bus tickets. When we found out that a ride to our hotel by taxi was only $1200 NTD ($40 CAD), we didn’t even need to think twice and we were off.

From the first night, I found out that we had outrageously miscalculated our spending costs, because food and transportation in Taiwan are WAY cheaper than in Toronto. Totally ridiculous in comparison. The $40 we paid for the taxi was for a 45 minutes ride! Amazing!

*****

Once we got check in and had time to freshen up a bit, we took a taxi towards Shilin Night Market to grab dinner. The night market was absolutely bustlingly wih people. I forgot at the time that it was a national holiday in Taipei, so everyone was pretty much walking elbow to elbow on the crowded streets. We finally found a restaurant after traveling for 20 minutes and quickly ordered our food. I was having problems articulating properly in Taiwanese, so to my utter embarassment, the shop owner gave me a pointer and I ordered by pointing to one of the photos on the wall!

The rest of the night passed by quickly without incident. I found out that an extra large bubble tea cost only $30 NTD, which is the equivalent to a dollar in Canada. I think I must have startled the foreigner beside me when I exclaimed “Holy shit that”s cheap!” Hehehe.

We ran into a little problem when we tried to hail a cab, since there were so many people on the streets and an inconcievable amount of mopeds driving dangerously close to the sidewalks (actually, some were moving on the sidewalks). I didn’t want to risk getting run over or worse – stalling the traffic flow. Anyway, after 10 minutes of struggling, we got on and headed back to the hotel.

*****

Day 2 began bright and early as we headed over to the Taipei Arena to join the lineup for concert goods. For more details about the actual concert experience, you can read the previous entry.

After grabbing lunch at a mall nearby, we went back to the hotel to drop off our stuff before heading out to Core Pacific for some shopping. Overall it was a pretty quiet day except for the concert, but it left us quite exhausted by the end. I actually fell asleep in my seat prior to the start of the show! (First of the many times I would fall asleep in random places!)

*****

By Day 3 we were getting more into the touristy stuff. Our first stop of the day was to Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall. For a tourist location, the memorial hall wasn’t busy at all. There was a garden towards the side and a charity baazar that was set up towards the front entrace. We knew in advance that they had the changing of the guards every hour, so we were scowering around trying to find the action when we realized it was actually happening inside the building. We managed to catch it and it was pretty impressive.

After leaving the hall, we trekked towards Taipei 101. We grabbed a delicious lunch at a Japanese buffet called Wasabi. Hands down the best Japanese buffet I’ve been to! After a little bit of [window] shopping later, we decided to try and find Din Tai Fung to get dinner before the concert.

Dinner was SOOOOOOOOOO good. The Taipei Din Tai Fung puts the Markham one to shame (and the Markham one is already very very good). We got there slightly before 6pm, but luckily there was hardly any lineup. They had already inputed our order before we were even seated, so we didn’t have to wait long for our food. The service was very good and very fast, which I’m sure is how they manage to get all the customers in and out so quickly. We ordered a helping of 小籠包 along with a 擔擔麵 and a 酸辣湯 and it was already more than enough. We left the restaurant with a full stomach and were ready for the second night of Arashi!

*****

By Day 4 the ‘tension’ was definitely down since the concerts were over. Nontheless, we plowed through and continued along with our sight-seeing plans.

We started at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. It was still really warm out, so were in t-shirts pretty much most of the day. Climbing the numerous flights of stairs to the Memorial Hall was exhausting, especially in the heat. However, the hall wasn’t very busy so we had a relaxing time taking photos of the area.

Our next stop that day was towards Taipei Main Station. We ended up taking a taxi towards the Main Station, stopping at the Mitsukoshi Department Store directly across the street from it. We grabbed a quick lunch inside the food court at Mitsukoshi.

Side note: I’m still utterly amazed at the selection inside the food courts in Asia. You have everything ranging from curry to hot pot to steak and spaghetti. Of course, in Taipei you can also get stir-fried oyster (蚵仔煎) dishes too. With such a delectable selection, I don’t know how I’ll ever go and eat at Square One again.

After lunch, we stepped back onto the main street and decided to find another tourist spot in the area called the Taiwan Storyland. What we didn’t realize was that it was right beside the department store!

The Storyland was actually a lot of fun. It was built like the streets in the old days and there were replicas of old school classrooms, movie theaters, restaurants and pharmacies. There was even a whole section dedicated to the history of sock-making. I highly recommend going!

It was still mid afternoon by the time we left, so we headed towards another attraction on our list – Ximending.

***

The moment I stepped out of the subway at Ximending it immediately reminded me of Causeway Bay in HK. There were lots of trendy boutiques and department stores, as well as a selection of eateries that lined the street. It wasn’t as busy as Causeway, which worked fine for me. We ended up shopping for the rest of the afternoon. There were a few department stores we went into, one of which was entirely comprised of small Japanese boutiques. We were a bit exhausted by the end of the day, so we decided to rest our feet by going karaoke.

Karaoke in Taiwan is slightly different than in HK or Japan. The one we went to was really nice and probably one of the more expensive ones. The room was large and came with its own washroom. There were switches on the side of the room which worked as quick control keys. The food that we ordered for dinner that night was also very yummy. I think karaoke was a little too comfortable, because the next thing I knew I fell asleep on the sofa! Yes, second time in two days!

*****

Day 5. Once again we had a bit of a slower day after the high from the concerts. I had desperately needed a haircut, so I had called the day before to reserve a time at Toni & Guy for a trim.

We left early in the morning and headed towards Zhongxiao Fuxing, where the hair salon was. Since we had time to kill before my appointment, we went shopping at one of the TWO Sogos in the area. (I’m still perplex at the need for two Sogos directly across the street from each other.)

Later on in the afternoon, we made our way back to Yuanshan. We took a taxi from our hotel over to the National Palace Museum. It was getting a bit late in the afternoon, so I wasn’t sure how much of the museum we’d actually be able to see before closing. Luckily, we managed to get through the majority of the exhibits. I saw the ‘cabbage jade’ which is the most revered piece in the entire collection. After browsing through the collection, so we left the museum and headed over to the gardens to explore.

***

We had made reservations for dinner at the Grand Hotel that night, so it was nearing time when we left the museum. The drive up to the Grand Hotel was spectacular. As the hotel is situated on top of a mountain, you could see how prestigious it looked even from a distance.

Unfortunately, I can’t offer the same praise for the food at Yuanyuan Restaurant. I was really excited to try the Northern Chinese delicacies they boasted on their menu, but we were greatly disappointed when the food actually arrive. We had order 小籠包, but it wasn’t even remotely close to the ones at Ding Tai Feng.

After leaving the restaurant, we hailed a cab toward Neihu and went shopping at the Miramar Entertainment Park. The mall itself was quite trendy, although the shopping was not what captivated me – it was the colossal ferris wheel attached to the side of the mall.

We spent some time shopping downstairs before we made our way to the top and brought tickets for the ferris wheel. For a ferris wheel that size, I was hesitant at first about its height and speed. By the time we got on, all my concerns became secondary as I was busy trying to figure out what settings to use to grab decent shots on my camera! Unfortunately, the shots didn’t turn out too well since it was so dark and rainy, but it was still nice seeing the Taipei skyline from above.

*****

Day 6 was another adventure-packed day. We left early in the morning and took the MRT all the way to Tamshui, which is right by the sea. There was a bit of sun when we got there, so we strolled by the pier waiting for the stores to open. It was drizzling on and off for the remainder of the morning, so we headed towards Tamshui Old Street to find some cover inside the shops.

***

I really like the feel of Tamshui even though I was only there for a few hours. From the shops and old buildings lining the streets, I could sense the amount of culture ingrained in the area. The street food was also uniquely Tamshui, like Grandma’s Iron Eggs and the Tamshui Fish Balls. I think I prefer the more relaxed pace of Tamshui over the rest of Taipei. There was definitely a lot to take in!

***

For lunch we made a stop at Red Castle. Red Castle is actually situated on a hillside, so we took the back road and climbed our way up to reach the restaurant. The view from the top was spectacular. Lunch was equally good and we left carrying a bit of extra weight.

After lunch, we decided to take the ferry towards Fisherman’s Wharf and Bali. It got a little confusing trying to order tickets, because we initially thought we could do a three-way tour. Instead, we had to make two separate trips out to Fisherman’s Wharf and Bali, which was a little time consuming.

The ferry ride itself wasn’t too bad, although it started to rain again once we got to Fisherman’s Wharf. It wasn’t as lively as the pictures in the guidebook, so the rain slightly dampened our spirit. Nevertheless, we took from photos from the pier, before quickly hopping back on the boat to Tamshui again.

***

At Tamshui we changed ferries towards Bali. The pier at Bali was very similar to the one in Tamshui. We walked from the pier towards the main road, trying to figure out how to catch a bus towards the Shihsanhang Museum of Archaeology. We gave up after trying a few minutes and took a taxi to the museum, which was situated in a more remote part of the island.

The museum itself was quite fascinating. It was solely dedicated to the early settlers in the area – the Ketagalan aborigines. The overall architecture of the museum was quite unique, leaving an incredible impression on me.

It was a bit tricky getting back to the pier after leaving the museum. The area was so secluded that there’d be no way to hail a cab back. Luckily we didn’t have to wait long for a bus to come by taking us back to the harbour. We boarded a ferry back towards Tamshui and it was starting to get dark by the time we got off.

***

My sister got a call from her friend asking us to meet them later on in the evening. We were already quite exhausted from our excursion, but we unloaded all our purchases at the hotel and took the MRT to Houshanpi (後山埤), which is practically the opposite end of Tamshui.

We were getting hungry by the time we finally met up. Luckily one of the girls I met that night was from Taiwan, so she was quite familiar with the area. She ended up taking us to Raohe Street Night Market, which is one of the biggest night markets in Taipei.

I was hesitant to try street food on my own in Taipei, so I was glad there was someone there to recommend what to eat. We stopped by a few stalls and tried a bit of everything. It was good that there was five of us, cause it meant we could share of lot of the food. I think the best item I had that night was the ‘medical pork bone soup’, the ‘QQ dessert’, and the lemony drink that the five of us managed to share together. Needless to say, the ‘duck blood stinky tofu’ was not high on the list. In fact, I swear to never eat it again!

***

It was quite tiring by the end of the day. The girls were at a jeans shop trying on different pants. My legs were about to give up on me, so I ended up finding a stool waiting for them to finish. It was nearing 11pm by then, we had definitely been up more than half the day. I was getting sleepy again, so I think I may have dozed off for a bit. Another one of my awkward naps in strange places!

*****

Day 7! Our last full day in Taipei!

We bid farewell to our hotel for the past week and loaded up our luggage…. to another hotel. Except this hotel was a hot springs resort right in the heart of Beitou!

We got to Beitou a little early and after leaving our luggage at the concierge, we decided to venture on foot towards the Xinbeitou Station. The whole area was kind of on a hillside, so it was a good thing we were walking down instead of up. It was still very humid in the morning, making the walk slightly uncomfortable, but we managed.

We passed by the Beitou Hot Springs Museum on our way towards the station, so we decided to venture inside. The museum itself was very nice and historical. There were tatami mats set up in a room in the centre of the ground floor. Although we didn’t get to see the basement, there was a huge communal hot springs bath situated directly below. One of the rooms was filled with maps drawn during the Japanese occupation, showing all the hot springs locations in Beitou.

When we finished touring the museum, we continued along our way towards the station, where we bought 1-day passes to use for the bus.

To be honest, I absolutely HATE taking buses in foreign countries, especially if I have to potentially interact with bus drivers in a language that I don’t understand. Granted, this wasn’t as bad as Hakone, since I actually did understand Taiwanese, but the prospects of taking a local transportation was still a little bit daunting.

Nevertheless, we bravely took the bus from Xinbeitou all the way to Yangmingshan National park. The bus ride was quite long and I kept having to ask if we were still going in the right direction. It was a bit scary because I had absolutely no idea what to look for, but luckily our stop was at the very end, so we didn’t miss it along the way.

It was nearing lunch time when we got there. Since we didn’t know if we’d find any places to eat up the mountain, we decided to get lunch at one of the restaurants by the bus stop. There was a little shop open right beside a Starbucks (because Starbucks exists even in the middle of nowhere), so we decided to head inside. One look at us and the shop owner could already tell we weren’t from the area, so she gave us her recommendations. The food was actually quite good. I’ve never had fresh baby bamboo before. Apparently it was harvested only a day before, so it still retained crisp, crunchy taste.

***

We decided we were NOT going to venture towards the Visitor’s Centre by foot. The sign off the road was very misleading since it was only a 1km or so towards the centre. The guidebook also failed to mention that it was a bloody steep climb towards to top.

So we waited for a bus which took us to the Visitor’s Centre. The tour guides/park rangers at the Visitor’s Centre were all very nice and helpful. We were told that it would be impossible to go to Cising Mountain that day because it was raining at the top. Glancing outside, it didn’t look that bad to me, but it wasn’t until we hopped on a bus that I realized how bad the rain and mist actually was.

The guide had marked out locations for us to look for, although you couldn’t see past 5m out the window without hitting a sheet of white fog. I don’t know if that was more creepy, or knowing that the BUS DRIVER was also seeing a sheet of FOG when he was driving. It’s a miracle that he didn’t drive us off the mountain entirely!

Anyway, with the current weather conditions we decided against leaving the bus, so we took it towards one of the last stops on the route, where we hopped off and waited for another bus to come.

We still had almost an hour to wait before the next bus arrived, we so started to walk up a trail into the mountains. It was still quite foggy, although it was manageable. I thought I heard a ‘mooing’ noise in the distance and to my utter dismay there were COWS up the mountain. Not to mention the WILD DOGS that were all gathering at the centre of one of the clearings.

If it wasn’t for the fact that all the other people there seemed relatively calm about it, I would have started freaking out. The fog was starting to clear a little bit, which worked out nicely for photos. We lingered a little longer before making it back down to the bus stop. The bus ride towards Jiantan Station was the longest ride EVER, although I was quite happy being back with civilization. I think I prefer humans over cows any day!

***

After the adventure out into the wilderness, we decided to head back to Taipei 101 to grab dinner. Since it was our last night, we picked a nice restaurant and had a relaxing dinner. It was getting late by the time we got back to the hotel, but we took a long, soothing bath courtesy of the hot springs bathtub that was built into the washroom.

*****

With the trip coming to an end, there was a bittersweetness that clung onto the air. Although I can’t say it was one of the best vacations I’ve ever had (seriously, who exhausts themselves to the point of falling asleep in random places), but it was definitely filled to the max. If I ever make my way to Taipei again, I hope for sure that it will be way more relaxing than this one!