Travel Blog Entry 3

August 19: Having thoroughly not beaten the jetlag I decided to have a slow morning, skip breakfast, and sleep in. I made some calls to family and friends and then decided to explore a much more exciting part of town: Ximen. 

So far I had only been to Da’an, which is a residential district (located near the previous day’s Taipei 101); Ximen was a HUGE change of pace. 

Having landed in a busy square I struggled to find the restaurant I was seeking out for lunch. Getting lost several times along the way was part of the adventure, but my rumbling stomach wasn’t very amused. Finally, I made it to my destination; I arrived at Modern Toilet.

As they say, when in Rome… Uhh.. I mean Taiwan.

Looking past the absurdity of it all, the décor and atmosphere was great. As with everywhere else in Taipei, the staff were extremely friendly. I ordered my food (bread, and beef curry) and waited patiently.

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves, but I will say one thing: depsite looking like crap, that food tasted amazing!

With newfound energy I sprung forth from the building to begin my adventure anew!… Okay, okay, I awkwardly walked out of the restaurant and tried to find my way back to the main area. 

Over the next few scorching hot hours I found various strange shops:

A candy shop that sold everything from sushi shaped sweets to chocolate condoms (not sure if flavoured or just chocolates, but they were all over the shop), to first aid kits; also normal chewy gummies, for the less adventurous lot.

Several shops selling all the random Japanese/Chinese gadgets you see back home in Canada and the States (except here they cost a fraction of the price). Beyblades, Pokémon merch, multi-coloured cat lamps, piggy banks with cats that collect the coins, and more.

And a two-floor One Piece shop (it’s a very well known anime, for those unaware). 

I eventually got overheated and tired and started making my way back to the AirBnB for some rest. On the way, I stopped to try a Taiwanese delicacy: Mango shaved ice.

It was amazing!

When I got home I had spoke to Ren for a bit (the owner of the AirBnB) and then watched some movies before passing out for the night. (By the way, Taiwanese Netflix is MUCH better than Canada’s)

August 20: Again I had a slow start to the day so at around 2 p.m. I arrived in the northern area of the city. 

After struggling to figure out the buses for about half an hour I made it to the Northern Palace Museum.

By the time I left, several hours later, I hadn’t even seen half of the museum (perhaps I will visit again another time). Here’s a fraction of the exhibits I saw:

I found myself desperately craving Japanese food. Luckily, I stumbled upon Sushi Express, which is one of those sushi-go-round places with the little plates. Each plate here costing about $1 US.

I really did mean to take more pictures of the food…

Travel Blog Entry 2

August 17: My flight – consisting of watching three movies and reading none of the four books I brought on board – landed at about 9:30 p.m. local time. Having managed to stay up most of the flight I was absolutely exhausted by the time I went through customs, grabbed my baggage, bought a SIM card, took the MRT to Taipei Main Station, and finally lugged my suitcase up 5 flights of stairs to arrive at my AirBnB.

August 18: I woke up at 8 a.m. convinced I had already overcome the jetlag (hahaha, no). After a quick trip to 7-11, I took a much needed shower, drank enough water to hydrate a horse, and headed out to Taipei 101. 

Once I got to the Taipei 101 mall I immediately went down the first escalator I saw (my belly rumbling like crazy as I did so) and made a beeline for Din Tai Fung. Needless to say, I wasnt the only one with this place on my mind. Luckily being a party of one helped me grab a table with relative ease. 

For those of you unfamiliar with Din Tai Fung, it is a world-renowned chain of dim sum restaurants that originated in Taiwan. They are most famous for their xialongbao (soup dumplings). For lunch, I ate xialongbao, steamed pork buns, and spicy vegetable dumplings.

For 600 NTD I bought an adult pass for the Taipei 101 observatory – a massive building that ranks amount the tallest on Earth. Even the elevator boasts a former world record for its incredible speed (~600M/min). The 360° view of the city was incredible (and incredibly intimidating too if I’m being perfectly honest).

Had my stomach not been upset from travel, I would have been able to enjoy bubble tea, mango frozen desserts, and pineapple cakes.

Hanging in the centre of the obsevatory floor there was a huge wind damper that prevents the tower from swaying during typhoons and other inclement weather.

On the way down from the observatory I passed through a (mandatory) exhibit for the Taiwanese coral gemstones. Here are some of the neater sculptures:

The price of the smallest one I could find was 480,000 NTD (~$20,000 Canadian).

Desperately needing a break from the heat and humidity I went back to my AirBnB for some R&R plus air conditioning.

For Shabbat dinner (Jewish sabbath) I visited Chabad, where I conversed with the Rabbi who has been living here for the past six years. A few brief conversations later I excused myself so I could go back to the AirBnB and pass out for the night.