Taiwan for the first time. We’re staying in City Suites, Beimen. A small but nice hotel a short walk from the Beimen MRT station and down the road from the popular Dihua street. Blackout curtains are a blessing as it’s the middle of summer here and the sun is in full force already early in the morning.
Pranayama and meditation done along with some early morning writing.
Hat, glasses, sunscreen, and water. Check. Essentials. Out we step into the blazing heat that is Taipei today. Making our way to find a local breakfast of egg, pork floss, salty soy milk and more. Finding shade along the way to prevent us from getting heatstroke.
Yes, that’s how hot it is.
And humid.
Pretty similar to Hong Kong during summer. What I do enjoy though is the vast open space. The ultra wide streets, the trees lining the busy main streets, the space and freedom one feels. The ventilation. It’s something I miss about Cape Town as well.
Breakfast done. Coffee time. Decided to walk to Color Coffee and got ourselves an iced coffee(another coffee). I had a brown sugar iced latte. Anything with ice please! *sweating balls*
Lil’ rest stop before bouncing off again towards the Longshan Temple.
A couple of photos and stroll through the temple to feel the spiritual/bodhisattva atmosphere.
Further walking through a market and capturing some colorful photos while embracing the shade that Taipei provides.
Next stop, Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. A vast open space surrounds these 4 enormous halls. Ended up doing a couple of Handstands up on the stairs in the shade and some fellow acrobats approached us for a photo. Connections were made. Also, a perfect handbalancing spot for future trips to Taipei! Whoop!
Got recommended the OG bubble milk tea place that was just behind/inside the National Theatre Hall. Tea was nice and strong plus very enjoyable. We might be up a bit later than usual due to how much caffeine is in these teas.
Lunch time and a visit to a dog and cat cafe. Waiting. Waiting. Only ten minutes luckily. Puppies and a great tasting lunch. Just what was needed.
Said hi to some cats, and up next is the Huashan 1914 Creative Park.
Before heading to lunch, some clouds came over and brought a it of a breeze and a light drizzle to the area, which was most welcome. It’s around 4pm now as we leave the cafe and take a walk towards the park.
Swings and a slide or two.. happy to play a bit and enjoy the abundance of nature in Taipei. I love the feel of the city thus far.
Make sure you pull into stores or 7-11's regularly for some air conditioner. This is a must if you’re to survive the day of walking and exploring.
1730ish now and we’re exploring Huashan Park because we got a bit lost.
We’ll take a taxi to Taipei 101 area in a bit and we’re booked for 1830 to go up to the 89th floor. Every crevice of my body has sweated and continues to.
Arrived at Taipei 101.
Take a taxi instead of walking if you’ve been clocking in steps since the early morning. Arrive earlier as there is a line to wait in for going up to the 89th floor of the building. Buy your tickets on klook.com to make your trio smooth and easy. If you’re peckish before your time slot. Go to the food court downstairs, and you’ll be spoilt for choice and enjoy whatever interests you from Indian to Taiwanese to Korean and more.
This elevator up to the 89th floor is the fastest in the world. It took us 37sec to go up 89 floors over 350m!
Once up you’ll have 360 degree views of the entire city. Grab a spot and enjoy!
*Make sure to walk up the two floors to 91st floor to walk outside and experience the view from up there. Feels better for me personally than through the glass.
After heading down the elevator once again, we stopped at the food court in the basement and opted for one of the restaurants that we had eyed earlier. I myself felt spent. Wanting a shower and to take off my shoes. My body also needed a bit of a stretch.
Back at the hotel. Shower. Rest and stretch a bit. We’re down the road from the Dihua area and night market. Met a student of mine as we came through the hotel lobby. It’s a small world indeed.
Day 2.
We slept in a little bit after yesterday’s busy and full day. We pushed the Elephant Mountain until tomorrow as our legs and bodies are a bit tired. Easier day today exploring other parts of Taipei.
Starting with breakfast now at Ji Ke Ji restaurant a small walk from our hotel. Will save coffee for afterwards.
Coffee from a Japenese Cafe.. Perfect strength and quality. Chose a hot one this morning as the weather was cooler this morning.
This morning, we decided to walk up and through Dihua Street. Taking photos and hydrating along the way with some freshly squeezed orange juice. Once we hit the end of the road, it was time for some self-care.
We took MRT two stations and arrived at The Village Spa, Taipei. Booked via Klook. 60min Swedish Massage plus 10min sea salt foot scrub. Very relaxing compared to our normal Thai massages. I basically fell asleep near the end. Perfect day to restore some energy after yesterday. Ready again for whatever awaits the rest of the day.
I think it’s time for lunch?!
After grabbing some coffee and an egg tart, we finally found a place to sit down and eat. Seems most shops are closed between 230pm and 5pm, similar to Spain's siesta.
Chicken, pork rice, and vegetables, anyone? Plus some much needed air-conditioning. Thanks!
Pythonism aka the Snake Cafe.
Spent quite a bit of time here petting snakes from big to small and a few exotic geckos. One must order a drink per person but otherwise conquer your fear of snakes today! Practice staying calm and the snake will relax too.
What to do now? Walk into the tattoo shop and enquire about flash tattoo and if they have a slot tomorrow or the next.
Tattoo didn’t work out.
However, we walked to the Pier and were just in time for the beautiful sunset that went down. I captured some great photos as the lighting changed over the course of the sun going down and even after sundown.
We ha da small snack of spicy squid before heading for a Teppanyaki style dinner in the Ningxia nightmarket area. Great value for money and would recommend it at least once during your own Taipei trip.
Back to the hotel to freshen up once again before heading out to the Ximen area for dessert.
Milk shaved ice with mango!
Definitely share it as it is a huge helping and combine it with a more traditional dessert. You won’t regret it.
Time to shower and sleep. Goodnight Taipei!
Day 3
We extended our stay at the hotel by another night. I think I’ll need a longer stay in Taiwan next time. We’ll stay until Thursday morning now before making our way to Taichung.
Breakfast at a new local spot run by an older couple. Anything with pork floss and cheese please.. oh and egg!
Tried to find a laundry service but they only charge you per piece of clothing which one place said was 100 NTD per piece. Way to pricey. Self-service is cheap but we don’t want to wait around for it. We’ll do it when we arrive in Taichung instead.
Picked up coffee at new favorite spot 143 Polaris around the corner from our hotel, and we bought some beans to take back to Hong Kong.
Alright, it’s already 1230pm, time to head out to somewhere.
It began to rain round midday but regardless we I decided to take us to the Museum of Contempory Art and expose our eyes to something creative works. The current theme upon arriving was the #metoo movement and the welcoming of the LGBT community. It wasn’t a long trip through the museum. Shorter than I expected. Entry was 100NTD each, which was quite reasonable.
Time for lunch at the… Meerkat cafe! For some reason, the food at these animal cafes are really tasty and have more western style options if you’re tired of all the street market food or Chinese food in general.
We’re waiting for our 15 minutes of play time with two adorable Meerkats.
Meerkats done.
We hopped in a taxi and missioned to the start of the Elephant Mountain hiking trail. A mixture of rain and sunshine at the viewing point. Beautiful contrast and not too much of a hike. Steep stairs though. Wear proper shoes.
After getting completely drenched even though we had an umbrella, we went back to the hotel to freshen up before heading out for dinner at a local Taiwanese spot.
It was still quite early when we finished dinner, we decided to finish up our Taipei stay with a visit to the Shilin Night Market. We found it a lot more interesting and organized than the other ones we had seen. We haven’t been to all of them yet.
Day 4
I woke up earlier than usual and took a solo trip to the nearest coffee shop that was open which happened to be a Starbucks. A lot cheaper here than in Hong Kong. I wanted to sit at a desk so that I could comfortably write some gratitude and morning pages down. Headphones and a pen in hand plus a hot latte. Nice morning time indeed. Weather is a lot cooler at 7am in the morning.
After prepping for went and found breakfast which was the handheld omelet/pancake with a choice of topping. So freaking good! Followed by a stop at Color Cafe for an iced latte. Back to hotel to shower and checkout for real.
Off to Taipei Mainstation to purchase our High Speed Rail tickets as we will journey towards Taichung and stay two nights in a more upmarket hotel with a swimming pool. Whoop!
With the HSR it’ll take approximately 1 hour to get to Taichung from Taipei. I’d say pretty good!
Okay, so this upmarket hotel is nice but on the older side. You have to wear a swim cap in the pool, which doesn’t make sense because the hats are old and they’re talking about hygiene.
Apparently, the whole of Taiwan operates like this, and it’s not a covid thing. Members belong to the so-called private club here, and they come to use the facilities like the sauna, onsen, fitness room, and the pool. An older member complained about those of us in the pool without the swim cap. Once the guy had brought it to us , we decided our swim was done anyway.
We went out for a local dinner of beef noodle and some dumplings. Easy, and then back to hotel to rest up.
Breakfast buffet this morning. Meh.
Next, Taxi to 2nd Market in the Central District. And to find a proper cup of coffee.
Beautiful space and superb coffee at Collab 1035. Iced latte hit the spot. Extreme heat today therefore making sure to stay hydrated and walking in the shaded areas. Not the easiest place to get around. Walking to the painted animation lane. We decided to skip the Rainbow Village.
Taxi to SOGO for air-conditioning and a potential bite to eat. What happened was a small bubble milk tea and arcade games. Shooting and racing games. Walked across the road to our hotel building and found some lunch in the market/food court area. Went to the National Museum of Natural Science and the Botanical Garden. Learned about space. Visited the garden, which had some fish from the Amazon River. The elephant fish.
Back to hotel for a bit of a workout, swim, sauna, and onsen. More relaxed this evening. Felt so good afterward.
Took an Uber to the Fangchia Night market and ate what we wanted for dinner. From French horn mushrooms to potatoes to calamari to iced green tea. Also bought a couple t-shirts and a pair of flip-flops.
Wrapped up at the market and Uber-ed home to the hotel. Had a drink at the bar while watching some of the Olympics.
Goodnight Taichung!
Early wake up by accident. Enjoying the early morning sunrise while taking the time to write a bit.
I’d love to continue traveling now if it was possible. It’s one of my favorite things in the world. Being a Saggiterius, I feel it’s one of my life’s tasks to travel more often than not.
Have you visited Taiwan and or Taipei? Let me know your experience in the comments.
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