Taiwan Jul 2023

Came back from a big trip not long ago but first, the preceding smol trip. Didn't want to skip it coz it was a concentrated bundle of fun!

So, Taiwan 29 Jul - 2 Aug 2023. My 3rd time there overall after 2011 (round-island tour) and 2016 (south only) but I'd count this as my first real visit to Taipei city and its surroundings with uh, much more detailed experiences. How this trip came about was interesting as is. I'd been looking for something to look forward to in the 6-month void between my KR trip and the big US trip (the occasional short-term vanishings for concerts don't count haha). So, I asked if I could tag along a friend/ex-colleague, M1, on her already-planned solo trip to Taiwan. And It happened that another friend/ex-colleague M2 had also signed up separately haha. So everyone booked their own flights (different airlines and timings) and hotels (within the same area) and agreed to meet in Taipei. In short, this trip was a gathering of 3 solo travellers xD

Day 1

As per regular SOP, I went in on a red-eye (narrowly missing Typhoon Doksuri). 5 calendar days was short enough as is, so this at least gave me about 4.5 days on ground in total.

My trip began with a pocket solo since none of my friends (SG or TW) were with me when I landed at 5am. Since I hadn't had time to plan anything for myself in advance, another SOP came into effect after leaving luggage: find green patch on map, walking distance from hotel. So those were the 228 Peace Memorial Park and Taipei Botanical Garden where I first felt the might of the Taipei summer. Glad I had the foresight to pack a pair of shorts in my daypack since I'd come in jeans straight off the flight and would prob have soaked right through them. By 9am I'd clocked over 10k steps and was in need of aircon.

Was sitting on a bench replying messages when the sun rampaged out of hiding and scorched my exposed thighs.

And here was where I sent out an SOS for someone to bring mozzie repellent from SG while under relentless attack >.<

That led me to seek shelter in some malls so fast-forwarding to when I met my TW friend! This was a fellow ELF that I'd met in a queue in Seoul in 2022. I very quickly switched to travel potato-mode with her around hahaha. After a quick cruise through Ximending (where she showed me a fried chicken place linked to Kyuhyun and treated me to a much-needed iced matcha), we headed to a key destination. Purely coincidentally, SJ D&E was performing in Taipei that weekend. Of course I tried for tickets but the barrier to Taiwan concerts is notoriously high due to scalpers. Even my friend couldn't get tickets to watch them in her home country... So there we were outside the concert venue to get a digital stamp as consolation. As it turns out, there was an anime/toy convention next door which included a Bugcat Capoo (猫猫虫) pop-up that I wanted to visit. Here I emphasise the benefit of having local friends. Otherwise I think I wouldn't have figured out how to get into the venue, much less join the correct queue (let's just say it was extremely crowded but very well organised to those who knew the system).

Wanted to buy everything but had to limit myself to some of the cutest, most practical items :')

Another benefit of having local friends is being able to more intimately explore the city. I went to her house to collect something and got to see for myself the typical rustic residences of Taipei.

Finally got to check in in the evening and was quite tickled by these whisky shampoo and soap bottles in the bathroom xD

That evening, after I'd already had a full day of fun, M1 and M2 finally arrived. So it was time for drinks! Location: Taihu Dongmen (啜飲室 東門), an izakaya at Rongjin Gorgeous Time, a heritage area with repurposed Japanese buildings. There's no way the combi of Japanese bites and craft beer can go wrong. Beer-wise, the whole point of going to these places is to try stuff with interesting names and taste descriptions that don't deviate too far from personal preferences. I think kumquat beer (or plum beer for that matter) is not quite my thing haha. 

Inside the izakaya with its traditional-looking menu boards which contributed to the atmosphere even though I was completely unable to read them.

I realise the edamame is not pictured D: The edamame was THE thing. And I'm usually rather uninterested in edamame.

Full of beer, we took a walk back to hotel which brought us through the Liberty Square. It was something to stand in the middle of the huge empty square and gaze up at the imposing Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. And that was how I ended my first day of holiday around midnight with 40k steps.

Just quietly standing there but the lighting and scale really made a statement. 

We were actually still a distance from the Liberty Square Arch in this shot, but massive monuments stay massive all through the approach.

Day 2

Had a bit of a late start. So late, that the first activity of the day was lunch haha. No choice, had to pay back the time borrowed on Day 1.

Had a good time with my TW friend and her friend, talking about SJ and more, at a place regularly visited by SJ in Taipei!

Spent the afternoon hopping around, starting with the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall since it was near the lunch place. Arrived just in time to see the change of guards in their gleaming helmets. The Songshan Cultural and Creative Park and Huashan 1914 Creative Park followed right after, both sites refreshed and repurposed from former industrial complexes. Specifically for Huashan, I kinda knew about itand wanted to visit coz Ryeowook made a short appearance there back in Apr.

It was stifling indoors and I was really impressed how the guards kept up their professionalism in their thick uniforms.

Along the industrial corridors at Songshan.

This duck was called "Boss". Only bosses nap in the middle of the footpath and expect everyone else to creep around them.

Huashan was bustling with activity since its halls were leased for a few Japanese pop-ups like this Kapirabarasan one where I spent soooo long looking at (and resisting) all the cute plushies.

Rejoined M1 and M2, fresh from a day of shopping, to find dinner at Linjiang Night Market. I thoroughly enjoyed the first round - simple stir fried meats/clams with veg/basil leaves on rice. Only we forgot to pay and the stall owner caught up with us a street away :x But by the second round (duck noodles, fish/meat ball soup), I only had around 10% stomach left oops. I'm so bad at eating it's annoying even to myself sometimes xD

The clam dish came with basil which I happily lapped up.

Did a double take at this machine just to make sure there wasn't real fried chicken in there.

Couldn't eat much of this since I was already full, but loved the braised egg!

The seating areas reminded me of Malaysian stalls too.

Food stomach was maxed out as usual but drinks still can! Destination for that night was unDer lab. Putting on record that this place was the reason I was adamant not to skip this post. In short, the drinks were the prettiest I've had in my life. But first, we had to actually locate the bar haha. That started with some confused wandering up and down dark back alleys. See, the shop front of the correct address had a completely different name, and the one obvious door inside led to a rowdy KTV. It was only upon pushing open an innocuous fire exit door that we knew we'd come to the right place afterall hahaha. I've come to love speakeasies - the fun starts even before entering!

"This can't be it..."

Ah.

Now on to the drinks. Wah the visuals~ See:

No, not all of them were mine haha. Mine were the ethereal turquoise one, the one in the middle with an aiyu jelly and real dead ants on top (don't ask me why, they tasted like crunchy nothingness and we each had one since there were 3) and the watermelon-checked one. And they all tasted good of course! However we did actively avoid one whole section of the menu - the food-inspired section. Let's just say, had we been that adventurous, we could've tried uhh meat-flavoured drinks. I've tried bacon-scented beer before but didn't think I was game enough for a drink meant to recreate a steak. Especially since my food stomach was already full and didn't want to be disturbed.

Day 3

Northeast out of Taipei we went on the trains!

On recommendation, we dropped off at the village of Sandiaoling with intention of hiking to a waterfall. Err we didn't manage to find any such waterfall. It took some searching to get to a hiking trail (not sure if it was THE trail), but at some point some ways up a hill, we were stopped by a cordon sealing off the area due to wasps. Could've told us at the foot of the hill before we started climbing -.- In fact, finding our way back to the station after the failed waterfall hunt wasn't a cakewalk either. Let's just say there mayyy have been a way to walk to our next destination (one station away). But because we failed to find that way and there was only a single crossable bridge over the river, we had to retrace many steps at a fast-march to avoid missing a train at Sandiaoling and having to wait a whole hour more. In any case, a local who heard of our original plan gave a well-meaning look and, after a brief pause, told us that we should take the train. Taiwan is blessed with natural lushness and amazing landscapes but here it showed how that can't really stand alone without supporting infra and signages, if there is intent to draw in visitors.

Granted this was a pretty river view, if only we didn't have to see it like three times.

So off we went on the train and arrived in Houtong, somewhat a more established tourist destination thanks to the Cat Village! Of course I was excited~ Since the village used to be a small coal mining town, there was a museum preserving some of the old machinery and tools which was quite cool. Then, we crossed the bridge to the area ruled by cats. It was like a village-scale cat cafe in that there were cat treats on sale for visitors to make themselves more attractive. Not that some of the cats needed it though, especially the smartest (and greediest) ones that parked themselves at the village entrance. The locals capitalised on their village theme with cat merch! And I must say, some of the stuff were so well designed. I wanted to buy everything in one of those shops - a feeling so often felt on this trip hahaha. 

But first, dessert! This shaved ice was super generous and definitely helpful in the heat...

Being quite clear about the stars of this village.

The funky bridge made it safe for the cats to cross the tracks between the 2 sides of the village, if they so wanted to.

It didn't take long to cover the small village and there's only so much one can coo at (unbothered) cats. So far we'd been consistently overestimating the time needed for each location haha. This gave us enough time to get to the day's furthermost point: Heping Island. And after the gloominess and slight drizzle, the clouds finally parted a little to let in the blue sky! Best to see Heping Island Park with since it was bursting with interesting natural and man-made features. 

These colourful harbourside shophouses reminded me of Burano~

It was mid-afternoon but we were hungry enough for a full meal. The owner of this shop was a very friendly aunty who was also a seaweed-cultivator/historian/archaeologist with all her exploits nicely documented into files which she let us read while eating :o

The entrance of the park was already impressive.

First time seeing a sea water swimming pool which was sort of a partitioned area of the sea with all the works of a regular swimming pool like pump system and lifeguards.

The coastal area was also known for these chocoshroom-looking rock formations caused by erosion. In typical Taiwanese fashion, there were framed lookout points for rock clusters that looked cutely like other things e.g. pigs trotters xD

The dinner situation that night wasn't straightforward. What we really wanted was a drink and I mean in the parched and tired sense before anyone brands us 酒鬼s haha. It seems like Taiwan food establishments generally don't serve drinks (whether alcoholic or not). Not sure why, since their tasty stuff all would pair very well with some beverages. Anyway, the tour of unsatisfying stop after unsatisfying stop brought us all the way from Miaokou back to Ningxia Night Market until we finally decided to search up some bars and landed in Floating Taipei_漂浮台北. Given the situation, I was definitely happy to have my ice-cold draft beer in front of me even if it was rather generic (unlike M1's winter melon beer which tasted like adult winter melon tea). What impressed me more, enough to make a record here, was the bar bites - stir fried beef and pork over charred onions. You know it's good when meats like these are seasoned enough not to require any dipping sauce!

The Taiwanese equivalent of a hawker centre haha. We went into one of these and it felt like a squeeze through a labyrinth of stall structures and people.

Erps.

This popiah peanut ice cream roll... comes with coriander...

Said generic beer.

The damn good bites. We readily ordered second servings!

Day 4

豆浆油条 for breakfast! 

It really was just 豆浆 and 油条, although both came in a few varieties.

It was M2's departure day (her trip was even tinier than mine) so it was just M1 and me on the train out to Bitoujiao. The Bitoujiao trail wasn't that long or intense but I sweated many buckets wading through the intense humidity and we had to seek shelter partway coz of a squall. Also the cafe at a former marine camp was closed on Tuesdays so we couldn't chill there as planned :( But the views and the wind were great!

Whooooo coastal views! A favourite~ 

This was a very peaceful and homely-looking cemetery.

After getting to the top of the hill in the boiling heat, we were rewarded with open views for most of the way!

This path was marked as a trail down to the cliff edge but so overgrown that it was impassable. I guess it was a not-so-subtle sign for us to just focus on the main trail.

View of the valley from between the fencing at the closed cafe.

Island adventure with Dora the Explorer!

At the peak, we were able to see the various patches of dark clouds letting loose at different areas. One of those raced over to rain on us so good thing we were in vicinity of a pagoda.

Off the trail and hungry enough to finish a whole bowl of noodles~

Since I hadn't had a proper shopping experience yet, we went straight back to Zhongshan district in Taipei. I did pick up some clothes, but not before dinner at another place worth mentioning. Cafe Marche is famous for their unusual desserts and it took us some restraint not to order 2 different ones (stomach capacity constraints). 

First, we decided to share a salad. I can't quite remember why, but it might be coz we wanted veg and found the smoked duck salad reasonably priced (it was, and it was also sufficient for both of us). 

The lemon tart!! It was easily the most interesting one still available that day (since we walked in)...  Breaking the yellow chocolate shell led to lemon curd, and so cute that they bothered to put on a sticker!

The cafe was pretty but one thing that stood out to me was how... under-trained the serving staff seemed. Some things seem quite common sensical enough e.g. clear finished dishes and replace a fork that was dropped on the floor instead of picking it up and putting it back on the table.

Btw, the Day 4 records are unusually short because of the transport situation since a few hours were dedicated to waiting. It was challenging as is to get to Bitoujiao, even with the aid of google maps. We opted to get there from Ruifang station since there was a bus that would traverse the coast. It simply wasn't clear which side of the road we were supposed to wait on. I think we ended up watching our ideal bus go past and had to take another one passing thru Jiufen, cutting out half the coastal stretch. And that's even with being able to (somewhat) read the route printouts in traditional Chinese. But that was completely fine comparing to missing the single bus from Bitoujiao to Fulong station for our train ride back to Taipei. Correction, we did not miss the bus, the bus driver didn't see/ignored us. In fact, we were there early, waiting to stand up to board the bus when it arrived... Only it arrived ahead of google maps schedule and went past at such a fast speed that no one had any time to react. Only after finally, successfully boarding the next bus did we realise why. Even tho the official route had over 30 stops, the driver skipped/ignored more than half of them and got to the terminal stop in record time. Maybe that was their true KPI, clockwork and punctuality be damned.

Day 5

Going home day for me and it was another gloomy, grey kinda day but still steaming hot. M1 was to continue her trip as a true solo for a few more days, and so we split after macs breakfast. Hey, there was one just below their hotel and I'm usually game to try overseas macs just for the fun of it haha.

The key destination for that final 0.5 day was Taipei 101. But first, the Bugcat Capoo-themed 7-11. Some of the stuff I saw there looked decently useful, apart from being extremely cute as usual... But this time I had no choice but to hold back. It was a poor choice to use a cabin luggage for this trip instead of my usual 30/40L backpack. That 2kg could've been put to better use carrying souvenirs. It was such a short trip that I didn't bother purchasing baggage add-ons~ In this case, lucky I had M1 who could spare me 1kg of luggage capacity :P Anyway, tried something new for once and proved to myself why the regular SOPs were there in the first place.

Can't get enough of it hahaha. But all I could buy was a (very very cute) pack of poker cards.

So the Taipei 101. Visibility was poor. I was warned about this at the entrance and only the 89th floor observatory was open for ticketing, and I went for it since there wasn't much else I could do.

I reached a little before opening and had to wait outside the 101 Mall entrance with many other tourists.

Fog and the 巨蛋 view, seems like it was just opened at time of writing!

More fog and Elephant Mountain view, which was where M1 was headed that day~

Not forgetting the huge damper, the reason this tall building can exist in earthquake-prone Taiwan.

Funky bean sculpture made from old cables.

Back at the airport, the final meal for this round in Taiwan was beef noodles. I think I squeezed the max out of this little trip anyway, and it definitely won't be my final time here!

 Believe it or not, there was no previous opportunity to eat this on the trip, and many other things too. That's how short 5 days was haha.