Taipei and Back

Cassie and I were in Taipei for 5 days, but a beautiful 5 days it was. It was nice weather, great food, onsen, beach, waterfalls, museums, monuments, people, the whole nine yards. Cassie was the most amazing travel partner. She was oh-so-kind even when I was grumpy, she was laid back but down for adventure (she ate snake!!!), and her Chinese sucked just as bad as mine so I didn't feel so silly all the time attempting to speak to the locals. What more could I ask for in a travel buddy?

The whirlwind wrap up of the trip...

First things first, WE FLEW ON THE HELLO KITTY PLANE!!! I was in Kitty chan sensory overload. The in-flight video screen was kitty. The ice cream, sugar packets, and barf bag were kitty. I was amazed. That alone could have made my entire trip.

Our first day in Taipei was in the city... we visited the National Museum in the morning and saw the famed "Jade Cabbage", went to the beautiful Linshin Temple where lanterns from the Lantern Festival were hanging, and saw the Chiang-Kai Shek memorial. We were all over Taipei in just one day and felt like we saw so much... that left us 2 more days to sit back and enjoy the vacation.



A view of a huge lantern outside of Linshin Temple.



The gate leading to the courtyard. The architecture was amazing and it was the perfect spot to watch the sun go down.



A view of the courtyard from the Chiang-Kai Shek memorial.

Day two was a trip to an aboriginal village and onsen. Not sure what was so aboriginal about the place, but it turned out to be good times nonetheless. Unfortunately for the gentleman, no pictures of the onsen. ;)



The river than runs through the village, lined with houses and businesses.



A delicious lunch of rice cooked in a bamboo container you crack open to eat, veggies, and wild boar. We can't really verify the wildness of the boar, though. The guidebook said they just use regular pork and call it boar. Who knows. All I know it was deee-lish.



Before lunch we took a short walk up to this waterfall. There was even a lil train shuttle you could take to get here but we decided a walk through lush tropical jungle was a better option. The waterfall was nothing super impressive, but it was nice to be outside doing a lil hiking and enjoying the view.

That night we went out to a night market and ate some amazing food... I must say, 98% of the food we ate was really, really good. I was impressed. All along the night markets there are great food booths and cheap shops selling Cucci bags and the like.

This one was a little bit different though...



It's a really old man(obviously), sitting under a light chopping up wood. And somehow, he had a crowd of men standing around watching him. We guessed it was a special wood that requires some techinique to chop. It seemed he was making wood chips but our Chinese was for sure not good enough to ask so I guess the truth will remain a mystery!



Last up on the menu for day 2, we dropped by Linshin Temple again since it was right next to the market and caught a night view. There were flowers, fruits, food and incense everywhere in the courtyard as offerings made for prayers of good health, prosperity, and even good fortune with studies.

Alright... so on to day 3, our last full day in Taipei. Day 3 was strictly reserved for snake and beach. And not at the same time. During the day we rode the bus outside of Taipei to the beach where we soaked up some rays and simply enjoyed the sand between our toes. Seeing the beach, the ocean, anything green was such a change from urban Tokyo- it was lush.



Cassie chillin by the ocean.



Me with flowy beach hair.



Sand writing our memory.

After heading back to Taipei that night, we visited Snake Alley where Cassie bravely tried Snake and I only ate it after she confirmed it was edible and not, in fact, disgusting as I had thought it would be. I had a freakout moment though, walking through the alley. I mean, what would you do if a 10ft. long boa was chilling at the restaurant's entrance out in the open?! No, there was no cage. Nope, no leash. No protection between me and the snake. I wasn't freaking out about that so much, but then, the lady at the restaurant brought out a teeny lil bunny in a clear box and set it down next to the snake. I seriously thought she was going to feed it to the snake in front of everyone as some kind of sick, twisted show. Luckily, it was just a teaser and the rabbit got to live (for a little while, at least) but I wasn't so keen on seeing all that. Anyway, the snake was chewy and probably could have been good but the sauce they added wasn't so great. I was proud of Cassie for being so brave.

Last up...Friday night in Taipei and it was time to go out in style. We stopped back at the hostel for a bit, changed up and then went out to party at Luxe, the biggest club in Taipei. We went with a bunch of friends we had made at the hostel and it turned out to be an awesome club- good music, a sweet interior and a fire show (think lit, swirling alcohol bottles) included. A nice end to our lovely, lovely trip. All in all, gotta say I really enjoyed Taipei. Glad I saw it as a good preview to Chinese culture for when I visit China someday. But... you know how it is... coming home is always nice too. :)

Now all I do is dream of Golden Week plans!