A Trip to Taiwan in December~

My updates are a bit out of order at this point... During the cold month of December, I was fortunate enough to warm my soul in the lovely climate of Taiwan. During that time, I got to fly on a Hello Kitty Plane, eat more food than I knew my body could handle, and meet up with two dear friends that I hadn't seen in a long time.

I flew to Taiwan on December 18th, literally the day after my final exams. I hadn't had any time to prepare an itinerary or even to pack, and ended up emailing my final writing assignment around 1AM on the day I was to leave and quickly throwing a few things into a suitcase before sleeping. I had just moved to another room as well, and didn't even unpack my belongings before leaving for Taiwan.

The expense and the timing of the trip meant that I would be traveling alone, but I had one friend from high school who was already in Taiwan (although not in Taipei), and another friend from college would be visiting Taiwan on the 22nd.

My lack of preparation meant that I arrived at my hostel around 3 hours after landing in the airport. Immigration was fast, but I was confused by the exchange rate and tried to take a huge amount of money out from the ATM. It took me probably 20 minutes to stop jumping from ATM to ATM in the airport and realize that the amount was wrong. In addition, I had planned on putting a prepaid sim card in my old cell phone when I arrived, only to find it locked... and I was apparently under the legal age to rent a phone in Taiwan. My third issue came in finding the bus that went to Taipei. I hadn't refreshed my extremely basic level of Chinese (as in one year of study) beforehand, so I had no idea how to ask around, and was terrified of taking the wrong bus. I figured it out after a while, and got to my hostel around 5-5:30.

 My bed in the hostel :) Not bad!

Part 1: The Night Markets

ShiDa

My hostel was conveniently located near the ShiDa Night Market. The hostel was very stylish and in a beautifully green area. During the mornings there was a small market just down the street from the hostel, full of beautiful fresh fruit and green leafy vegetables. After settling in at the hostel, I set out to find the night market. It was still pretty early, so I wandered around for a few hours before things really began to come alive.

I spent a lot of time in the ShiDa Night Market during my time in Taipei, simply due to its location. It was a vibrant place full of groups of students busily shopping away and delicious foods to take on the way. There was a popular crepe shop that always had a long line, and I can vouch that it was worth the wait! I had a crepe with green tea ice cream and red bean which was nothing short of delicious. There was a red bean bun too that was good, but couldn't compare to the red bean products I've had in Korea. One place sold pretty tasty pan fried buns but always had a long line, and another had a kind of interesting bread which was soft and sweet but salty also... can't really describe it. If anyone knows what this was please let me know! I looked for pictures of ShiDa but don't have any on my camera... I remember bringing it but the crowds were busy so I guess I didn't take any photos!

Shilin

Shilin from the outside :)

Same vantage point... Seriously don't know where all my pictures went!

Shilin turned out to be my favorite night market. It's huge and incredibly cheap, plus there is an amazing selection of food! I ended up shopping so much that I had to buy a bag to hold my shopping... and the bag itself was incredibly cheap too! It was a bit far from my hostel, and since I didn't know Chinese I had to return before the subways stopped running, but it opened pretty early so I was able to wander around the whole place at least three or four times! I had nail art done in a salon on the outskirts of the Night Market. I later realized it would have been cheaper to do it in Ximending, but the girls at the store were super sweet and even treated me to bubble tea! 

The nails...

Shilin is a mecca of shopping and delicious food. I tried the most amazing Sheng Jian Bao there, and I think that one has pretty much blocked out my memories of anything else. There was also a flat version which was amazingly delicious.. I loved the yummy thick crusts of the buns, which is definitely something I miss in Korea.There was something shaped like animals which I was craving every time I walked past but I was so full... I can't remember what it was! So cute though... I wanted to try the stinky tofu here but apparently my nose is very weak because I passed probably more than twenty stands selling it and didn't smell anything. I had a load of different interesting and sour juices here, because walking around can really make one thirsty! I think that Taiwan is an excellent place for juice. With the cold weather in Korea, it felt so wonderful to wander around in a light jacket with a cold cup of juice in hand! 

As for shopping, I need to be honest in that I can't really remember much of what I bought... partially because most of what I bought in Taiwan was souvenirs for other people! I was very tempted by a pair of tall boots even though I had just bought a pair earlier in the Zhongshan Metro Mall (where they were more expensive but I had been walking around in heels since early in the morning). I was going to buy the boots if they had the brown ones in my size, but they didn't, so I restrained myself. After visiting Shilin I took a nice pleasant walk late at night to the train station after the one near the night market, because I lost my way.

Raohe

The entrance... or exit? I think I went in the back

Note the Santa Claus - it may be warm but it's still Christmas!

Raohe Street Night Market was a bit of a stressful experience for me. I looked it up at my hostel and found it was located at Songshan Railway Station, which I mixed up with the MRT Songshan Airport station. From there I had to attempt to find the night market using only my phone GPS running on the free wifi whenever I could find it. It was also raining. Needless to say, after about two hours and an insane amount of walking, I finally reached the night market. Although it is famous among foreigners, I found it to be defined primarily as small. I wasn't a huge fan of the baked bun that is famous there, but there was a place selling rice wrapped in a lotus leaf that was amazing. I also finally got the chance to try stinky tofu, after actually googling what the Chinese characters were so that I could find it at a street stand. I thought it was very delicious! The version I tried was fried, but I really want to try one that is not fried if I get a chance also. In fact, I'm craving it right now... >< There was also another bun near the back entrance that was so delicious I wanted to buy another... I actually thought that was the famous one before I found the baked buns.

My stinky tofu... yummm

Raohe is just a one- street market, and it is possible to walk from one end to the other and back in about 20 minutes while doing eye shopping on the way. The rain could have also put a bit of a damper on activity at that point, but I really didn't feel like there was much to do there. After spending about 30 or 40 minutes going back and forth trying to find more, I gave up and spent the next hour or two trying to figure out how to get to the Songshan Train Station. Definitely dont get the two mixed up! 

Ximending

Another rainy day... Ximending!

I was really looking forward to shopping in Ximending. I still am- Somehow I ended up in the situation of going during daytime when it was raining, and there really wasn't too much activity at that time. I still managed to buy a shirt and some random goods, and to get the famous Ay Chung Flour Rice Noodles! Found a really good looking dumpling place right after eating too, but I was full so I ordered one dumpling... they seemed kinda unhappy about it so I changed the order to two. 

My delicious two dumplings

Even though it was rainy and probably too early to really enjoy it there fully, I enjoyed the time in Ximending! I came again with a friend later too, but in the morning, so we pretty much left immediately. I am definitely looking forward to going back at nighttime :) Next time I will make sure to stop in Eslite too!

That's it for my night markets section, but I've still got some historical sights and day-shopping to talk about! I promise some food pics too :) Next section I'll do the historical sights, then after that more shopping! 

Have a nice night :)