Taiwan 5: Shilin Tourist Night Market (17. Jan. '18)

First stop for souvenirs: Taiwan Handicraft Promotion Center

Back in an MRT train, I was making my way to the Taiwan Handicraft Promotion Center (you can check out their website here, but there's no English).
I knew I was going to make it very soon to closing time (by "soon," I mean within 5 min. of closing time--18:00). I decided to go anyway. At least I can find it, return the next day at 9 (when it opens), and peruse around calmly until I should go catch my train at Taipei Main Station--just 1 MRT stop away.
I found the store and made it with about 5 minutes to spare. Go me.
I also found out they were very punctual. At 18:00, they started turning off the lights with customers still inside. Hint, hint? They did tell us to return tomorrow at 9, so we weren't wholly kicked out; just forcibly encouraged to honor the hours of operation.
I can respect that.
So now you know: if you go, make sure to leave before 18:00!


So, where to go? Google Maps, help me out, will ya? There surely must be other places in Taipei where I could find my souvenirs!
Maybe I should clarify why finding souvenirs was such a big deal to me. I collect flags, keychains, and patches from each country I spend at least 3 days in (maybe I should say "places," since I got the same items from Macau and Hong Kong). I was pretty sure Taipei would have the most extensive selection. I also knew I'd return to Taipei when only the night markets and 711s were open. Maybe. My flight out was at 3am.

Second stop for souvenirs: Shilin Tourist Night Market

Not long after the center closed, it occurred to me to try my luck at the Shilin Tourist Night Market ("Tourist" in this name gave me hope I'd find what I was looking for).

I wasn't disappointed.

I found most of what I wanted, plus a ton more that I didn't expect.

I went there via MRT on the red line and got off at Jiantan Station. There's a Shilin Station too, but I just thought Jiantan was closer. Looking at the map, I guess Jiantan is closer, but by a tiny bit.
Besides, people poured out at this station. The crowds usually hint if a restaurant is excellent or if this is the stop to get off. Lead on.

Like throwing darts to puncture balloons, but the darts come from an air gun.

There's the sign--and just what I needed too!

Seriously, the tourist trap I was looking for was at the entrance of the Shilin Market! You can see it in the picture above. It's just to the left. Shew, talk about feeling led!

I got everything except the flag here, but I did wander around, look, and eat.

Beef cubes grilled à la blowtorch. That was pretty cool.

I recommend getting it with cumin seasoning (cumin always makes my mouth water).

What else did I get?
- Hard-boiled quail eggs (6) on a stick (+ seasoning).
- The beef cubes + cumin seasoning from the video above.
- Candied strawberries (3) and cherry tomato (1) on a stick.
- Fruit juice smoothie at Juice Ni. I'm just sorry there were no seats. My feet were killing me--especially the one with plantar fasciitis.

Taking one last look before going back to the MRT.

I was happy. I was even happier to make it back to my bed at Taipei Livepal Hostel. I tried the TV in my bunk (!) only to see they were all in Chinese (of some sorts). I did get to tune in to a figure skating championship and watch a few men try to impress the judges. I would've watched it all if I wasn't exhausted. Besides, I had an early morning and long travel day ahead of me. Best to call it a night.

Shameless promotion

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Is this post sponsored? Honestly, no. But whatever you save will be given to me so I will get something, even though Booking.com doesn't directly sponsor my blog (would be cool, though).

What do you have to do?
1. Click this link. (or copy and paste: https://www.booking.com/s/27_8/17a42a71 if you're suspicious)
2. Make a reservation via this same link (if you don't, you won't get the discount!).
3. Go, stay, and enjoy (if you cancel or don't show up, you forfeit the discount).
4. About 2 weeks after you check-out, you'll get the discount notification email!

A friend of mine sent me her link. I used it when I stayed in Jeju, right before going to Taiwan. I checked out Jan. 16 and got the email notification on Jan. 29). My discount was $7.36 (which is why I said "up to"USD 20). That's like getting a few items in Starbucks, extra gallons/liters for your car, or an in-flight snack on a budget airline you didn't have to pay for! Why not? Small things add up (we've all experienced this one way or another).

I encourage you (without turning out the lights) to try this out. Tell me how it turned out for you. I'd like to know if this helps. If it doesn't, I promise to take all this down.


There, I just put my word--and your trust in me--on the line.

Taiwan 4: Maokong Gondola Ride Near Taipei Zoo (17. Jan. '18)

Just outside of Taipei, but still connected to the city's MRT, is the Taipei Zoo.
How was the zoo? I have no idea. I went there for the Maokong Gondola, nothing else.
Besides, I like to take my time--and I was leaving Taipei the next day.
Taipei Zoo will have to wait.

Gondola ride, here I come!

The ride up

Getting off at Exit 1 of Taipei Zoo MRT Station, just walk about 3 min. to the Maokong Gondola Taipei Zoo Station. If you have an EasyCard, you can just tap it and avoid the ticket lines altogether. I believe you also get a small discount.

Signs from the MRT station pointing in the right direction.

Apparently, there are separate lanes for motorbikes & cars.

Let's get on a gondola and move on up!

FYI: some gondolas have clear glass floors, but you need to reserve them. For everyone else, you get the regular floors that you can't see through. Wish I knew that ahead of time.

My gondola's shadow

This was the 1st of 3 such stations.

If you look at the next picture, you'll see the gondola route has 4 stations. Between each of these stations is a separate "No disembarkation at this station" station. I'm pretty sure this is to make the gondolas more stable (says the knows-nothing tourist).

Have you noticed in the picture above this gondola route is 4 km long?

Looking back towards the bottom station.

Panorama of Taipei (from the southwestern corner looking northeast). Can you spot Taipei 101?

Well, that's it. Time to get off and explore.

Being up there

Let's explore!

Nice little path right by the gondola station.

Oh yeah, this is nice.

Hmm, you have any teahouses up here?

Forget tea, get ice cream!

I want to say that was green tea ice cream, but I have no idea.

The cat cookie was kinda cute, but also quite dry.

Route Map

Observatory Point (-ish)

You really can see Taipei 101 from anywhere in Taipei!

This may seem like a short walk because it was. Normally, I would've walked through that entire route--and some side-routes too. However, I'm plagued with plantar fasciitis and really shouldn't be walking.

If I'm honest, I probably shouldn't be traveling.

I figure if people with chronic pain can travel, why can't I? I can still move, I just need to be more careful.

I wanted to go back down. There were several options.

1. Hike/Walk down (out of the question)

2. Bus (and risk carsickness)

3. Taxi (and be guaranteed carsickness)

4. Gondola (with long lines)

I tend to be the kind of person who goes one way and comes back another. I also hate lines. Then again, when will I have the opportunity to ride a gondola for 8 km roundtrip again?

Gondola it is.

The ride back down

The lines were moving faster than I expected, to my joy. Then I understood.
When I went up, I had the gondola all to myself. Many people wanted to take it down (it was around 16:00), so the gondolas were filled (6-person capacity).
Meh, not what I would've preferred, but let's roll with it.

Here I go again.

It looked way better in person than in this picture.

That same highway again (at the same "don't get off here" station).

Coming down to Home.

Let's go back to the hostel and call it a night.

Wait! I haven't gotten my souvenirs yet! Time to remedy that.

Taiwan 3: Just making my way around Taipei (17. Jan. '18)

Waking up rested in my bed in Taipei Livepal Hostel, I was ready for my first full day in Taipei.

The 1st goal: get food near Gongguan MRT Station

Being hungry--and a non-pork eater--I found, bought, and ate 2 buns near the Songshan MRT Station: one had a vegetable mix, and the other had an egg mixture. Both were delicious.

My goal for the morning was to find the 2 spots a friend of mine recommended for Gua Bao (think Taiwanese "burger" but in a steamed bun) and the best bubble tea. Fortunately, they were literally across the alley (or very narrow street) from each other.

It wasn't until they told me what they had, that I realized they were all with pork. Well, so much for that. At least the bubble tea made me feel better about wasting over 15 minutes waiting in line for the Gua bao.

Let's wander along the streets in this area.

When all else fails, 711 is there for you.

I had some tea eggs at this 711. I need to try making them at home.

I haven't seen so many motorbikes in a city in so long!

When I realized I had stumbled upon a Mexican restaurant

Illiterate in the local script? Look for pictograms.

I needed cash. I needed an ATM.

A simple Google Map search brought me to the nearest one near me at that moment: The Taipower Building.

Alright, so they have a Bank of Taiwan branch inside (as soon as you walk in through the double doors). ATMs? Check. Done.

At the Taipower Building

Really?! I was too careful to notice.

Convenient

Bike parking at the National Taiwan University.

The 2nd goal: Ride the Brown Line of the MRT

I think it's time to move on to my 2nd goal of the day: ride the brown line of the MRT.

Wait. What? Why??

A local advised me to do so BECAUSE it's the only line that is mostly above ground (except for 2 or 3 stops that it was underground, like Taipei Songshan Airport). Since I want to get a general overview of the city and shouldn't walk much, I thought that was perfect.

Only picture I took: Dahu Park from the train

Sorry guys, I was too absorbed by the scenery to take any pictures.

I made it to the end of the line (Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center Station). I wanted to ride it back to the other end (and my 3rd goal), the Taipei Zoo.

Then reason stepped in. Thanks to a conversation with a Taiwanese girl in the hostel the previous evening, I was in a potentially risky situation of not being able to continue with my travel plans. I needed the trains and I didn't have any tickets. To make it worse, most of my train-travel was going to be in the weekend--when everyone wants to travel too. I could get a bus, but I love trains! That and I get carsick.

To my advantage, the station I was at connected the brown with the blue line--which went directly to Taipei Main Station.

Perfect coincidence? I don't believe in coincidences.

Getting on the wrong escalator may cost you time.

The 4th goal which became the 3rd: get train tickets to Xincheng and Kaohsiung

Southern entrances to the Taipei Main Station.

Alright, inside the station. Now, where are the ticket booths? I don't want a machine. I need a human who can understand. Ah, sign says go that way and . . .

. . . whoa . . . 

Sorry this panorama is underwhelming.

Yes, the open central area was huge and impressive. I was not expecting that at all.

I like the lines and shadow play here.

After about 20 - 30 min., I got my tickets to Xincheng and Kaohsiung. The people who helped me spoke quite decent English. Good for them (and for me)!

Next post will cover my 3rd goal (which became my 4th): riding the MRT to Taipei Zoo and riding up the Maokong Gondola.

Taiwan 2: Taipei 101 (16. Jan. '18)

Taipei 101

Now, off to the main attraction I want to see in Taipei: Taipei 101.

If you saw my post when I went up Macau Tower or Sky100 or Fukuoka Tower, you should know that I like heights. So there was no way I was going to visit Taipei WITHOUT going to Taipei 101!

Just to think this was the tallest building in the world from 2004 - 2010.
What makes that more special to me is that those were the years I was a college student (yes, it took me 6 years to graduate--with a triple major and double minor)!

I decided to take the MRT if anything to get a feel for how to use it and how to transfer trains in it (See, my hostel was on the green line, and Taipei 101 is on the red line).

Go out the Taipei 101 exit, and look up.

This building is not just a tower, but also a mall with all kinds of luxury brands, as well as restaurants, cafes, and a grocery store.

I don't know much about that since I had tunnel-vision aimed towards getting to the observatory deck.

There is a bit of a wait and nowhere to sit (unless you're ok with the floor), so keep that in mind. The elevators (there are 2) are quite fast! The ride was very smooth, but I felt strange because of how quickly my ears were popping.

Here's the elevator ride, from about half-way through.

Now on the observation deck (on the 89th floor), time to check out the view...

Whoa . . . See the mountains in the background?

Sorry for the lousy quality of the southwest...

Some mirrors on the ground and ceiling to play with.

So play along I did--with the glass wall.

Not gonna lie, that was fun.

This time, I wanted to accomplish something I hadn't before (except on Fukuoka Tower): get a day and night view.

I honestly don't know which direction these were in nor which buildings they are, but here are the least-bad pictures.

From the uppermost observatory open to the public.

This is how high (and which floor) the previous picture was taken from.

Looking down 91 floors of stairs...

Did you know Taipei sees seismic activity? Why not, Taipei 101 itself lies about 600 ft (183 meters) from a fault line. So, does this mean Taipei 101 will come crashing down at any given moment?
Not really.

Taipei 101 has a damper--a 730-ton steel ball 18 ft (5.5 meters) in diameter--that can reduce the shaking of the building by around 40%. You can check out the article (and a video) here.

The damper, from above.

Now from a level angle.

As much as I like heights and being up there, the weight of my trip and lack of sufficient sleep had started falling hard on me, so I knew it was time to go.

Time to go through all sorts of shops (not a coincidence) to get to the line for the elevator down.

Lights above the line to go down.

They changed colors.

The elevator ride down (again, towards the end of the descent).

When you buy your ticket up Taipei 101 (600 Taiwanese Dollars/ 20.65 USD), you get plenty of coupons. I decided to use one for a mango shop on the exit floor of the tower (5th Floor).

About 30% off on this Mango shaved ice.

That mango shaved ice was brilliant!

The ice was made from actual mango juice that was frozen. How could I tell? As a lady working there told me, you get a sticky feeling in the back of your mouth, and you get thirsty (even though you're not) when you eat something with sugar, preservatives, and other stuff. When it's all natural, like this one, it just goes down, smoothly. The way it should be.

Before I leave to go back to my hostel, let me take one more look at this tower.

Whoa. Pictures don't do it justice.

Pitstop at Raohe Night Market

Coming back to my hostel via MRT, I noticed a night market. My stomach also grumbled. 

I'm with you, buddy. Let's go see what we can eat.

Colossal temple beside the night market entrance.

Entrance to Raohe Night Market (from Songshan Station, Exit 3)

Sorry guys, I did not take any pictures here. I was too busy looking at everything that was around me. There were all kinds of shops, with familiar brands and local stores. And the food! All kinds for all taste buds. I had a chicken roll, a bowl of 3 different types of deep-fried mushrooms, stinky tofu "fries," and (the most random thing I saw in the entire market) a Polish cake(!) baked by a Pole who's been living there for 6 years. I did not expect that, but it was nice!

Sign at the other end of the night market/street.

Alright, so I overate. Now I needed to walk it off or do something. I needed to go to bed 'cause I was quite tired.
Anywho, it was a pretty good day. I arrived, figured out how to get around on my own, made it to my hostel, and got to go up to Taipei 101 and see both day- and nighttime views.
I'd say it was a successful day.
Now, to get some much-needed rest.