Taipei - Last Stop in Taiwan (June 13-16, 2024)

TAIPEI CITY

After our visit to Pingtung County, we took the train back up to the northern end of Taiwan. By the time we arrived, the sun had set. When we stepped out of the train station, cars, buses, and motorcycles whizzed by us. People ran to catch the bus and cross the street. Taipei had true big city energy. 

Trying to find our hotel was like a scene straight out of Crazy Rich Asians. 

After we get off the bus, Google Maps points towards a park. Following our instincts, we follow the path. The path is lined with trees and tropical plants. It's dark and hard to see. We climb up the stairs. We climb and we climb but still no hotel. Only insects buzzing around and maybe snakes? 

And then a towering pagoda-like building pops up in front of us. 

The magnificence continues to awe me as we step into the lobby. The carpet is lush and soft. There's a grand staircase. Best of all, there's a live violin and piano performance.

The Grand Hotel was where Taiwan welcomed many foreign dignitaries and stars. It also hosted various meetings important to Taiwan's history, including the negotiations between Taiwan and the US, the founding of a few political parties, and the 1990 National Conference on Constitutional Reform. 

On top of that, we had great views from our balcony, a separate bathtub and shower not that we needed it, and even a "pillow menu" with a selection of complimentary pillows including tea pillow, bamboo charcoal pillow, memory foam, and down.

The hallway! The carpets were so lush!

The grand staircase leading from the lobby to stores and restaurants INSIDE the hotel.

Room mirrors!

Cool balcony

Look at the view from the balcony!!!

Balcony view at night!

In spite of the glamor, this five-star hotel was relatively affordable - $150 for one night (though it may be more expensive on weekends or holidays).

Near the hotel was the infamous Shilin Night Market. It wasn't very crowded when we first got there (around 7:30pm) but it quickly filled up. Only got a papaya milk in the end. 

Just like what it sounds - papaya blended with some milk. I liked how it was a bit frothy after blending.

The next morning we headed to a local breakfast shop - Wuming Breakfast (meaning "no name" breakfast shop). The shop literally had no sign to announce it's presence, only a few locals gathered around and the nice old couple running the store. Though it seemed like the many of the dishes were prepared from frozen products purchased elsewhere, everything was cooked really well. The kind lady imparted the perfect amount sear of sear, showing the love that she put into making everyone's breakfast. Everything was golden and aromatic, but not burnt at all.

We had...

• crepe with egg, corn, thick cut ham (crepe was nice and chewy!)

• scallion pancake (flaky and aromatic scallions!)
• daikon cake (crispy on the outside, soft on the inside!)

• dumplings (again perfect amount of sear)

• coconut toast (I was expecting more of a spread between two pieces of bread. Instead, there was a topping stuck on the bread - lightly toasted and adding a nice texture, though not super strong in flavor besides the toasty aroma.)

• rice milk (this is where I learned that it rice milk actually has peanuts and sesame as well!)
• milk tea

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at a Fazioli piano store. The first piano I played was really sweet and warm. It also had Fazioli's signature "duplex scale" in the upper register, which consist of extra (non-speaking) strings that amplify a particular harmonic. They also showed me a HUGE 10 foot piano (Fazioli F308). 

There are 3 segments of the piano cover that can opened instead of the typical 1 segment. 

And four pedals (two soft pedals instead of the usual one, the additional one brings the hammers closer to the string prior to striking)!

I didn't really feel like visiting any of the well-known landmarks in Taipei. So we just wandered in an area with a few saved spots on my Google Maps and stumbled upon Huashan Market.

My dad had his eye on the creme caramel from Bonbon Cakery and Cafe. The caramel was a little too bitter on its own but worked well with the pudding. (Would have preferred a uniformly silky texture instead of just half the pudding but still tasty.)

While enjoying the creme caramel, I noticed that everyone around us was eating from the Fu Hang Soy Milk. I spotted the "Michelin recommended" plaques and quickly ordered before they closed for the day. We basically just took the few items they had left:

• soy milk - unsweetened, natural, smooth, not much more you can ask for
• daikon pastry - thin shreds of daikon (most of the moisture taken out), salty and peppery (both white and black pepper I think!)
• caramel pastry - the inside of the flaky pastry is coated in a thin layer of hardened but slightly soft caramel. the burnt notes of the caramel add rich complexity and the texture of the slightly soft caramel was nice contrast to the harder crunch of the pastry. there's also a little bit of white sugar sprinkled inside for added texture and crunch. sorta reminds me of Armenian gata! one of my favorites in Taiwan

Bread making!

When we returned a few days later to hopefully bring back a caramel pastry for my mom, the line was really long. The shop is on the second floor and the line went down the stairs, out the door, and around the corner. Didn't have to patience to wait in the line; in hindsight I should have waited for another caramel pastry. Good thing we got to try some stuff the first time around. 

Close by is Simple Kaffa - the 2016 World Barista Competition Champion. 

We got two pour-over coffees and some snacks alongside.

• Ethiopia 74112, Medium Roast (strawberry jam, raisins, dark chocolate, hojicha - according to them not me)

• Kenya SL28/SL34, Medium Roast, Kabare PB / Washed (smoked prune, mulberry, oolong) - washed is the method of coffee bean preparation, a bit more sour and single note than the other, enhanced by fruity notes from food

• Triple sweet potato toast - three types of sweet potato with various toppings
• orange sweet potato reminds me of pumpkin
• purple sweet potato is fragrant / fruity with a bit salty from the salted egg yolk and pork floss that top
• yellow sweet potato - fruity with the addition of lemon zest
• Blue cheese cheesecake - cheesecake with a hint of funk at the end, poached pear inside the cheesecake modulates (not exactly lessen but change) the funkiness

I am not a coffee expert so I trust the flavor descriptions given. Interestingly, the coffee tastes different hot vs cold and with vs without food. At first sip, before food, the bitter notes (eg. chocolate, tea) came before the fruity notes. The food brought out some of the notes. For example the lemon zest in the sweet potato toast and the cheese / pear in the cheesecake resulted in me tasting the fruity notes before the bitter notes in the coffee. Or the caramelized parts of the toast enhanced the bitter notes in the coffee. 

Then, we explored the nearby Huashan Creative Park filled with cute artsy shops.

We had lunch in the affordable Jinxiang Taiwan snacks.

• pickled yuzu daikon - some yuzu flavor added to pickling liquid!
• two types of vegetables - napa and water spinach
• pork cheek - dressed pseudo-Japanese style with a slightly sweet and sour sesame dressing, topped with julienned ginger
• bitter melon and pork spare rib noodle - refreshing though a bit salty
• chicken and mushroom noodle - good flavor from the mushroom

All at an affordable price for Taipei.

Then, we took the bus to Jiufen - a former Japanese gold mining town in the outskirts of Taipei. It is a now a tourist site due to its resemblance to Spirited Away and, in my opinion, the pretty mountains. 

JIUFEN

Jiufen was lit up with lanterns when we arrived. The lanterns were everywhere, all the way up the many steps that we took up to reach our BnB. Very pretty! When we walked around, my dad happily stomped away at the cockroaches that appeared from the sewers (they weren't easy to kill, considering they know how to fly and scamper into the sewer). Don't let the cockroaches deter you from coming here though.

In the morning, I woke up early to see the sunrise but the clouds unfortunately blocked the sun out. Thankfully, I didn't have the leave to BnB and plopped right back into bed.

View from BnB balcony at dusk

Breakfast at the BnB was very cute. Bread, yogurt, tea, soy milk, egg, and salad.

Then we went for a hike. We were staying at least halfway up the mountain and wanted to climb all the way to the top. We followed the main road up but were stopped once the road was gated off by a middle school. There was a small trail off to the side but we hadn't done our research and I couldn't find it on AllTrails at that time. I decided to play it safe and head back to the BnB. Besides, I was a bit tired after ~10 days of traveling.

Still got some good views.

Then, we had some traditional tea at Jiufen Teahouse. 

The ceremony started with warming the cups. Then, the tea was brewed for 8 rounds. Each round required a different amount of steeping. The Alishan Jin Shan Tea we chose was fragrant and a little fruity. 

We also had some tea-infused dried plums. The tea flavor wasn't very strong - the aroma emerged after the stronger sweet and sour flavor of the plum.

Also, oolong cheesecake. The texture of the cheesecake was closer to ricotta or farmer's cheese (not as smooth as NY cheesecake) but the flavor was amazing. The tea aroma is enhanced by the dairy, similar to matcha cheesecake except more fragrant.

It was relaxing to brew and pour than sip and savor the tea - a moment of calm in our busy travels. If we didn't have to catch the bus, we would take our time with our 12 cups of tea each. It was a bit pricey (~$20 per person) but worth the experience. Besides, they let you take home the tea leaves you can't finish. 

Then, we had to catch the bus back down the mountain to Keelung - a port city on the outskirts of Taipei.

KEELUNG

There are not too many landmarks in Keelung, but the night market is one of the few. The night market is not exclusively open at night, as many of the shops serve lunch as well. 

We had 油饭 ("oil rice") and 羹 (essentially a thick soup) from two stalls. These are dishes we've only seen in Keelung, so it's cool to see the variation from region to region. 

• The 油饭 reminded us of fried sticky rice. Each grain of rice was smooth on the outside and chewy on the inside. The first version had more complex flavor with the aid of some mushrooms and a better texture with a bunch of mix-ins including mushroom and dried shrimp. 
• The first 羹 had various mushrooms, fat choy, and crab meat - so lots of different textures. The second one consisted of fish dumplings (decently QQ( and bamboo shoot. Each had their own merits, but I liked how you could slurp up the mushrooms together with the soup in the first one.

Stall 1

Stall 2

Both dishes reminded of us the Cantonese versions. The cross-influence is possible, considering that both Guangzhou and Keelung are port cities. 

Then, we took a peak at Renai Market. It consisted of two buildings connected with each other on the second floor. In addition to your typical produce, meat, fish, and cooked food vendors, there were also beauty salons inside the market filled with young and old alike.

We popped over to the Khoo Tsu-song Old Mansion which is an abandoned home but provides good views of the city.

By the Maritime Pier, we caught a fresh sea breeze and spotted some flying fish!

Flying fish

We also passed by an air-raid bunker. Fun to crawl around the tunnel system, though it wasn't very big.

We made it to Zhongzheng Park but didn't stay for long or explore too much because of the mosquitos and the heat.

Statue for tourists

Jackfruit tree!

So we just chilled at the hotel until night market 2.0 as more shops would be open. 

Parrots in a backpack!

Right near our hotel is a shop selling 肉圆. My second time having 肉圆 was pretty different from the first. This time, the dough around the meat was thicker and smoother (not as sticky). There were chunks of meat inside instead of a ground meat and rice flour paste. The texture was further complemented by the crunch of bamboo shoots, while the fermented smell of the bamboo was tamed by a sweet and spicy sauce. The version I had in Keelung was more complex than the one in Taizhong, though I enjoyed both equally.

Next door to that shop, we had some shark fin ball soup garnished with Chinese celery. Pretty simple and straightforward flavor.

At the night market, a shrimp version of 肉圆 where the sauce also had some fish / dashi flavor.

And an oyster pancake since I enjoyed the one in Pingtung so much. They were almost sold out when we got there around 8pm. They used a different vegetable (not napa) and the crepe was softer and not as smooth, but the oysters still tasted fresh. Pingtung was better (crispier more aromatic), but this was still good. 

And squid and pork intestine vermicelli thick soup. Simple flavors, good to slurp for hydration and nutrients in the summer. I liked adding a bit of vinegar to the soup as well. 

And lastly, warm ginger sugarcane juice. Almost reminded me of sweet potato dessert soup my mom makes. All around, natural sugars plus tummy-warming ginger!

The next morning, we walked an hour to Waimushan Fishing Harbor hoping to taste some fresh fish right off the boats, as we had in Pingtung. Unfortunately, it seems more like a place where boats depart and not where fish enters. Most of the locals were there to swim. I would have gone if I brought some sunscreen. I really believed that "rain every day" forecast smh. 

While quiet for tourists, we got some pretty good food in Keelung. Seems like a trend - less populated cities --> get good food.

Back to Taipei!

TAIPEI

Nice thing about Taipei is that the YouBike is free if your ride is under 30 minutes. So we could freely bike around the city and stop wherever we wanted.

We biked past Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial and the nearby Nanmen Market. 

Guess which one we stopped at? Yep, the market. At Hoshin Bakery inside, I got a "grass" mochi filled with dried daikon. None of the workers knew what type of grass made up the mochi. It didn't taste like weed and we didn't feel anything afterwards, so all good. Although it sorta tastes like what it sounds, it was cool to try this local specialty. I also got a sticky lotus seed cake. The sticky cake (made of sticky rice and probably some other starches) was primarily flavored with brown sugar. Whenever I bit a crunchy lotus seed, I got a burst of lotus flavor on top of that.

For lunch, we dined at Wu Yun - a "no menu" restaurant serving Yunnan cuisine. 

"No Menu" means that the chef chooses a set of the dishes served to the customers. I've never had Yunnan cuisine before so I was not expecting the spice, oops. We had...

Too hungry to include the cabbage

Dessert - crispy fried bread with condensed milk

• potato salad - spicy and savory (spice builds up!)
• vermicelli noodle salad with cucumbers and carrots, dressing was sweet, salty, sour! topped with some crunchy chili crisp and sesame
• crunchy intestines of some sort - sweet, salty, and spicy
• chicken curry - kinda reminded me of Burmese curries
• cabbage and unlimited white rice to tame the spice
• Burmese milk tea - made of black tea, reminiscent of Cantonese milk tea for me with a hint of Thai Tea aroma
• crispy fried bread drenched in condensed milk for dessert - sweet, crunchy and chewy

These homestyle meals were a bit overpriced (300 TND or ~10 USD pp), especially considering that costs are probably lower with the set menu. Nevertheless, it was cool to try Yunnan cuisine. In addition, the owner seemed like a musicians with the record decorations (as the drinks menus, hanging on the wall, on the stools) and I'm always down to support artists.

Then, we visited Hakka Cultural Park to learn about the Hakka people in Taiwan. Hakka people have experienced diaspora for centuries and some of them moved to Taiwan. Hakka is now one of the official languages of Taiwan. The park included a greenspace, market area, and museum.

In the exhibits, we learned about some of their occupations, pastimes, and festivities. 

Tea-making exhibit

We also got to learn the Hakka language while walking up the stairs. It's sorta similar to Cantonese!

Some phrases on the stairs

Afterwards, we cooled off with some shaved ice at Mr. Chef Snow & Tofu Gongguan. Instead of pouring syrups over shaved ice, the ice here is flavored prior to shaving and often made primarily of milk or yogurt. 

Behind the scenes - ice shaving machine

We got the boba milk tea and pineapple/guava. The texture of the ice was perfect - light and creamy. The flavors were strong but not overly sweet. 

Pouring the boba and condensed milk on top.

After some hotel chill time, it's time for dinner! Though I was getting tired of wheat noodles, I wanted to have beef noodle soup one more time before leaving Taiwan. I heard that Lao Shan Dong Noodles shaves and cuts their noodles by hand so I wanted to try. It took us a while to find the place. We went through all of the floors of the building where it was supposedly located, exited, peered around multiple blocks, before returning to the building and finding it in the corner of the basement.

We ordered beef noodle soup (with mix of tendon and meat) and the sesame noodles (comes with cucumbers for texture). The noodles were wide and craggy, reminding me of Cantonese wide rice noodles except thicker, chewy, and less smooth. Beef was tender and sesame was flavorful. Solid overall.

Another famous place nearby was A-Chung Famous Rice Noodle. Apparently, my dad has seen a franchise in New York! It looked similar to vermicelli noodle soup we had in Keelung, but it was pretty different texturally. The soup was not as thick, so the focus was on the noodles (not the soup as a whole in the vermicelli version). The broth had a strong seafood flavor (though a bit salty). Personally I preferred this over the vermicelli soup because I'm not a huge fan of thick soups. 

Both of these shops were in the Ximending District. This district reminded me of Times Square, bustling with people and lit up with new buildings and big screens.

Time square vibes

We then walked around Ningxia Night Market but my dad found it too crowded. Good thing we ate before coming. Near the night market is Dadaocheng Pier. It was filled with little bars (think night market stalls except selling alcohol) and young people on dates. Makes sense since it's right along the river so you get a cool night skyline view.

Cool light up mural (look at the lanterns!) on the pier

My dad and I biked along the river back to the hotel. It had the vibes of Boston Esplanade except bikers instead of runners. Honestly, it was more empty than the Esplanade at 10pm but you could still see lots of cars piling onto the highway outside the bike path. In this way, it gave some NYC vibes as well. Feeling the calmness from biking along the river at night with a light cool breeze was one of my favorite parts of Taipei.

The next morning, we went to one last market - Dongmen Market - and got some souvenirs (dried mulberry and another "grass" mochi).

Freshly handmade meatballs

guava!!!

To spend the last of our Taiwanese cash, we went to Decathlon and Carrefour (both in the same building). Some of the Carrefours here are HUGE, especially compared to the ones I visited in Italy and France. They show up as "hypermarkets" on Google Maps with extensive sections of clothes, houseware, and food. Probably what people say Walmart is. We picked up some pre-prepared foods for lunch (to avoid expensive airport food) at Carrefour.

Millet donut. Not very different in taste from a normal donut, perhaps a little chewier.

Usually I end the blogs with us heading to the airport. But the airport itself is something to talk about. The airport is sorta like a museum + amusement park. Some of the gates are like real-life dioramas of places in Taiwan. Others have fun interactive games, including a work area with a horse-riding simulator.

Surfing simulator (unfortunately didn't work)

whoopie!

yeehaw!

Then, we had lunch including a peanut soup thing from the vending machine. Tasted like peanut + sugar in liquid form. A bit too sweet for my tastes, but not bad.

There was also a free shower area. Very clean though you do have to bring / buy your own towel. Unfortunately, we had too much fun riding the horse to have time for showering. It was the most fun I've had while waiting to board the plane.