Final Days in Taipei

I'm currently in the international transfers area of the KL airport, and since I've got several hours to kill before my flight home, I figured I'd try to get my final blog for this trip up! I have a dodgy battery in my laptop and can't plug in though, so, we'll see how it goes!

Good place for a nap

Seeing as Taipei is the birthplace of cat cafes, I was determined to visit one before my trip was over. I set out Saturday afternoon to try my luck at Toast Chat again. This time when I got there they were clearly open...and had a long wait for a table! So I sat out the front of the cafe, in the 36 C heat, looking in at the air conditioned tables and playful cats exploring cardboard boxes and people's meals.

After what seemed like an hour, a table became available and I entered the magic! This cat cafe was quite different from the one in Melbourne. It had fewer cats, but also actually serves food. So I ordered an iced latte and some French toast and watched the cats go about their business. I think there were 5 cats, and they'd get into all sorts of places! There were a couple having a play on a big group table. It was nice to see the cats be more interactive than they seem to be at the Melbourne cafe.

Manicure time

Leaving the cat cafe, I set off in search of a place to get my nails done. I'd sourced one online and had the directions and set out to walk there. I actually found it perfectly fine, which was pretty impressive because it was in the basement of some random mall, but when I got there and asked if they did acrylics they said they only did gels. Not realising that this is just a different way of achieving the same result, I left in search of somewhere else.

I'd passed a building with a whole bunch of nail salon signs and headed back there. Then it was into what just looked like an office building or apartments, up a lift, and up to the 5th floor. But the nail place was a supply store, not a salon. After trying a couple other floors I was taken up to a salon on the 12th floor where with the help of google translate I decided to just go for getting gels, whatever they were. The girl who did them was really lovely and accommodating, and seriously I can't thank translating software enough! Towards the end of my appointment one of her friends came to visit, and she studies in America so translated between us and asked me about my time in Taiwan (which honestly I have 99% good things to say about).

Street vendor dim sims

Since I was already out and about, and had spent most of the day resting, I decided to head out to a different part of the city to check out the Gongguan night market. This night market, it turns out, is really close to I think it was Taiwan National University, one of the universities anyways. The market was quite big and bustling, and I was able to get lost in it. It's an area that if I was to come back, I'd consider staying in so I could explore it more.

I wandered through the streets, picking up little eats and different types of drinks along the way. I started with a kind of steamed vegetable and tofu borek type thing, and now for the life of me I can't remember what else I ate! I know I had some sugar cane juice and was glad I just got a small one instead of the 2 for $100 the guy was trying to sell. It was OK, just not my favourite.

Hello Kitty shop!

Another thing I'd been intent on this trip was purchasing a Hello Kitty doll. I have 2 from Japan, 1 from Korea, and 1 from Malaysia (2 are also from McDonald's, which I think is great!) They were selling Hello Kitty merchandise on the Hello Kitty train, but the cart kind of would just whiz by and I gave up on it. I'd sort of resigned myself to just buying something at the airport because in my wanders thus far I hadn't actually found much Hello Kitty. BUT THEN, I found the official store and I bought the cutest doll and I'm really happy about that because the selection at the airport was boring (though there is an actual Hello Kitty gate, but I couldn't be bothered with walking across the airport and back to see it when my feet were already killing me).

After having a solid wander around the night market, and happy with my purchases, I caught the metro back to my hotel and decided to make use of the big bathtub, since it was my last night there. My flight on Sunday wasn't until 11:45pm, but I had to check out of the hotel at noon. I left my suitcase and backpack at the hotel and headed off to have a low key last day in Taipei. (And our story continues now that I'm home and plugged in!)

Water feature in Expo Park

Although I was staying relatively close to the Museum of Contemporary Art my guide book said that the Taipei Fine Arts Museum was the one to see if you were only going to see one, and I was only up for seeing one this time around (although my uber driver on my way home was absolutely shocked that I hadn't gone to the National Taiwan Museum... it seemed too big for how sore I was. It's on the list for next time). So I headed to the metro and made my way to Yuanshan station.

To get to the museum I had to first find my way through a park. It's a bit trickier to orient yourself in a giant park than it is on streets, and given the heat and how sore I was by this stage of the trip I nearly gave up, Especially because it suddenly seemed to be 'street harassment Sunday'! I wanted to have a little sit down on a park bench and take a look at my map, but every time I approached a park bench there'd be a man veering into my personal space. Now, I've been approached by men throughout this trip and it's not been an issue at all. Those men were either having a curious and friendly chat, or offering to help me with directions when I was lost. Every woman learns to spot a street harasser from a mile away, and these guys were sending off all the signals. So I veered away from the benches until I could find a place to sit without any men around. Then I figured out the museum was pretty much just across the street and headed on over to see some art.

Daniel Lee

The museum was having an exhibition of work by Daniel Lee, who I had not heard of, though I think I have seen some of his work online before. It was a really interesting exhibition and I'm glad I went! During his studies he'd done a thesis on how to make a simple animation and there was a video of the process. It showed a cartoon of a white man being overwhelmed by foreigners on public transport, which was quite amusing, though perhaps sadly still too relevant several decades on.

Much of his work involves a morphing of humans with animals using digital techniques. The results are striking and disturbing and fascinating. I suspect Margaret Atwood was influenced by his work when she wrote the Oryx & Crake series.

I was actually in a lot more pain than I'd realised though and found myself feeling really dizzy and unwell as I wandered around the museum. I felt better after taking some pain killers, but I still had to take lots of rests. So I made my way through the rest of the museum fairly quickly. The rest of the art work on display was interesting, but, it didn't really grab me like Daniel Lee's work did. The nice thing about art is, you don't have to like it. So after a quick stroll through the rest of the floors I headed back to the station. There was an interesting little shopping area near the station and I decided to have a look around there. It's an area that would be worth spending more time in, but, I needed to move on.

Selfie statue!

I decided to head back to Ximending because I wanted to go see a movie and knew where the cinema was there. And also it's a fun area to hang out in. When I got out of the metro station I saw a selfie statue that I hadn't previously noticed, and managed to get my picture taken with it. I absolutely love that someone has immortalised the immortalisation of selfies in statue form! Fuck that 'rising narcissism' bullshit!

I made my way into the little shopping streets, encountering another Sunday Street Harasser, and skillfully navigated my way to the cinema, where I purchased a ticket to see Ghostbusters (most of the American movies have subtitles instead of dubbing). I then had almost an hour to kill before the movie started, so went in search of lunch. I needed somewhere that I could sit down, and didn't want to leave the street I was on for fear of not finding the cinema again. This meant going to a pasta place, and feeling like a jackass tourist. But, look. That's a silly way to feel. The movie was really enjoyable, and it was nice to be in a theater full of people laughing along at the jokes and not hear any of the "this movie is ruining my childhood" bullshit. Man, fuck your childhood!

Peanut butter icecream wrap

After the movie I decided to head back towards my hotel, and made another stop at the Ningxia Street Night Market for one last wander and some last treats. This particular night market has something of a county fair feel to it. The first bit of it is lined with little carnival games you can play to win prizes. Like pinball type games, and shooting balloons. I didn't play any, but it was cute watching the families play.

Wandering through the food stalls I stopped at one offering peanut butter icecream wraps, complete with coriander. Delicious! This ended up being the only food I got, though as I was heading out of the food stalls a man in a deep voice said "BEER!" and I said "OK!" I drank my beer as I wandered through the game stalls and back down the street to my hotel, feeling very good about my last evening in Taipei, but ready to head home.

When I got back to the hotel I had a fair bit of time before I needed to head off, so I sat in the weird little reading lounge area and made use of the wifi for a bit. Then I collected my suitcases, changed my clothes, and caught a taxi to the airport. I lucked out on both my flights, in that I had an empty seat next to me on both (I'd tried to upgrade to the empty seat option on my longer flight but my request got rejected, so that was a nice surprise). I mostly slept on my flights, despite the 2 coffees I had during my layover in KL!

It's nice to be home. Tifa is very glad I'm back (she's currently sitting on my stomach, making typing a bit difficult). I was supposed to start teaching yesterday and have a long day of teaching ahead of me tomorrow, so I should probably get out of bed and head into the office to get myself sorted out with my classes!! The vacation was just what I needed before setting off on another hectic semester. I feel recharged and ready to take on a new lot of 100 research methods students!

Taitung to Taipei: Day 8 and 9

I've returned to Taipei and am now staying in a different district called Datong. It's nice to get a feel for a different part of the city. Datong's charms are quite different from those of Wanhua and Ximending!

The best hat!

With much sadness on Thursday afternoon I left the resort and headed back to Taitung. We arrived at the train station about 3 hours before my train so I put my suitcase in storage and caught a bus into the city. It was probably about 40C out and I just wanted to hang out in an air conditioned building until my train! The station isn't anywhere near the city, and there's nothing around it, and it's not air conditioned, so there was no way I was waiting there for 3 hours.

Across from the bus station is a little mall with a movie theatre. I didn't have time to go see a movie, so I went and got myself an icecream instead (it wasn't great). The mall had less going on than I thought it would, so bored I figured I'd go for a short stroll. Knowing that it was easy to get turned around in Taitung I figured I'd just walk straight down the street that leads to the bus station. It was a street I hadn't explored previously, so, why not?

Floppy fluffers

As I was walking down the street I suddenly encountered a store with a cat and a dog tied up out the front. Not just any dog, and Old English Sheep Dog, which I grew up with! I stopped to say hi and suddenly there were TWO dogs and TWO cats! Many pats and scritches were had. The store turned out to be a dog groomer, and I could see (and hear) more dogs inside. The white cat in particular was not interested in letting me leave, but, eventually I had to go.

As I walked away from  the fluffers, I noticed a couple hat shops on the other side of the street. I wandered in to have a look, hoping to get a deal. The man running the shop was pretty excited to see me, and despite him not speaking more than like 5 words of English (which is 3 more on my Mandarin) we had a friendly conversation and he sold me on an awesome hat! What sealed the deal for me was when he showed me how it folds up for convenient storage in my handbag. I really like straw sun hats, but they're fucking annoying to carry around, and easily get squished. So I handed over my money and walked away happy.

My plan was to take the bus back to the train station, but, they run infrequently and by the time I got to the bus station the next one would probably not get me to the station in time. So, I caught a taxi instead. A taxi driver had tried to flag me down as I headed back to the train station, so I went back and found him and said OK let's go! Fortunately I happened to have a map on me that showed the train station and was in Mandarin, because I'm not sure how we would have negotiated that otherwise. And so I was off! I got to the station with just enough time to get my suitcase, buy some snacks, and make it to my platform.

When I booked my train ticket I hadn't really bothered too much with what time I'd get in or how long the journey would be, which was stupid because I ended up on a 6 hour train when I could have caught a 4 hour one. And for some reason, even though the whole trip there were empty banks of seats, there was someone sitting next to me.

Room with a... view

I didn't get back into Taipei until 11pm, and having been up since 6am I was pretty over it. I opted to take a taxi from the train station to my hotel, which ended up being a really good idea because it was super cheap and the nearest metro station to my hotel is about an 800m walk.

My hotel is not the greatest. Like, it's fancy and 'luxurious' in that very boring Western way. But it's not exactly accessibility friendly. It's got one of those lobby illusion water features that you need to put signs up around so people don't fall into it. The breakfast area can only be accessed by going up stairs. The room itself is overly high-tech. Like, in trying to be really modern it's forgotten about functionality a bit. So yeah, not my favourite place. But, it is what it is.

My first night I didn't get the greatest sleep, but now that I've figured out how to work the air conditioner it's better. I'm looking forward to being back in my own bed though! Anyways, in the morning I headed down for breakfast, which is buffet style. The options are kind of limited and I'm pretty over eating hotel food, but at least it's something to get the day started. And the coffee is good. I felt a lot better after my second cup of coffee.

Dihua Street

Feeling fortified, I decided to head out and see what Datong has to offer. My guide book said Dihua Street was the place to go, so off I went. It's a short walk from my hotel, but on the way there I quickly realised that although Datong is one of the oldest districts in Taipei, it is quite wealthy. Aside from the giant Rolex shop, there are beautiful upscale restaurants, craft shops, and jewelry stores. It also seems to be the hub for the younger artistic crowd, with lots of incredible design type shops around. I could spend all the money here.

Dihua Street is known for its traditional Chinese Baroque style and Traditional Chinese Medicine, herbs, and dried foods. It smells incredible! And is just a lovely street to wander along. I ended up walking into a shop that had beautiful china tea sets up the front, and well designed (and more affordable) crafts out the back, along with a little cafe. I was given a shot glass of Oolong tea as I browsed the store, and the sales woman told me about the different products in a friendly, not pushy way. We ended up having a talk about my cats and I showed her pictures and she told me about the mischievous cat who lives at one of their other stores and teases people at the nearby temple.

Tofu and thin noodles

 After giving in to my wallet, I continued wandering down Dihua Street in awe. As I got towards the end I was getting hungry and noticed a little street cafe that had English translations on their menu. Perfect! I sat down at one of their little outdoor tables, and the man running it waved at me to come in where it was cooler. So I sat down inside and ordered some tofu and thin noodle soup. It was very nourishing and exactly what I needed to counter the hotel food. While I was eating the woman who probably actually runs things cooked up some tofu and green beans for herself, and brought me a small plate as well. It was incredible! I think she'd just fried it up with a bit of soy sauce, but it was simple and delicious and generous and kind. After I ate lunch I ordered a steamed cake, because, what is a steamed cake? It is fluffy but kind of dry and probably not getting added to my recommendations list.

I left the cafe and headed back up the street, popping in and out of various craft shops. There was a sweets shop and I figured if anybody could tell me about this pineapple cake thing my friend from the resort was on about, it was them. Turns out she'd suggested I go somewhere that is quite a ways from where I was, but the pineapple cakes are common everywhere and the shop had some and I tried them, and I bought a couple boxes. The woman was funny, telling me about how great of a deal I was getting. I'm pretty sure I didn't get a deal at all, but it really doesn't matter.

Taiwanese craft beer

The other famous thing on Dihua Street is the Xiahai City God Temple, where you can make an offering to find true love. The temple was quite busy, with lots of tourists and probably some locals too. I stopped and checked it out but decided not to make an offering. I have no interest in getting married and wasn't about to jinx my bad relationship luck by cursing myself to find my 'perfect marriage match'. Besides, I'm trying to be a sociologist of breakups!

Loaded up with shopping, I headed back to my hotel. On the way though I stopped at one of the little shops/cafes and decided to try out some Taiwanese beer. They had a few kinds and I asked the waiter for his suggestion and he came back with a sweet potato ale which was quite nice! I could taste the sweet potato, but it was just a flavour hint.

Once I'd finished my beer I made my way back to the hotel to have a bit of a rest and figure out what to do next. I wanted to see what the other direction of my street had on offer, which is where the metro station is. So, I decided to walk to the station and catch the metro to Taipei 101, the shopping centre and at one stage the tallest building in the world.

Taipei 101

Originally I thought I'd spend a day wandering through the shopping centre, but it turns out it's basically a less interesting version of Melbourne's Emporium, and I wasn't really interested in looking at the high end brands. So I headed up to the 5th floor and purchased a ticket to go up to the observation deck on the 89th floor.

There was a pretty sizable queue, but they had free wifi so that made the wait time go much quicker. As you go through you can pose for a touristy picture on a bluescreen. I did the picture but didn't buy it. Then it was up in the world's fastest elevator...30 seconds to the top! My ears popped.

I definitely had a bit of vertigo when I got to the top and started trying to walk around! But once I adjusted to being up so high it was fine. It was cool to wander around and see the city from up high. I found city hall, where I'd sat and taken a reprieve from the typhoon rains the week before. I saw the rivers and the bridges and the beautiful hills that surround Taipei. It was hot and late in the afternoon and the sky was hazy, so the view was a bit impacted by that.

Taipei from the 89th floor

I had decided not to take a bottle of water with me, and was starting to feel dehydrated. There were Taipei 101 shaped water bottles in the gift shop, and I considered buying one but decided not to. My hip was also starting to complain from all the walking so it was time to go. I wandered around until I found the exit, then wandered back to the lifts because it was just a stairwell and over my dead body was I going down 89 flights of stairs! The staff informed me the lift down was on the 88th floor. Fine.

There is an outdoor observatory on the 91st floor, but I decided to give it a pass. I headed down to the 88th floor and was annoyed to find it was a giant coral show room/gift store. There were some beautiful pieces, but walking another lap of the building was really not what I wanted to do at that stage. Nor was waiting in another huge queue for the lift down. So by the time I got to the bottom it was definitely time to just head home and forget about whatever else was around Taipei 101. 

I got back on the metro and headed for Zhongshan station. I was in need of water and a sit down. I managed to get a seat on the metro, but definitely needed more rest. So obviously when I got to my station I decided to go to the nearby Ningxia St Night Market instead of my hotel.

Ningxa Night Market noms

First things first: bubble tea. When I was teaching my students about experiential consumption and getting them to think about it in terms of tourism I'd mentioned that I was planning a trip to Taiwan. One of my students enthusiastically said I needed to try the bubble tea, as that's where it originated and she loved bubble tea (thereby proving my point about how we consume experiences and expectations when traveling). So this time I made sure they put some bubbles in my tea!

Despite my hip's protests, I'm glad I went to the market. The stalls were set up in the middle of the street, creating a narrow passage that was jam packed with people and all sorts of different food. There were lots of delicious looking options, but my first stop was at a stall advertising 'coffin bread'. What is coffin bread?! It's a thick slide of bread that is deep fried, then cut open and filled with whichever flavour you order. I got blueberry, but there were also things like chocolate, and beef curry. Lots of stalls had stinky tofu on offer, so the smell was pretty intense. And there were fruit stalls with all sorts of options (though I got the sense if I tried to buy something they'd only sell me mango because Westerners love mango...I cannot stomach mango). I decided to buy a chicken sausage from a rather cheeky young man. Then I wandered to the end of the market and sat on a park bench to eat my purchases and rest my hip.

I made my way back to the hotel and had a bit of a rest, but, it was Friday night and I wanted to see what else Datong had to offer, since Ximending had been particularly fun to wander at night. I set off with the intention of getting lost amongst the various streets. But I didn't get lost, exactly. Unlike Ximending, Datong is lined by lots of large, busy streets. And although the neon signs were blaring, most of the shops were shut. There are laneways here, but, they are less inviting than the ones of Wahua and Ximending. I don't think they are lined with hidden treasures, at any rate with everything being closed it didn't really feel as safe to wander down them. So I stuck to the main streets and as such didn't really lose my sense of direction. I ended up walking a lot further than I'd intended, but, as soon as I'd had enough I found the street my hotel was on and didn't even walk the wrong way down it. I guess Datong's magic is more visible during the day.

Today is my last full day in Taipei, though my flight is not until nearly midnight Sunday night. I'm hoping to take it a bit easier today, and am going to try to get to that cat cafe, and also see if I can get my nails done as they are now rather too long for my liking! I might go check out another market in another part of the city, but at this stage I'm just going to see how my hip holds up and go with that. Tomorrow I'm thinking I'll go to one of the museums so I can get out of the heat (plus I did intend to go to at least one on this trip!) and maybe spend some more time on Dihua Street.

Zhiben Hot Springs: Day 6, 7, 8

In my last update I was sitting in a friendly cafe in Taitung, now I am at the end of my stay at the hot springs resort Hotel Royal Chihpen and I am very sad to be leaving this afternoon. I will be taking a bus from the hotel to Taitung station, and then a train back to Taipei for my last few days in Taiwan.

Surprisingly delicious

My last morning in Taitung I went back to Dante's for breakfast, hoping to try the waffles. They didn't have any waffles though, so my next plan was to just order the weirdest thing I could find on the menu. This ended up being a lychee flavoured latte and a ham and egg sandwich, with peanut butter. The latte was OK, but please Melbourne, it doesn't need to be a thing! The sandwich, much to my surprise, was delicious! Not exactly a combination I would have thought to put together, but, it actually really hit the spot!

I had a fair bit of time before I would be able to check in at the resort, so I left my suitcase at the hotel and went in search of the nearby bus station. Which was completely empty. Confused, I went back to my hotel to see if they knew anything. The receptionist only spoke a little bit of English, but with the help of Google Translate we were able to sort things out! Turns out the bus station near the hotel wasn't operating and I needed to go to the old train station. This was also only a short walk away, so I headed over to figure out tickets and wander around. It was incredibly hot and I was very happy to find a refreshing apple iced tea drink.

The bus dropped me down there

Taking the bus seemed like it would be easy. It was only $65 (less than $3 AUD) to get from Taitung to the Zhiben hot springs. For some reason I thought all the hotels would be near each other and the bus would just drop me off in a big parking lot and I'd have a short walk to my hotel. Not quite. The first problem was the bus driver had no idea where I was going, and I had no idea he had no idea (I realise how dumb that sounds). So I'd gotten on the bus and caused quite a bit of confusion. During the trip some young girls came up to me with their tablet and again Google Translate sorted us out!

The bus climbed up the mountain road, gradually letting everyone else off. Then, suddenly, the driver pulled over in what seemed like the middle of nowhere and told me I had to walk the rest of the way up some narrow side street that seemed to have no end. With my suitcase in tow. I feel like there's a very classic movie scene where some white lady is dropped on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere with her bags and has to sort it out and that was me. It ended up not being that big of a walk, but, I didn't know that when I started! It was up a very steep hill, with my suitcase, in the afternoon heat, with my dodgy hip... I was a sweating, dying mess by the time I reached the hotel!!

My room <3 td="">

When I got to my room though, it was totally worth it! It's absolutely beautiful here and I do not want to leave. I'm told it's normally much more beautiful here but many of the trees on the mountainside were knocked over during the typhoon. I'd thought about staying for 3 nights, but, that would have meant a shorter overall trip to Taiwan and I'm glad that I've had the time here to explore. I would definitely come back, to Taiwan and to this hotel. There's so much to see!

So after I had collapsed onto the bed in a heap and recovered from my trek up the mountain I got settled into my room and had a much needed shower. The reason I chose this hotel over the others in this area is because it has private hot springs baths in the rooms. The shower water is also from the hot springs, and as soon as I got in the shower I knew I needed to get in that bath!

Worth the money!

There are quite a few hot springs facilities at this hotel, but being able to just relax into my own private bath in my room was a very nice treat. I had a bath when I first got here, and another one before bed last night.

My booking came with breakfast and dinner buffets (thank god! resort food is so expensive and there's no other options at hand) and after my bath I headed down for dinner. The buffet was excellent, with a variety of Taiwanese, Chinese, Japanese, and Western options. Apparently the rice here is some of the best rice in the world!

The server who took me to my table was a young woman with a funky undercut who I quickly found myself befriending. She complimented me on my hair and I showed her my undercut and we chatted about what I was doing in Taiwan and where I'd come from. I'm quite happy travelling on my own and keeping to myself, but it is nice to meet people and form bonds, even if just short lived. It's made going to dinner nice, knowing I'll get to have a little chat with her.

In the evenings there is an aboriginal cultural program. I got a bit confused the first night because it was meant to be outside, but had been moved inside due to rain (it wasn't raining). I had brought my camera but didn't end up taking any pictures because I wasn't in a position to get a good spot and just wanted to rest as my hip was quite sore. Thinking it was the same performance every night, I figured I'd skip last nights and go check out the open air hot springs. Well, those hot springs were closed for some reason, and the performance was outside, and it was different from the previous nights. I stayed and watched it for a little while, but opted to go back to my room because I was actually finally getting some work down on my article.

My private balcony

I spent pretty much the whole day yesterday in my room, writing. Having this view to look out on while I worked was pretty special and I'm really glad I'd planned to do this! I did venture out in the afternoon, planning to go have a walk in the nearby forest while housekeeping made up my room. Of course, getting to the forest park would involve a rather substantial walk through the mountains, and had I bothered I would have found the park closed because of the damage from the typhoon, so, that was a bust. There is a temple next to the hotel and I wandered over there for a bit. It was so hot outside though that I soon made my way back to the hotel and pottered around until I figured I could go back to my room.

The hotel grounds are quite beautiful and there are lots of activities for people to do, but especially for kids. There's all sorts of climbing gyms and pools and sand pits and putting greens and archery ranges. There's also lots of ponds and some enclosures that I think would normally have more wildlife... At the moment there's 3 geese, a black swan, and a few ducks.

Giant creeps!

One thing that is quite spectacular here is the butterflies. I think they are quite rare, and they are everywhere! And they are HUGE! The ones in the picture are about mid range for the ones I've seen here (turns out butterflies are not easy to photograph - I spent a good chunk of my afternoon yesterday playing "ok, just hold still for a moment, no, don't touch me!") Butterflies, beautiful though they are, creep me out. They're like pretty moths, and moths are pretty much the worst thing ever, so, there was a lot of flinching and jumping in the process of getting these pictures. I was, however, quite relieved to discover that some of the (smaller) butterflies were actually hummingbirds. I feel pretty fortunate to have encountered some of them.

Since I'd missed out on the open air spa last night, I figured I'd get up really early and go to it first thing in the morning, before the heat of the day set in. Unfortunately, it was still shut and wasn't going to be opening. But, the indoor spa facilities were open early and I could go there. For some reason I'd gotten confused and thought that the indoor spa you had to pay extra for. There is a spa you can pay extra for, but, there's also one that is freely available to guests. So I went there, feeling quite silly that I'd not gone the day before as well!

Like the baths in Japan and South Korea, it's a naked bath. There is a men's side and a women's side, and you go in, undress, shower, and enjoy the different types of baths. It was pretty quite at 7am. An older woman was heading in and she explained the shower and baths to me (I've used similar ones before, but years ago now). I started in the 38 degree pool, which was like floating on a cloud. Then I went into the 28 degree jacuzzi which was pleasantly cool. At this stage a younger woman came in and was excited to meet a foreigner so we struck up a conversation and tried out the different baths together. We went back and forth from the 48 degree bath to the 18 degree bath. The cold bath ended up being my favourite. It was quite a shock to get into at first, but then when you adjust to it it's very refreshing! I spent about an hour in the spas, going around to the different baths and chatting with my young new friend.

Beatrix and I

Beatrix told me about how she had just sat her entrance exams for uni and was travelling around Taiwan with her dad as they did every summer, but also visiting different universities. I told her that I teach at a university. She told me about her love of Japanese culture and the Australian Open. We decided to meet up at the restaurant and have breakfast together, which was a really lovely change from eating on my own. I joined her and her dad and they told me stories about how Google Maps had shown them a different part of the country, and talked about the freedom driving around provided (as opposed to taking trains and buses like I am). Her dad was quite funny and I'm really glad I got to join them for breakfast. That's how I know this hotel has the best rice, and also pork buns (which I've also been enjoying), and that the scenery has changed drastically because of the typhoon. It was great to hear their different stories and get advise on things to do and see in Taipei, along with hearing about the places I was missing out on in other parts of Taiwan. Obviously I'll need to come back! I also apparently need to hunt down some sort of pineapple cake dish, which Beatrix has written down in Mandarin for me on a toothpick packet. So there's an adventure waiting for me when I get back to Taipei tonight!

Sadly it's time for me to pack up my room and head out. I've gotten a late checkout, so have another hour in this glorious room. Then I'm catching the hotel shuttle in 2 hours from now. I'll spend an hour lounging around in the lobby reading a book, I suppose. I'm tempted to go back into the spa! This has definitely been a worthwhile treat for myself and I hope it's not the last that I see of the Royal Chihpen Hotel!

Taitung: Day 5

I'm writing this sitting in a bright, cool, rather Western style cafe in Taitung called Dante Coffee Shop. I came here for dinner last night as it was near my hotel and still open at the rather late hour in which I found myself looking for food. The motto on their sign says "Coffee Life Always Bright" and the young staff are very friendly and eager to see if they can get things right in English. It is cute and I love it here and will probably come here for the waffle brunch before I head off tomorrow.

Riding the Hello Kitty train!

I arrived in Taitung yesterday afternoon, on the delightful Hello Kitty train. The train left Taipei at 1pm, and wanting to make damn sure I didn't miss it, I left my hotel at 11am. The train station is only one metro stop from the metro near where I was staying, so my suitcase and I walked to Ximen and figured out where the elevator was (much to my hip's relief) and caught the metro to Taipei Main Station.

When I got up to the entrance to the train station, there were people everywhere! It was hot as sin and there was some kind of Muslim (I'm guessing) cultural or religious celebration going on. I don't know why, exactly, it was happening at the train station, but there were cheerful people picnicking and shopping and dressed in their finest across nearly every inch of the station. Which made wheeling a big suitcase around extra challenging, but I managed not to run over anyone.

Pauline Hanson's worst nightmare?

My first mission was to find the train platform. This proved pretty easy and I had a good chat with the woman inspecting tickets at the platform gate. Since I was ridiculously early, I figured I'd better go get myself some lunch. For whatever reason I decided not to get a luggage locker, so me and my ridiculous suitcase went back up through the crowd in search of a place we could sit down to eat. I ended up at a restaurant on the upper level, where I was overcome with heat exhaustion and ended up ordering a rather expensive meal that I couldn't finish. It wasn't a great start. I don't know why they'd seemingly turned the A/C off when there was so many people in the station?!

After lunch I decided to make my way back to the platform. I was still a good 30 minutes early, but, it was cooler down there and I had a book to keep me entertained. Despite me like quadruple checking that I was in the right place, I got increasingly anxious as 1pm approached. But, sure enough, I was in the right place and at 1pm the Taroko Express, in all it's kawaii glory, pulled up! I got on and found my seat, which, happily, was a window seat. There would have been ample leg room, but, I had to put my suitcase in front of me so I was a bit squished in.

Mountains and coast line

And then we were off! The train itself was decorated with Hello Kitty pictures inside and out. As we pulled out of the station people on the platform were taking pictures and videos. As we crossed the countryside people in the various towns and villages would wave, and pull out their smartphones to document our passage. The trip itself was pretty uneventful. It ended up taking about 4 hours to get to Taitung. I spent that time taking in the spectacular scenery. It wasn't all mountains and coastlines... there were rice paddies and industrial towns too. But it was a great way to get to see more of the country and I'm really glad I did it! I'll be taking the train back on the 14th - a normal train, not the Hello Kitty train. Hopefully it'll be as comfortable to journey! I think I'm on a slower moving train than the one I came here on.

When I got to Taitung I caught a taxi to my hotel. Having the address written in Mandarin on the hotel reservation was handy! There's very little English spoken here and I'm not sure how I would have managed otherwise. The now downgraded super typhoon Nepartak had hit here on Friday and the evidence is all around. Debris from trees and buildings has been neatly piled up along the sides of the roads and is gradually being collected. My hotel is without hot water as the pipe broke (it's ridiculously hot here so the water isn't exactly cold anyways).

Damage from the typhoon

On Sundays there is meant to be a massive, lively street market and I was excited to check it out. After getting settled into my hotel (where I have the same room number as at the previous one...odd) I asked the front desk if the market would still be on. They weren't sure, but gave me directions on how to get there. I set off as the sun sunk, hoping for the best.

Now, the thing is, everyone in Taitung gets around on scooters so there isn't much in the way of infrastructure for pedestrians. This coupled with the piles of debris from the typhoon along the side of the streets makes walking around something of a challenge. Then add in the redirected traffic as construction crews dismantle dangerous hanging metal signs and the general confusion and rubbernecking... I think I got close to the street where the market would be, but I gave up and opted to come back to my hotel instead.

So many options!

This morning, after having a good sleep in, I headed out in search of breakfast. I seem to be staying on the street with all the coffee places, which is great! I went into a small, much less Western cafe and managed to order a breakfast of a ham croissant and coffee. It was completely delicious! I sat at my little table and finished reading an article I'd been working my way through over various cups of coffee. Then, armed with a sense of adventure, I set out to wander around the city.

Taitung is known for its vast array of fruit, and I have partaken in many a fruit drink in the short time I've been here! Lychee, grapefruit, honey peach, pineapple and dragon fruit... Finding new flavours to try out is a real joy. I've also got some sort of apple waiting for me back at my hotel, along with an array of yummy biscuits.

Taitung is a small city, so there's not as much space to get lost in. But, there's a lot less English, and the road signs are not as clear. So I've still managed to get lost. I've mostly found my hotel through being lost, though I do have a vague sense of where it is in relation to the shops I repeatedly walked passed in confusion.

Debris closer to the coast

After my morning stroll, which I forgot to mention also involved me wandering into some sort of cat store where I made cat friends and picked up a little present for my fur babies who are no doubt missing me terribly, I headed back to my hotel for a brief rest and then decided to attempt a stroll through Seaside Park.

It wasn't a long walk to the coastal park, but it was clear this area was hit hardest by the typhoon. Lots of people were out clearing up the debris piled on the roadside. And by lots of people I mean the military along with the locals. People seemed to be in good spirits though. I think the area gets hit with typhoons and tropical storms a few times a year, so this isn't out of the ordinary though the extent of damage is larger than normal. The damage is pretty extensive. I keep noticing more of it whenever I go out.

Watching the waves crash

Seaside Park is meant to have like a 20km cycle path and aboriginal sculptors and woodcarvings, so I was hoping to get in a good walk along the coastline. The path wasn't completely inaccessible, but, navigating around the debris would have been quite difficult to do on bike or scooter, let alone foot. I walked along the bit that I could and enjoyed the cool sea breeze and crashing of the waves. This is definitely not a swimming beach; the waves were quite big and the coastline much rockier than this picture shows. Looking at the beach and the sea I felt like deciding not to attempt a trip out to Green Island for some snorkeling was the right choice. Perhaps another time.

After my wander I realised I was quite hungry. Like, in that "OMG I'm not going to make it" kind of way. This was also probably because by this stage it was incredibly hot and my sun safety skills are incredibly lacking. I didn't realise how sun burnt I got today until tonight, but, my arms are very red and I'm regretting not packing anything for the burn! It took me awhile to find a place to eat too. I ended up wandering all over the city again, getting quite lost and feeling progressively sicker. I kept thinking I'd found a food place only to find that it was actually a juice/tea place (or, let's be honest, was too Western, or too Chinese for me to manage).

The most amazing tofu

Upon reaching the point of desperation I stumbled down a street and into a little restaurant that had quite a few people around it. I'd wandered in trying to get away from a horrible smell on the street, only to realise I'd found the source of the smell. But, from my guidebook I also knew that I'd accidentally stumbled into one of their recommended eateries: Lin Chou Doufu. This place is known for its stinky tofu. I'm so glad I found it!

The staff were very friendly and welcoming. They had some English signs but nobody seemed to speak English. It didn't really matter though because they only serve the one dish anyways. I sat down, got myself a drink, and was brought out a plate of delicious tofu. I was so hungry I ate it quickly and asked for another plate, which pleased the owner greatly. I felt much better after having my fill and getting out of the sun for a bit. I thanked the staff and said goodbye and headed back out into the sweltering heat of the afternoon to go back to my hotel.

Tomorrow I head off to the hot springs, which I'm pretty excited about! My plan is to take a bus from here to there. The bus station is meant to be about a block from my hotel so this should be easy. I'll have to get an earlier start tomorrow as check out here is at 11am and I want to sort out my bus tickets before hand so I'm not dragging my suitcase around unnecessarily. I also want to load up on snack foods as things will be more expensive at the hot springs (though breakfast and dinner should be included with my hotel). Maybe when I get back into town before I catch the train I'll have a chance to get some more of that tofu!

Taipei: Day 3

Last night I did end up venturing out again. My plan was to just get a bite to eat and come back, but, the weather was nice, people were out on the streets, and I decided to go see what all the excitement was about. The empty market I had been wandering around in the morning was in full swing, so I decided to spend a bit of time exploring and finding something to eat. There are so many street food stalls around, but, I'm not exactly an adventurous eater and the crowds and language barrier meant I usually kept walking, though I did kind of try to order something at one stall before giving up!

Relevant street art

More wandering through laneways led me to this excellent bit of street art, along with many tattoo parlours that had me thinking for a minute (but no, I don't think ink is in the budget right now). Speaking of tattoos, the young people of Taipei are well and truly inked! I'm not exactly a novelty here, having green hair and visible tattoos. (And if you've ever found yourself saying "You don't see Chinese people walking around with English words tattooed on them!" you are wrong.)

I treated myself to a taro milk iced drink while I continued to wander in search of food. I eventually decided that venture was in the too hard basket and went to the bakery near my hotel to get a couple savoury pastries, then called it a night.

This morning I went to the canteen for breakfast, where the ladies pretty much insisted on me having a tuna sandwich. Why not? My plan was to do some work this morning, but I figured a stop off at the nearby temple I've been walking passed every day would be an even better way to start the day. And it was! The Tien-Ho Temple is beautiful and made for an excellent subject to play around with on my new camera (pics will be uploaded after my trip). People were stopping in to say their prayers before heading off on their day, the sun was shining through the humid haze, and the smell of incense was in the air. I spent some time giggling at the koi as they gulped at me, and tried not to get in anyone's way. One of the women gave me a pamphlet on the temple and told me I was most welcome to wander around and take pictures. It was really lovely and serene and I left a small donation before heading off.

Strange but delicious bed fellows

I don't exactly know what happened to my plan to do some work, but I soon found myself wandering through laneways again. This time I stopped at a little convenience store and bought myself a roasted sweet potato. It was amazing! Wandering back to my hotel, I decided to stop in at the coffee place I'd wanted to go to yesterday and get something to take away. They sell these croissants with a fish on them, how could I say no? I ended up ordering a rose iced latte and a peanut butter and mashed potato croissant to take back to my hotel. They were both delicious! 

The coffee left me a bit too wired to really settle into reading and focusing on stuff (or so I tell myself), but I somehow managed to do my taxes (!!!) so at least got some adulting out of the way. Then I decided to head off to another nearby temple and have a wander around the old herb market and historical streets in that part of Wanhua District. I got on the metro and took it one stop to the LungShan Temple. This is a much bigger, more tourist oriented temple. Everyone was taking selfies, and I ended up posing in some stranger's pictures because I thought she was asking me to take a picture of her and her partner, but nope, she wanted a pic with me (I can't blame her, really). The highlight of this temple for me was the cats! First I saw a black cat scurry passed. I tried to befriend him but he was too busy catting to pay me any mind. Then I saw another cat sneaking around on the temple roof. Tifa and the kittens would love to explore that roof!

Herb Alley

The temple was quite busy, with tour groups going through it along with people coming to pray. I didn't stick around very long, instead opting to wander around the area and check out the small laneway known as Herb Alley. It smelled divine! I suspect the market was much bigger than the bit that I saw, but there was a small tour group at one end of it and I didn't feel like trying to push passed them. Instead I opted for a walk around the block. The surrounding area is much less touristy and made for a pleasant stroll, getting a sense of life in Taipei for an older population than the one around where I'm staying. There were quite a few karaoke bars with women working as entertainers, and men belting out the tunes. It was an interesting part of the city to see that just got interestinger!

There's a brothel behind me

I eventually made it back around to the herb market and decided to get myself an iced tea. OMG it was so good! A bit minty, very refreshing on a hot day. My tea and I then set off to find Bopilao Old Street, getting pleasantly lost in the process. I decided to have a wander down a quiet picturesque laneway, take some selfies, see where I ended up. There were lots of scooters parked on the street, and a couple women milling about out the front of a house. I continued wandering down the laneway as men on scooters kept zipping passed. And then I realised: I'd stumbled into a red light district. I wasn't entirely sure, but, my sexual subculture senses were tingling, and had been for awhile. Then I saw a woman leading a man into a building and I knew. I would have loved to have talked to the women but going up to someone and being like "hey, are you a sex worker?" isn't exactly an acceptable thing to do.

Grumpus cat

Instead, we bonded over me trying to pat a very grumpy cat. I went up making cooing noises while it was bathing and it glared at me and then took a few swipes at me before storming off. The women and I had a good laugh over it. I then noticed some kittens further down, who were also not interested in me. So, after my cat spotting I bid farewell to the sex workers and made my way over to Bopilao Old Street.

As the name implies, Bopilao Old Street is an old street, kind of. It's actually a very new revival of an alley from the Qing dynasty. So new that, despite the architecture clearly being quite old, it felt very modern. Apparently the city hasn't quite worked out what to do with the street yet, as there are lots of empty buildings waiting to be turned into things. Empty buildings aside from the air conditioning, which by this stage in the day was much appreciated! So after having a little look around I walked back to my hotel to have a bit of a rest before heading out to some more markets.

The Red House is an artist market/hub for fashionistas/central beacon for the whitewashing of Taipei's queer scene. (I shit you not, there was a white person selling t-shirts with popular fictional characters reimagined as bananas.) It didn't quite live up to my expectations as per the guide book (though, really, that's not a surprise). That being said, the market inside the Red House was really lovely/exactly like being in an upscale artist market in Melbourne. I may have bought a few things.

Put off by the touristy vibe/actual tourists at the cafes surrounding the Red House, I again set off on a wander, this time determined to have a proper sit down meal instead of getting a snack thing from a stall to eat back at my hotel. Turns out there's about a billion restaurants in the opposite direction from the one I usually wander in, so, that's good to know on my last night at this hotel.

Eventually I found a place where I could sit down, relax, and get some sort of Asian food. Or so I thought. I am not entirely sure how to classify the dish I was served, aside from as yummy and nourishing. My meal came with a small glass of the most amazing fruit juice as well. I'm not entirely sure what kind of fruit juice, but possibly pear. Ok, ok, I may have chosen this place because they had a cat sign. They had a donation box for I'm going to assume animal rescue, which I emptied my coins into.

Somebody's dinner, but not mine

After dinner my plan was to wander around some more and enjoy observing the night life. It had started to rain, but I had my umbrella and was not going to be put off by a bit of spitting. But then the spitting turned into pouring, which then turned into a thunderstorm and I learned my lesson about wandering around in the rain yesterday! 

On my way back to the hotel I passed by this street food stall, which caught my eye. I hadn't seen any with so many fish before, and I certainly hadn't seen any with frogs!! I've also never seen frogs the size of these and am now left wondering whereabouts in Taiwan I need to go to see some giant ass frogs!

Tonight is my last night in Wanhua/Ximending. I feel like there's lots more to do and see in this part of the city, but, other adventures await. Tomorrow I embark on my Hello Kitty train adventure to Taitung, where I'll spend a couple days before heading into the mountains for a couple of days at the Zhiben Hot Springs (where I splurged and booked myself a room in one of the fancier resorts). After that, it's back to Taipei for 3 days, and then back to Melbourne (just in time to miss my first class of the semester, oops!)

Taipei: Day 2

When the weather forecast calls for a super typhoon...

My plans for today were to have breakfast, then go to a nearby cafe for a coffee and to do some reading, then to head into the centre of Taipei to have lunch at a cat cafe, and then wander over to the Taipei Discovery Centre, and maybe Taipei 101. Things didn't quite go to plan!

Breakfast is served

As I was saying yesterday, my daily breakfast included in my hotel booking is served at a cafe down the street called Taipei Milk King. My voucher gets me a pre-made sandwich and a coffee or a tea. It's a bit strange, but, let me tell you that free sandwich makes a great start to the day!

After breakfast I didn't feel the immediate need for a second coffee, so I decided to go have another wander, this time choosing to explore a little laneway with a decorative sign proclaiming it to be Hong Kong Street. The laneway led me to a massive street market filled with shops selling touristy souvenirs. Shops don't really seem to be open in the mornings here, so most places were closed. But I did come across a cute little shop with various stickers, signs, and key chains proclaiming love for all sorts of fur babies. Yes, Taiwan is getting all my cat tourist dollars.

A graffiti filled laneway

I like wandering around my district in the mornings, when there aren't many people about and shops are shut or just opening. I find busy, noisy markets overwhelming and generally try to get out as fast as I can, so getting to linger and take things in slowly is quite nice (and possibly easier on my wallet).

My wandering took me down another quiet little laneway, this one filled with interesting graffiti. It was at this stage lightly raining and I was enjoying strolling around and taking in the sights, so I wasn't too bothered when I realised I was lost again. I had found one of the main streets, which connects up with the street my hotel is just off of so I knew I just needed to figure out which direction to walk in. Having yesterday trusted my instincts and gone the wrong way, I decided today to go against my instincts...and go the wrong way.

Laneway apartments and shops

When I realised I was heading in the wrong direction, I turned around and was stopped by a man who had seen me walk past a moment before. Turns out he had been sitting behind me on our flight yesterday! We had a friendly chat and he got directions for me from a shop lady and sent me on my way. It left me feeling good about the world and I headed back with a smile.

The area that I'm staying in is a tourist area (it's also the LGBT part of town though I've yet to really venture into the scene). There are quite a few coffee places on the main street and I decided to check one of them out. The one I wanted to go to only had high stools for seating, and I can't sit on those types of chairs because of my hip. So I went to another place across the street called Fong Da Coffee. Turns out this place is quite well known! It was busy, but I was able to share a table out the back, where I sat down with an iced latte and a journal article and enjoyed the ambiance of working in a busy cafe.

Getting thoroughly soaked in Da'an

Then it was back to the hotel to get myself organised for what I intended to be a big day of sight seeing. I packed up my camera and guidebook and water bottle into my backpack and headed off on the metro into the city centre. By this stage it was raining significantly harder than before and I was starting to think not having an umbrella was a mistake. But, it was still warm and I don't mind getting a bit wet so off I went in search of one of Taipei's many cat cafes!

I'd looked up the address online before heading off and was so proud of myself for negotiating my way from the train station to the right street, then going the right way and finding the right laneway! Of course, when I couldn't see the cafe I walked down about 5 laneways and back, while the rain got heavier and heavier, and I got hungrier and hungrier. Honestly, I felt like I was going to cry. Very little was open, nobody was around, I didn't know why I couldn't find the cafe, and I just wanted to sit down and get something to eat. Feeling quite defeated, I sought sustenance and shelter from the rain, and ended up at a Burger King. I felt like an ass going into a Western fast food chain, but, the situation definitely called for it! Plus, there was free wifi so I could look up the cat cafe's information again and figure out what went wrong. After having some chicken nuggets and finding out I'd walked right past the cafe twice, I felt fortified to go try again. The rain showed no sign of letting up, so I headed into a nearby 7-Eleven (there's one almost every 100 metres here) and bought an umbrella. Then, back to the cafe!

A very closed cat cafe 

'Torrential' would not be an overstatement to describe the rain when I arrived at Toast Chat, which was right where Google said it would be, but significantly more closed than Google said it would be. Apparently sensible people stay in when there's a typhoon!

Determined to make the best of a bad situation, I decided to wander over to the nearby Taipei Discovery Centre where surely I could get out of the rain and spend an enjoyable afternoon learning about Taipei. Of course, I had only a vague idea about how to get there and that thing about the torrential rain.

I basically wandered my way over to a main road, which I was able to identify on my guidebook map. I wasn't sure where on that road I was though, or which direction to walk in, and I wasn't quite so willing to just wing it. I tried asking some girls but they didn't know what I was on about (fair enough), and while I was trying to figure out what to do a man came out of a restaurant and asked me if I needed help. Bless! He'd just come back from Europe and could spot a tourist in need and spoke English and had Google on his phone and he quickly got me sorted out. He informed me that there was a good chance the Discovery Centre would be closed because of the rain, but I wasn't giving up yet! (Spoiler, I should have given up.)

Off I went, while the rain increased to whatever comes next after torrential. Now, for the most part walking around in Taipei I've been under building awnings so the rain isn't a big deal. But for this walk, I was going passed the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, situated inside a luscious park. Just right out in the open. It wasn't a long walk, but, it wasn't a short one either given the rain! By the time I got to City Hall (where the Discovery Centre is located) I was soaked through and through. Still not giving up, I went up to the big City Hall building...which was closed. I sat under it's awning for awhile watching the downpour and contemplating what to do. The rain wasn't going to be letting up any time soon, I was drenched, it was time to go back to my hotel.

Fortunately, I wasn't too far from a metro station. I found a somewhat mysterious escalator going down and decided I'd rather be lost out of the rain than in it, so headed down. It took me into another underground shopping area and then to the metro station. I treated myself to a couple donuts from Mr Donut (one red bean, one lemon), got on the train, and headed home.

Now it looks like the rain has stopped, there's lots of people out on the street, and I've had some time to dry off and warm up. I ended up being too tired last night to go out again, but I'm feeling rested now so will likely venture out for some dinner and then call it a night. Tomorrow I plan to stay in and do some work in the morning, then head out later in the day to check out Ximending's apparently noteworthy weekend fashion scene (flamingo leggings are at the ready!)