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!)