Aloha Taipei! Food, shopping and temples
I actually wanted to break this blog up into two parts because we covered so much ground in one day. The photos here, as usual, are just the highlights, but you’ll be amazed when you check out the full gallery at my Flickr account. We did a lot!
We checked out the Ximendeng area, which I recommend you put on your schedule just to take a spin around, and eat at some of the food stands as we did. You should also go to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial to see the grounds and hopefully the changing of the guard. While there, head over to Jing Fong for minced pork on steamed rice, then wander through the Nan Men Market to see what they have. One of the things on my list was to see Snake Alley, which is kind of touristy, so if you can’t fit it in your itinerary, I wouldn’t fret — trying the snake venom was not eventful, at least for me, because I’d apparently had it before! Click here to see Catherine Toth’s video.
Aloha Taipei!
We started our day walking to the Taipei City Hall MRT station, and found a sea of bikes available for rent. You actually have to come early to do this; on most days, most of the bikes are rented fairly early. This day was right after Typhoon Soulik, so the rental kiosk was closed.
Here’s my quick video of Longshan Temple. If you’re Chinese, you’ll know why I call this “bai sun on steroids.” Somehow the glitzy nature of the temple seems so wrong…but so Chinese.
