Taipei, Taiwan

I love Taiwan! So much happened on our trip and I had an amazing time. I will try my best to give a detailed account of our Taipei adventures. Because we didn't have that much time, we stayed in Taipei for our entire trip. 

March 16th

We left for the airport in the late afternoon on Wednesday. Taipei, here we come! I was so excited for sight-seeing, hot springs, and FAR EAST MOVEMENT! The plane ride there was short and sweet. Although it was only a 1.5 hour long flight, they gave us a meal! And it wasn't half bad. Steamed chicken and pickled veggies. Not too shabby, international flights are awesome. 

The reason we left Hong Kong on a Wednesday was because Far East Movement was performing at club Luxy that night. When we arrived at our hostel, we dropped off our bags, got ready, and headed to the club! It was so crowded when we got there. The line was literally a mob of people that overtook the entire street outside club Luxy. After waiting for awhile, we finally got in. It was only 300NT for girls to get in (1000NT for guys)! I only had to pay about 10USD to see Far East Movement :)

 Luxy is definitely one of the coolest clubs I have ever been to. There were green laser beam fences at the entrance and lasers to point out the bar. I felt like I was in the Matrix. The music was pretty good too! We got in around 10PM and were told FM would come out at midnight. They didn't actually come out until 1:30AM. Despite the long wait, I had a great time! FarEast Movement were good live, and I have videos that I will show you all later :)

After the concert, we left to taxi back to the hostel. I must comment on how drivers are even worse in Taiwan than Shenzhen! I was crossing the road on a crosswalk, and this van almost ran me over. If I walked 2 seconds slower, I would have been hit. Smh... so many crazy drivers in Asia. My friend tapped the back of the guy's car telling him to slow down, and he got so angry that he drove up next to our taxi and waved a machete at us. Luckily, the taxi driver was a g himself and ran a red light to lose the guy. 

Pictures of Hostel 1 (I can't remember the name). We had to pack up our stuff and move to a different hostel which we stayed at for the remainder of our trip.

March 17

The next day, we had to check out by noon. After check-out, we went to eat at a hot-pot place. Yummm hot pot.

Then, we set out to find Hostel #2. It was called "Everybody's Hostel." When we got there, the place was so cute. You have to take off your shoes and wear their slippers. The rooms were pretty spacy and had a cute, Japanese-style design complete with a little table and cushions. Little did we know the hostel manager would be so annoying. There was a quiet rule from 11PM to 10AM where she didn't even let us talk. We ended up just staying out super late every night to avoid her rules. Can't complain too much, since we each only paid 13USD a night to stay there.

After dropping our stuff off, we headed to the Flora Expo! We walked through the orchid display and took lots of pictures. Yeah not really much else to say about that. Lots of flowers...hahah.

After the flora expo, we ate at Seven Eleven. Yes, Seven-Eleven. Those are huge in Taiwan! There are actually places to sit and eat and they sell everything from snacks to meals to phone cards. 

Then, it was off to the hot springs! We went to a popular one called Millenium. There were three pools. The first one was fine, the next one was bearable (but still pretty darn hot), and the third one I did not even try to go in. The temperature was something ridiculous. When I first got to the hot springs, I met this American guy who told me "Yeah don't bother going to the highest one. You'll get cold on the way up and just burn yourself" Hahah, so I didn't even try to go in that one. Some of my friends did, though. They each put a foot or hand in and ran back. Haha, suckers... :P

 After a few hours, we went back to the hostel. Then, we went to Xilin night market. Since we got there so late (1:15AM), everything was closed and our dinner consisted of random street food. Then, in light of St. Patty's day, we went to find a place to celebrate only to find a closed Irish Bar. Fail, but we managed to have a good time elsewhere.

March 18

We visited the Grand Hotel, which is the most famous hotel in Taiwan. It was gorgeous! The architecture was so interesting both on the exterior and interior of the building. We spent so long there just exploring and taking pictures of everything. I uploaded my best ones. Walking inside the hotel, I felt like I was in an old Chinese movie!

After the hotel, we went to visit a couple of temples. Pretty much same story. Cool architecture. Took lots of pictures. I attempted to "bai sun" (pray in Canto), but I didn't really know what I was saying hahah.

Looks like the Dharma Initiative symbol. LOST, anyone? Hahah I had to take a picture. 

That night, we went to a club called Babe18 and had a good time there. Good music. I must say some of the girls in Taiwan have a very interesting way of dancing. I don't even know how to explain it. They looked like robots having seizures or something along those lines. So funny. 

March 19

After eating pho, we went to see the gun twirling show outside a Martyr shrine. They were so intense! There were two soldiers standing outside near the entrance gate and they didn't even budge when we danced around them and took pictures.

The marching started promptly at 5:00PM. The march was so organized and structured. I will show you guys the video I have later. It's five minutes long!

Then, we headed to see Chiang Kai Shek Memorial. Since we got there pretty late, I only got to see a glimpse of the statue inside before the doors closed. From what I saw, it's kinda like the Asian version of the Lincoln Memorial? Hahah.

While we were taking pictures of the place, nightfall came pretty fast. The temples were so much prettier after dark when all the lights came on :) Pretty stunning, huh?

After Chiang Kai Shek Memorial, we went to the famous skyscraper, Taipei 101, the second tallest buildings in the world. It cost 400NT to take the elevator and see the view from the top. It was definitely worth it. Fastest elevator in the world, my ears were poppin'! The views of the city were pretty amazing. I only had space for 30 photos left on my camera and used them all taking cityscape shots.

To offset earthquakes and typhoons, a huge steel pendulum that they named "Super Big Wind Damper" was placed near the top of the skyscraper. I probably spent at least half an hour reading about/being amazed by this damper thing hahah. It's the largest damper sphere in the world. So this is how it works: When strong winds push against the building, the giant steel ball swings in the opposite direction to offset the force and balances the building. So cool!

We went to a night market after visiting Taipei 101. The market turned out to be more of an outlet shopping mall than a night market like the one we visited before. After that, everyone was super tired and we ended up playing cards in the hostel until we all fell asleep.

March 20

Last day in Taiwan! Since our flight was at 4PM, we figured we had til about 2ish PM to shop around for souvenirs. I found a shop called TINA! Hahah AND one called CONNIE :) (Shout out to CBC, I know you read my blog more than anyone else hehe)

My last meal in Taiwan: xiao lung bao and chocolate cake. YUM

Exhausted, I slept through then entire plane ride and the entire taxi ride back to campus.

All in all, a great trip.  :)