Caution: Heavy picture content
It was Andrew and I's first day on our own since his dad had to go back to work. We took the "greyhound" type bus into Taipei from Hsinchu late in the morning. It took us a little while to find the bus station but thanks to my awesome Mandarin, we were able to navigate our way there. We planned to pay Grandma a visit and then spend the rest of the day with Diana - I was so excited! We were a bit behind schedule because of Andrew (what else is new?). After getting into Taipei, we took the MRT to Taipower Building stop where Grandma lives and stayed about an hour. Diana came to meet us at the MRT station and she brought along one of her friends from the hostel, Pat. Andrew and I had nothing to eat or drink since we woke up so we were super hungry. It was a gorgeous day (probably the nicest for the length of time we were in Taiwan); 70s and sunny. Diana suggested that we head to Danshui for their day market. I was stoked - I love markets!! Danshui was pretty far, we took the MRT to the very last stop on the red line. We walked and ate - it was a lot of fun checking everything out. Diana took us to her favorite joint selling vermicelli stuffed in tofu with some kickass sauce. It was amazing....I wish Andrew and I hadn't shared one.
Andrew and Grandma
Diana and Andrew at Danshui Day Market
Danshui Day Market
Our new Australian friend Pat
Red bean and creamy milk cakes
Potato chips on a stick
"Ah Gei" offers amazing vermicelli stuffed tofu skin
"Ah Gei" Vermicelli stuffed tofu skin with secret sauce - PHENOMENAL!
"Ah Gei" Meat stuffed fish balls and soup
We shared an order of each - total regret!!
Taiwan weeping willow type trees are everywhere
Danshui - a romantic "getaway" from the city
Turkish ice cream - so chewy and slimey
Me and Diana at Danshui - wish it wasn't so foggy here!
Diana said Danshui is known as a popular romantic place for couples to hang out. That made sense since it offered great food and awesome scenery - perfect views of water and mountains. What a perfect way to spend Valentine's day :). Before hopping back on the MRT, we stopped by for a quick donut fix:
Mister Donut - Taiwan's Dunkin'
Of course he had to get the teddy bear donut :)
My chocolate ring donut was very "QQ" aka chewy. Yum!
MRT - you can walk through the entire train - no cart concept
We took the MRT to Ximending for some Ah-Chung famous intestine noodles and to walk around. Ximending is a popular place where lots of young ppl hang out (i.e., high school students) and there's lots of shopping. Wish I picked up souvenirs here but I got a tummy ache so I lost my train of thought...
Ximending - shopping and young people district
Ah Chung Famous Noodles
Ah Chung noodles (intestine noodles)
No tables - grab a chair and eat up!
We were quite tired Ximending and decided to take it easy and go check out Diana's hostel. We were originally planning to go climb Elephant Mountain to check out the best views of Taipei 101 but we were all pretty tired to do any mountain climbing. Andrew also wanted to see what a hostel was like. After resting up at the hostel, we wanted to go check out a poodle dog cafe to play with dogs! Unfortunately, they were all full so we decided to hit up ShiDa Night Market first.
Passing by Peace Park en route to Diana's hostel
ShiDa Night Market
Picked up some delicious meat buns
Juiciest and best meat bun ever
Night market stands
Pineapple cake with butter - it was okay - not warm at all so butter was solid
Definitely my favorite food from Taiwan - essentially Asian hotdogs
Thank you Diana for introducing me to this amazing food - make a truck of this!
Rice casing with Taiwanese sausage and pickled veggies - out of this world awesome
ShiDa Night Market - so crowded even on a Tuesday evening
"Swa bao" stand - see below
Pork and pickled veggie sandwich - Peking duck style
Beef noodle shop - strands of noodles are hand cut from the block of dough into the cooking pot
Triple beef noodle soup: I loved the broth, Andrew loved the noodle, and Diana loved the beef
Devouring the broth - hope it wasn't MSG!
Food stand with tons of selections
Chicken hearts, gizzard, butt to name a few
Delicious fried salt and pepper chicken
After eating our hearts out at the night market, we finally got seats at the doggy cafe. We sat down and ordered drinks. It was good to sit down and relax. I thought it was a pretty cool concept to be able to play with dogs and eat - although probably not sanitary. If NY had a place like this, I would go all the time - definitely a dog and food lover's heaven.
Brown poodles are so adorable!
At poodle restaurant with Diana and Vivian
They bid their customers farewell! Crazy cute!
Back on the line for those juicy buns once again...
We grabbed one last bun and bid farewell to Diana as she had an early flight out Taiwan headed to Vietnam the next morning. Andrew and I caught nearly the last bus back to Hsinchu - it was close! Thanks Diana for showing us around! <3 I had so much fun!
