Secretly I'm Only Here for the Food

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Hi everyone!

Tonight is my last night in Taipei. Tomorrow I head down to Taichung to begin my study program at Tunghai University. Before I talk more about Taiwan, I would like to apologize as I more or less promised photos of hanboks. It turned out that the place Tanya and I were planning on going to was only open like one week a month or something, so we didn't get to go do that. Also, we did try the Kpop museum again, and found that we had been at the wrong building the first time, but that it was closed on Sunday (although it should have been open - especially since that Sunday was the start of the last week the exhibit was supposed to be open. It was very weird and kind of disappointing, but oh well. We did manage to find Korean BBQ, which was very tasty, although as neither of us had had it before and were cooking it wrong, one of the women came over and basically cooked the first half of it for us. Also we were seated basically in the middle of the restaurant so that was kind of awkward, but at least it was super tasty! After our food we found a group of street performers dancing, and they were really good (and some of them were pretty cute, I must say). Overall, it was a good last night in Korea, and I was glad that I was able to spend some more time with Tanya. Leaving on Thursday was sad, knowing I won't see Tanya again for a whole year, but my travel to Taiwan was pretty uneventful. There was a women only line for airport security in Seoul, though, which I thought was both weird and handy (I totally took advantage of the fact that the line was much shorter and was moving faster).

Anyways, Taipei has been pretty fun, although it is MUCH hotter and more humid here. It's so bad that just stepping outside means you are immediately sticky, which is so gross. We've seen people here in jeans and long sleeves/pants, and I have NO IDEA how they do it. Even tank tops and shorts feel like too much. We (Sarah, Makenzie, Trini, and I) have really been feeling the heat here, and although we try to go out and do things, we tend to get pretty lethargic pretty quickly. Our first afternoon here, Sarah and I (Trini and Makenzie joined us on Friday) went out and got beef noodles for dinner, but mostly spent the afternoon inside resting. On Friday morning, the four of us went out to explore the area around us a bit. We ended up in a small shop for breakfast, but since none of us were able to read the menu, we ended up with some very strange food. Trini got some sort of egg sandwich (which was on purpose; it was the first thing she was able to make any sense of), while the rest of us ended up with a strange pork hamburger-type sandwich with fried egg, ketchup, and some sort of coleslaw with the help of one of the natives. It tasted fine, but was a strange mix of foods. Since nothing seems to open until 11am, we ended up hanging around back at the hostel for a few hours, until the phone store opened so Trini and Makenzie could get their phones set up to work here. For lunch we headed over to the Taipei 101 building for some 小籠包 (Xiǎo lóng bāo - soup dumplings!). The Taipei 101 building itself was pretty cool (although we didn't go to the top; $16 seemed pretty pricy just to ride a very long elevator), but we were definitely there for the Din Tai Fung soup dumplings. The layout of the restaurant was super nice, because the guys making the dumplings were behind a glass wall kind of in the corner, but you could creep on them making the dumplings and do the touristy thing and take lots of pictures! On the way back to the hostel, we stopped at a Hello Kitty bubble tea shop, as well as a Hello Kitty café. The café made us spend at least NT300, which is about $9, but for that much we got a lot of dessert... None of us were able to eat all of it. The food was pretty average, but the décor was very intensely Hello Kitty. If you haven't guessed, one of the girls really likes Hello Kitty, which is how we ended up at those shops in the first place, but I don't regret going, because themed cafés are kind of fun, even if you aren't a huge fan yourself.

Yesterday we rode some gondolas up to a temple. I HATE heights with a passion, but agreed to go because everyone else seemed excited about it and definitely didn't want to stop them from going. Although there was a lot of going up and down, the view from the gondola was pretty amazing. We didn't actually make it to the temple, because it was really hot and humid, but we did see a cool fountain and lots of scary bugs. However, there was very little ventilation in the gondola, and the day was super muggy, so on the way down we decided to cut through the zoo back to the subway, to minimize the time we spent in the gondola. The zoo tickets here are surprisingly cheap, only costing us about $2 each, although one of the girls ended up getting heat sick so we weren't able to stop by and see the pandas. Once we got back to the hostel, she stayed and rested while the rest of us went to explore the Shilin Night Market. The market reminded me a lot of Hongdae and Myeong-dong, in that it was basically streets lined with shops, and there were lots of food vendors. It was probably more packed, though, so we only stayed for about an hour. When we got back to the hostel, all of us ended up in the dining area, where we chatted with some of the other people staying here for a while. Have I mentioned that the people at this hostel are very nice? Because they really are. Sarah and I are likely to come back to stay one night before we head to Beijing in August. The hostel is clean, the people are friendly, and I'm not truly worried about my stuff being stolen. Of course, I'm careful with it, and keep my valuables locked up when I'm not around, but I'm not worried that anyone will break in to the lockers or the hostel in general.

Today we had a bit of a lazy day, although we went to a restaurant called Modern Toilet (keep in mind that this is a chain), and had food served to us in toilet-dishes, while sitting in a toilet-shaped booth. At the non-booth tables, the chairs are actually toilet seats. I got some tasty curry, although the theme was very very weird. Also they played a lot of Big Bang (Kpop) for the first half of our meal. After that, we got on the subway to find some boba milk tea that Makenzie had heard was supposed to be good. After getting a bit lost because we turned right when we should have turned left, we found the place, which is very popular here, if the line was any indication. The line was so long that they had to snake it so that everyone would fit within the confines of the corner without being in the middle of the street and down the block. The line moved quickly, though, and we got our boba. I don't think there was actually any tea involved, just boba cooked in brown sugar and milk. When we first got the drinks, the boba was hot and the milk was cold, and it was delicious. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to finish the drink because it was so incredibly sweet, but I did enjoy the half of it I did manage to drink! For dinner we headed back to the night market, this time with everyone, although we didn't really stay for long because everyone was so tired from the heat.

Overall, Taipei has been an enjoyable experience, although if any of you decide to visit, I would advise you make a plan and stick to it! It is so easy to use the heat and humidity as an excuse to stay inside, rather than using the opportunity to go out and explore. The MRT (subway system) is very easy to use, although the subways are much more violent in their movements than the Korean ones. They are also more crowded, especially at rush hour times! Also, beware the mosquitoes. I found my first two (of may I'm sure) today, and am already having a hard time restraining myself from scratching them like crazy. Mosquitoes are pure evil, I swear!

Anyways, that's all for now, and I will talk to you all again soon!

Bye for now!

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Photos

Outside is too humid
Photo credit goes to Makenzie Fong.

My $9 dessert - very Hello Kitty
And look! They put my name on the plate!

More beef noodles
This time sans beef pieces

Comments

[Mark Weatherley]

Taipei
Katie - Great to read what you're up to in Taiwan! Indeed the food sounds wonderful and interesting as do some of the sights. In the past I've heard that the air pollution in Taipei is terrible, what's been your experience so far? And how about the dialect(s) of Chinese? Mandarin primarily? Looking forward to reading more about your experiences.

[katiekate]

Re: Taipei
Hi Weatherly! I feel like the pollution here is probably pretty bad, but it's not as noticable when you're in the middle of it. When we were on the gondolas it looked pretty smoggy over the city. In the city I think it just adds to the stuffy feeling. As for the language, we've had pretty good luck finding people who speak at least some English, or sticking to basic things like pointing and saying numbers. (We've been cheating, and it helps that Taipei is such a big city with a focus on learning English...) Taichung will definitely make us practice more, though, because fewer people will speak English.

[Terry May]

Worst Kept Secret......Ever!
Hi Katie (bye bye Tanya), Yeah, that qualifies as the worst kept secret ever! I have to be careful as to when I read your blogs - I always get hungry. This time you really struck a nerve - no, it wasn't Hello Kitty or even the Modern Toilet...it is Din Tai Fung, an all time favorite!!! Yes, the Xiǎo lóng bāo are worth the trip by themselves. We first ate at DTF in Shanghai in 2008 and loved it. Then we found out there was one in Hong Kong - ate there too. Then one opened in Seattle - ate there (so you'll have one nearby when you get back) - then one in Arcadia, CA - ate there - and will probably eat there is a couple weeks when we visit Lianne. Just FYI, there are three in Beijing - so I expect a full report on each one. So, the women's line was shorter AND moved more quickly??? You can tell you're not in the U.S of A. any more. And don't worry, I won't tell anyone your secret. Terry