Skip to main content

Going slow in Taipei


One of the things I love about travel is the lack of housework. No cooking, cleaning or gardening required. The weekdays and weekends are ours to enjoy. Well, almost. On a long trip like this there is still washing to be done. The laundry facilities of the CityInn II may be free to use, but that doesn't make them faster.

Funky dining area at the hotel
While the load was in the wash we wandered around the local area searching for breakfast. Little stalls boiling up noodles, others selling assorted bags hanging from the ceiling or wheeled luggage on the ground. Scooter repair shops, a toy shop, odds and ends. Even market stalls with raw meat and fresh fruit.


We had noodles, pork and Taiwanese tempura (lots of tofu) for breakfast. Then back to the hotel to load the washing into the dryer.

Hours later, the clothes are finally dry and we can go out for lunch and exploration. Half of Sunday is gone.

We eat fried and steamed dumplings at the same place as last night. B orders a bowl of green noodles and green dumplings. The normal versions were nicer.


The MRT takes us one station up from last night, to Shilin, where we catch a bus to the National Palace Museum, the world's greatest collection of Chinese art and antiquities. No cameras are allowed inside the three levels of exhibits - they make you put them in the cloakroom. On display was the history of Chinese pottery and ceramics, calligraphy and painting and jade. Surprisingly, tour groups didn't cause too much hassle and the museum wasn't a crush of people despite being the weekend. Trying to keep Alex occupied was the real challenge. With a forced short concentration span there were probably too many exhibits to really appreciate them.


Another bus returned us to Shilin MRT station, the smartcards we purchased making travelling easy. From Shilin, which was looking a lot emptier than last night as we approached 5pm, the MRT took us to Yuanshan station. We had spotted the Taipei Municipal Children's Recreation Centre from the train. Unfortunately, it had just closed at 5pm when we arrived, so Alex sadly had to go without his carousel in Taiwan.


From my map I could see the Dalong Street Night Market near Yuanshan station, so we walked back to there, stopping by a small children's playground to let Alex have some fun. The area is right under the flight path of aircraft descending into Songshan airport, so much closer than Taoyuan International.

This night market was far more accessible than Shilin's, except that we weren't really sure what was cooking.  The basics - noodles, congee, dumplings - yes, but what about all the other ingredients? Unable to decipher enough from the stalls we eventually ate from the Delictous Buffet restaurant, selecting assorted vegetables and meats to eat from a paper tray.



It was just okay. I'm finding that much of the local food isn't really to my taste, or that of B's. Strong, salty or herbal flavours, brown salty sauces and a lot of deep fried street food. I don't mind the dumplings and buns and I can eat noodles, rice and bits of meat, but I don't find myself hungry for them. That's not to say there's nothing to eat, because there is plenty of great food from all around the world. But we are here to try the local stuff.

The Taipei Expo Park is beautifully lit at night

After getting Alex a bun to satisfy his hunger we returned to the hotel and an earlier night. Last day in Taiwan tomorrow.

Photos
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

IKEA Museum

We have a packed itinerary today. Flat packed and assembled with an Allen key. There are patches of snow on the ground that weren't there the previous evening. We are a bit sad to leave the Duxiana after the comfy beds and the breakfast of cold cuts, fruits and hot waffles. I tried the Swedish caviar on my boiled egg. It was... Interesting. I was very disappointed to realise that, after talking it up for months, I had forgotten the Disgusting Foods Museum in Malmö yesterday. Too late now. We catch another Oresundstag train, for a bit over an hour. Past yesterday's Lund, past increasingly white fields and towns to Älmhult, home of IKEA. The conductor warns us that the train will split in two so we have to move carriages forward. Unfortunately, there we no spare sets of chairs for all of us. The IKEA Museum showcases the history of the furniture company, along with temporary exhibitions. One of these was "Hacking IKEA," about using IKEA ob...
Post a Comment
Read more

One night in Canberra

It's the April school holidays and we are too busy to have a break but need one because of that. And because it's the Easter weekend the options are limited, so we just drive down to Canberra for the night. No, this isn't our first trip for 2023. I wrote about Japan on another site .  I refuse to wake up early so we depart after 8.30 AM. There is not much to say about the drive except that the clouds seem so low and Lake George is very full. We stop at a rest area and at the lookout up the hill to take it all in. Everyone is hungry so we first stop in Dickson and then can't think of anything to eat, so I drive us to Civic, where we can't decide and end up eating at the Singaporean Killiney Kopitiam branch.  The Canberra Centre has nice shops. I dream of getting an iPad from the Apple Store, we buy a blanket and toothbrushes from Muji and wish that Lego wasn't so expensive. Nothing we can't get in Sydney, but then we rarely go out shopping in the city. It...
Post a Comment
Read more

Springs, castles and the end of the line

I am never happy to stop before the end of the line. It irritates me to know that there is still somewhere unexplored lying ahead. So when I only got as far as Gujo Hachiman on the Nagaragawa Railway last year I knew I needed to return for more. Especially as this private third sector railway is, by its very nature, always at threat of closure due to low patronage. But did Gujo Hachiman deserve another visit? Sure it's a nice enough town, but had we missed out on enough last time to return? Mum's trip provided the excuse. I originally planned the Oito line, which wI'll be partly closed when the Shinkansen line is extended to Kanazawa. However, when I thought of special places in Japan that deserved to be shared Gujo Hachiman was at the top of the list. Before we could go anywhere Mum needed her coffee. There was a Tully's Coffee opposite the hotel entrance, so I parked her there while I booked our seat reservations. Mum got her fast train ride on a ...
4 comments
Read more