TAIWAN

TAIPEI - DAY 1

From what little time we spent in such a small part of Taiwan, our take-away was that Taiwan seems like a better version of China. It's small island consisting of lush jungle with a city stuck in the middle of all the green. Everyone seemed friendly, the food was delicious, and the weather was warm and humid. There is definitely a ton of stuff to see/do in Taiwan, but only having one full day limited us to staying within Taipei and having to pick and choose what we did with our time. 

Our first night was obviously dedicated to eating. After dropping our bags at the hotel, we headed over to Din Tai Fung- and the original location no less! This restaurant is known for its amazing xiaolongbao, or soup dumplings, and has become so popular that it is now a chain with many locations all over the world, including the US. But this particular one was the original, and damn was it good. 

Next on our list was to hit one of the MANY night markets that Taipei is known for. We chose Raohe Night Market because it was closest to our hotel, and our concierge said it was less touristy. We got there at around 8pm, and the vendors were just barely starting to open up shop. (What we learned the next night at the next night market was that the really good vendors don't show up until 10pm, so the later you show up, the better). We wanted to taste everything! Every cart we passed looked delicious, and none of them were in English. Plus, most of the vendors didn't speak English so whenever you ordered something (which consisted of pointing at a photo or the food out on the stand) you were in for a surprise. Some of the foods we ended up with were grilled octopus tentacle, mystery dumplings, naan-like buns filled with meat, mochi filled with sugary sesame powder, and "sweet potato balls" which seemed like fried tapioca balls filled with custard, seemingly having absolutely nothing to do with sweet potatoes**. We didn't have a single bite we didn't like. And to make things better, there were tons of games! Mostly crane games, but also the occasional balloon popping game where you use a bb gun instead of darts. 

At the end of the Night Market st., there was a beautiful temple. We don't know the name of it, or anything about it for that matter, but it was extremely lively inside with Taiwanese folks in the middle of some sort of service. They were wearing matching robes, singing, praying, and lighting incense. There were also folks near the service who were praying, taking a small red banana shaped wooden object, placing it at the end of a stick, and tossing it in the air. We still have no idea what we witnessed, but it was beautiful. Everyone inside the temple was extremely accepting and inclusive, and not a single person minded us snapping photos or exploring the four stories of this amazing place. We ended our night by hailing a taxi back to our hotel, which ended up being the party bus of all taxis. He had lights, hanging decorations, and today's top hits music videos playing in the front. So far, this place seems pretty cool.

**Fun fact- the Taiwanese love sweet potatoes because their country is shaped like one.

TAIEPI - DAY 2

Today, we thought we'd try to do some sight-seeing, and I think we did a fairly good job for the time that we had. We started out at Taipei 101, which has one of the highest observation decks in the world on the 91st floor. It was obviously very touristy, and there was a long line to get to the top, plus it ended with an unavoidable walk through of their coral gem jewelry display where they sell coral jewelry and works of art for absurdly high prices, BUT, the view was amazing, and their bubble tea was tasty. We also saw the wind damper on the 89th floor, which is there to stabilize the building - a engineering marvel developed by Japanese architects as a way to mitigate shock waves from earthquakes! From here we made a quick pit-stop to grab a traditional Taiwanese snack of rice and pork, and then headed towards the Palace Museum. On our way to the museum, we were able to get a good look at the Grand Hotel, which is so bright and colorful, with amazing architecture which differs from any hotel I've ever seen.

We got to the Palace Museum, went inside, bought tickets, took one look at the insane crowd of people pouring in, turned around, and left. Eff that. There is so much to do and see, we'd much rather be experiencing life in Taipei than scramble around in crowds of people to see some antiques! So, we found an unusual activity only a mile away- shrimp fishing. That sounded WAY more interesting! When we arrived, we immediately knew we had made the right choice. There were nothing but local in there, sitting in plastic chairs around a murky man-made pool, fishing for shrimp. You pay by the hour, and the woman in front gives you a fishing pole and two different types of bait - small dried shrimps, or clotted blood. Then you throw your line in the pool and wait for your bobber to bob. I have NO idea how these women could tell when a shrimp was biting! Hunter and I could never tell that anything was happening, and the women would run up, motion for us to yank up on our poles, and there would be a shrimp at the end! And a huge shrimp at that! With claws! Which I didn't know shrimp could have! Our fishing experience continued this way for almost the entire time we were there. We could not catch a shrimp without the Taiwanese woman's help! Meanwhile, there were tons of locals pulling up shrimp left and right. Some men even brought their own fishing sets. FINALLY, after two hours of shrimp fishing, we each caught a shrimp on our own. We were pretty damn proud of ourselves.When you're done fishing, you head over to the grill and cook 'em up! They were big, juicy, delicious, and we earned them.

Tonight, we decided to check out Tonghua Night Market. It was also not too far from our hotel, and not supposed to be too touristy. The first thing I laid my eyes on was a fruit stand selling pink dragonfruit, so I had to get some! Some of the other bites we tasted on our night 2 food tour were clear mochi-like balls filled with colorful powders of different flavors, boar sausage, stinky tofu (it's really, really stinky), xiaolongbao, shaved ice with hot peanut-filled rice balls, egg custard cake, and a "hamurger" that was definitely a taco that tasted like chili. There was also another bb gun shooting stand but with metal targets, so of course we had to give that a go! The man who ran the stand was so impressed by Hunter's knowledge of guns and liked him so much, that he kept giving him extra rounds and free "fruit beer".

Another super fun night filled with adventure and delicious food in the books, and we are so excited for what the Philippines have in store for us!