Taiwan: Taipei, Day 1: Chiang Kai-Shek, Hello Kitty, Din Tai Fung, Longshan Temple, and Snake Alley

After waking up at 4:00 am, we eventually made our way outside for a street food breakfast. We enjoyed a few rice balls with tea eggs inside and we have no idea what else. We then shopped for some snacks (love exploring new flavors), and Willa enjoyed a bao.   

Our hotel is in the handiest of places - it's across the street from the main Taipei train station and sits over an underground mall. Plus it's surrounded by tons of shops/street food and in walking distance to a museum. When we're in our room, Jia has been channeling her inner Harry Potter and hanging out in the closet.

 

Our first stop of the day was the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. The girls were so impressed by the scale of it! They each received a camera before the trip and they were quite excited to take photos. The National Concert Hall and National Theater were stunning buildings on the same grounds. We enjoyed the art exhibits (and air conditioning) inside the Hall as well.

Jia was intrigued by the very still guards and kept asking if they were alive. We then watched the changing of the guard ceremony (where she saw them actually move).

For lunch, we ate at the Hello Kitty cafe where all of the food, even savory lunch fare, was slightly sweet. It redeemed itself by being very cute and serving amazingly yummy fizzy drinks with fruit juice ice cubes.

We then went shopping at the Taiwan Handicraft center. I love the fun tea we bought for our nephews.

After a break, we headed to Din Tai Fung for dinner. You know the food is good when there is a crowd, and there is always a crowd at Din Tai Fung. They are known for their XiaoLongBao - soup dumplings. They give you a little instruction sheet on how to eat them. When you bite into them, there is an outstanding flavor explosion. Although we fumbled with our chopsticks, we made sure to eat every one! We got a kick out of the bathrooms too with their heated toilet seats and a rushing water noise when you sit down.

 

Following, we went to Longshan Temple, a beautiful temple built in 1738. Many people were worshiping at the shrines there.

We then walked to Snake Alley, the night market next door. They do actually serve snake at restaurants there. We enjoyed more street food (scallion pancakes and roasted water chestnuts) and bought the girls some whimsical name scrolls. The scroll artist who made Willa's name scroll years ago was still working there!

Our driver, Mr. Yeh, is very sweet and insisted on paying for the girls' souvenirs when they shopped (and Jia bought fake nails and Willa bought knock-off Barbies)! He also bought bubble tea for everyone and all of our food at the night market. We communicate through our few words of each other's languages, lots of hand motions, and a translator app when needed. He was our driver when we adopted Willa and we are so glad we decided to hire him again for part of this trip.

 

 

We love the energy of Taipei. It is bustling for sure, but the large streets have tiny ones interwoven that cater to foot traffic. The friendliness has been over-the-top with vendors giving us free items and people going out of their way to be helpful and kind. Jia said, "Everyone always smiles back at me here! They're nicer than Minnesotans!"