Taipei

We flew Scooter airlines from Tokyo to Taipei. A budget airline that is great!

We arrived at 15:30 & had a train ride from airport to city center – through stunning natural beauty. Glad I could see from train as there has got to be lots of hungry snakes in there! We arrived at Taipei Main Station – huge! We tried to exit & found ourselves in an underground shopping area – with trinkets & stuff as far as the eye-can-see. Did I mention stinky tofu…decomposing bodies come to mind. 🫣no thanks! At this point as we just have backpacks – hoofing it to our hotel is easier than a subway. We encounter a street market, National police building, and plenty of our favorite 7-11 stores! Our hotel is lovely & air conditioned & has a wonderful shower- Taipei is hot & humid. We are starving so we go to Ningxia Night Market. Every food you can imagine & many more that you would never believe. Queues- long ones!! For deep fried taro balls, quail eggs simmering in a brown sauce. Of course, fried squid – which is yummy and looks a bit daunting when raw. As I approached the watermelon juice stand – there was no hesitation- I grabbed & gulped! It was wonderful. We did like the Michelin rated taro balls with pickled yolks and the fried scallion pancakes, and the stir fry. And I drank my first cold Coca Cola in 12 months to combat the greasy & yummy food. If the food is interesting the spectrum of people enjoying the night is entertaining as well!

Welcome to Taipei – vibrant!