First Time Alone In Asia ~ Taiwan Part 1

  Recently, as some of you might know, I went to Hong Kong for a month to visit my relatives and friends.  It was such a good time away to be spent with loved ones, but I also felt that I needed to spend sometime by myself, to find that peacefulness in my heart and spend sometime with God...where there would be no other noises but just God and myself.  Even though some people say that I'm a peoples person, but I really do need a large amount of time to myself and I've found that in the past year, that's something I haven't had enough of and was really yearning for some.  So I'm extremely thankful to God for this opportunity!

  So...the next question was: where to go? You might say duh... but it was a pretty big question for me! I've never gone away by myself before (except for Honkyland, but that doesn't count because almost all my relos live there hehe) and as exciting an idea as it was, it was also a pretty daunting idea! So really, my criteria was somewhere that was relatively safe and somewhere where I can kinda speak the language...ooohh and also relatively cheap haha So that only left one option:

Taiwan!

  For some reason, every friend I have in HK seems to have been to Taiwan at some stage and some were quite surprised that I haven't been yet.  That motivated me to go even MORE!

  SO with the help of a few friends, I booked tickets, accommodation, handy dandy guidebook and away I went!  Below is my rough schedule + travel rants, hopefully through this you'll be able to see, breathe, taste as much as what I tasted as I walked the roads of Taipei ^^

(And if you ever want to go to Taipei, at least here's a rough idea of a schedule for you hehe)

Morning: Up up and away with EVA Air to Taiwan from HK's Kingsford Smith International Airport! I've never travelled with this airline before but I would most definitely recommend it!!!

Mid-morning: Arrived at airport and tried my best to follow the instructions on the website at the hotel I was staying at to get to the hotel.  Basically I had to take this bus there... but before that, I had to attempt to buy a ticket using my Mandarin skills! I seriously haven't conversed properly in Mandarin for two years!!! At the end of this first contact with Taiwanese people, the guy wished me well and said ADD OIL (try your best!) in learning while I'm here! Then he gave me a cool smile.  (haha)

Waiting waiting waiting for the bus...

Arrived at the hotel around mid-afternoon after being dropped off at this road and holding a map trying to figure which direction to go and which road to take.  Thankfully it wasn't too complicated, only had to make a few turns hehe It's kinda fun though trying to find my way...if only I didn't have my luggage as well >.<

The hotel is this really slick modern-looking one, I love it's interior! What caught my eyes first of all is definitely its interior! I was also super impressed at how nice the staff is! Anyway I'll rave on more about this hotel I stayed at in another post, it probably needs a whole post to itself hehe

Afternoon: I made my way to the subway station...on the way, I passed by this primary school with really cool and cute murals and pinwheels shining in the sun...made me smile =)

Cute artwork on the wall ^^

These pinwheels make me feel so calm...I stood to watch them spin for a bit hehe

From the subway, I headed to this other part of town called 忠孝復興 (zhong xiao fu xing), where I was incredibly hungry when I got there XD


First Stop: Hello Kitty Cafe - Hello Kitty Sweets

Yes...you've read it correctly...it's a Hello Kitty Cafe! Where if you're a Hello Kitty fan, your dreams have truly come true! The place is not only covered in pink, but as soon as you stepped into the cafe, no matter where you turned, all you would see is Hello Kitty!

A corner where you can have your private sitting with a Hello Kitty backdrop!

Tables, walls, chairs, menus - all filled with Hello Kitty's face haha

Her face pretty much embedded into the wall XD

Hello Kitty placemat, so you can look at her while you eat haha

Following such a wonder of this Hello Kitty environment, I was astounded by the extravagant choices in the menu - for afternoon tea, almost everything is a  tea set that comes with a drink of your choice (with fancy names all list of course hehe) and a plate of cake of your choice as well! Though what caught my eyes were not so much the amount of choices in the menu, but rather that they managed to include Hello Kitty in everything that they have! I seriously spent a good amount of time trying to decide what to eat, thinking ooohh I should eat this because it sounds yummy, but no that other cake seems to have a bigger hello kitty face on it and if I don't eat a bigger face I'm making a waste of this experience! Oh choices!
In the end, I went with a custard card that sounded nice, looked nice and had a good proportion of Hello Kitty on it so that I wouldn't feel jeeped hehe

With a glass of nicely decorated Latte...

They looked soooooooooooooooooo pretty to the point where I sat there taking photos for ages, and then I just looked at it not knowing what to do because I didn't want to destroy her face(s) hahahaha BUT eventually, my stomach gave way and I couldn't help but devoured everything...slowly (of course I have to enjoy every moment!!! Plus...since my trip is so spontaneous, I had to plan the next step!)

The cake wasn't too bad, it wasn't the best but it wasn't bad either! AND it was much bigger and much more filling than I thought...>.< The Kitty face itself is made out of chocolate, but maybe because I had too much tart already before I had the chocolate...it didn't really have much of a taste on my tongue haha  The mocha was nice and went very nicely with the tart!  
Despite my somewhat sarcastic amusement at the whole place being Hello Kitty, I actually really enjoyed my time being there.  It was quite a nice environment to settle for a bit and just enjoy some moments by yourself (or with your friends) - the staff won't bother you too much, the sofas/chairs were comfy and you can take your time nomming away at your meal and sipping your drink.  PLUS they give you a free jelly thing as well, which didn't taste too bad hehe Overall, I had a really nice time there ^^
Though it is here that I realised I really need to brush up my Mando skills! I thought I was ok, but when the staff started talking to me, I needed them to repeat most of the time (sometimes I could only catch some words so I had to somehow guess what they were saying) because they were speaking somewhat fast for me to understand totally >.< But thankfully, still got by okay hehe
Some more Hello Kitty loveliness below:

Sitting area downstairs (I was upstairs) - I thought this had even more of a Hello Kitty feel haha

Cake selection at the front of the shop - see what I mean by EVERYTHING having Hello Kitty on them? XD

AND the lovely staff who let me take a photo with her...such a cute uniform hehe I like her shoes!

Second Stop: Wonton Noodle Soup (高雄五福鮮蝦扁食）


Yeah...I decided to eat more because I wanted something savoury...haha According to my guidebook, there was a recommended wonton noodle place really close to this Hello Kitty place anyway.  So I thought I might as well haha


Ssssooooo with my map-reading skills, I was on my way! To be honest, this is one of my favourite part of travelling.  Not really knowing where you are and all you have is your map and your skills in reading it.  Honestly, I'm not that good at it, but being in a different country it's like it doesn't matter where you go to, even if you make the wrong turn, you might just be hit with some sort of surprise along the way!  I actually made a few wrong turns trying to find this place (in the end I found out it was literally down the street....-___-"), but I'm actually glad I did because I got to observe the different buildings and people and shops...and absorb a little bit more of what Taiwan is like =) Loved it!


Anyway, after some time, finally ended up at the Noodle place! Might as well, got to walk off some of that tart I had not long ago haha

Apparently Jackie Chan (yeah, the actor haha) really loves this place!?

  I stopped to have a look, I don't know for some reason I always feel a bit awkward before I walk into a shop by myself haha But the owner lady welcomed me warmly and when she realised I could speak Canto, she burst into Canto haha I was pretty impressed!

I love this kinda food places, I feel like I'm at home or somewhere local hehe Love this kinda feeling!

I told her I just wanted the wonton noodle soup...but she recommended this vegie thingy that you dip into this special kind of mayonnaise (seriously to this day, I still don't know what they really are haha)

They actually tasted really nice! The vegie is super refreshing and very juicy...with a touch of sweetness that come from the mayonnaise-y sauce mmmmm

I nommed away as I wait for the wonton noodle to come hehe She was pretty quick, it really came in no time at all! (Thank goodness I got lost before...otherwise I might not have been able to eat any more... >.<)

This is Jackie Chan's favourite dish!

  I particularly loved the wrapping, it's so thin and just the right touch that compliments the meat on the inside.  This bowl is seriously made for every person who orders it to slowly enjoy each bite of the wontons.  Each bite allows the meat and the herbs in it to fill your mouth, topped off by the different texture that the wrapping gives.  Mmmmmm
Oooohh and see the tea on the side, it was some sort of herbal tea, totally the right mix with the wontons! No wonder Jackie Chan loves this place!


Third Stop: Mot Art Space


  Certainly have eaten enough by then haha! I really needed to walk everything off, to let my stomach digest, so I decided to find this art space/gallery that I've read about.  It was a hard find to be honest, not only because it was in a different part of 忠孝復興.  This gallery was located in this part of town where there's boutiques all along the side, so I got distracted a bit.  Along the way I saw this:

Yeah! Meet Fresh! Its origin haha

Anyway, I nearly missed the gallery because it really isn't obvious at all.  It also has another part of it which sells furnitures and stuff...so at first I thought it was in there...but thankfully I didn't walk in and realised it was actually located a few shops down! 

The gallery has a cafe attached to it, so after visiting an exhibition, people have the option to chill out a bit more hehe I love that!

The exhibition that was on was of this green dog, basically the artist based his ideas on Freud's theory of 'libido' (you can wiki it if you want to know what it is all about) and he wants to express all the difficulties/struggles of 'libido' through a green dog.  In the exhibition, there's a display of the dog with 36 different expressions and positions to express the struggles.  It was pretty interesting.  The girl there was so nice, she spent the time to explain to me the process of the art works, how the artists based it on his own dogs.  She also talked to me about my interests in art and things like that.  We were cut short though by people wanting to interview and take photo from this newspaper called Apple Daily (pretty big in Asia)!


I don't really have any pictures of the exhibition because we weren't allowed to take it...sorry! But if you are ever in Taiwan, it's worth going to this place, because you might find yourself in some crazy interesting exhibition that just make you go wow =D


Fourth Stop: Shilin Night Market （士林夜市）

I was still really full from the afternoon meal... but it was like...almost 8pm XD And I knew if I didn't eat a bit, I would be really hungry later on in the night and would not be able to sleep haha So I decided to go to the night market that night! I wasn't originally going to, but I guess that's the best thing about travel and travelling alone, you can make and change decisions at your liking and it'll be perfectly fine ^^

I took the subway to another area called 劍潭 (Jian Tan), after you get to that station, you pretty much follow the signs and you'll get to the night market! Easy!

As soon as you arrive at the station, there's a HUGE sign pointing you where to go.  Then there are signs along the way, so good!

  Though I had to walk through this white tunnel...for some reason there weren't that many people walking through the tunnel, so I was slightly freaked out haha BUT there were cameras situated all along it, so I guess I felt a bit better!?


  Once I arrived, it was packed with people! Even though by this time, a bit of rain was drizzling down, it didn't stop people from going there (didn't stop me either!).  Along the streets, there were clothing stalls, random merchandise stalls...and food stalls!

The street was buzzing with excitement and bounciness! Really missed and love this hehe

  
I browsed through the stalls a bit before heading heading down the streets of food! The part that I went to (there were a few parts that were infested with food... it's THAT huge!) had different types of food stalls all lined up on either side of you, so you can't help but swing your head around constantly trying to catch everything that they had to offer!  For example, you will see:

Pepper Biscuits

A selection of food that's cooked on the spot for you =D

Fried Milk ^^ (One of my favourites and I love the cow on the cart hehe)

Fried Stinky Tofu...hmmmmmm

The famous Rockmelon Milk!!!! YUM!

  It was such a shame that I was still so full from the afternoon, so I only managed to try a few things >.< I particularly liked the Pepper Biscuits, they pretty much made it on the spot for me and when they handed it to me, it was steaming hot.  When I bit into it, the meat was so juicy, topped with a pepper-ness that was just right! I loved loved loved just how steaming and juicy it was mmmmmmm

Yum yum yum yum yum!!! (Yeh..it's more like a bread than a biscuit, but I just translated it literally haha)

  
Another thing that amused me was they put everything in a plastic bag! I think it's because the street was pretty cramped so there wasn't much room to sit down, so to make it easy for people to eat, people just walk and eat from the plastic bag! It's not just here, it's everywhere! I guess this is one cool tradition of Taiwan!

Inside the bag are chopsticks and my stinky tofus! Hehe the feeling that I got from eating from the bag was pretty local, which made it awesome because I love immersing in the culture haha  Above the bag is my rockmelon milk ^^

  I really like the stinky tofu as well, the guy mixed it with some chilly sauce (love love chilly sauce!) and other spices that made it extra tasty! When you open the bag it's like really STINKY (which didn't surprise me, because even before seeing the stall I could smell the tofu haha), strangely enough though when you eat it, it has no stinkiness whatsoever to it but just pure yummy-ness! 


  The rockmelon tea was pretty cool too, especially since I thought Taiwan was mostly about their pearl milk teas hehe I realised they are actually pretty big on their milk as well and apparently this rockmelon milk is their pride and joy! It sounds so simple but I guess I've never seen it anywhere either! I liked it but I could use with a bit more of a rockmelon taste, I think it got a bit washed out by the milk haha


  I wanted to keep walking, because apparently there was a whole underground section as well! But I was too tired, literally wanting to just stop and fall asleep any moment haha So I thought it'd be best if I started heading back to the hotel.


  I still remember thinking that the day was just so surreal.  I was in Sydney not long ago, just that morning I was in HK and then suddenly I was in Taiwan up and about doing stuff! You know, even though I made the decision to go but deep down I had a lot of worries (because I guess I tend to be the paranoid type that imagine things could go horribly wrong).  With travelling, thing is, things can go wrong, you never know what will happen next really.  But that's one of the best parts.  Though the best part is because you are somewhere completely foreign, things might not go according to plan, so really the only thing you can do is rely on God.  I love that about this trip really, no one else really, just God and me.  Looking back and seeing the things that He allowed me to experience to see more of His grace that I don't deserve just amazed me! It taught me to trust Him and know that it's ok even when things don't go according to plan, He's there, so it's ok.  It's ok when things go slightly haywired, it might even lead to a better outcome in ways you never would've seen before.  AND the best of all, you know that it's Him doing all these and all you have to do really is relax and enjoy His presence and His work.  Enjoy His goodness.  Enjoy His grace.  Enjoy His love.  There were no other noises.


  Thank you God for that first day in Taiwan, just having that time with you, with no other noises =)