Day 4 - The First Weekend!

For my first weekend in Taiwan, Sonny and I spent some time on Friday planning what we wanted to do. Since the weekends are the only time he can join me, we decided to spend one day a bit farther afield, a day trip of sorts, and one day wandering around Taipei proper some more. We decided to spend Saturday in Taipei and Sunday we would take the train for one hour to a tiny mountain village known as Juifen - the real life inspiration for the setting in Spirited Away.

So! Saturday, or Day 4

Right away in the morning, I dragged Sonny to the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, as I thought he should see it. He was not as amazed as I, and said I need to see the Forbidden City, then I will be truly amazed! But he did admit it was nice, and we took the requisite selfies and some more photos of the gardens.

After that, we wandered around the Zhongzheng area and I showed Sonny the city gate, and we also found the Presidential Office before heading back into the park to catch the MRT.

Next we took the MRT back to Da'an Park which we cut through on our way to the weekend flower and jade markets. That way I got to show Sonny the nice park as well.

When we arrived at the Flower Market we were shocked at how huge it was! It is underneath a raised motorway, and they have added tarps which form walls and lights along the side. It must be at least a kilometer long, and is FULL of all kinds of plants - orchids of every size and color, bonsai trees, full size trees, vegetables, annual flowers, bamboo in different shapes, water garden plants and supplies, pots, soil, and lots more. We wandered along with our mouths wide open, both for the variety and also for the very cheap prices - orchids which one would pay upwards of NZ$30 were just ~NZ$7 here!

At some point we emerged as a large road transected the market. After we crossed the road, we found ourselves in the jade market. The jade section was not as long as the flower section, but was still packed with stalls. There were at least six rows of shops, all selling jade and various gems. It was so overwhelming I did not even buy anything! After all that walking we were of course hungry so we stopped for a quick snack. Re-fueled we headed off for Sonny's portion of the day - Fish street!

Due to an unfortunate oversight in translation, we got off the MRT at the Zhiongshan Elementary School Station, when we should have been on an entirely different line and gotten off at the Zhongshan Jr High School Station. It made for a several kilometer walk through the city! We of course did not figure this out until on the way back when I asked Sonny to stop by the local airport so I could use the restroom and we realised there was an MRT station!

 Sonny notes that my placement of fish street is slightly off and it was actually closer to the river. Either way is was an adventure. When we finally arrived, fish street was quite the sight as well. Blocks of fish shops! Sonny was in heaven and I happily tagged along behind him looking at all the fish and corals, except for one shop that alos had squirrels and a raccoon in very small cages :( The poor raccoon looked as though he was completely insane from the over-stimulation. I was very very upset and tried to figure out how to help him, but I could not think of a way. We left that shop in a hurry and I had to shoot the owner angry looks instead. The rest of the area was much nicer, though Sonny said he was not very impressed with the quality of the corals, but was impressed with the prices for the fish tanks themselves. On the walk back we saw this very long line of scooters all parked. All of Taipei is like this, with scooters parked wherever there is space and traveling in huge gangs on the road. It is very different than anywhere I have ever been before.

All that walking had made us quite peckish, so we decided to check out another night market - the Roahe Street Night Market. There was a gorgeous temple - Ciyou Temple right by the entrance. It was smaller than Shillin, and normally supposed to be less crowded. I say normally because as it was a Saturday night it was quite crowded. I decided to be brave and sampled the famous Taiwanese delicacy - Stinky Tofu! The smell is very pungent and unpleasant so I was nervous, but the taste is actually quite nice! It reminds me of strong cheeses, and the fried version was delicious. Walking a bit farther down the street I saw a delicacy I know from American fairs - fried oreos! I bought some and introduced Sonny to some of my delicacies :) We finished off the night with some shaved ice and a DIY style buffet of toppings. I then convinced Sonny to let me have a wander through the nearby WuFenPu clothes district - which was... you guessed it! huge! Blocks upon blocks of clothes and shoes and accessories! I plan on going back so will take pictures then. We headed home and passed out, ready to wake up early the next day!