Vijay and Shefali's TAtW

We came to Taipei to kill a little time while waiting for our Japan rail passes. We figured we could get in and out quickly without trying too hard or breaking the bank. We were dead wrong. We came for three days and stayed for two weeks. And left to my own devices, I probably wouldn’t have moved on. Seriously. Taiwan used to be under Japanese occupation so I suppose there’s some influence there. I’m not an expert on the subject but their urban planning is very well thought out, and their metro system is easily the most intuitive and efficient I’ve ever encountered. Sure beats waiting for fucking septa or mta to even approach a scheduled time. Anyway some say it’s what China would be like under democratic rule. I say it’s amazing nobody comes up with Taiwan being a major destination in SE Asia. The people are so warm and friendly, there’s such diversity of landscape and nature (nearly 300 mountains over 3000m, at least one of which is full of monkeys) and it’s surprisingly affordable for how developed it is. We were infatuated with it pretty quickly after getting off the train, It was love at first night. We started in Beitou which is just outside the Taipei city center. Beitou is known for its natural hot springs, and people here say Japan took control for that alone. Nothing beats a good hot soak – we learned that early on in Iceland and now we try and take advantage of it wherever possible. Our first night we kind of had to play it low key – everything was closed cause that’s just how they do Mondays here. We walked a bit to try and find some action, or at least a couple beers, but it was all so quiet. Just a few restaurants with beer taps rigged into what looked like old tahitian treat soda fountains. And then we passed one place, everything was in Chinese, but there was this diagram on the wall we knew we recognized. This block diagram with large vats of liquids and lines depicting order and flow. It took a few seconds for it all to click but it eventually dawned on us we were standing on the doorstep of a microbrewery. You have to understand – we’ve been drinking pretty steadily shit beer since before Myanmar. And we didn’t have a map or a plan or anything. To be just wandering around, and mere moments from giving up and drinking more crap beer at some sad and empty Thai restaurant… This place was an oasis. It was more than we would have asked for. It was greater than what we had dared to dream. And the best part? Well, honestly the best part was the owner Vincent. He’s a very witty conversationalist and told us about the place’s history (he used to make beer in Germany and shipped all the equipment to Taiwan to start something here). We told him where we were from and he lit up – he was also a telecommunications engineer and did some time in, of all places, Philadephia. It got a little too specific at that point, like this was all a mirage and we were standing outside Family Mart tripping off a bad egg salad sandwich. Anyway the (second) best part? Green beer. No, not that St. Patricks Day bullshit. This was the elusive spirulina algae beer we had searched for in vain all through Myanmar. It’s the healthiest kind of beer (in Chinese medicine spirulina is believed to have anti-aging properties), so we didn’t feel bad knocking back a few rounds. They had a few different varieties of beer and we celebrated their entire catalogue that night. We had to, we didn’t know if we would ever be back. I distinctly remember thinking, after we left, “did that really happen? was that place a ghost?” It just didn’t seem like we could be that lucky. The next day the weather was kind of crap, so you know what that means – time to hit the hot springs. We did it right and went to a swank hotel spring that had a few different pools with different healing properties. I think we burned like 4 hours there, it was great. If they served food there I’d have probably never left. I guess you could make noodles in the spring while you soak, but that’s just a Kramer situation no one should be a part of. After healing our outsides in the hot springs we decided to heal our insides with some cold suds. We broke our unwritten rule of never visiting a place twice and went back to Vincent’s to drink ourselves young. There were a few more people there this time, and after a little while Vincent started introducing us. After a little more time, we all started drinking together. Ever the gracious host, he shared a drink with us here and there, even dipping into his private scotch. Eventually, the place is long closed and we’re all still going strong. And every time we would toast he would say the same thing – “Remember Taiwan.” This became a recurring theme throughout our time with Vincent and indeed our tour. Well, this and one other expression which I’ll get to in another post. But it was endearing, that so many people we met here would express the same sentiment – to not overlook this tiny, friendly country that inexplicably never seems to get enough visitors. Also, it was a bit counterintuitive, as this was frequently uttered between shots of Taiwanese moonshine, and when you drink moonshine until 3 in the morning you’re lucky if you remember anything at all. We still talk about that experience and about Vincent a lot – it all set the tone for one of the most memorable destinations of our trip.

[1] https://www.flickr.com/photos/97388931@N08/sets/72157642619264614/