© 2014 Vijay

Welcome to Taiwan

Taipei was just as great the second time around. We stayed closer to the city center at a hostel near the main station. The guy who runs it (Chunky, who is far slimmer than his nickname would have you believe) had us feeling like old friends by the time we left. By now we’ve learned that the night markets are serious business here, and they probably sell things like clothes or electronics or whatever but you know that all gets tuned out when I see food. Chunky gave me the inside track on that as well, he walked a few of us to the local night market and he schooled me on the real Taiwanese delicacies. Then I schooled him on General Tso’s (alleged) Taiwanese origins. He hadn’t heard of it. Also of note was our first Michelin-starred restaurant experience. It was a dumpling place that was absolutely mobbed outside. I was expecting to break the bank but it only cost about $25 total for the both of us. Just another in the long list of reasons to love this place.
Taipei and Taiwan in general were so good to us, so welcoming to strangers it made us want to stay forever. Seriously, it’s been the first new place we’ve been on the trip that we’d actually want to live. On multiple occasions complete strangers (a waitress at a restaurant, a new family sitting next to us, american expatriates drunkenly waxing illicit long after the market booth in which their art is displayed has closed) have offered assistance and solicited questions via email. And every encounter ends the same way: “Welcome to Taiwan!” It’s like the national anthem – they love that someone new is here and appreciates their home. We eventually left for Japan but a little sooner than we had wanted to.

[1] Taipei Again
[2] Ruisui and Jiaoxi
[3] Hualien
[4] Kaohsiung
[5] Taipei

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