Visit the city of Food and Bubble Tea in Taipei.

Taipei, Taiwan Visit the city of Food and Bubble Tea in Taipei.

After a month that I came back from Myanmar in 2018, One of my friends called me up and asked If Im available to go on a trip or not. I was free during that time and wanted to go on a trip somewhere. She did not have a place in her mind yet, So I had to think of a place where we both never been. I finally picked Taipei, Taiwan. However, My friend she used to be a golf player and had a chance to visit Taipei on her tournament. But she told me that It was only for tournament and had really no chance to travel around. That's why we agreed on this place. Taiwan is a land of bubble tea, in a country where bubble tea originated. Apart from this, If you are asian and used to live in Asia in 2001. You will definitely know F4, The famous boyband that had been enormously popular across East and Southeast Asia. Taiwanese wave including Drama Series,Music and etc had been in the first position for years until the K-POP culture took the position and has been until now.	Other Places Chilling in Vienna, Austria Selfie around Prague A day trip in Bratislava, Slovakia

Coming here, you will feel similarities in culture and people between Japan and Taiwan. Maybe due to the influences from Japan and etc. Taiwan is officially called the Republic of China. They speak Mandarin Chinese. Don't mix up with Thailand!!! People in Thailand speak Thai language. I always see ignorant people who call Taiwan as Thailand, and Thailand as Taiwan all the time.
Taiwan is located about 160 kilometers off the Chinese mainland. I don't know If I should call this place a country or not since It is not accepted by the United Nations and China mainland still considered this place part of the country.

This time I only planned to visit Taipei, The capital city here. Me and my friend we lived in a different part of Thailand. So we flew from different locations and meet up there at the airport. I brought a lot of jackets in my luggage too because I thought It will be cold. Unfortunately, It was very warm outside but I could still use them due to a lot of air conditioners in shopping malls and subways were so cold. We took a train instead an Uber, due to the train is faster. Also taking an Uber will cost us more. In Taiwan, Uber is still available. but in many part of Asia where Grab Car takes over. Since we arrived too early and could not check-in the hotel. We had to think of a place to walk around until the check-in time. The train stopped at Taipei Main Station. This station is huge. One good thing about Taipei is that, you never need to go up the ground and breath the air since you can find everything underground for example shopping mall, stores and they also conected to a shopping mall on the ground. It is very comfortable for people here.
The Shushi Shop that I found is very delicious. The price is not high. I can say that if you want delicious shushi without paying high price. This place is your paradise. And I came here almost everyday, I will tell you later the reason why. Taipei 101 We had an idea to go to see the elephant mountain. Because we can spend a few hours there. We took a train and walked with our luggages to the view point up in the hill. Just to see the landscape of the city and the famous tower "Taipei 101" But our luggages were too heavy. So we did not make it to the top.
Taipei is very clean city and affordable. I started to like this city due to a lot of cheap food that can be found anywhere. The transportation is also easy to use and covered in many area. We booked our Hotel in Ximending area. This place is a popular place where all the teenagers come and meet up. Tourists also can be seen all over this area. However, the a good hotel here are a bit costly. With the same price in another area you can get it better. but it is more convenient to stay here. Even though we did not make it to the top of mountain. But we walked to Taipei 101 instead. It was an exhausted day. We still had 5 days here and we were not hustle to explore the city. So we decided to just stay in the room today and had dinner just near by the hotel. Ximending area has plenty of interesting yummy food and shopping malls. I have to be honest that my tongue does not enjoy with Taiwanese food that much. The only thing I can eat here and enjoy more is the shushi at the Taipei Main Station. Another popular thing the drink here. There are variety of drinks including the famous one "Bubble tea" Bubble tea is too sugary for me. So I skipped. One of the drinks I found here has a logo of frog. I first amazed with the drink and thought the drink is made by frog but It was just a logo. The Frog Egg Drink is one of the most famous popular drink in Taiwan. The main ingredients are sugar water and tapioca pearls. but still too sugary for me. I don't want to have diabetes with all these sweet things. A random performance in front of H&M building at Xiemending station. Ximending area The next morning I wanted to go to Beitou Hot Springs. And wanted to put myself in a hot spring. But before we went there, We had to make a transit at The main station. Since I coulnd't eat anything here but Shushi, So i bougt like 3 packages and ate them all at this station. Xinbeitou station Beitou Hot Springs From the Beitou Train Station, We could walk to Beitou Park or the famous hot springs here Beitou Hot Springs is very famous here. There were a lot of tourists when we went there. I was looking for a private outdoor hot spring just to relax myself. Unfortunately, there is no outdoor private hot spring here. there is only public one where I didn't like it. So we spent our time here to walk around only. The people here that I met are generous and kind. Many people are able to communicate in English. And at the train station, Thai language is also available at the ticket machine. On the way back home, I did not forget to buy Shushi again just for dinner. We stopped at the Main Station and did not continue our trip to Xiemending by train. Because we wanted to walk on the ground back to the hotel. Below pictures, Bubble tea is so famous here. You can see them every corner. It is believed that people drink this as they meal. I don't know if it's true or not. We were exhausted and headed back to the hotel. After an hour resting, I asked my friend to go and hangout but I realised that this friend she cannot drink. So I had to go out alone again at night. This friend is a different one that I went together in Myanmar. I made a lot of friends at a bar. For alcohol here I would say It is pretty expensive. Unless If you buy it at the mini mart. I first thought It will be cheap as other things in Taipei but again no. Drinks in clubs here are also expensive. I came back quite late and did not plan anything in the following day. So I took my time at night to check the map and I found the place outside the city which is called "Keelung City" We woke up early today and were ready to go there. Since I did a few homework to go to Keelung. So I got lost in the Main Station for an hour due to I could not find a place to take a train. Also we when we found a place, we didn't know how to use the machine until someone came and helped us. What a crazy day! Keelung City The train ran slowly but one good thing is that we can see the scenery of the city along the way. We arrived at Keelung but got so short time to walk around and take picture at Maritime Plaza due to the rain. So we went hiding ourselves in the TIPC Port buiding and had some food at this place "好饗咖啡" They don't have word in English but I guess it is "Good Coffee Restaurant" You can take beautiful pictures from here too. It was quite late already and we needed to go to Yehliu Geopark before sunset. So we ran in the rain to take a bus and went to this beautiful National Park. Yehliu Geopark This place is famous for numerous naturally-carved stone statues. And when you walk up to the end, you can feel see the ocean. I walked to the end of this place and I must say that the atmosphere reminds me a lot of Australia. I really felt like I came back to Australia at this place. Everything was perfect, the air, the landscape and etc.
I had to say that I was really tired due to I did not sleep well last night. But my friend who didn't go out drinking with me last night had more energy. So she asked me to go with her to the market. I went there but less than an hour and left her alone at this market. Shilin Night Market, 士林夜市 This market is the largest market and most famous night market in the entire city. There were so many food and clothes selling here. In the following days, we had no plan at all what to do. So we only went out shopping for the rest of our trip. in Taipei, claw machines are very popular among the people. Oh, I forgot to tell you the Shushi shop that I went to eat everyday. It is called "Sushi Takeout" If you have a chance to come here. Try it and you will feel the same way as me hahaha. The location that I went to buy is somewhere at the Taipei Main Station. I don't remember exactly where but you could try to google it.
Since we had no plan for the rest of our trip. So we went out shopping and walked around in Xiemending instead. My friend she is a crazy shopper!! She bought a new luggage just to buy more souvenirs. She spent more than 20,000 TWD just to buy souvenirs for friends and parents. I was on a budget, so I did not buy a lot of things like her but of course, i need to bring something back to staffs and collegues but not as much as her. Taiwan is very interesting destination to come. For me I think it is a good place for my parents to visit. Because It is easy to go around. and the prices are not expensive. If I have a plan next time to go with my parents. I would choose this destination to be in my first list. If you live in Asia and still have no idea where to come. Why don't you try to stay in Taipei for a few days. You may be addicted to this place.
What you should know about Taipei 1.If you like to go around, The Taipei Main Station is one of your choice to stay. 2.If you love shopping a lot, bring another empty luggage here.