Today was our first full day in Taipei. We landed the previous night around 5:30pm but after getting our sim card and passing through customs, we arrived at our hotel close to 8pm. 

I used booking.com to find a hotel that was in close proximity to Taipei Main Station, which is the central hub of transportation, but yet close to our attractions and other shops (mainly food 🙂 ) so that we could do evening strolls. We stayed at Hotel Relax III in Zhongzheng District. This hotel was a five minute walk away from Taipei Main Station and had a 7-11 across from the hotel. In addition, this hotel provided free breakfast at their other branch- Hotel Relax II.

Prior to arriving in Taipei, I had already drafted an itinerary of places to visit for our first day. Mainly the attractions were in walking distance to our hotel so that if we decided not to take the metro, we could essentially walk to each one of these locations. After traveling the last time to China with my dad, I knew he would favor walking over taking any type of transportation. Below is a map of our walking tour.

We started off the day by heading to Hotel Relax II for our free breakfast. However, being new to this whole blogging thing- I forgot to take pictures! I am not used to taking pictures of places I go, things that I do, or food that I eat. So unfortunately, there will be more text than picture. I hope I can give you guys a detailed and vivid description of my adventures.

FIRST STOP: TAIPEI MAIN STATION 台北车站

Since it was THE station, we had to go check it out. In the morning around 8am, there weren’t many people in the streets. When we went down to take a peek around the station- it was quite empty. We discovered the underground mall that was not yet opened and decided to come back later in the day to check it out.

SECOND STOP: 2/28 PEACE PARK 二二八和平公园

We were actually headed to the National Taiwan Museum but it was not going to be opened until 9:30am. We moved our itinerary around and decided to go the park first. Here are some pictures we snapped. You can read a short synopsis about the history of the park here or head over to Wikipedia for the longer history.

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THIRD STOP: NATIONAL CHIANG KAI-SHEK MEMORIAL HALL 中正纪念堂

After our stroll around the park, the museum was still not opened so we continued on to our next attraction- the Chiang Kai Shek memorial hall. To get to the actual memorial hall where the statue is located, you need to walk pass Liberty Square 自由广场. 

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It was just our luck that there was construction occurring. There were orange cones and yellow tape that prevented us from walking directly through the plaza. We had to walk around the cones. There were people in yellow known as Falun Dafa that occupied the entire plaza- I don’t know what was going on though. 

After climbing several flights of stairs, we finally reached the memorial hall in time to watch the changing of the guards. The changing of the guard ceremony occurs every hour. The synchronized stomping and clacking of their boots along with clicks of the rifle were surely interesting to watch. If you want a good view, you need to arrive at least 15-20 minutes early to secure a good spot. Sometimes, people would squeeze in, in an attempt to steal your spot so make sure you stand parallel to the rope.

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FOURTH STOP: PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE 总统府

After the changing of the guards ceremony, I went to the souvenir shops and bought a bit of stuff (HAHA). Since it wasn’t lunch time yet, we decided to walk back toward the National Taiwan Museum. On our way back, we saw the Presidential Office, which we knew wasn’t open because it was a Saturday but that did not stop us from taking pictures of it outside.

FIFTH STOP: NATIONAL TAIWAN MUSEUM 台湾博物馆

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My favorite exhibit in this museum was the Elephant exhibit. There were fossils of their tusks and skeletons of ancient elephants- which makes present day elephants look like babies in comparison. I wasn’t too sure whether pictures were allowed in the museum so I did not take any. Other exhibits are about the microfossils, microbes, bugs, vertebraes, and even the weather.

LUNCH BREAK: JIN FENG LU ROU FAN 金峰卤肉饭

Alright. When talking about food in Taiwan, the ones I hear the most about are: lu rou fan, beef noodle soup, and pineapple cakes.

So here we are, trying the most famous lu rou fan. After walking so much, we decided to take the MRT from Taipei Main to Chiang Kai Shek station. Once we exited the station, the restaurant was right in front of our eyes…and so was the long line. By this time, it was already close to 2pm, but the line was still prevalent. After about 20-30 minutes, we got a seat in the far back corner of the restaurant, which seemed to me, led to the trash room.

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Food wise, the pork mixed together with the rice was definitely flavorful and super yummy. It was super affordable too. If I remember correctly, the grand total was about 10USD for the 3 of us. Also for reference, the rice dish in the photo is the LARGE bowl- I cannot imagine how tiny the small bowl would be.

SIXTH STOP: TAIPEI STATION K UNDERGROUND MALL 台北车站地下街

At the underground mall, there seems to be a division of different sections. The K section seemed like it had nicer shops, a bit newer and maybe trendier? It mainly composed of food, drinks, bookstores, and boutiques. The halls were very very clean, despite it being underground, there were no foul odors as compared to some other underground locations. *ahem* Then there was the Z section, which seemed a bit more run down older but still quite clean. There is where I bought my large pink suitcase for $1400NT, which is equivalent to ~$40USD. SO CHEAP GUYS! A similar sized suitcase in California would be well over $100USD.

BREAK TIME: ZU MAN ZU FOOT MASSAGE 足满足

We actually got full body + feet massages for 70 minutes. Grand total was ~$80USD for the three of us. UNBELIEVABLE. The massage was legit too. They use full force on your feet and even use their elbows on them. Mamma Mia. Definitely a place to go!! You cannot get this high quality massage for this price in Cali– NO WAY!

The one we went to was one block away from our hotel, on the same side of the street. However, they have many branches, even one in Ximending.

SEVENTH STOP: XIMENDING 西门町

Final stop of the night: Ximending. When we arrived, the atmosphere, the lights, the shops, it all reminded me of West Street in Yangshuo. Ahhh, the memories. There are many shops here like Watsons, SPAO, korean beauty stores, and FOOD.

There is this famous spot called 老天禄卤味, lao tian lu lu wei. Lu wei, 卤味, basically means braised food. So this location, sells eggs, chicken feet, chicken breast, chicken thighs, chicken/duck organs, etc all in the same braised sauce. 

My dad loved this place so much he revisited it before we left. That was interesting because my dad was criticizing my mom for wanting to go back to Jin Feng for their lu rou fan but yet he went and did the same thing 🤔. My dad said he liked it so much because it was flavorful. He’s always saying: no salt, no flavor, no like.

At the end of this self-made walking tour, we ended the day with 24k steps, which is equivalent to 10.3miles. Phew, now to put our legs up and get a good night’s rest for the next day!

Stay tuned~