While I loved visiting family for the two weeks that I was in Taiwan with my mom and sister, it was extremely tiring running from city to city, from house to house, and not feeling 'at home' anywhere. I decided that after we dropped my mom and sister off at the airport, that I would basically have no agenda and sleep until I wake up naturally each morning. I'd try to see and do as much as possible but I didn't want to be stressed out or tired from doing too much.
On our way back from the airport, my aunt took me to this seafood market, where they sold live fish and the largest crabs I'd ever seen. My aunt chose a couple of fish that were still swimming in the tank, and the owner killed them right in front of us. That's about as fresh as it gets! My aunt steamed the fish that night and we ate it for dinner. The heat was a bit high so it kind of fell apart, even the eyeballs fell off. But it was SO delicious!
The next morning, I was so happy to wake up on my own and took my sweet time eating breakfast, taking a shower and getting dressed. I was kind of excited to go off exploring on my own, I think it's fun and a great way to learn my way around a city. Most people are really surprised that I'd go venturing out on my own, I'm not quite sure why. It's really not that difficult if you do a little bit of research and are careful. By the time I left the house it was noon. I went to Sogo (Japanese department store) to walk around, visit the tourist information center and grab a quick lunch. While extremely cheap with huge portions, and there is a wide variety of foods in the food court, it's not very tasty compared to the 'little eats' on the side of the street and small restaurants. I got a huge bowl of soup, noodles and veggies for about $5 and I could only finish half of it. It's weird, they cook romaine lettuce here, no es bueno.
It was a very cloudy and misty day in Taipei, typical weather since I'd been in Taiwan. But I figured I'd try to walk around the zoo a bit and see what it's like. Okay get this, the entrance fee is $2! All the entrance fees here are so much cheaper than museums, zoos, parks in the States.
The butterfly conservatory is really cool, they just fly around you or land on the slices of pineapple.
What I really liked about this zoo is that it's at the bottom of a mountain, the park is very green, the surroundings are damp and wet, which contributes to the feeling that you're actually in nature, observing the animals in their natural habitat. This monkey really like attention, he was fun to watch.
It started raining in the zoo, so I left to go walk around downtown Taipei again. I really love the subway system in Taipei. It's nearly impossible to get lost or go in the wrong direction, the signs are so clear. At each stop, there are multiple exits, but they're all NUMBERED! How brilliant! Rather than remembering intersections like we need to in NYC, all we need to say in Taipei is, go to this stop, meet me at exit 6. Oh funny thing. I forgot that you can't eat or drink in the subway system and ended up buying a cup of caramel macchiato at Starbucks right before going into the subway. This subway guard stopped me before I got to the platform level and told me I couldn't drink there. So I said okay, back-tracked and stood near the entrance to the subway to finish my drink before going onto the platform. There I am chugging down my hot drink, then two other guards surrounded me and threatened to give me a ticket! I explained that I was a foreigner and didn't understand the rules. They were more pleasant after I said that, and explained that I can't drink or eat as soon as I swipe my card, but can hold the food and drink in my hand. What's really hilarious about this is that they don't regulate the crazy lawless driving and parking that goes on in the city but they want to fine people for drinking on the subway.
Thought this was a pretty street, right outside of the biggest bookstore chain in Taiwan, 'cheng-ping'. It's a very high quality bookstore, the ambiance and service were great. I got two free instant coffee packs for buying a couple of books.
I like this sign
Look how many scooters there are!
Because it was the day before the Chinese Lantern Festival, there were beautiful lights and lanterns all over the city.
Taipei 101 at night, thought about going up to the top to see the view but was told that it's too cloudy and foggy for the view to be very clear.
Students from schools all over Taiwan submitted their lantern 'exhibits' and the winners are displayed. It's the year of the rat. Isn't it amazing that these were made by kids?!
Thought the baby Jesus lantern display was really awesome!
