If you are a fan of the Travel and Living Channel, you would definitely have seen Janet Hsiehs Fun Taiwan series where she has shot more than 70 episodes and visited every imaginable corner of Taiwan.

Taiwan for me, was indeed fun. It lived up to my expectations with the beautiful scenery, beautiful people and variety of yummy-licious food. It is a place which has something to offer for every visitor.

Our first stop was the Taipei Financial Center in Xinyi District Taipei, or more commonly known as Taipei 101. The building contains 101 floors above ground ( and hence its name ) and 5 floors underground and has been hailed as one of the Seven New Wonders of the World. The Taipei 101 shopping mall is visited by 10000 to 20000 people per day and is a satisfying experience especially for well heeled fashionistas who will enjoy checking out the upscale boutiques of the major international fashion brands and labels.



A hint that Halloween is just round the corner




Service is top notch in Taipei 101. We were overwhelmed by offers of free samples of snacks and drinks. This gentleman kept made pots of refreshing green tea and jasmine tea with no obligation to buy.




Taiwanese youths are also HOT. We stumbled upon Lawrences birthday party whilst strolling along AhHe Road in search of happening clubs. HOT begets HOT cause there the club was filled with the prettiest and sexiest looking babes that Ive seen in my travels around Asia. I wonder if Mr Lawrence is a movie star ?



Although Mr Lawrence obliged me with a photo, I got the impression that most Taiwanese people are shy as they will move out of the way or look down when I try to take photographs of them. However, I managed to get a shot of a cute Taiwanese girl with an interesting face mask.



This is a picture taken in Eslite Bookstore. Nothing unusal about it except that it was taken around midnight on a Saturday !!! Wow.. are Taiwanese people well read or are bookstores a cool place to hang out ?



One of the few bookstores in the world open 24 hours a day, Eslite is a wonderfully hospitable space: readers lounge in the aisles, couples cuddle, and, lulled by the steady stream of classical music, some solitary souls fall asleep, staying until sunrise. You can browse more than 3,000 imported magazines, a huge array of art books, and a literature section with about 212,000 Chinese- and English-language titles.


Life around Taiwans northern coastline is a treasure trove of scenic spots and possibilities. Providing the weather is nice, its one of the best scenic drives in Taiwan because everything is easily accessible and within a days ride.



Yehliu is truly unique because the rock layers near the seashore contain substantial quantities of limestone, which are subject to sea erosion, weathering and earth movements, thus making the 1,700 meter-long peninsula almost lunar-like in many ways. The wild-looking landscape leaves little to the imagination. Its easy to imagine what life could be like on another planet.



Yehlius famous rock formations run along a thin sliver of land jutting out into the ocean. Upon entering, visitors must walk through a plant nursery before emerging out on the bare stretch of rock running parallel to a low-slung mountain range, making it a wonderful habitat for sea-birds. The immediate area boasts a large cluster of candle, ginger and mushroom rocks, all of which gain their names from their odd-looking appearance.



The majority of the rocks in this area are mushroom rocks. There are about 180 of them in different states of erosion. Some of them have no neck, while others have a broad or extremely thin neck. Yehlius most recognizable landmark and claim-to-fame perches majestically among her subjects. Its known as the Queens Head Rock. Not only does it play its role well over all the little mushroom rocks, it really does resemble a queens head when looking at it from the right angle.



It is important to take the photo from the correct angle otherwise the rock will not look like a Queen Head. Fortunately this is a no brainer and if you are observant, you will notice the footprint on the wooden walkway where you are supposed to stand when taking pictures. Alternatively, you may choose to take a creative shot of the Queens Head like this :



Few cities can boast such a natural abundance of world class, volcanically activated hot water springs on their doorstep as the Taiwanese capital. Thanks to Taipeis ever improving public transport system, heading out for a quick soak in perfect 60 degree Celcius water has never been easier. The Japanese pined for their hot springs ( or onsen ) whilst governing Taiwan for the first half of the 20th century and soon set their sights on the hills around Taipei.

The springs at Wulai are clear and odourless. Public hot spring etiquette requires that bathers thoroughly wash and rinse off their bodies before entering the bath, do not wear clothing ( including swimwear ) in the bath and tie up their hair so that it does not touch the water. Not wanting to do the naked thing with my travel buddies, we opted for the private bath.



This is the view from the balcony of our bath :



Feeling hungry after the bath, we strolled through the Wulai night market along Ulay Old Street.



In Taiwan, night markets are known for its specialty xiaochi food items. Xiaochi translates broadly as "small eats" or snacks. Such foods are either served as carry-out or sometimes at small tables with stools to sit on. Specific foods will change from year to year with passing fads and become characteristic snacks of Taiwan, such as oyster omelet, Taiwanese Fried Chicken Breast and stinky tofu. Not only is food served in night markets, but also a lot of products are sold. You can buy many inexpensive, high-quality products, such as clothing, shoes, accessories, toys, CDs and so on.


We ate almost every waking hour ( no, i am not kidding ).

This is one of the reasons I did not take many good photos coz it is not easy to stuff your face and focus your camera at the same time. This is a collage of some of the food we tried during our 72 hour stay in Taiwan :



We could not leave Taiwan without making a visit to the famous Din Tai Fung restaurant ( since it was recommended by our dear TM who is originally from Taiwan ).



This place was named by the NY Times as being one of the Top 10 restaurants in the world in 1993. The hsiao long bao (literally, little basket dumplings) is the thing that made them famous, particularly due to the painstaking labor to make an amazing number of tiny little pleats .You can watch the chefs through the glass window making the little folds of each dumpling by hand. The skin is very thin, which is the mark of distinction for quality - just be careful when picking it up so as not to poke through and let all the broth out (try to master the spoon and hole-bite technique).


Taipei has made its mark on the culinary map with its penchant for bizarrely themed restaurants. But plumbing the depths of themed restaurants is Modern Toilet, which features such delights as ice cream in a bowl



Customers sit on toilets, eat from sinks, drink from urinal shaped cups and dry their hands on conveniently placed toilet rolls







Toilet bowl steak, anyone?



Souvenirs are available for purchase



And please do not forget to wash your hands after using the toilet

As usual, thanks for the lovely pics post. It brought back memories of my short trip to Taiwan 15 years ago... The Night market, the snacks and smelly fermented toufu, fried... . Glad you enjoyed yourself.

Jason

Thanks for viewing

not over the toilet food, but over Din Tai Fung.
Looks like a fun trip! Gotta try some of those places.
Thanks for the trip report!

Cheers !

LiLing,

 

Thanks for the photo tour. It looks like the various episodes that I have seen on 'Fun Taiwan', 'A Cook's Tour', 'Anthony Bourdain's No Reservation' and other such shows on Travel & Living channel on my cable TV ! 

I particularly liked the mushroom-headed beach geology and the naked baths.  Having lived in Japan, I've caught the onsen bathing thing.

Of course, this is just an exciting teaser for my upcoming trip to Taipei.....

Regards,

MTF

Janet Hsieh - must be nice to do something so exciting for a living

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! You really look like the Queen Of Rock!!!!! By the way, do you feel like passing motion while sitting on the toilet bowl?

Regards,
Liew

Loved your photos and narrative, as always. Looks like such a fun trip -- reminds me a bit of Seoul, with all the young, beautiful, hip people. I've seen similar scenes at bookstores at midnight in Seoul. The food looks delicious too.

Now that u mention it, Taiwan does remind me of Seoul

Kekekeke... no lah.. i was too busy taking photos, oooh-ing and aah-ing, and looking over to other diner's tables to see what they ordered. Did not feel like passing motion - Pavlov's Syndrome does not work when one is excited and amused I hear they also have a Medical Restaurant ( sexy gals dressed in sexy nurse uniform feeding you drinks from a syringe ), Jail Restaurant ( imagine being cuffed to your seat whilst u dine ), Aeroplane Restaurant ( eewww.. i hate aeroplane food and i don't think dining in a make-believe aeroplane will put me in the mood to eat ) and apparently there was a Nazi Restaurant also ( i read somewhere that it closed down due to protests ). Looks like i have to make another trip to Taiwan next year !

As good as any professional travel writer!

Thanks for bringing us along,

TM

"A Purist does not believe in gilt by association. Respect, AND disdain, have to be earned..."

blush I must confess i did plagiarise some of the text ( especially the ones with historical or technical details of the sight. But the photos were all taken with my camera Hopefully with a bit of practise i can write a 100% original article in the near future

got to read up on this. saw many of the same places featured on fun taiwan. you go girl.

Thanks for viewing

Nice very nice...

Liling,

Thanks for the pics. I like your pics of Wulai night market and the view from the private hot spring.

There is one delicacy there really attracts my attention: wild boar sausage. Did you try that?

Regards
Ling

Did not try wild boar sausage.. but we had Stir Fried Wild Boar in Wulai. If you look at my photo collage, it is the third photo from the top, on the far right It was quite yummy especially since we were all hungry after soaking in the hot spring. If you want to eat at that restaurant i have the restaurant's name card

Thanks for sharing your journey in Taipei. I agree with you about Din Tai Fung, their xiao long bao was the best.
Looking forward to your next travel adventures.

Regards,
ED-209

Thanks for the encouraging words.. if you like Xiao Long Bao, can i recommend you to try the one at Shanghai Restaurant in JW Marriott Kuala Lumpur. It is bigger, juicier, thinner skin and tastier filling compared to what is served at Din Tai Fung Taipei. We also have Din Tai Fung in Kuala Lumpur