Taipei 2

23 November 2025

We considered taking a cruise for Thanksgiving, but all the flights to Florida were egregiously expensive. I found direct flights from Seattle to Taipei that were cheaper. So, we decided to go to East Asia instead! I don’t have anything against cruises, but this was definitely the right choice. Our friends Kaitlin and Jonny begged to come along. We magnanimously allowed it, this time. This was my second trip to Taipei with Indi.

Día 1

Taipei Tianhou Temple
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall
Elephant Mountain
Yongkang Shopping District
Raohe Night Market

We were supposed to depart SEA at 12:10 a.m., but a couple of days before the flight, we were notified that the departure time had been moved up to 9:10 p.m. Indi and Kaitlin had to adjust their work schedules to leave earlier than expected.

On the way to Seattle, we ended up taking a weird, long route through the forest, and by the time we finally reached the freeway, we all felt pretty carsick. We stopped at a Five Guys in Tacoma while the Tesla was charging.

At the airport, there was no economy parking, so we had to park in the main lot for over $30 a day. We got through security without any issues. At first, the biggest surprise was just how gross and outdated the airport felt. After waiting for our flight for an hour, we were notified that it had been delayed by two hours. They handed out Cheetos and tiny water bottles as compensation.

While we waited, we played a game of Munchkin on the gross airport floor. I won easily, of course. Munchkin is a game difficult to explain, but suffice it to say we have played an unreasonable number of games and religiously track win count.

We thought we might have to stop in Anchorage because of a gas pipe leak, but the flight ended up being direct. Indi and I brought retro handhelds to play games on the flight. They’re basically fake Game Boys that can do more. Indi uses hers exclusively for Tetris. I played Pokémon and listened to an audiobook for a while. We were served some mediocre dinner, Indi gave me a mystery pill, and then I knocked out for most of the flight. I probably slept 7 of the 13 hours.

After going through customs, we found a 7/11. I was tempted by the onigiri but decided to save myself for breakfast. I got a carton of watermelon milk instead. I liked it.

We used Apple Pay to tap onto the train that runs from the airport to Taipei proper. We got to our hotel near Ximending and left our bags at reception.

While walking, we passed a lady chopping chicken feet on the street and made a quick stop to check out a shrine.

I got a scallion crepe with egg and spicy sauce, and it was so good.

We then shared a basket of amazing pork dumplings.

Next, we went to a beef noodle place. The broth was good, but the noodles were mid. Kaitlin ordered dry noodles that she liked more.

We finished with boba from Xin Fu Tang.

The weird thing about this photo is that Jonny’s forehead is actually much bigger in person.

Taipei Tianhou Temple

Taipei Tianhou Temple is a historic Taoist temple built in 1746 and dedicated to Mazu, the goddess of the sea. I was impressed again by the ornate craftsmanship and fine details. Jonny sipped his boba in the courtyard, utterly unimpressed. I prayed for him.

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

We took the MRT to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, a vast square surrounded by four impressive structures.

The National Concert Hall and National Theater are built in a traditional Chinese pagoda style.

The Liberty Square Arch, with its white pillars and blue-tiled roof, marks the entrance. We also walked through the small garden that sported a pond full of koi and turtles.

At the center is one of my favorite buildings in the world – the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. It’s an enormous white structure with a blue octagonal roof. The photos really don’t do it justice.

Jonny and Kaitlin spent their time there gambling on their phones. I’m not sure they noticed the buildings, to be honest. It was super sad to see, but we just do our best to love and support them through their addiction

Call 1-800-522-4700 if you or someone you know is struggling with a gambling addiction.

We took the MRT towards the Taipei 101. We ended up getting lost and wandering around forever trying to find the elevator up to the top. Once we got there, we found it was a 30-45 minute wait to take the elevator up to the observation deck, so we didn’t do it.
We tried hard to get to a gondola to go to a lookout spot, but couldn’t figure out the bus schedule. It was frustrating. We stood next to the bus stop trying to decipher bus routes and times for too long. We were all tired and jet-lagged, and already had a lot of steps in, so that didn’t help. Eventually, we gave up on the idea. This was an “L” and foreshadowing for future bus debacles.

We decided instead to walk to a trailhead that goes up a hill for a good view of the city skyline. The walk to the trailhead was unexpectedly pleasant. We had great weather, and I was enchanted by the metropolitan architecture.

I will now proceed to share way too many photos of things I saw on this walk.

You may have noticed from these photos that Jonny doesn’t trust very easily. For some reason, he doesn’t like turning his back on me.

Elephant Mountain

The hike was up a stone staircase on a trail to Elephant Mountain called Xiangshan.

I haven’t checked, but I am assuming that Xiang Shan translates to “Stairmaster.” The “trail” is 600 stairs to the top.

We were all sweating by the time we got to the top. I was surprised to find an outdoor gym at the end of the stairs that was being used by a handful of men. One man gave Jonny tips on how to do a muscle-up, but it wasn’t clocking for him.

Instead of walking down the same way, we took a different path, which led us past no less than 3 badminton courts on the side of the hill in different spots. From there, we walked to a nearby park. We chilled while Jonny did some shooting on a basketball court, missing nearly every shot. The park was full of people enjoying the beautiful Sunday.

Yongkang Shopping District

We took the MRT to Yongkang Shopping District. It’s a popular walking street lined with shops and restaurants. I got some sugarcane juice, and Kaitlin and Indi bought a massive mango dessert.

We found an LDS temple just down the road. I thought it was unusually unimpressive. Temple architecture from most religions tends to be impressive, but this one was a letdown. We did get to hear a choir singing hymns in Mandarin at the church next door, which was really nice.

Raohe Night Market

Raohe Night Market is bigger than I remembered from my first visit. It’s a walking street where vendors have set up shop in the middle of the street, and shoppers walk on either side of the stalls. The street is very long, and there are many vendors. It is also extremely narrow, so it’s slow going marching along with the crowd.

The Songshan Ciyou Temple sits right outside of the entrance of the market.

There are so many different food options, it’s a little overwhelming. Because of the tightly packed crowd, it’s best to buy something that catches your eye instead of trying to swim upstream to come back for it later. I got corn, a skewer, and other things I don’t even remember.

The best thing was the food Indi and I were most excited for, our beloved pineapple bread. We each got a piece with a thick slice of butter stuck inside. The stand we went to last year was gone, and that one may have been better, but the bread was still heavenly. It gets its name from the sugary, scored texture of the top of the bun.

We had a long and full day. We returned to our hotel properly knackered, took fast showers, and knocked out. I put my shoes in the fridge to spare us the smell and to kill the demons trapped therein.

Next time

On our next adventure, we return to one of our favorite travel destinations that we’ve been to: Okinawa.