Veggie Buffet restaurant
Museum of fine art
Dihua
Dadaocheng Wharf Container Market (大稻埕碼頭貨櫃市集) was fairly quiet when I stopped by, but it was worth
Wandered mall under Taipei Station
Making my way back home.
Evening, checked out one of the more scandalous gay bars on an off night (Sunday). Ordered an orange juice and made conversation with the bar tender (and our Singaporean interpreter); learned some new nuances to gay slang among other pieces of wisdom (travel and otherwise).
Today was my first full day in Taipei! I am staying in the Ximen neighborhood my first few nights.
In the morning I was hungry and disoriented, and attempted to order breakfast at a local spot, but chickened out when I realized there might not be any vegan options (and otherwise became socially anxious).
I noticed I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to effectively navigate social situations in fluent Mandarin, despite knowing full well—but perhaps not accepting—that my current speaking (and listening) abilities would make this impossible.
I decided to check out 上頂皇家, a vegetarian to-go spot just around my hotel. I simply asked “what’s good” in English, and I was obliged. With some pot stickers in my system, and having successfully used cash to pay for food items, I was emboldened. I ate like a 豬🐷 the rest of the day.
Next stops included Ximen Mango Shaved Ice where I grabbed some warm Soy Milk and a bready thing whose name escapes me (both of questionable veganity). I continued my rampage at Popcorn Chicken King Ximen 台灣鹽酥雞 西門直營店 where I ordered vegan fried chicken and fried oyster mushrooms.
I continued wandering around Ximen the rest of the day.
I accidentally stumbled into a cute market (東三水街市場、新富市場) on the way to Longshan temple.
I found my way to Lungshan Temple after navigating the closure surrounding Bangka Park (I needed to go underground; not sure if this is normally required).
After Lungshan, I wandered through the Bopiliao Historical Block (剝皮寮歷史街區), where the most notable sight on this rainy afternoon was a mob of children breakdancing, which I watched in delight for a few moments with a handful of other onlookers.
Some more wandering through the streets, making my way back to the hotel for a brief rest before dinner. I happened to pass through yet another night market as well (Huaxi Street Night Market 臺北華西街夜市)
TODO — Cute moment in music store
For dinner I returned to a Sichuan cold noodle place I had surreptitiously stumbled on earlier (Sichuan style cold noodles 四川涼麵).
I took a brief nap at the hotel after dinner and then decided to check out The Red House (西門紅樓). I felt quite out of place as most people there were in groups, and it was less the fluid mingling vibe I had come to expect from my Travel guide (Gemini), and rather a bunch of pre-existing groups mingling and (presumably) pregaming for more happening spots later in the evening.
It was also still raining (and more heavily now), so I concluded my night early and got some much needed sleep at the hotel.
I woke up around 4am and grabbed some snacks at the 7-11 nearby, before heading back to sleep.
