Taiwan Day 3 – Getting caught in a web
Another early morning, waking up with a cold shower, soy milk, and Chinese donuts wrapped in bread (that’s not the real translation but I’m not sure what a better way to put it would be). We slathered on bug repellant in preparation for a little mountain hiking.
Three busses out (39, 260, and a local bus) we reached one of the trails at Yang Ming Shan. There’s two main areas, the 2nd parking lot and the river trail. Apparently the 2nd parking lot has a gorgeous trail, but no food, so obviously we had to follow our stomachs and choose the latter option.
It was a gorgeous walk filled with farms, rundown buildings (which included an elementary school with a giant chipped dragon statue), and flowers. The locals here are known both for their fresh sustainable cooking ingredients, as well as their flower farms. Depending on the seasons, you can see all sorts of color in the mountains. You also get to see all sorts of bugs, including dollar-coin-sized bees and prickly caterpillars. The ants are bigger than those peasants you find in Orange County, and are definitely not to be trifled with.
We ended our hike at a little eating area located next to some flower farms. While the grandma ordered food and chilled, we ran around the walkways of the gardens next door. We took some epic pictures along the rivers and bridges, and I had the great luck of running into a spiderweb (which luckily had no spider in it).
The food was delicious in a very simple way. We had steamed freshwater fish, veggies, fried mushrooms, cold chicken, and ginger yam soup (all from the mountain). Everything was prepared in such a way to fully enjoy the taste of the original ingredients, and it was a nice complement to the calm scenery and cool breeze.
In the afternoon we had a little change of scenery and dropped by the mall (Q-square) at the Taipei bus station (where I wanted to try the Starbucks and have to say, I finally found something that’s better in America). The malls in Taiwan are definitely more touristy and snooty, and the prices are all comparable to those at Nordstroms. (Forever21 would never make its way into a mall). There are a couple of chains such as SoGo which are the equivalent of Westfields in Amurica, though most malls are independent of each other. The layout is like that of a department store, but each brand is separated into its own mini store on a floor.
After a little shopping, we headed to Taipei 101. It’s a great view from the top, and while tickets are not the cheapest (about $15 USD), it gives you access to a 360 view of Taipei, an explanation of how the damper works, a ride in the fastest elevator in the world, and a walk through an extensive exhibition of more coral sculptures (the detail is amazing in some of them). You can enjoy the view from the indoor observation deck on the 89th floor or the outdoor deck at the 93rd.
We topped off our day with another home cooked meal from le grandma, and hit the hay around 8. Darn you jet lag :(.