one-day tour of taipei

we're just finishing up our third full day in taipei right now. taking a quick break before we head out to dinner. and possibly some more shave ice tonight, before we leave for our flight to sapporo early tomorrow morning.

anyway, our first full day in taipei was the longest day ever. seriously, longest. day. ever. and super tiring, due in part to the long day of travel just the day prior. and due more to the endless amount of walking we did.

i'm pretty sure we ended up packing all the highlights into that one day:

mini xlb at din tai fung (the mini ones are available only at certain hours on the weekends)



shopping/walking throughout taipei 101, shin kong mitsukoshi and bellavita



ride-along in the new audi a1 (i want one!)



back to the shilin food market for snackies



back out for beef soup noodle dinner



and back to shilin night market for dessert





then back to our room, where i passed out straightaway.

sure, all the walking and traveling can get a person tired. but i think there's something else that has added to the stress of being here in taipei: feeling lost and handicapped, mainly because of the language barrier. apparently, just because i look like everyone else here, they expect me to understand what they're saying. unfortunately, that's not the case, and i end up giving everyone the spitzer face and shaking my head.


getty images via nymag

luckily, i'm pretty good at reading maps and know enough chinese characters (or at least being able to compare characters) and have used universal hand gestures to make it work.

days 2 and 3 in taipei were a little more fun and relaxed. more on those days later.