t a i p e i

In Taiwan, 7-11 is not called Seven-Eleven. In Taiwan, 7-11 is just called Seven. Like Madonna. Or Cher.

And in Taiwan, 7-11 is BIG!  Found almost everywhere and twice the size of the ones we have back home., complete with restrooms and tables for dining and reading.

So I guess, due to a series of unfortunate events (that only we know and laughed about), resulting in our arrival in Taipei late in the day, it was no surprise we had a late night snack at one near our hotel.

欢迎光临

Losing one day, we had big plans for today, covering Eastern and Central Taipei, Ximending and rounding it off with Raohe Night Market. Thank goodness cabs are easy to get and pretty affordable.

YQ同学, my travelling buddy, towers above me at about six feet four, but gets his kicks from cute little things.

See what I mean?

I rest my case.

Ok, I must admit this one’s quite cute. It’s almost like it’s gonna sprout tiny chopper blades and take off ala Minkimomo.

Are you kidding me?

Don't even think about it!

I did not sign up for this!

There is ab.so.lute.ly no way im going in there.

And we are in there.

Ordering.

Apparently this is where we put our masculinity to the test.

Because real men do Hello Kitty damit!

Now take a chunk off that face soldier!

Moving on!

t a i p e i

The preferred mode of transport in Taipei seemed to be the scooter.

Even for the dogs.

Which is right up Mr. YQ’s alley here (pun fully intended) cos he too rides a bike back home.

And this is where we shop for a helmet, most of which do not satisfy Singapore’s safety regulation.

And judging by the way they park their scooters, neither are the motorcycle lots.

I took this photo solely because I was amazed by the glass building at the rear disappearing into the background.

There were a few note-worthy shops scattered around Zhong Zheng and Central Taipei that made it an attraction and setting it apart from Ximending and Taipei East.

For instance, the Miniature Museum...

...which was like a whole other world located in the basement of an 

office building.

 And the Paper Museum which we weren’t allowed to take photos, so I kinda snuck in these 2 pictures (below) of their bathroom doors just to make myself feel better ;p Cheap Thrills.

And the Taiwan Storyland, which I was so looking forward to, but to my dismay, had actually closed down and I was utterly utterly disappointed. Utterly.

But we managed to find this Gundam Toy Shop within the same building which was a fun browse through.

Real Steel!

The main attraction for me however, was local book and music store, the Eslite Flagship Store in Taipei East.  This is where I stock up on indie mandarin music CDs I can’t find back in Singapore.

Gotten carried away, we soon found out that most eating places around closed sometime after lunch and don’t resume business until sometime just before dinner.

Closed :(

Closed :(

Closed :(

But this place looks nice. Let's take a photo :)

So we settled for drinks at one of the coffee joints and later, eagle-eye YQ spotted an eating place across the road still open and it turned out to be one of the best thing we had in our trip :D

Filling up, we proceeded to head over to Ximending.

Ximending is like the Orchard Road of Taipei.  Actually it’s more like the Orchard Road of Japan. And with that I do mean the Shinjuku of Japan. Or maybe it’s Akihabara, I’m not sure. They all look the same to me.

Bright lights and billboards, Ximending picks up crowd as the sun sets especially on the weekends.

With its pedestrianized streets, it is no wonder that it’s a favourite gathering place especially for the youngsters to meet, eat and shop.

Chanced upon a toyshop hidden in the upper parts of the shops that seemed to be managed by a bunch of kids who are very passionate about their work.

There is much to buy here in Ximending. but having only started out, we did not want excess baggage for the rest of the trip so we promised to return after Jiufen and Hualian,

Planning to cover at least one night market before we leave for the northern territory, we decided to hop on over to Raohe for dinner.

Skipping roadside stalls, we decided to give this Teppanyaki joint a go and it served up a large portion of main and side dishes for a rather reasonable price. Not bad, not bad at all.

Night markets are really like flea markets (or pasar malam) back home which I probably won’t go out of the way for. But being part of Taiwan’s popular culture, I actually don’t mind rubbing shoulders with the local just to soak up some atmosphere.