Taipei, Taiwan – Parr Planet – Travels with Stephen & Kathleen

Our very first morning, we ran up Elephant Mountain and had sweeping views. That is Taipei 101 behind us, second tallest building in the world.

We took a glass-bottomed cable car to this temple in the sky.

Henry and Helen showed us around their favorite spots at the night market – gigantic fried chicken to die for!

Just one of the many delicious offerings at the night market….I didn’t try this one

They really DO make everything here…This was on display at a shop in the Taipei underground..

OMG, a Hello Kitty carrot on my pasta…craziness!

Steve enjoys his Hello Kitty Burger….note bun….

This town was the inspiration fo Mayuzaki’s “spirited Away”

Two of these babies were for Steve and I…..yummmm

Beautiful Hot Springs, right in the city!

Ok, I didn’t manage to capture the waterfall in this selfie, but it was there and lovely!

Helen and Henry took us to one of their favorite spots, a beautiful library right next to the hot springs.

Beautiful pagoda in the park. When Henry was young, it was a fancy, sophisticated restaurant for the upper class.

Again, beautiful hot springs in the city.

And this was our San Rio plane….would you believe pillows, seat protectors, coffee stirs and even barf bags with cute characters on them?

EVA Air, a Taiwanese airline, loves Hello Kitty. This is an area with Hello Kitty check-in kiosks! Too cute for words.

Taipei – January 25-29, 2016

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!!! HERE WE GO WITH FOUR MONTHS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND AUSTRALIA!

Wow! Best trans-Pacific travel ever! We stayed in Santa Monica one night on our way out so that we merely had one 14-hour flight to Taipei on our travel day. We flew in economy, of course, but we lucked out as the plane was not full (this never happens) and we had three seats with just the two of us which meant some partial lying-down was possible! Very comfy Eva Air (Taiwanese airline).

We arrived around 11 PM and went straight to our hotel in central Taipei. The Yomi hotel was very hospitable and had free water, coffee, tea, canned beverages and snacks for us in the room. We pretty much went straight to bed and slept for at least 6 hours, waking up at 6 AM local, which would be 5 PM Eastern. This is a pretty heavy jetlag, but we preservered, and became used to getting up early and getting very, VERY sleepy after lunch.

Our first day we took the metro out to Elephant Mountain and climbed some 400 stairs for great views over Taipei in a beautiful park setting. Thus invigorated, we headed for the most obvious attraction in the skyline, the Taipei 101 building, second tallest skyscraper in the world. We ascended to the 98th floor in the world’s fastest elevator (it took 45 seconds) and enjoyed both indoor and outdoor viewing platforms over the city. Next up, famous dimsum at the Din Tai Fung, in the same building but down on the main level. Yummy dumplings! Uh oh, sleepy……

After naptime, we had the great fortune to have planned to meet up with Henry and Helen Liaw, parents of our friend Alex from Austin, TX. Henry and Helen are from Taipei and were the ultimate tour guides of this fine city. They took us to a beautiful park where Chiang Kai-shek’s residence could be viewed. After that, we wandered happily through the Shilin Night Market, most famous of many night markets in the city. Street after street of foodstands serving all manor of dish. For starters, we had a gigantic, flat, boneless fried chicken that was about the best fried chicken we ever tasted. We arrived early to this stall, Henry and Helen told us that the chicken was best early on when the grease was fresh, in addition, the lines later on would be half-way down the street at this singularly popular spot. Further on, we tasted some dumplings and some traditional sweets….all yummy!! After filling our tummies again, we said thank you and good night to Henry and Helen and planned to meet up again in two days.

On our own the next day, we took the beautiful metro system out to the zoo where there is a gondolo that goes up the MaoKong mountain, up high above the city. Whilst there we wandered the many stairs on the side of the mountain and visited the stunning Zhinan Temple, beautiful inside and located with spectacular views. From there we headed back to the city to check out the Hello Kitty Cafe for lunch. We really couldn’t miss this…..I think that the pictures will speak for themselves, but anywhere that you have hamburger buns and carrot slices shaped like Hello Kitty, there is no possibility but to be happy. Lunch was ok, but the experience was well worth it. From there, we took a bus outside the city to the mountain town of Jiufen. Another gorgeous setting, this town should be seen by fans of Japanese anime great Mayuzaki, as it is the setting for the film “Spirited Away”. Essentially, you can wind your way up the side of the mountain on streets with shops of every nature and beautiful little teahouses…when you get to the top, the view is stunning. We wandered around the residential area at the top and got lost, flagging down a taxi at last to take us to Houtong, a former mining community that found itself deflated when the mining indistry dried up. Starting with one local enthusiast, the town has reinvented itself as the “Cat-Village”. It is both a gigantic shelter for homeless cats and quite simply, a cat-themed place all the way around. The railway bridge is shaped like a cat, there is cat-themed street art, and generally catty items every where you look. We especiall liked the cat-condos, various little kitty homes spread out over the town. I don’t know how they decide who lives where………

Leaving Houtong, we decided to check out the famous night market at Keelung harbor, known for having the best pick of seafood of any of the markets in Taiwan. After an adventuous meal of BBQ squid on a stick and oyster omlettes, we were exhausted and hopped on the train for the 45-minute trip back to the city. All in all, a great, if exhausting, day.

The next day, and our last, Henry and Helen took us on a whirlwind tour of some of the most naturally beautiful sites in and about Taipei. We saw the hot springs and the beautiful library nearby, which has won world-wide awards for energy conservation and design. We then headed up into the hills to Yang Ming Shan national park. It was overcast, but the city still looked beautiful as we looked back on the “cloud sea”. We had a lovely little walk and went to famous local restaurant, “Green Garden” I believe it was called, and the food was fantastic! After lunch, we wandered around the lily garden, where thousands and thousands of lilies are grown to eventually be sold in town. What a lovely day! Back in town, we regretfully said goodbye to our new friends. They made our experience in Taiwan so amazing. We will never forget their hospitality and hope to host them in CT when they come to New York to visit their new granddaughter this summer!