We woke up relatively early to grab breakfast nearby. There was turnip cake if I remember correctly and some other types of food. Unfortunately, I didn't take any breakfast pictures, so I cannot truly recall what we had. After breakfast, we took a bus to our first location.
It is a historical site in Taipei, known as the Cultural and Creative Park. There were several different Japanese-themed pop-ups, including a Junji Ito exhibit. I'm not a huge fan of Junji Ito, but my girlfriend enjoyed his works. It turned out to be a haunted house-type exhibit. There were groups of 6-8 people going in at a time through the haunted house, connected by a thin rope that we were all holding. Fortunately, we weren't the first in line, so I could close my eyes as we went down the corridors. I didn't expect jump scares and actors, so that really caught me off guard. Certain instances made my heart beat extremely quickly. When I thought it was over, there was actually a second route. We lined up again, unfortunately, being at the front of the line. A younger couple behind us agreed though to take the lead after we asked if they would be interested in leading the way. I admit, I'm a huge coward when it comes to jump scares or horror movies. For the most part, this second route didn't seem as scary until the very end. What I thought was a mannequin was actually a real actor. She did an extremely good job portraying a statue that I actually screamed out loud.
With that part out of the way, we ventured to the other different exhibits before heading off to eat lunch. We stopped at a food court that had beef noodles and a famous soybean-type soup. The lineup was long for the soybean-type soup, but we eventually got some to try. I didn't find it extraordinary though, so the wait was not really worth it in my books. We then headed to a nearby cat café to sit back and relax. The café was quite busy, so we had to reserve a time slot before we headed off to walk around for a bit before our scheduled time. Once we were able to get into the café, we got a drink and cake to share, which turned out to be pretty good. The café was very photogenic, which they probably designed on purpose to help people who wanted to post pictures on social media.
Once we finished, we headed back out to get pineapple pastries at a famous bakery. There was a lineup, but we managed to get through after 10-15 minutes. It was sweltering hot outside, making the a/c bakery a welcome relief. Once we got our pastries, we headed to another café to eat some shaved ice. The shaved ice was quite large, so fortunately we only ordered one to share. After getting through the shaved ice, we headed to a nearby mall/department store to look around and, once again, escape from the heat.
Our next destination was Taipei 101, the tallest building in Taipei. There was quite a line up to purchase tickets, but my girlfriend was able to find automated machines that allowed us to bypass the lines. We weren't able to go all the way to the very top, but the 89th floor would suffice. The wait for the elevator took a while, but we eventually got the chance to go up. It must have been the fastest elevator ride I've ever taken. My ears popped due to the rapid change in altitude.
We explored the floor and found a place where we could eventually sit to enjoy the sunset. Once we got our fill, we queued in line to take an elevator back down to the main floor. It was time for dinner, so we headed off to a night market. I don't recall the name of the night market, but it was jammed pack with people and various food carts. We started off with some corn, which was not bad. Our second dish was a noodle soup/dish that had oysters and pork intestines. It was only about $1, but it literally blew my mind. Maybe hunger played a factor, but I was thoroughly impressed by how good the dish was to me. It's definitely top two in terms of my trip this year. We also tried some taro balls, quail eggs, and bubble tea at the night market. There was also a famous restaurant that sold cold chicken mixed with various spices and sauces. That turned out too be pretty good as well. All in all, food was cheap and good.
We finished off our night by heading to a small arcade where they had the fishing-with-rice-paper game. Since we had no idea how to play, we didn't end up doing too well that night. After that, we headed back to our hotel to rest for the night.
A full day with various sights in a country that's new to me.
From the 89th floor of Taipei 101. Pictures of the city skyline may look generic, but it's always nice to see.
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