There's a region of Taiwan known as Jiufen. Spirited Away, one of my favorite Ghibli movies, was inspired by this location. We had plans to go visit but ended up keeping it simple by staying within Taipei. I wasn't feeling the hour-and-a-half ride, so we ended up getting some bubble tea before heading over to a popular restaurant for a late breakfast/early lunch.
We got a beef noodle dish and a chicken noodle dish. Both were quite succulent, though the chicken tasted better for me. Once we finished, we quickly left since people were lining up outside in the heat, wanting to eat here as well. We ended up heading to a small market that sold various sweets. We settled for some shaved ice. It was covered with guava syrup, and some sort of mango gelato on top. There were various cut-up guava surrounding the bowl of ice, which was a nice change of texture from the ice. Overall, it was good, and once again, a nice reprieve from the heat.
We ended up heading back to a department store that we visited yesterday to purchase some goods before heading back to the same night market (albeit during the afternoon) from last night to buy more chicken. Since it was really early, there wasn't a long line up. We placed our order and wandered around the street. It was a stark difference compared to the night before, looking almost deserted save people getting ready for the night.
After we picked up the chicken, we headed back to the hotel to rest before searching for a different night market to try. After catching a bus, we walked for a while to get to this second-night market. We stopped by a store to grab some mochi before arriving at the night market. I don't recall the name of the night market, but we grabbed a variety of different dishes: clams, sausages, taro balls, and even stinky tofu. Not wanting to lug all the food onto a bus, we flagged down a taxi to take us back to our hotel.
After eating dinner, my girlfriend really wanted to go back to the first night market to play the scooping fish game, so we departed from the hotel. Perhaps it was later than when we arrived last night, but the little arcade wasn't nearly as busy. We had a whole "fish tank" to ourselves for a good half hour or so. After watching a tutorial, she was able to catch over 70 fish herself! She traded in her fish for a prize, and we headed back to the hotel for the night.
It was overall a short visit to Taiwan, but a good start! I've never been to another Asian country besides Japan, but the atmosphere was somewhat similar. Unlike in certain places in North America, I felt safe walking the streets at night. It probably helped that even at night, the streets were quite busy, making it feel comfortable. Taiwan is also quite affordable when it comes to accommodations and food! I'll probably opt for a different hotel next time, but it'll be nice to visit other areas of Taiwan during a different trip.
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