One of the must-dos in
Taipei is the night market, particularly the Shilin Night Market and perhaps the HuaXi Night Market, a.k.a. Snake Alley. My team and I went to Shilin the second night we were in
Taipei. It was exactly as I expected - just like
Chinatown at home, but twice as large. There were food stalls scattered amidst the shops selling everything from cheongsams to dildos. People were thronging the streets, and the clamor of hawkers selling their wares filled the sky. I was tempted to try
Taipei's famous oyster omelets but we'd just come from a delicious dinner of Peking duck. Besides, when we first stepped out of the cab, we caught a big whiff of stinky tofu from the night market, which completely turned my colleagues' stomachs, so any more food that night would've been pushing it for them.
Snake Alley was a little more staid, with only a few people scattered around instead of the huge throng in Shilin, but that was probably because I went during the day instead of at night when it's at it's peak. It was very different from Shilin in that it sold mostly food. A section of the market had a bunch of foot reflexology/massage shops and two dildo shops. What is it with the Taiwanese and their dildos?? With my rudimentary grasp of traditional Chinese characters, I managed to get a delicious bowl of oyster noodles. Omelets are only sold at night, apparently, so no oyster omelet for me :(
My oyster noodles :) YUM!
A funny dog I saw - can't decide whether it's adorable or pitifulAfter my lunch, I made my way to XiMenDing, Taipei's major shopping district. It was then that I understood why Snake Alley was so empty - everyone was out shopping! The area was packed with young people strolling through streets that were closed to cars for the weekend. The hustle and bustle with the incredible variety of stores made it a shopper's paradise. Upscale international shops mixed with local boutiques lined the streets, which branched out in three directions. Little alleyways were home to some food stalls and more clothes stalls. These were my favourite, because this is where bargaining can be done! However, in conversations with the client, I found out that it used to be the case that these stalls charged ridiculous prices with the expectation that bargaining would bring the price down by 30-50%. Nowadays, they tend to charge more reasonable prices so there is less bargaining. That made me feel better about not trying to bring the price of the blouse and skirt I bought down further than I did. :)
One of the weird things I saw in XiMenDing - the Taiwanese apparently have this thing for costumes. And big-headed mice.
Bustling XiMenDing, complete with McDs
My final stop for the day was the Chiang Kai Shek memorial. The Gate of Centrality and Perfect Uprightness stands at the front of the memorial. The impressive 30m-high, five-arched gate, topped with blue tiles does a great job of preparing one for the size of the memorial. From the gate, I entered a huge plaza, flanked by the National Theater and the National Concert Hall. At the top of the National Theater steps, a group of teenagers were energetically practicing some dance to blaring hip-hop, which provided an interesting contrast to the austere surroundings. The plaza then narrows to the Boulevard of Homage, which leads to the monument itself. The marble memorial, topped with a roof of shiny blue tiles, is built on a mind-boggling scale. The architectural concept is similar to the Lincoln memorial in that a huge flight of stairs brings you up to the top of the memorial where a giant statue of Geneneral Chiang is housed. However, I think Chiang's statue easily dwarfs Lincoln's. The Chinese like to do things on a large scale. In the bowels of the memorial is a museum filled with Chiang's artifacts, most famous of which are two bullet-proof, all-black limousines.
Gate of Centrality and Perfect Uprightness - what a name!
Teens dancing on the steps
Chiang Kai Shek Memorial - in preparation for Buddha's Birthday the next day
The enormous Chiang Kai Shek statue
Black limo!
On my way out, I stop by what I thought was a tomb, but turned out to be a water cachement area. Pretty neat.
The water cachement area I thought was a tomb
Actually, come to think of it, I've felt like an idiot too many times in Taiwan - especially since I've had to call the reception at both hotels because I couldn't figure out how to turn off the lights!!
Trees! Nature!
The presence of a cross on the top of the mountain was a little surprising
The top of the mountain was a little disappointing, though. There's a resort up there that looks like it was built 20 years ago and never maintained since. It has an amusement park and an empty pool and a few run-down looking chalets. We were hungry but the only things on the menu were unidentified pieces of meat that didn't look particularly appetizing. We were looking forward to a soak in the hot springs, but we had imagined a European-style outdoor natural-looking pool instead of tiny buildings filled with what looked like big bathtubs that were mostly for private use. Definitely not suited for 3 colleagues.
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