Taiwan Day 4: Danshui, Beitou, Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, Hot Pot

Day 4 morning, Tammy and I went out on our own for breakfast. It was our first day of getting out together. One of the great things about Taipei is that it is very easy to walk everywhere. Public transportation is wonderful and everything is within walking distance of an MRT station. After breakfast we went out and spent the majority of the day seeing Danshui and Beitou. We had been there before, but we enjoyed them so much that we wanted to go back. 

Danshui is located on a harbor and seems to be a very popular day trip destination for Taiwanese tourists. I've never been to the Jersey Shore, but I would imagine that the feel is very similar. There aren't any huge rides or anything, but there is a small carnival feel. Beitou is another popular destination for Taiwanese tourists. Beitou is the hot springs epicenter of northern Taiwan. There are hot spring resorts located all over Beitou and the main hot spring area is called Hell Valley. The water is so hot that nothing can live in it. Water flowing from Hell Valley runs through the heart of Beitou and you can walk in it.

On the way back from Beitou, we stopped at Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall because we thought it would look pretty at night (we'd been there before). We were somewhat wrong. We expected it to be lit up more, but it was ok. For dinner we stopped in Gongguan and had all you can eat Chinese Hot Pot.

This is the street Tammy's grandmother lives on. She occupies the entire 6th floor, Tammy's aunt is on the 7th, and her uncle and aunt are on the 8th.

An example of how narrow the streets can be in Taiwan neighborhoods. In the main part of the city they are much bigger.

Breakfast buns.

Xiaobing Yotiao.

Danbing.

Delicious Pork Jerky.

The MRT is amazing. Single journey tokens are slightly more expensive than getting a weekly card, but they're much more convenient.

This army of motorized scooters are about to descend on this large intersection. Motorized scooters are the most widely used personal transport in Taiwan.

How could this not be good?

This guy is a human statue. HE ISNT SITTING ON ANYTHING... Probably the most impressive human statue I've ever seen.

Ice cream that is 2ft tall. No shit.

Danshiu waterfront.

Danshui waterfront.

Sample of the small carnival feel.

More hilarious signs.

Hello Kitty stores everywhere.

Danshui Old Street.

Part of Beitou. I didn't really take many pictures in Beitou because I have a lot already posted from the previous trip.

Taiwan is lit up like Vegas at night.

KFC delivers. Peace out Nashville.

Even the colonel is celebrating the New Year.

Part of CKS Memorial Hall.

Chinese Hot Pot is delicious. Going to at least have it one more time before I come back.

Taiwan Day 3: Meeting My Nieces, Din Tai Fung, Taipei 101, Dinner, & Night Market

Tammy has a brother than I have only talked to through email. She hadn't seen him in six years and it just happened that he was going to be in Taipei for Chinese New Year as well. He works for Apple and works in Shanghai. He also has three daughters... which makes me an uncle and I had never met them. Tammy made plans to meet them for lunch at Din Tai Fung. Originating in Taiwan, Din Tai Fung prepares xiaolongbao made to order and they're delicious. You can watch them prepare them by hand through glass.

Bottom left is drunken chicken, above that steamed kong ching tsai (Chinese spinach), above that noodles,  and above that three different types of steamed soup dumplings

On left are the traditional steamed soup dumplings, the top dumplings are filled with vegetables, and on right is a pork cutlet on top of vegetable stir fried rice.

Most of this was already pictured above. Top is the chinese spinach, middle is the pork cutlet and the rice, bottom is the third type of steamed dumpling, and on the right is a spicy dumpling.

The hot & sour soup here was legit.

Abby & my three nieces

Again.

And again.

After lunch we walked around Taipei 101's shopping center. I think it was six floors of expensive (one jewelry store had stuff in the window for 1,000,000+) shops. Steve Madden was from The Wolf of Wall Street.

Another example of the amazing signs you'll find all over.

Din Tai Fung add. The location we ate at is located in Taipei 101.

Taipei 101 is covered in these Damper Babies. Just another example of how odd the culture can be here.

I went into this store and the service was super quick... You should be laughing now.

Happy New Year. Gong Xi Fa Cai.

The year of the sheep.

Middle dish is Lion's Head Meatballs, to the left is Chinese spinach, to the right an assortment of vegetables, top middle is fish that I did not eat, and top right is chinese eggplant.

Top middle is curry chicken and potatoes.

This was the smoothest Scotch Whiskey I've ever had.

Filled cakes. Could be filled with creme, chocolate, or red bean.

Entrance to the night market we visited.

Fried sweet potato and yuca balls.

Grilled flayed squid

Grilled whole squid bodies.

Probably the best thing at a night market.

Another shot of the market itself.

Bubble Tea

Taiwan Day 2: Supermarket, Dinner, & Movie

Tammy and I like to play a game when we go to the supermarket here. It is called, "Who Can Get The Weirdest Snack". We agreed that I won this round.

Tammy picked these chips. They tasted like Five Spice and they weren't terrible.

I picked this winner. Cheeseburger flavored Cheetos. Chester approves 110%. We have yet to open this bag so I'm not sure if they're good or not.

Driving in Taiwan is mass chaos. There is no blind spot. If you're in front of someone, then you have the right of way. If you hit them in your blind spot, then it is their fault. I suppose that is because they can see you and you can't see them or something. In a way it makes sense, but it also makes driving in Taiwan terrifying. Tammy and I like to call it "zero fucks given". When we went to one of the super markets here to try and find some baby food for Abby I was surprised to find that super market grocery cart etiquette is the same.

We took two carts and Abby got her own.

Green Coke? Of course we bought one. Tammy's mom said, "Are you sure you don't want two?" I told her that if it was terrible then we'd be stuck with one!

Very similar to a bakery in the States... at least this part of it.

Mushrooms are huge in Taiwan... both figuratively and literally. These looks like turnips or shaved radishes, but no they are mushrooms and they're great.

So this amazed me. A moving sidewalk that is on an incline. The cart magnetizes to the sidewalk and will not move at all until it gets pushed off at the end. Amazing.

Picture from the bottom. These people were like "WTF is this white guy doing?"

When we left the market we needed to kill some time because Tammy's grandmother was sleeping. We went to this drink shop and Tammy's aunt parked in the middle of the street. Zero fucks given.

Parked in the middle of the street.

The second night in a row we went to a restaurant with a lazy susan. I love it. This time it was more domestic fare. This time, thankfully, I did not do shots of whiskey the whole time.

Sliced chicken, brisket, and seasame buns.

The bottom right is a delicious fish and mushrooms dish, above that fried shrimp /w pepper, above that Jew's Ear (which was delicious), above that cabbage in a Chinese coleslaw style, and in the middle is a sort of Chinese fondue /w shrimp and cabbage.

The chicken and what was left of the brisket.

Delicious sliced tofu (center) and to the left Enoki mushrooms and vermicelli. 

A broader picture of everything. Top right is a plate of large shrimp and pork dumplings.

Top right the dumplings again, bottom right sesame buns, cabbage, and above that wasabi and peanut noodles.

A closer shot of the noodles.

After dinner I was sucked into going to see Fifty Shades of Grey. We went to Warner Village which is located very close to Taipei 101. When we were parking in the garage there was what seemed to be a random guy in a costume. I have to admit I was a little worried he was going to have a big knife and be laughing hysterically, but he ended up being a part of some promotional event going on at the mall.

Taipei 101 at night. It was lit up purple because it was Sunday.

The weird guy in a costume.

I had to make a video because I didn't think he would fit in the elevator. I was somewhat correct.