By Perrin
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| Our friend Ashley |
Everyone is kind and helpful here! We have been lost at a train station multiple times, and almost every time some random person has come up to us and said, “You look confused, do you need any help?” (Taiwanese love using their English on us) When my mom was here in November setting things up, she was trying to make a U-bike account which is an account that lets you rent bikes all over the city. She didn't know how to set the account up, but a man and his daughter went up to her and helped her. We have made friends with them since then and coincidentally the girl is Carly’s age and her English name is Ashley! My mom and Dad were really surprised when we first took the subway because their former experiences in Beijing were all about shouting, pushing and arguing. Here, there are marks on the floor to tell you where to line up if you are waiting for the subway. People actually pay notice them and follow the rules which makes it easier for people to get on and off without pushing. If someone bumps into you, they almost always say sorry (“Dui bu qi” or “Bu hao yi si”, in Chinese). The people here are half of what makes Taipei a truly amazing city.
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2. The Food
Taipei is famous for its food. Stands of all kinds litter the streets and people selling everything you could think of shout advertisements at you from all directions, “Try these chicken feet! Come try! Try these pig blood cakes! 1 for $1.00!” Not only can you find “interesting” local food, but also, if you walk down some random little lane in a random part of the city, you might find the best pizza that you have ever tried! Another nice thing about Taipei and food is that there are tons of places to get western food too. There are two AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS pizza places both one to five minutes from our apartment. There are also real bakeries, cafes, and guess what? Even chocolatiers! You don’t have to go far if you’re looking for food in Taipei. You only have to know where to look or be adventurous enough to explore to find it! Around Shi Da road there are many excellent restaurants where we love to eat. Here is a list of them (or the ones we know of and like) all 20 minutes or less walking from our apartment, just to show you how many there really are:
Restaurants: Maryjanes Pizza Desserts, Cafes and Bakeries: Waffle Waffle
La Pizza Cafe a la Mode
Macciato’s Zhen Fei Coffee
The Dumpling Place Cupcakery
Kao Chi (The Iron Pot Place) Bread Society
Din Tai Fung Crepe Place Wisteria Night Market Waffles
Spice (Indian) Boite de Bijoux
Mexican Burrito Place Truffle One
A Chinese Restaurant Gelato Place
Spring (Vegetarian)
Evan’s Burger
Vino Vino (Western)
Pengs (Asian)
Thai Place
Sichuan Restaurant
Beijing Duck Place
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| A specifically nice subway station |
3. Easy and Cheap Public Transportation
The subway (or “jie yun” in Taiwan) here is amazing! It’s new, organized, clean, and very efficient. There are subway maps and signs with exit numbers on them everywhere so you almost always know where you’re going. We rarely get lost in the subway. However, we do get lost in Taipei Main Station which is the place from where all the buses and trains leave. It has what seems like a whole world under ground that connects one subway stop to another. It also has a whole underground mall and movie theater in it. The subway cards here are called “Yo Yo cards”. To put money on them, you place them on a little sensor and press “add money” on a screen in front of you. Then you insert money into the machine and it’s done. You can choose the English version if you want. There are information counters where you can get one time tickets if you are only staying in Taipei for a short time. You can use your Yo Yo card to pay for buses, U-bikes, and even purchases at 7/11! It costs about 20¢ per metro ride, but when you beep your card on the way out, the machine charges you for however far you went. Once you are waiting for the train, there are TVs that say how long it is going to be until the next train. It is all so quick and convenient. We use the subway almost every day.
4. Mountains and Hikes
As you drive into the mountains and away from Taipei City, you realize that Taipei is not only a city, but also a mountainous hiking wonderland. There are countless hikes around and in Taipei. Hiking some, you feel like you are in the complete wilderness while hiking others, the city is spread out in front of you, waiting for you to appreciate its nightime beauty as the sun sets. Lots of the hikes start and/or end with stairs. Sometimes the whole hike is stairs, and I mean literally all stairs. Some have almost no stairs but instead have massive boulders, cliffs, bare ridges, ladders, ropes, chains, roots, rocks and require lots of steep hands and knees hiking.
Still other hikes, you hike up and take a glass-bottomed gondola down! It is also very convenient to get to most hikes. Just take the MRT to the closest stop and then get a bus or a taxi. Taxis are much less expensive here than in the US. Be sure to plan your ride back, too, otherwise you might be taking a longer hike that you were thinking of taking. There are more than 150 mountains in Taiwan that are 3,000 meters and over (9,843 feet). Just to give some perspective, Mt. Washington, the tallest mountain in the Northeast, is 1,917meters (6,288 feet), so if you hike here you might be climbing some pretty high mountains!
5. The River Bike Path (he-ti) and Parks
My dad is crazy about the river bike path. Every time we go on it he says, “It’s amazing that they have this!” The city bike path, he-ti in Chinese, is a paved path that goes almost all the way across Taipei. Along the side of it, next to the river, the city has built climbing walls, playgrounds, basketball courts, baseball fields, skateboard ramps, and beautiful places to hang out. It is a convenient way to get places and to have a lovely ride if you want some fresh air and exercise. It is definitely unique to Taipei. Taipei also has many beautiful parks and gardens. Some parks have ponds with animals living in them, like cranes, ducks, frogs and fish. The Botanical Gardens have a pond with lotus plants and flowers. The huge, bright pink blossoms are magnificent! Most cities haven’t put that much money and time into people’s health and enjoyment and they also don't have as much open outdoor space!
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| Us on the "He Ti" |
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