Taiwan
Day 1 (5/23)-
We arrived in Taipei with about 7 hours to kill before our room was ready. We walked about an hour to Taipei 101 to kill time. Turns out Din Tai Fung does not have any line when it opens on Tuesdays. After wandering through the city, we had dinner at Huaxi Night Market, also known as 'Snake Alley'. One of the seedier places I have been in Taiwan, but was pleasantly surprised to see all but two of the snake stands have closed up shop. We ended the day at R&D Cocktail Lab.
Day 2 (5/24)-
We woke up early and had breakfast at Yong He Soy Milk King, and then headed to Maokong via Wenhu line and the Gondola. Incredible way to escape the city. Red Wood House had a laid back air to it. Yue Yao Teahouse is open 24hrs a day, can only imagine the individuals there after midnight. We crossed town and headed to the National Palace Museum, arriving right after rain struck. The museum had a good interactive multimedia exhibit but otherwise was less than engaging. Afterward, we had dinner at the Shilin Night Market.
Day 3 (5/25)-
We consumed three different noodle dishes in the morning. Weather was still a little dreary so we laid low, got massages and headed to Tom's World arcade. We headed to Raohe Night Market for some baozi and boiled boanes. We finished the day at ON TAP and KOR.
Day 4 (5/26)-
We headed SE today. First stop was Jiufen, where we explored the Old Street and had some tea. After, we continued to Hualien and spent the night at Key Inn
Day 5 (5/27)-
The menu for today was Tarakou Gorge. We hopped on a bus in Hualien and made our way up to Tianxiang. We got some nice hiking and elevation in on the way. Made it up to Swallow Grotto before the rain really started interfering with our plans. From there traffic began to become a mess and we cut back our hiking. Eventually we made it back to Hualien and had some terrific food at the Dongguan Night Market.
Day 6 (5/28)-
Long tranist day from Hualien to Taichung. Had a great dinner with two locals at Bungy Jump BBQ.
Home 78, a whiskey and hookah bar.
TC18. The upstairs music was nice, downstairs the bass was physically violating.
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Day 7 (5/29)-
Spent a very relaxing day visiting teahouses. Went to Wu Wei Tsao Tang Teahouse and the Reading Farming Municipal Park Teahouse.
Afterward went shrimp Fishing at Tension.
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Day 8 (5/30)-
Packed up and left our luggage at the Taichung HSR train station before heading down to Lukang. Weather was a little rainy and overcast, but had a good time eating food and watching the final day of the Dragon Boat Festival. Fun to see corporate teams from IBM and Google there. Afterward, headed to Taoyuan on the HSR for our last night in Taiwan. The trains were completely packed with everyone returnin from the holiday.
