Round 2: Taipei, Taiwan

July 21 - 27, 2013

Funny how your weeks schedule can change in a blink of an eye.  The 1 week in July I was suppose to be in the bay area (compared to Hillsboro) I was asked to go to Taiwan for a workshop.

On Thursday evening I booked my flight via China Air to Taiwan on Sunday morning coming back via China Air + United Air with 1 stop in Hong Kong.  It was a round about way - but since I was booking so late my normal flight via Eva Air was full.  I was so bummed - I contacted both Eva and the travel agent to confirm it was sold out.  Then Friday morning I got a call from the company's travel agent saying the tool had messed up and given me a price 2,000+ dollars cheaper than the actual flight and that they would not book it.  At this point I was freaking out because it was noon on Friday and I need to leave late Saturday night to get to Taiwan by Monday.  After doing another search - 1 seat opened up on Eva Air and I was able book it!!!  This meant that I would be leaving SFO at 1:40am on Sunday July 21st and would arrive at TPE at 5:00am on Monday, July 22nd.

I got to the SFP airport about 10:45 and got right through the baggage line and security - so I grabbed a book and some magazines and headed to the gate.  Although it was an extremely full flight I was able to get a window seat (YAYYY) for the 12+ hour flight.  We boarded the plane at 1am and it just so happened the person I was sitting next to was going to the same workshop.  Since I have made this flight many times before - I know to get up early the day of flying (Saturday) - be active, stay busy - and then try to stay up for the 1st meal served on the plane.  After that I will sleep the entire way to TW.  Unfortunately - this time I was so tired I fell asleep right after we took off and slept for about an hour.  I woke up to my Oriental Veggie meal on my tray table - ate a few bites and then went back to bed.  I slept almost all the way through to the next meal only waking up for 30 mins to read a bit of the book I bought at the airport.  After eating the breakfast meal - there is generally about 2 hours of the flight left - so I went back to sleep!  :)  I am very blessed that I can sleep so much on the plane - because my neighbor sitting next to me said he took a sleeping pill and I still slept more than he did.

TPE Airport. 

Upon arrival at TPE, we (there was 2 other people at the airport attending the same workshop on my flight) went through customs - filling out the form of where we were staying, our passport information etc and then went to get our luggage.  Normally I have a private car pick me up, however, this time I was taking a taxi.  The taxi station is to the left when you come out of the terminal.  There are 2 people at the stand who speak English and will translate where you want to go to the driver - incase he doesn't understand.  After about a 30min ride we arrived at the Sherwood Hotel.  This hotel is close to where I stayed last time - the Westin - but still a new location to explore.

The Sherwood Hotel has a very nice lobby - very classy and minimal.  Since I am arriving at about 6am - the hotel said my room was ready...however...they will have to charge me a half days rate for me to access it early.  This was a little disappointing because the Westin always let me check in early for free - as do most other hotels.  The room I got was on the 14th floor and overlooked a side street behind the hotel.  The room had 2 queen beds, a tv and desk area.  Fairly basic - but VERY clean which I love.  The bed is firm - as most beds are in Asia.  It doesn't bother me any though!  :)  The bathroom is the highlight of the room though!  There is a sink-in tub to the left of walking in and in the front is a sink and a basket of goodies for your stay which includes body soap, shampoo, shower cap, razor, toothbrushes, q-tips and cotton pads.  There is a walk in shower in tile - and the water pressure is perfect and the temperature adjusts quickly.  Now to the best and most redic part of the bathroom - the heated toilet.  It is seriously amazing!  The heated toilet seat is always on - and yes you would think what different does a heated seat make?  It is just a luxury item I have never been able to experience before this.  I am obsessed!  The water washing the toilet does for you - well I am too scared to try that one out.  The hotel offers and indoor pool and gym on the 20th floor of the hotel.  The gym equipment is about average - think along the lines of 24hr Fitness.  It isnt the best equipment but it works.  There are ellipticals, treadmills, and bikes for cardio and there are weight machines and free standing weights available.  The pool is in the next room over from the gym and has a very nice view.  It is on the smaller side - not big enough to do full on laps for exerciser - but big enough to play around in.  The water is warm and the pool area is very clean.

Hotel Room.

Hotel bathroom.

Hotel bathroom.

Hotel Gym. 

Swimming pool. 

View of Sunset from the Pool. 

After checking into my room for a fee - I took a nice long shower, unpacked a little and them met some coworkers down in B1 for breakfast.  Similar to alot of the breakfast buffets in Asia - it is a combination of western and Asian foods.  I had some eggs, noodles, Taiwanese onion pancakes, and cereal.  For lunch I went out with some coworkers to a local Taiwanese shop.  Luckily they had a menu in English and we were able to pick out a few items.  We shared a pork and veggie dumpling, a steamed bun and we each got our own soup.  I had the Shrimp Wonton Noodle Soup.  The noodles and wontons were wonderful - great flavor!  The broth however - was not the best I have ever had it was bland so I threw in some soy sauce and red chili paste to spice it up.

Lunch Day 1.

Dinner was a group dinner of about 12 - and we went to Fridays.  Yup - the same Fridays that is in the USA.  Haha.  Some people in the group couldn't stay away from eating the American basics.  So we had a bunch of appetizers and I had the BBQ burger.  It was okay - it tastes just like it would in the US.  By the end of dinner it was about 9pm and I was ready for bed so I went back to the hotel for a good nights sleep.

Dinner day 1. 

Day two - I went down for the breakfast at the hotel again.  Similar having a cross between American and Asian foods.  After working a couple hours - it was time for lunch and I decided to venture out on my own.  I asked the hotel for a recommendation and they told me a place behind the hotel next to the 7 - 11.  While I was on my way there I found a cute clothing boutique (which I will go back to later in the week) and went in to check it out.  I started talking with the girl working there and on my way out asked her for a food recommendation around the area.  I told her I am looking for Taiwanese style foods and she pointed me to a restaurant just down the street and across from my hotel.  I went in and ordered.  I ordered the 'noodles with smoked chicken and spicy hot peppers.'  It came out a few minutes after I ordered and it was noodles with a soupy sauce (not like in a bowl of sauce) and cucumbers, chicken and something yellow.  It was the best dish I have had in Taiwan (besides Din Tai Fung dumplings).  It was amazing - the flavor was spicy and bold, the noodles were clearly made fresh and the cucumber muted out the spiciness of each bite.

Lunch day 2. 

Close up of Lunch day 2. 

For dinner on day two myself and two others went to the Taipei 101 to eat at Din Tai Fung.  We took a cab over from our hotel to the 101 building around 8pm and walk around inside and out when we got there.  We placed our name in at the restaurant and waited about 5 minutes before being seated - this was the shortest time I have ever been seated there.  I am not sure if it is because it was a Tuesday or if it was because it was later.  With having multiple people there - we were able to order multiple things on the menu.  The main dish being the XiaoLongBao - these are what the restaurant is famous for.  It is dumplings with soup inside - each dumpling is hand made fresh to perfection.  They are out of this world.  They provided instructions in English on how to eat them with soy sauce and vinegar.  We also ordered Wonton Soup, Shrimp and pork wontons in spicy sauce, green beans, and red bean and sesame buns.  This is a must do while in Taiwan!

Din Tai Fung.

Dinner day 2.

Wednesday started like every other day does - downstairs for breakfast and then up to the workshop rooms for a days work.  For lunch we went out to a local noodle shop behind our hotel and next to the 7 - 11.  The restaurant is very clean inside and has a modern look to the interior.  I had the Szechwan Style Noodles with Black Vinegar and Spicy Garlic Sauce.  The noodle dish was similar to the one I had yesterday - where it is not in a broth but has a sauce over the noodles that you mix around to gentle coat the noodles and is accompanied with a side of cucumbers to mute the spiciness.  the sauce on these noodles was out of this world - we ordered an appetizer of Shrimp and Veggie Tempura and I ended up dipping this in the sauce of my noodles cause it was so good.  I am going to have to find a way to make these noodles at home cause they are extremely good and easy to eat.  After lunch we walked around the hotel and I grabbed some macaroons from a French bakery - believe it or not these are huge in Taiwan!

Lunch day 3. 

Close up of lunch day 3.  

Macaroons!

Since we wrapped up early on Wednesday (hump day!) - a group of us decided to check out the Snake Alley night market aka - Huaxi Street Night Market, however, we ate prior to going.  We had dinner at the place I ate lunch on Tuesday - the Taiwanese noodle house.  It was delish as expected.  I had a small bowl of noodles and a bowl of wonton soup.  The soup had the most flavorful broth I have had since being in Taiwan.

After dinner we took a cab from our hotel over to the night market which was about a 15min cab ride and cost about 300NTD.  The night market is a two block night market that will then lead you out to the Mengjia Longshan temple.  Snake alley is known for the drink - Snake blood + Vodka - and fried snake - although I have seen it on the travel channel show - I believe it is illegal to sell in Taiwan so this portion of the market moves.  When you go to the market you will see snakes in cages and not so wonderful living conditions and you will be hit with a strong smell of stinky tofu and other herbs being cooked throughout the market.  It is interesting to see once and explore or to go with a local to try different foods.  Just note - not many people speak English here.  After walking through the market we found ourselves at a beautiful temple in the middle of the city.  It was very nice to look around - unfortunately there is nothing in English explaining what is going on or giving any details but it is still worth seeing.

Catching a cab back to hotel was easy as they are waiting in the area to take you home.

Day 4 into my trip (aka Thursday) I had the standard breakfast from the hotel - note the french toast was yummy!  For lunch I went out with some coworkers to the Macaroni Grill - yessssss I know so American of me.  It was not by choice of mine - but it was good none the less.  It is close to the hotel and is up on the 7th floor of the building.  The restaurant is very classy and fairly large offering room for business meetings as well.  I had the cheese pizza and a blackberry Italian soda.

For dinner I went to a Japanese noodle house near the hotel.  There they make fresh noodles right in the front of the store - hand rolled and cut!  When you walk into the restaurant they also have someone making fresh cookies and baking right there over an open fire.  Although it was extremely humid - I order the original hot udon dish.  The broth was so flavorful and the noodles very chewy and fresh.  I also ordered the fresh made cookies and they were amazing!!!  1 was almond flavor with almond slices and 1 was sesame.  They were light and delish!  I would highly recommend this place - it was very clean, everyone wanted to help you understand the menu and it tasted great!

Japanese Noodle House. 

Making the Udon noodles.

Udon Noodle Soup.

Fresh made cookies.

Making the fresh cookies inhouse.

After dinner and a little rain - we headed out to the Shilin Night Market.  I had never been before so I was really excited.  The night market reminds me alot of the night markets in Thailand - alot of clothing, hand made items, and trinkets.  There is alot of food vendors but everything is very clean for how busy the market gets.  We took a cab from the hotel and it cost about 250NTD.  I felt very safe at the market - to the point where I would go alone (compared to the Snake Alley market I would not).  I bought a bow tie for my pup Ryu and got a huge dose of culture.

Shilin night market. 

Bow tie for Ryu.

On Friday - my last work day - I met my coworkers down at the breakfast - per the usual - and worked till lunch.  For lunch some people from the workshop went to Very Thai Restaurant near the hotel.  I had been there once about 2 years back.  It is a clean 2 story restaurant.  It gets really busy at lunch and has great food.  There was a 3 people lunch special for 399 - so since there was 6 of us we ordered 2 sets.  We picked about 6 items from the list for each set (so we got 12 total) and we were left with alot of left overs.  My fav dish was the chicken curry.

At 3:30 - I headed over to the Taipei 101 to meet a family friend at the Google office.  At the Google office on the 73rd floor I was able to use my Glass to take images and videos of Taipei and the Google TPE culture.  From the 101 building - you can see a lot of Taipei - one side looks into the mountains and another gives you amazing views of the city.  You can see memorial halls, gardens, new and old buildings.  Now granted I am a sucker for tall buildings and their views (Sears Tower in Chicago, Prudential building in Boston, etc) but this is really an amazing view of the city and it is the 3rd tallest building in the world!  The Google office in Taipei has the same atmosphere as the headquarters in Mountain View just on a smaller scale.  It is colorful, has fun gadgets, a fully stocked kitchen with all the snacks and drinks you could imagine, a library, and a nap area.  The people were extremely nice and very friendly.  It was great getting to talk to them and hearing their life experiences at Google and learning about Taiwan from locals.  While I was at the 101 - as you will see below in pics - the clouds started to roll in and by the time I left it was raining cats and dogs!  

Taipei 101.  Taken with Glass. 

Taipei 101.  Taken with Glass.

In the elevator on the way up to Google.  Taken with Glass. 

Google TPE.  Taken with Glass.
Video below:  Taipei 101 view.  Taken with Glass. 

View from 101.  Taken with Glass.
Video Below:  Taipei 101 view.  Taken with Glass. 

Google Friday party.  Taken with Glass. 

My host and I.  Taken with Glass. 

Clouds rolling in - view from the Google TPE office.  Taken with Glass. 

Extra images of my trip to the 101 not via Glass:

Going up to Google TPE w/ my Glass.

In the lobby of the 101 w/ Glass.

I walked out of the 101 building and went to catch a cab in front of the building (where the cab stand was the other day) but there were NO cabs!  So here I am standing in the pouring rain - trying to hail a cab and a high schooler comes over to me and asks if I needed help.  My response was 'Oh no I am just trying to catch a cab.'  He then informed me that in the rain the cab station moves underground and he proceeded to walk me through the mall, down the escalators and to the taxi stand.  I thanked him and waited in the back of the line for 10 minutes without moving a step.  I decided then to walk around the mall and hopefully the rain would stop and I would take the MRT home.  While walking around the mall I found a wonderful mask kiosk on the B1 level called L'Herboflore (I couldn't find their website but here are some articles on them here and here.).  L'Herboflore had about 20+ face masks to try ranging from $1.50 - $10 US dollars.  They are developed in Taiwan using natural and local flours and herbs.  I bought a mixture of all of them and started using them right away.  It's 10 - 15 minutes on your face and then you sleep and let the juice from the mask soak in.  I noticed a difference on my skin after the first use - and currently I use them about once a week.  (It would be more if I could buy them in the US).  Unfortunately right now they are only sold in Taiwan - but the next time I go back I will be sure to buy more.  After spending some money - I went outside to check on the weather and to luckily it cleared up - so I took my Glass outside to grab some pictures of the 101 building and headed off to the MRT.  

Taipei 101 at night.  Taken with Glass. 

LOVE.  Taken with Glass. 

Taipei 101.  Take with Glass. 

Images from my trip to the Taipei 101 not taken via Glass:

Taipei 101 + me. 

LOVE.  

The MRT is easy to use if you know how to use the subway in any major city in the US - like NYC or Boston.  I took the MRT to the Zhongxiao Fuxing Station to go to Sogo and my favorite jewelry store in Taiwan - Agete.  During the time I was in Taiwan - Sogo was under renovation so I didnt do much shopping there but I spent alot of time...and money at Agete.  Agete is a Japanese company that makes simple, classic jewelry.  I bought ear rings, bracelet, ring and necklace for myself and I bought matching necklaces for my mom and grandma.  I seriously love everything about the Agete collection.  

MRT station.
Video below:  Downtown at Night. Taken from Glass.

After shopping and since the weather was still nice I started to walk towards the hotel.  On the way since it was 9pm and I still had not had dinner yet - I went to T.K.K. Fried Chicken.  Unfortunately since it was late they did not have any more of the popcorn chicken - so I settled for the chicken on the bone (eek!).  It was good crispy but not great.  I am sure since Taiwan is known for chicken - there are way better places.  

TKK Chicken.

The next day was my last day in Taiwan - but my flight didnt leave till 8:40pm.  So prior to meeting my coworkers for breakfast I check out of my room and headed downstairs for my last breakfast at the hotel.  I met my coworkers down there and then we headed out to Maokong Mountain.  We took the Muzha MRT line down to the last stop - the Taipei Zoo for about 30 - 50NTD ($1 - 2 US dollars).  From our hotel it took max 20 minutes.  From there we walked a few steps out and to the gondola.  It has about 3 station stops as you climb your way up the mountain.  The first stop is the Taipei Zoo, the second is a temple tucked away in the mountain and the third and final is the tea houses @ Maokong Mountain.  I took my Glass of course and captured the amazing views on the way up to the top.  

Once at the top there are hidden hiking trails, cute stands selling gifts and tea houses - big and small - all offering different views of the city.  When we got there we made a left after walking out of the station and headed up hill.  We stop at a beautiful temple and went to the tea house museum - where you learn about the mountain, tea and get to taste teas from the local farmers.  I would highly recommend coming to Maokong mountain not only for the tea houses - but to enjoy the culture of Taiwan and relax away from the city.  I would love to spend more time here and explore some of the hiking trails and restaurants.  

Some tips on going to Maokong Mountain:
1.  Go early - the lines get really long in the afternoon timeframe with tour buses, schools and visitors trying to get to the top of the mountain. 
2.  Check the weather - in the summer with the random storms, the gondola does shut down - and there isnt an easy way to get back to the city.  So if you know the weather is going to be bad or dark clouds are making their way over its best to head back or not head up at all. 
3.  The crystal gondolas have the clear bottom - compared to the standard gondola that has a metal bottom - the wait might not be worth it.  At about 9am the crystal gondola wait was about an hour compared to the 5 minute wait of the standard.  

Train station @ Maokong Mountain stop. Taken via Glass.

MRT Station.  Taken via Glass.

Paying to go to Maokong Mountain.  Taken via Glass. 

Gondola.  Taken via Glass.
Video below:  My coworkers and I on the Gondola to Maokong Mountain. Taken via Glass.

View of Taipei from Gondola up to Maokong Mountain.  Taken via Glass.
Video Below:  Gondola Ride views.  Taken via Glass. 

Images from Maokong Mountain not taken via Glass:

Me with Glass. 

Me + funny hair + Glass. 

View of Taipei. 

Me + Glass. 

Teapot when you get to Maokong Mountain. 

Temple at Maokong mountain.  

Me + coworkers at Maokong Mountain. 

Learning about tea at the Info center @ Maokong Mountain. 

Me. 

Tea Ice Cream!  

MUST STOP HERE to get tea desserts @ Maokong Mountain.  

After heading back down to the MRT - we went to the Taipei City hall stop.  There you will find the Eslite Shopping Center.  It is similar to Sogo and you can shop and eat your way through the mall.  There we picked up some more L'Herboflore masks and walked around the food court.  We decided to head back to our hotel area to eat.  

Near the hotel - we ate at one of the noodle houses near by and did some walking around the area.  The area was full of cute boutique stores and restaurants.  

Noodles. 

Wonton Soup.

Before taking off - I wanted to use the facilities at the hotel.  The Sherwood let me go up to the 20th floor gym and use the shower and amenities there.  It was very nice - towels and robes were provided.  The showers were clean and soap and shampoo were in the showers waiting.  There were hair dryers and lotions for you to use after the shower and a very nice lounge area + massage chair.  This is a great amenity to consider when you are traveling to Asia in the summer because after a day of being out and about - the humid will make you smell ohhhh so bad.  

I took a taxi to the airport for about 1200NTD and checked in with no problems.  The EVA airport is full of Hello Kitty to promote their Hello Kitty *Saniro plane - and there are no complaints on my end!  I want to take it!  :)  The airport does not have many food options - so you shouldn't arrive hungry - but they are in the process of redoing it so hopefully that changes.  

I love Taiwan - and I hope you enjoy it to.  It is great to come back multiple times and find new things to eat and do each time.  
  
Highlight of my Trip:
- Shopping at Agete 
- Finding the L'Herboflore masks
- Taipei 101
- Maokong Mountain 
- Food

On my to-do list next time:
- Maokong Mountain
- Elephant Mountain Hiking Trail
- Hot Springs
- The Top Restaurant