The long awaited Taiwan trip in March. Will it rain, bloom or shine?
I’ve always been mistrustful of weather reports, so I packed an assortment of clothing fit for any climate. Being the poor judge of weather, I braved the chilly mountain showers and strong winds in my denim skirt – character building, as someone wise would put it.
But enough of the wardrobe disaster. Moving on, it’s time to share my top 12 best experiences in Taiwan that just blew me away.
- Jiufen
Old mining town turned into the Spirited Away journey – my all-time favorite movie! No ghosts but loads of tourists, stairs and lanterns.
A must visit if you love small nooks and endless stairs, curves anything curious.
Had sesame noodles – not the same as the street food finds – but filling enough.
2. Yangminghsan National Park
Ah yes, if it wasn’t raining the long treks would’ve been amazing. Still, armed with an umbrella and waterproof jacket, nature was calling out to us and we loved the smell of trees, mountains and sulfur.
Yangmingshuwu is where we visited Chiang Kai-Shek’s grand home. Too bad the park tour guide didn’t speak in English but good thing out Klook guide translated some of the tidbits to us.
A lot of smoke and sulfur deposits in Xiaoyoukeng. Loved it. It was like walking along a steamy mountainous path, complete with the smell of boiled eggs.
3. Maokong Gondola and the Taipei Zoo
Gondola on the way up, and a walk back to the train station / MRT.
4. Taipei 101
Quick trip and photo sesh with Taipei’s skyscraper.
5. Shifen Waterfall and Old Street
Grand falls in a quaint mining town. The lanterns were the highlight but walking along the train tracks gave the strange feeling of home.
6. Golden Waterfall
Best waterfalls ever.
7. Ximending
Our home in Taipei! Ximending was the bomb. It was the center for shopping, nightlife and street food. If I could live here for a month, I would!
The Red Opera House is also in Ximending, not to mention so many night markets, restaurants and a hidden temple. Atop the Ximen station, this makes this a top place for accommodation.
This is also where I bought all my face masks, Spirited Away/Totoro goodies and of course, mochi.
8. Yehliu Geopark
Main tourist attraction is the Queen’s Head. Would you believe we nearly missed it? Actually we just spotted her on the run back to our tour bus. Other interesting names we saw were the Fairy’s Shoe, Fried Drumstick, Elephant rocks and more!
There were so many tourists, so we had to flock to the mountain (or was it a hill). Maybe if we had more time, we could’ve explored most of the rock formations described in the brochure.
9. Longshan Temple
Our Klook guide gave us a lengthy commentary on the Longshan temple, but all I could remember were 3 kinds of gods and the main one was for Love. There was also the dropping of joss stones for wishes.
10. Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall
This is probably the most prominent and known attraction. Complete with the Liberty Square and the hall itself, going around this place is really tiring. Make sure you bring a lot of water.
Tip: There is a CKS MRT station near it – so we didn’t have to walk back to Ximending.
11. Fried Chicken
Taiwan is best known for its fried chicken and to be honest, 75% of my meals must’ve been fried chicken! I loved everything I ate and my next blog post will be all about the food we ate in Taiwan.
12. Stinky Tofu
Last but not the least, a shout-out to stinky tofu! Such a long, winding line for this golden crisp wonder. It tastes a lot like my grandma’s fried tokwa (tofu) back home!
More food shots on the next post.
All in all, the March visit to Taiwan was great. If you are planning to go during this season, pack an umbrella, sneakers and a heavy duty rain coat.
Don’t expect blossoms yet – but find absolute joy in a the wonderful city life and lush terrains of Taiwan. I sure did!
Lazy Black Cat 