Our first Airbnb was near Ximending, so of course, it was the first place we went to. Got my fixing of the Hot Star fried chicken that’s bigger than your face.

Wilson got really fascinated by these stores that had different cubbies full of different toys. The idea is that someone “rents” out a little cubby space to sell their items. These Totoro figurines were so cute!

Doggy bobbleheads

Restaurants mascot

We then ventured to Chun Shui Tang, which is the place that first invented bubble tea in Taichung. Best bubble milk tea EVER. Very foamy and great tea flavor.

Came back to Ximending to do some more shopping. Wilson just had to check out more of those cubby stores.

Spray paint art. The guy was SO GOOD.

Our next stop was to Guangzhou Street night market. A more local night market that focuses more on the food rather than the flash and clothes. I always like the get the grilled squid. Perfect snack to chew on while walking through the streets. You can walk down the street and head towards Hwashi night market where many restaurants there sell snake meat!

Next morning we decided to stand in line for an hour and a half to get breakfast at Fu Hang Dou Jiang. The line wrapped around the building and we had to turn about 3 corners to finally get in. The grandma in front of us was so fashionable. Better dressed than me on my going out days.

Delicious Youtiao (Chinese donut).

Closed on Mondays 🙂

We got the Thick Shao Bing with You Tiao. It’s fluffy and chewy and they cook it with some sprinkled sugar on the top so when you eat it all together it’s sweet and savory.

My absolute favorite. The savory/salty soy milk. It’s actually curdled soy milk, so it’s kinda clumpy. But the flavor is so good. They’ll add some cilantro and crispy You Tiao. I think Fu Hang’s soymilk is the smoothest soymilk I’ve ever tasted.

This is the Thin Shao Bing with Egg. But the Thick one for sure if their signature item since most places only do the Thin ones.

😀

Had lunch with the Grandparents in Muzha 🙂

After lunch, we met up with Jason and his girlfriend to go check out Taipei 101.

Cheesin’

TWG Tea store inside Taipei 101 Mall

Went all the way up to the 89th floor for the Observatory. The elevator ride up only took about 37 seconds. How crazy fast is that?

Views from up top

It was just a mirror. But people were freaking out thinking it was glass.

The big damper ball that stabilizes the whole building in case of strong winds or earthquakes. There was a video that showed a couple of times where the ball was swinging around due to powerful winds and earthquakes.

Din Tai Fung inside Taipei 101 mall after we finished in the observatory. Pork xiaolongbao’s!

Wontons in a chili oil sauce

Squash xiaolongbao, which are also excellent!

Dan dan noodles

Loved the interior of this coffee shop.

Night views of Taipei 101 are the best

Nike stores here have some cool stuff inside

Milk Beard ice cream! The white one was their regular ice cream flavor. The green one is their Tie Guan Yin tea flavor. We also got their other two flavors.

Delicious ice cream

This little corgi didn’t want to go home yet so he hid under our legs avoiding his owner.

What a cutie!

Just came to take a picture of all the toys

Shrimping fishing in ShuangXi with Jason and Cary! Cary’s first catch was a beast of a shrimp!

Washing and prepping the shrimp

This guy, enjoying all his shrimp he got.

Great way to kill some time and chill.

Time to feast!

Next stop: Shilin Night Market! Games galore! We actually had to buy an extra suitcase to take back our toys that we won playing these games…Yes, we spent a lot.

The next Katniss Everdeen!

The next… nobody. LOL. He didn’t get a single one. Although he was shooting at the harder one with the ping pong balls.

Good ol’ fried stinky tofu.

Snow ice that melts in your mouth.

Our trip to Jiufen could’ve been 100x better. The day we went, it was raining hardcore. It was much colder up on the mountains. And there was just a bunch of tourists/tour groups navigating the narrow alleyway of Old Street Jiufen.

I really do want to come back to Jiufen and stay the night. I hear the night view is even better!

We had so much fun trying on these different character and animal masks. The first ones we tried on were the ones we bought.

Oh, what a beautiful view!

We were so over the crowd and the weather at Jiufen that we got out of there pretty quickly. Went to Xinbeitou to relax with our own private hot springs room at Beitou Hot Springs Resort.

Here’s your cup of coffee! Complimentary with the use of the resort.

Beitou Hot Springs Resort in Xinbeitou, Taipei!

I’m low-key mad at myself that I’ve never tried the egg tarts at KFC sooner. Almost felt like I died and gone to egg tart heaven when I took the first bite. Yea… that’s how good it is.

Checked out this seafood market place, Addition Aquatic Development, on one of the last nights in Taipei. They had tanks of huge dungeness crabs. A whole one would’ve come out to be about $700 if I remember correctly. So we ended up just getting a leg which was $70.

Colorful sake

Really cool concept place. You could sit outside and order the grilled seafood. Or go inside the market and order sushi or sashimi. We would’ve ate inside but the wait in line was ridiculous.

So we sat outside and ordered some chicken yakitori, beef, and a dungeness crab leg.

Pretty delish. Worth it? Maybe not so much. But the atmosphere is really chill and it’s a great place to drink and have a good time.

After our grilled food outside, we went inside and ordered some sashimi to-go. Black tuna, salmon, yellowtail, and sweet shrimp. Super fresh!

The second Airbnb we stayed at was near Shilin. It’s actually an interior design company and they’re just renting out the rooms on their upper floors. The owner had 6 cats and a dog.

Adorable kitty!