05.04 - Day 8 - Taipei, Taiwan
Sunday 5th April
Taipei, Taiwan
Temperature - Min 16, Max 24
19,705 steps
I awake in the dark, the blackout curtain working well, any street noise not carrying to level seven, but I leave the others in our two double beds, stepping into bright daylight. Across the road and into Ximending the streets are busy with locals and tourists seeking breakfast from food carts or small corner cafes.
True to our Southeast Asia city experiences there are 7/Elevens, FamilyMarts, Hi Life convenience stores every 50 metres. Chocolate eggs for Easter seemingly don't feature on the priority list for Taiwan so it's some Pokemon biscuits for Seb and chocolate rings for Sienna.
Breakfast at Just Sleep is on level 5; a buffet of breads, fruits, yoghurts and more local foods like pork with noodles or congee soup or dumplings. Whilst Mema and Pawpaw take their breakfast, Sienna and Seb tumble about in the kaleidoscope room; 3 walls of glass mirror with some soft cushions thrown in.
All six of us leave the hotel at 11am, the breaking sun starting to hide behind clouds, though high humidity, and jump on the metro to the Taipei Zoo stop - though not to visit the zoo, but to join a 30-minute queue to get aboard a gondola.
It may only rise 300 metres but the Moaking gondola ($15 return) is 4km long passing up and down over tree tops, swaying as we lean to take photos of the city behind us - the high rises spreading into the distance. Standing proudly above all is Taipei 101, one time tallest building in the world and still dwarfing its neighbours.
At Moaking the weather turns misty as we walk past some tea houses settling on Redwood Tea House - heavy on the wood. The flavoured teas, sodas, waffles and custard buns are all a success. There are a few tea bushes lined patches but there's more visitors than tea and certainly plenty of butterflies.
We catch the gondola back down and Metro to Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. Exiting the station you can't see it and then it looms over your shoulder. Turns out that's only the National Theatre which, in a huge paved area has a near twin in the National Concert Hall. In an area of scale the Taiwan flag in the middle is petite.
The same cannot be said for the memorial hall itself, a huge white stone blue tile hall. A loop outside then we find we can enter an exhibition on Chiang Kai-Shek - possible hero, possible dictator who led the Republic of China from 1928 until 1949 when he was run out by the Communist so he led from Taiwan until his death in 1975. The 89 steps out front representing his age.
The selling point for Sienna and Seb for our visit here is the changing of the guard, on the hour. At 5pm two trios of gunwielding guards emerge from opposite sides of the hall - Sienna had just been surprised by them inside, bumping into them coming out to the toilets - and meet in front of the steps before “performing” a slow precise set of movements with guns twirling. Their tall black boots with shiny white laces looks smart but “where are the pom-poms” asks Sienna.
It’s true, the best changing of guards we've seen remains outside the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Athens. With the pomp and pageantry complete, we walk back towards our hotel. As we exit the area, we walk through a set of protest speeches in front of a banner proclaiming “Taiwan doesn't need a memorial to a dictator.” At least they can indeed protest.
We have a definitive plan for ice cream on the way back to the hotel - as we get near, a local spots are unsure faces and points us up a narrow set of stairs to Snow King. Serving usual and unusual flavours since the 1940s, we bypass Wasabi or Basil, settling on Cherry, Passionfruit, Peanut, Coconut, Choc Chip and lastly Kate's pick of Pork Floss. Let's agree that sometimes the classic flavors are just that for a reason.
Following some yoga for Mema ,and coffee & goodies on level five for the rest of us, we walk over to Ximending. A drawcard of Taiwan had been the promise of dumplings, so Kate, Sienna, Seb & I seek some out, served at a three-table-hole-in-the-wall served by a man who seemingly feels like I would if my cafe was open 24 hours a day. The Xiao Long Baos are delicious though and the oversized pork buns fluffy and filling.
Mema and Pawpaw find sanctuary with a sit down pasta meal at Casa Pasta. I take Seb back to bed whilst Kate, Sienna, Mema and Pawpaw explore the bright and very much bustling streets - a far cry from our arrival late last night.