Wanderer in Taipei - Day 1

Taipei Day 1, 24th Oct

My flight to Taipei departs at 8:30am and I decided that I could save on the taxi fare by taking the first MRT train service. It's would take about 1.5 hours but I should be able to reach the airport around 7am, with enough time for check in.

I got to the MRT station at 5:15am. It's the first time I ever took the first train in the morning. I was surprised to find that there were quite many people already waiting on the platform for the first train service.

During check-in I was dismayed to find that what I thought was a very light luguage weighed 7kg. That means I only have 13kg left for shopping in Taipei.

It was all smooth travelling from Singapore to Taoyuan Airport. I took the Guoguang bus to Taipei Main Station for NT125.

When I arrived at Taipei Main Station, a light drizzle was falling. But I came prepared. I took out my umbrella and with a big luggage in tow, started to look for my guest house.

Happy Family Guest house

I had made a reservation at the Happy Family Guesthouse. The website had detailed pictorial directions to the guest house. But then, I thought I am smart enough to find the place with just the address and a rough map, so I did not print the directions. I overshot and walked a few rounds at the wrong side of the road trying to locate the lane it was located at. When I finally found it, it turned out to be just directly opposite where I got off the bus! It was not obvious to me because the small lane it was situated at was right next to the Civic Boulevard. I was looking for a lane between blocks of building.

The building was a little run-down (see picture) and there was no signage announcing the presence of a guest house at all. I was drenched in perspiration and and was not too happy to find the reception locked when I got up the narrow stairs. I had to call the number posted on the door to get the manager who was painting some rooms on the third floor. He was a friendly guy, got down my particulars and collected upfront the room charges for 5 nights -- NT$2250. At NT$450 per night, this was the cheapest private room I could find on the internet.

The room that I got was a small room with window overlooking the Civic Boulevard. There was a double deck bed and small side table and a cabinet with its two drawers missing. There was not enough space for me to get on the floor to do push ups -- not that I wanted to anyway. It would have been really tight if there were two people in the room.

The bed sheets were clean. No bed bugs (yes I checked first). The "blanket" was really a mattress cover. But it was clean and neat. No musty smell. It was a little stuffy, but there was a fan and a ventilator. There is only one shared bathroom per floor but it was not a problem since there were only 4 rooms on my floor. The toilet was clean and there was hot water.

Initially I was a little disappointed. I was expecting something slightly better given that I was paying about S$22 a night. But I forget. This is not Thailand or Vietnam.

Over the next few days, I got to appreciate the guest house and decided that I won't mind staying here again for my next trip. The best thing about it is the central location. It's literally right next to the MRT Taipei Main station. Come up from the correct exit and it's the guest house! There little things which made it nicer than other guest houses I have stayed in before. For example, there plenty of clothes hangers in the cabinet -- something I do not normally expect in a guest house. The cabinet had a long mirror. Free drinking water was provided which saved me quite a few dollars (bottled water is NT$20 for a half litre bottle, though occasionally you can find it at NT$10 a bottle). There was also hot water for hot drinks or cup noodles. There was a large fridge to store food and drinks (it was useful for me to keep some fruits which I could not finish). There was also free use of washing machine and computer with internet connection. So adding it up, it wasn't a bad deal at all. After all, this is Taipei, not Thailand or Vietnam.


Gin Gin bookstore

Once I checked in, I got my backpack, a carrier bag (I heard Taipei shops do not hand out free plastic bags) and a map and set off to Gin Gin bookstore.

This is the first and probably still the only gay bookstore in Taipei. I had not problem finding it since I had already check out the directions back in Singapore. From the web page, I thought it was a big place, but it turned out to be a lot smaller than I imagined. The books collection was also not as extensive I expected. There were far more erotica than the more "serious" stuff, like gender studies, self-help and literature.

I spent more than an hour in the shop, and basically blew my budget. I still came out of the shop with a full backpack and carrier bag, with a good mix of DVDs, novelty items, erotic fiction, manga, magazines, popular fiction and literature.


The first night market experience in Taipei

(I will write about finding vegetarian food in Taipei, particularly the night markets, in a separate blog: The Vegetarian Backpacker).


晶晶书局出来，天色已暗，肚子也饿了。我马上前往师大夜市。晶晶的店员告诉我只要到师大路走下去就是了。可是我在师大路只看到几个路边摊。我想这样就叫做夜市，未免太夸张了吧。（后来才发现原来夜市不是在师大而是在与师大路平行的龙泉街）。

既然找不着吃的，我确定去公馆解决晚餐。几天前在素食星球网上看到公馆附近的水源市场有素食档。从台电大楼捷运站到公馆只是一个站。出来时沿着指示往水源市场走。水源市场前的小街（90巷）就是夜市。我眼一亮，马上看到了一档素盐酥鸡。一时兴奋与好奇。盐酥鸡是台湾夜市的普通小吃，居然也有素的。到了档子一看，所谓的“鸡”根本就是新加坡到处都有的TVP(texturized vegetable protein)。但除了TVP外，还有挺多其他选择，如香菇、百页豆腐、椰菜花、薯条等。我选了一份香菇、一串肉丸子和一块象鸡扒的。老板把香菇切成块，沾上粉浆，投入热油里炸。炸好后，撒上盐，就是了。味道其实是不错，只是咸了点。

我吃着盐酥菇，走进水源市场，看见了一个素食摊。哇！水饺一份（10个）才NT$40！我还没吃完酥炸菇和肉丸子，还是叫了一份水饺。

吃饱了，出来小街走走，看到冰摊，要了一份芋头冰。我原以为是芋泥配冰，怎知是一块块的芋头。这回可吃撑了。

水源市场旁的90巷就这么短短一条街。我以为公馆夜市怎么也是一条小街，太没意思了。我开始怀疑台北的夜市是不是虚有其名。反正就到这里了，就在随便乱逛。走着走着，才找到了真正的公馆夜市。哇！真的是好多摊子。这时看到了一间有卖素包子的小店，叫做“蒸功夫”。我最喜欢吃包子了。可惜太饱了，真的吃不下了。

Eslite Bookshop 诚品书店

就在公馆路，我看到了新生南路的诚品书店，就走了过去。书店底层正好有人在给讲座，在谈吉他的破音什么的。音乐我不是很懂。吉他只会乱弹几个和弦。破音怎么弹我是不懂，所以也没兴趣听。一堆人挤在书架间，要看书也困难。反正也没心要买。明天还要到重庆南路的书局逛。那里的书局有折扣，所以没必要在成品书店买。我看了一下就走了。

在台北的第一天就怎么过去了。