We did so much in so little time while in Taipei. Maybe because we had nothing else to do, maybe because traveling around was so easy, it was such an action-packed trip, I had to split into two posts. The first post I wrote highlighted the biggest, most memorable activities: Taipei 101 and the Taipei Zoo. (If you haven’t read that yet, go do so.) I am going to quickly talk about four other things we did while in Taiwan. In no particular order, they are:

#1. 228 Peace Memorial Park

This place is very meaningful to the Taiwanese people. It’s a memorial for all the people who fought for independence from Communist China. It was very fertile. There were so many flourishing plants, I forgot I was in the middle of a big city. While the main purpose of the park was to have statues, small temples, and plaques, there was also an outdoor place to work out and a play set.

Right next to the playground was an “acupuncture walk.”

It was a wide stretch of side walk that was covered in smooth black rocks. The idea is that if you walk on these very smooth yet very pokey rocks, then you will get great health benefits. There was a sign saying what part of the foot attributed to what other body part. Walking on it with shoes: easy. Walking on it with socks: quite uncomfortable. Walking on it with bare feet: extreme pain. I went on it probably seven times (I have very tough feet from stepping on bees all the time). Selah posted a video on our youtube channel of my dad trying it.

Also within the park, there were a couple museums.

#2. The Museums

These huge, victorian style buildings had many floors and rooms showing Taiwan’s rich history; more history than you might expect from a tiny little country like Taiwan. All the wars, all their trade, how their flag came to be: and that is only a little bit of it. The first one went to covered all that and even had a huge aviation section.

The second museum had an entire old-fashioned bank vault in it. We got to walk around it and explore the low ceilings and rows and rows of cabinets. There were also lots of stuffed animals and bugs and dinosaurs. This museum was much less “Taiwan” and more “Science and History.”

The third museum was far away and we had very little time. We spent an hour in it. The whole museum was basically a palace. A huge towering building filled with artifacts and such. It was a little boring to us kids so we just played “Which Antique Vase is Uglier?”

Even though it was kinda boring, I am glad we went. The thing that these museums showed me and my family was that culture is different than politics. China and Taiwan have very similar cultures, but they are very different countries.

#3. Shun Chui Tang

Speaking of Taiwan’s history, did you know the first “boba” was invented in Taiwan? The idea and creation of tapioca pearls in milk tea started in a little tea shop called Shun Chui Tang. Only now it isn’t a little tea shop doing experiments anymore. It is a big, fancy restaurant chain.

We went to one of the locations while in Taipei. Now, I do not care for milk tea at all. It tastes like curdled milk. And I do not especially like boba. Tapioca pearls are gross and chewy.

The first time I ever had boba was in China. I did not know that there were pearls in it and I thought they just had big straws over there. I take a big sip and five pearls hit the roof of my mouth and I don’t expect it. But that is not the worst part. You have probably heard that Chinese eat everything. Well they do, and I seriously thought for a long time that there were FISH EYEBALLS IN MY DRINK! Not a good experience.

My family did not have this childhood trauma or the same opinions of the taste, so we went anyhow.

I got a lemon tea. No milk. No boba. Delicious. Everyone else: Milk tea, Milk Tea, Milk Tea, Milk Tea, and more Milk Tea. Then my dad saw a brown sugar milk tea so we “had to get that, too.”

So sweet. Blech!

#4. The Market

Living in Thailand, we are no strangers to crowded market, yet very few compared to this market: so busy, so loud, so good! The street food in Taiwan is the best on the planet. Almost everything we ate was amazing! My favorite thing was probably the deep-fried roti with green onions. These were so greasy and buttery and oniony. We ate some and then went back for seconds, they were so freaking good.

Speaking of green onions, we also got a green onion pizza. It was called pizza, but the “crust” was a lot like a crepe and it was folded like a taco. Green onion roti taco? I have no idea but I know that they are probably eaten in Heaven. While I watched them make it, every single ingredient added looked delicious. The cheese, the sauce, the meat. And then the finishing touch: green onions. But not just a garnish. No, this was a heaping pile of chives. Like falling out the sides with green onions. It was a pile two inches high. Perfect.

We also got a lot of Tangulu. If you haven’t heard of Tangulu, I know you don’t watch tiktok or youtube. Tangulu is conquering those right now. All it is is fruit (usually strawberries or grapes but any fruit will do) and simple syrup. They get the sugar syrup really hot and roll the skewered fruit in it. It quickly cools down and then it is as hard as a rock. When you bite into it you nearly break your teeth and squirt juice all over. The flavor was really good and the strawberries were my favorite, but I did not like how sticky it was and how it coated my teeth with sugar. Still, it was good and definitely Selah’s favorite.

There was so much more. We had good beef. It was expensive, but who cares? My dad stood in a line for a long time to get some stir-fried king mushrooms. They were a little disappointing (way too much sauce), but there was so much good food that we kinda forgot about those.

I didn’t have any of it because I was already full from other stuff, but we also grabbed a Korean Cheese Dog. Same thing as a corn dog, but instead of a sausage inside, there was a cheese stick.

We had a fun trip to Taiwan, despite the VISA problems not being fixed.