Taipei

I finished up my time in Taiwan back in Taipei just in time for new years. Taipei is a famous place to see new years in because of the iconic fireworks display that takes off from the Taipei 101. For hours beforehand people start congregating anywhere that has a view of the tower. Some people arrive super early in the day with their huge cameras, but most people start arriving in the evening along with food and drinks to picnic with. There was also a free concert going on with famous Kpop artists that I watched for a while. About 10ish I found a little patch of grass with a good view of the tower and settled in with my own picnic of my favourite squid flavoured snacks and a bottle of wine from the 7-Eleven. Before I knew it it was time for the count down, and the fireworks really didn't disappoint! Immediately after the streets started clearing as people headed home. Considering the size of the crowds there was hardly any rubbish or misbehaviour, it wouldn't be this civilised at home!

With a couple more days to explore Taipei I of course visited a few more night markets, including Shilin Night Market, the oldest and biggest night market in Taiwan. I joined a huge queue for some grilled king oyster mushrooms, I figured that if mushrooms of all things were that popular then they had to be good! Luckily they were! I also had one of my favourite Taiwanese street foods, which was ice cream with peanut brittle shavings and coriander, rolled into a little roll with some kind of roti. So much nicer than it sounds! One of my other favourite places to go was a hotpot stall in a night market close to my hotel where you could pick out what veg you wanted (and meat & seafood if you wanted it) and they cooked an amazing veggie hotpot with it. It was so nice to get some healthy food!

My final bit of sightseeing included the towering Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall plus a chance witnessing of the changing of the guards, the Confucian Temple, the historic Dihua Street and UNESCO status Dalongdong Baoan Temple. Unfortunately the time had come for me to fly from Taiwan. For such a small country it really packed a punch!Read more