A Little Rough Around the Edges
I was actually quite sad to leave South Korea...
This surprised me a little, because I felt as though I was only just beginning to get to know the place. I absolutely loved Busan... and there was this nagging feeling that I was leaving behind so many things I hadn't yet seen, explored, or experienced.
I wasn't quite ready to say goodbye.
But Taiwan was calling… or... should I say... a flight I'd already paid for was calling.
So... off I went.
Next stop… Taipei, Taiwan.
The flight was seamless, mostly because I slept through almost the entire thing. This is actually becoming a rather strange development in my travelling life.
I NEVER sleep on planes.
Or trains.
Or automobiles.
Well... I do... but definitely not for long... and not comfortably.
But lately? I sit down, settle in, snuggle up (for lack of a better expression)… and pass out. Just like that. Of course, I still get that crick in my neck. But that's to be expected. I suppose I could avoid it if I were flying first class...
But I'm not.
The truth is, I'm just so bloody exhausted all the time lately. I'm starting to wonder if something's wrong with me. I can't keep blaming jet lag. I've been in Asia for a couple of weeks now, and surely my body should have figured out what time zone it's in by this point.
Maybe it's decided this particular adventure will involve a lot more sleeping and relaxing than actual sightseeing. Which is all well and good... except that I didn't travel halfway around the world to sleep.
I'd prefer it if my body would show a little more enthusiasm for the adventure.
Anyway… Taiwan...
I arrived at Taipei airport and, much to my surprise, managed to figure out the bus system fairly quickly. And it wasn't really like I figured out a "bus system"... I figured out where they sold the tickets to the centre of town... and I bought one.
Luckily for me, my hotel wasn't too far away from the main Taipei station... but... There was still one tiny obstacle standing between me and my accommodation.
That bloody blue dot on Google Maps.
I STILL hate that thing.
In all my years of travelling, wandering around foreign cities with my phone clutched in my hand... I have never managed to develop a particularly good relationship with that little blue menace. It certainly hasn't improved with age.
Not for me, anyway.
I stand there, turning in circles, holding my phone out in front of me like some malfunctioning compass, trying to figure out whether I'm facing north, south, east, or west… not that I'd even know which way to go if I did.
... And just to make things even more infuriating, the blue dot occasionally decides to wander off the road altogether.
WHAT?
Where are you going?
COME BACK!
Taipei, Taiwan Taipei, Taiwan Taipei, Taiwan
Honestly... how can something specifically designed to help you find your way make you feel so completely lost?
Eventually, after a little wandering, several unnecessary turns... and a fairly heated argument with my phone, I found my hotel. You know, I really shouldn't complain. At least Google Maps works in Taiwan.
Small victories.
My accommodation is a rather strange little place. It's kind of like a hostel… but not really.
It's an actual hotel, occupying the third and fourth floors of a high-rise building, with a peculiar retro-industrial-new-wave sort of design. I'm not entirely sure what look they're going for. But they're certainly going for something. I arrived about fifteen minutes before check-in... which apparently was a serious breach of hotel protocol.
The girl at reception checked me in, casually informed me that my credit card had been declined (WHAT THE??????)... then made me sit in the lobby until precisely 3:00 pm.
Not 2:50.
Not 2:55.
Not 2:58.
THREE. O'CLOCK. SHARP.
It was all rather militant.
Under normal circumstances, I probably wouldn't have been quite so irritated. Except THIS time, there was the little matter of my supposedly declined credit card...
Them's fighting words right now...
That sent my brain into an entirely different dimension of panic. All I could think of was that encounter with the email scammer who wanted to arrange a Zoom call with me. I'd even clicked that suspicious link... very stupid of me... and although nothing obvious had happened, the whole experience left me feeling uneasy.
So when the receptionist casually announced that my credit card had been declined, my mind immediately went to the worst possible place.
OH. MY. GAWD!
The scam...
The link...
My bank account...
HAVE THEY TAKEN ALL MY MONEY?
I knew there was money available on that card.
I KNEW IT.
BUT IT WAS ALL GONE!!!
Irrational thinking had taken over. My imagination was already racing through every possible financial disaster.
And then…
Her bad! Turns out the card hadn't been declined.
At all.
Nothing was wrong.
Panic attack over.
Taipei, Taiwan Taipei, Taiwan Taipei, Taiwan
FML.
Thanks for that.
Anyway, after being granted access to my room at the precise, approved hour of 3pm, I finally got to see what I'd booked.
And…
There were no windows. Not one.
Not even a tiny little glimpse of daylight. Just four walls and absolutely no indication of whether it was morning, afternoon, evening, or the end of the world.
But you know what?
IT HAD A BED.
SCORE!
I've decided that I will never complain about a hotel room again... as long as it has a bed.
There. I've said it.
And yes, I realize that's a blatant lie. Of COURSE I'll complain about a hotel room again. But right now, making that declaration makes me feel like a more grateful, well-adjusted traveller.
Once I'd settled in, I headed out to explore my newest city. Taipei.
I have to admit… my first impression wasn't quite what I'd expected. Although, to be fair, I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting. Perhaps I'd become a little spoiled by the towering skyscrapers, bustling streets, endless shopping, and almost futuristic atmosphere of cities like Seoul, Tokyo, and Singapore. That big-city energy where everything seems to move at a hundred miles an hour, there's something happening around every corner... and you can't help but feel swept up in it all.
Taipei felt… different.
A little grimy.
A little rundown.
A little rough around the edges.
Something about the streets felt weathered, as though the city had been going about its business for decades... without any particular need to impress anyone.
Older buildings, faded facades, cluttered storefronts, and a rather chaotic mixture of old and new.
It wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It just wasn't the shiny, polished metropolis I'd somehow imagined. But... I also knew better than to judge a city within the first hour of arriving.
Taipei, Taiwan Taipei, Taiwan Taipei, Taiwan
Before arriving, I'd spoken to a girl I used to work with who is originally from Taiwan. She'd kindly given me a whole bunch of recommendations, and I'd dutifully gone through them, highlighting places and dropping little pins all over my Google Maps.
I had a plan… sort of.
I had a collection of dots scattered across my map.
Whether I'd actually be able to FIND any of them was another matter entirely.
Dumb blue dot.
But off I went.
First stop… Dihua Street.
This was where Taipei began to get interesting. Dihua Street is one of the city's oldest and most historic commercial streets, tucked into the Dadaocheng neighbourhood. Dating back to the mid-19th century, it was once a bustling trading centre... famous for tea, Chinese medicinal herbs, dried foods, fabrics, and all sorts of traditional goods.
Much of that character remains... a mix of traditional Chinese architecture and influences from Taiwan's trading past.
One minute I was peering into a shop overflowing with dried mushrooms, herbs, and mysterious ingredients I couldn't identify if my life depended on it. Next, I was wandering through boutiques, picking out trendy souvenirs.
This was exactly the sort of place I enjoy discovering when I travel.
A little history.
A little character.
A little chaos.
I wandered in and out of shops, explored little side streets, and generally enjoyed having absolutely nowhere in particular that I needed to be.
Eventually, I found myself heading towards the waterfront. I made my way through Dadaocheng and down to the Dadaocheng Wharf Container Market, also known as PIER5.
And what a cool little discovery this was...
Taipei, Taiwan Taipei, Taiwan Taipei, Taiwan
Along the Tamsui River, there's a funky outdoor collection of colourful old shipping containers that have beentransformed into little bars, cafés, and food stalls. Some were stacked two storeys high, others had rooftop patios, and together they'd created this wonderfully quirky riverside hangout, complete with outdoor seating, a laid-back atmosphere, and lovely views across the water. And cocktails!
I had a Sangria.
Just kidding.
I had two.
It felt like a completely different side of Taipei.
... Sometimes it's the little things.
From there, I continued walking along the Tamsui River. I followed the waterfront for quite some distance, eventually making my way towards Guangzhou Street Night Market. It was really dark by now... and the streets were beginning to fill with people looking for something delicious to eat.
And then…
I found them.
Or perhaps they found me.
THE SWEET POTATO BALLS... or Taiwanese Sweet Potato Balls... or Dìguā Qiú
Oh. My. God.
I'd spotted a street vendor selling what looked like tiny, colourful, deep-fried balls. Yellow and purple. They were made from sweet potatoes! Sweet potato balls! Little golden and purple puffs of deliciousness, tumbling around in bubbling hot oil.
Obviously, I had to try them.
I felt obliged.
Right?
I ordered some.
The vendor immediately started filling a bag with what looked like an absolutely enormous portion... and I quickly tried to explain that I only wanted half.
"Just a few, please."
A little taste. No need to go overboard. I wasn't THAT hungry. He either didn't understand a word I was saying or simply decided that I had absolutely no idea what I was talking about... because he just kept filling that bag.
...And THANK GOODNESS he did.
Because these little things were absolutely SCRUMPTIOUS!
Suddenly, that enormous portion I'd been so concerned about didn't seem nearly enormous enough. I could have gone back for more. In fact, I seriously considered it.
Sometimes the most memorable food experiences aren't elaborate meals in fancy restaurants. Obviously... now we know... they're a paper bag full of deep-fried sweet potato balls from a street vendor.
And now I've got a problem... because I just KNOW I'm going to spend the rest of my time in Taiwan hunting down these little things.
Every night market.
Every street corner.
Every deep fryer.
I'll be there.
Searching.
Where are my balls?
Anyway…
By this point, I'd covered a fair bit of ground... and Taipei was beginning to grow on me. There were some wonderfully interesting little pockets of the city, and I was enjoying the simple pleasure of wandering around somewhere completely unfamiliar, discovering things as I went.
And there was something else I noticed.
I felt incredibly safe.
Taipei, Taiwan Taipei, Taiwan Taipei, Taiwan
I was walking around the city... in the dead of night... completely on my own. And yet, not once did I feel uncomfortable, threatened, or particularly concerned about my surroundings. As a solo female traveller, I never take that feeling of safety for granted.
And Taipei had it.
In abundance.
I could wander around, get myself lost, stop to take photographs, investigate little side streets, and generally do whatever I pleased without feeling the need to constantly look over my shoulder.
Well… Except for when I was trying to figure out where that bloody blue dot was taking me.
But as the evening went on, I found myself reconsidering my earlier impressions. Perhaps Taipei wasn't quite as shiny or polished as some of the other Asian cities I'd visited. Perhaps it was a little rough around the edges. But there was something rather appealing about that, too.
Something authentic.
It was a city that didn't seem particularly interested in putting on a show. It was simply getting on with being Taipei. The more I wandered, the more I began to appreciate it.
I've travelled enough to know first impressions aren't always right. Sometimes a place needs a little time to reveal itself. Sometimes you have to wander beyond the obvious attractions... get a little lost... and allow yourself to stumble upon the things that make it special. Taipei was already doing exactly that.
Maybe Taipei was going to be okay after all.
Maybe it was going to be a whole lot better than okay.
Who knows?
And I'd only just arrived.
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