Taiwan, Day 1: getting our bearings.

Despite leaving from the same city and being on the same tour, Sandy and I had different flights from Hong Kong to Taipei. We were both looking at the board to see which gate we had to go to, when Sandy saw her flight and said, “It’s gate 27,” and off we went.

I did think it was strange that she was looking further to the left than the 9:30 AM flights, but hey. She saw the gate, so after stopping her from taking an escalator down to the train line, we went to gate 27. It was miles away.

They were finalising boarding as we got there at 8:30. She was ushered straight on board, while my boarding pass wasn’t being accepted.

Of course not. It was for a different flight, leaving shortly on the other side of the airport. I set off at a run and made it, but Sandy was on her plane, not knowing what had happened to me. I knew she’d be freaking out.

Here I am, waiting for boarding, looking at the seat where she should have been sitting in.

We’ve checked the flights for the way home. Both are the same, though we only have an hour and 5 minutes between flights at Hong Kong airport. We’re worried that even with only having carryon, it might be cutting it too fine…

But all’s well that ends well, and we’re now in Taipei!

We were dropped off at the hotel at 1, which was a couple of hours before being able to check-in , so after finding an ATM to get some Taiwanese dollars, we decided to explore the streets around the hotel.

Taipei is reminding me of a cross between Japan and China, with the amount of motorcycles throwing in a hint of Vietnam for good measure.

My hotel room has a Japanese bidet! I’m so happy.

We stopped for coffee and carrot cake at a funky little café across the road from the hotel. An Americano was $70 Taiwanese. I nearly had a heart attack until I used the currency converter on my phone and realised that it was $3 AUD.

James from Ireland messaged me as we were walking, so I sent him this as proof that I was here. Nothing says Taiwan more than Homer Simpson, that’s what I always say.

There was a little park, with many sculptures.

We were walking to see where the night market was. Maybe we’ll go there for dinner.

Sandy wanted to check out the 7-11 stores, to see if they were similar to those that are in Japan. To my great satisfaction, they sell sushi and salads, so lunches on the run are sorted.

Coriander gin, anyone?

This manhole cover has fish and trees.

As you can see, Wanda the water bottle is still with me. She and I have been to seven continents together.

Sometimes when you travel, you see little things that suddenly remind you that life is different in other places in the world.

Remember last year, when I was taking photos of the beautiful doors in Stone Town, Zanzibar?

We were walking to see one of the oldest shopping streets in Taipei.

You’ve never seen so many dried foods in your life. Heaps of shops were selling bags of huge dried mushrooms that were bigger than my suitcase.

We browsed in a gorgeous pottery store.

I liked this old decoration around a very high-up window. It looks like parsnips.

It was a beautiful afternoon and we were having fun.

On the way back to our hotel, this little building nestled at the end of the street caught our eyes.

How funny! We couldn’t find the night market’s location earlier in the day, even though Google Maps was telling us we were there. But when we came back at 6pm, the answer was obvious. The street had closed down and there were stalls set up on the road.

That’s the back of Sandy’s head as we wandered around seeing what the options were for dinner. Somehow, I didn’t fancy the boneless chicken feet or the small intestines inside large intestines. We ended up choosing fried rice.

Tomorrow I might get these.

Pretty.

Sandy found herself drawn back to a stall that was selling peanut butter ice cream.

This is a massive chunk of peanuts and toffee. The guy grates along the top…

… lays out a thin crêpe, puts the peanut shavings on it with two scoops of ice cream and a little fresh coriander (not pictured), then wraps it all up like a burrito.

Look how happy she is!

Tomorrow we have an 8 AM start. Let’s see how punctual this group is.

Dad joke of the day: