Taiwan: Time in Taipei, Part II

After a great start in Taipei, we spent our next big day out in the downtown area.

Din Tai Fung

One of our favorite memories in Taipei involves a lovely little restaurant called Din Tai Fung. This place was recommended by a friend, and I’m so glad we made a visit. It is a Taiwanese chain and there are even restaurants in the US (which I will heartily look up upon our return). This place was amazing and I even uttered the phrase “this might be the best thing I’ve eaten so far on the trip”. First, their waiting process is super organized and we had to wait maybe 20-30 minutes for a table for 2 (at 3pm…so the line at peak hours is probably crazy). At this time we also received the menu and a paper for recording our order. During our wait we reviewed the menu to help speed things along.

When our table was ready, our number was called and the waitress ushered us back to our table. By this time our menu was already filled out and ready to go. We received hot tea upon sitting down and a little instruction card on how to use the dipping sauce (YES. Nerds love instructions). Shortly after, our wooden containers of steamed things arrived and we had so much fun trying all the different choices… so much so that we ordered more! If you make a trip to Taipei (or apparently any US city that has Din Tai Fung) be sure to go, and especially try the xiaolongbao (soup dumplings)… we LOVED them.

We made it to the famous Din Tai Fung!

The waiting system was pretty ingenious. Even without knowing mandarin we could follow our waiting progress!

We got our table in about 25 minutes and headed back.

On the way to the table there was a glassed in viewing area to see the kitchen.

It was mesmerizing watching them make all the dumplings.

Items left the kitchen by way of these guys and gals carrying the freshly steamed yummies. They were so fast!

Upon sitting down we were served hot tea and ginger in a dish. The tea kept coming the whole dinner (we never ordered it). It was delicious!

Adam excited for his dumpling experience to begin.

There were even instruction cards (in multiple languages) explaining how to do it.

First up, Adam’s pork wontons. He loved them.

Next up – these little balls of heaven.

We followed the instruction card and experienced food paradise!

The mushroom dumplings were also good.

Adam mowing down on the mushroom bun.

Neither of us loved the buns, but they were still good.

At one point we had quite the stack going.

In fact, I loved the xiaolongbao so much that we ordered another 5 pack. They were absolutely incredible.

And for dessert, the chocolate version!

Full of hot melted chocolate – divine.

Taipei 101

For 4 years the Taipei 101 building reigned as the tallest building in the world until it was unseated in 2010. And of course, we wanted to experience it! We didn’t have a great visibility forecast on the day we went (smog is a problem in the city), but it was an experience none-the-less. We used the trusty subway to get to the city center and walked about 10 minutes to get to the 101.

This was our first day roaming around the downtown part of Taipei and we both remarked that it reminded us of an Asian Indianapolis. There were lots of walking bridges and something about the design and feel of the city gave us a very strong feeling of it. We were both laughing as we walked around.

On the way to the Taipei 101 building – we got caught in a little sprinkle.

This tower dwarfed any other buildings nearby.

Making our way in the city center.

There were lots of beautiful flowers all throughout Taipei.

Taipei 101 in all her glory!

It was right about here that we had remindings of Indy.

Bikes you can rent and ride around town.

Covered walking bridges.

Here began my obsession with marble lions. They were everywhere and I love them.

We even found this – just like Indy!

Getting ready to head in the building.

Which included a huge mall at the base!

Once we got to the 101 we realized that it was also a mall, and a fancy mall at that. We roamed around a bit and worked our way to the observation deck. Because of the somewhat limited visibility it was fairly empty, but we did still have to wait a bit to make it to the top. There we roamed around and learned a bit about tall buildings. At the exit there are many gift shops and a sort of museum and shop for coral gemstone. Both Adam and I were surprised how much we enjoyed this little tourist trap. The coral was beautiful and some of the carvings were stunning, and stunningly expensive. I ended up buying some coral studs later in the trip, but thankfully I liked the pink color that was cheaper (win!). Also, coral differs from coral reefs – no animals live in the deep sea coral so it’s something similar to a pearl. There were lots of signs explaining the differences, that I of course forgot to take photos of…

We found this Chicago treat in the mall!

So we had to buy a little taste of the US. I’ve actually never been in Chicago because the line is always crazy!

The mall was FANCY. We didn’t buy anything lol.

Getting ready to go up to the observation deck. Note the low visibility projected 😦

It’s go time! We ended up taking one of the fastest elevators in the world. In around 30 seconds we went about 90 floors.

Waiting to head up in the elevator!

Undoubtedly because of the visibility it was pretty empty.

Smog definitely hampered our views from atop Taipei 101.

Looking out over the rest of the city.

We were so much taller than any other building, everything else looked small!

We’re on top of the world!

The building has one of the only publicly displayed wind dampers. It helps with stability during earth quakes or high winds.

After the observation deck we learned all about Gemstone Coral.

Here is the tallest one in the world!

The colors and details were gorgeous.

Here is the coral carved into a sculpture.

By the time we wrapped up in the observation deck, coral, and mall, it was dark. We were able to get some great shots of the building at night. All in all, it was a great visit to the 101!

At the base of the Taipei 101, lots of tourists out and about.

The building was beautifully lit at night.

We had fun snapping pics of it.

It was a beautiful evening to stroll around.

Downtown at night. Look at all the scooters!

The building was quite something to look at!

Elephant Mountain

One top tourist recommendation we kept coming across in Taipei was Elephant Mountain: a large hill right near the downtown with amazing views of the city center. We kept waiting for a super clear day to do it, and it never worked out for us, so we ended up tackling it on our last evening. It was being a great work out with basically stairs all the way up (sort of Monserrat style). The trip up was about 30-45 minutes up and Adam and I were both so proud that we didn’t take any breaks! There were a few slow points due to waiting on folks, but we didn’t have to pause purposefully… what an amazing feeling. All those accidental mountain climbs in New Zealand apparently improved our cardio…or was it the 4 days being lazy kings at the Taipei Marriott?? One will never know.

At the top we soaked in the views and sat on top of large boulders, which were sort of terrifying to climb on in the pitch dark. There were also lots of other hiking trails off the back so we found ourselves wishing we had not waited until our last night to go – but something to do for the next trip!

Making our way from the downtown to Elephant Mountain. It was about a 15 minute walk.

It felt like we were in Street Fighter at times.

The beautiful park near the base of the climb.

We arrived at Elephant Mountain!

There were lots of hiking trails available beyond the basic view point.

Starting the stairmaster 3000.

We made it! Just ignore all the sweat.

There were large boulders overlooking the city that you could climb on. We ended up hanging out here quite awhile.

The view was breathtaking!

On our way back to the subway we found this pretty thing.

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Taipei. While it’s not on a classic list of tourist destinations, we found it to be a hidden gem and loved our time there!

-Kelly