Dave had been to Taipei many times for work (maybe 40 or 50?), but had only explored the city a little bit and had never been outside of Taipei. So, in mid January, we started our two month Taiwan trip by renting an apartment next to Taipei Main Station and gave ourselves 10 days to explore. The temples, museums, hikes, friends, and food all were all wonderful! The city was also getting decorated for the Lunar New Year to celebrate the Year of the Horse. Diane was born in the year of the Fire Horse, so we had fun finding various horse designs throughout our stay.
Temples Everywhere
There are many Taoist Temples throughout Taipei and Taiwan. We saw a wide variety from large to small, popular to quiet, regional to neighborhood. One interesting practice is tossing well worn moon blocks to get answers from the gods (lower right picture). You ask a yes or no question and toss the blocks and the way they land indicates the answer. Another is leaving offerings to the gods such as food, drinks, and fake money. At one temple people leave requests for popular concert tickets, even specifying what seats they want. Of course Yue Lao the “Old Man Under the Moon” or Matchmaker God is very popular, and those temples in Taipei are extremely busy.
Vending Machines Everywhere
We saw many amazing vending machines as we went around town. The machine in the top left picture sells wedding rings in the subway. Top right is a library. There are many shops that have machines where you try to grab trinkets, and we saw several that specialize in grabbing food. The bottom two pictures show eclectic scooters that are supported by a network of battery vending machines where you can swap a used battery for a charged one.
Iconic Taipei 101
We visited the iconic Taipei 101. While we were there, Alex Hannold completed his free solo of the building. Everyone in town was super excited about it. We decided not to go in person since it would be impossible to see him once he got up 30-50 floors. So we watched it from our apartment on YouTube while we did laundry and caught up on chores.
Cooking Taiwanese Classics
We took a really fun cooking class with CookInn that taught us how to make Taiwanese classics: beef noodle soup, spicy cucumber, bubble tea, and xiaolongbao (dumplings). It was all super yummy and we were shocked that our xiaolongbao actually turned out decent looking.
Lunar New Year
Lunar New Year was still a month away (February 17, 2026) but the city was gearing up for the big day. We really enjoyed the hand painted lanterns, the Year of the Horse symbols, and creative light displays.
Amazing Variety of Food
There is an amazing variety of delicious food in Taipei. We enjoyed exploring the night markets and restaurants. The restaurant 大阪燒肉 燒魂Yakikon大安本店 was a favorite for Dave and his coworkers while working in Taipei. Dave even earned his own set of frequent-diner golden tongs, engraved with his name. We made a special point to eat there and they still had his tongs, even though it had been over seven years since his last visit! We also dined at the super popular Din Tai Fung (lower left) for xiaolongbao. We visited many night markets and enjoyed a wide variety of interesting food. Notable favorites: coffin bread (fried bread hallowed out with pot pie filling), anything on a stick (glazed strawberries, squid, chicken…), and beef filled buns cooked inside clay ovens.
Friends
We were able to meet some of Dave’s friends from Intel while we were there: CC, Grace, and Stephen. We also helped Justin and Sophia celebrate their wedding anniversary! It was so much fun to catch up with everyone.
Historic Sights
There are many interesting places to explore around the city. The pictures above are from the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Taipei Botanical Garden. We found a fantastic, local company that provides free walking tours in Taipei, TourMeAway. The guides not only give a walking tour, but they also discuss the geopolitical landscape, religion, and what it means to be Taiwanese.
Hiking
One fun loop hike near Taipei 101 is Elephant Mountain. It has great views of the city after walking through tropical pathways. We also took a day trip to the coast near Taipei and hiked around Yehliu Geopark. The picture on the lower left is the Queen’s Head (her neck is quickly eroding) and in the middle Diane is standing in front of The Brain. Of course the park has little characters to mimic some of the more notable rock formations.
Tea Lovers
We found that Taiwan has fantastic tea. In the upper left picture we stopped at a tea distributor in Taipei to enjoy a cup of tea. The remaining pictures are from our visit to Jiufen Old Street, where we had a tea ceremony at Yu Zai Fan Shu Tea House. The tea was delicious and started us on our journey of understanding the strong tea culture in Taiwan.
Our Taiwan Journey has Just Started
We enjoyed sunset from a rooftop bar at Dadaocheng Wharf Container Market. It was a fitting end to a wonderful stay in Taipei. Our next leg of the adventure included renting a car and driving down the remote east coast of Taiwan. But that story is for another blog.