Life was unfair, to think that 1 Philippine peso was equivalent to 1 Taiwan dollar, yet everything that 1 Taiwan $ could buy was far better than anything I could buy with 1 PhP, including the air we breathe, the cold weather, the exotic natural food we eat, and the trees that surround Taipei’s tall and shiny buildings.
We were then in a honeymoon phase—not our very first travel together outside the country—but this was how I discovered how she enjoyed cats and adventures like a little hike to see cats and statues of cats in Houtang, which was quite far from the city. I am such a lazy traveler, that I would much rather be inside a café staring at people; being creepy as a person is a favorite pastime, even abroad. My wife is the opposite. She’s a tourist, armed with the list and run, run, and see the world. But you know the story: we always end up being obedient.
Taiwan has seemed like a dream, ever since we watched the Meteor Garden as grownups. So, first on the itinerary was to recreate those scenes, which we did not do. We stopped and remembered if those buildings and the trees were really the ones in Meteor Garden. But even without that intention, we loved large campuses, though, and the National Taiwan University (NTU) is like a city unto itself. We enjoyed it so much. It has the vibe of US campuses in the fall—the college buildings, the parks, the flowers, the trees, the falling leaves, the students wearing hoods, jackets, backpacks full of books, and bicycles. Some areas of NTU resembled the beautiful UP Diliman campus.
Just outside NTU was a beautiful city. I’m not sure why it wasn’t as crowded that day, but maybe it was because the city was well-planned and organized, or maybe it was because we didn’t really walk around; rather, we just took Uber cars from one point to another, no matter how far. We really didn’t want to waste time figuring out where and how to ride MRTs and buses, also because of the very cold weather, and walking around would literally bleed our noses, which I had on our first night. The only public transportation we took in Taipei was the Maokong Gondola crystal cable car, which overlooks tea plantations. Or was it public transportation? Given that there are quite a few stations, I believe the answer is yes.
We enjoyed delicious, clean street food in their night markets, including the interesting Modern Toilet Restaurant, and the most unexpected authentic Indonesian restaurants. We both love Indonesian food, so discovering one by accident next to the Cosmos Hotel (near Chiang Kai-shek Memorial) was like finding a friend to lean on. And another visit to another authentic Indonesian restaurants the next day in Taipei Grand Mosque had made us even happier.
I am not a fan of museums, but I enjoyed the Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei. I am not a fan of temples, but I also enjoyed the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Park with its huge, colorful temples and a beautiful garden (Obedient? Checked). I just want a nice spot, a chair, a table, a coffee, and to stare at people. I observed how the locals really communicated; were they loud? I heard Ilonggo in Starbucks, and Tagalog in KFC, but in McDonald’s, they were all locals, at least on those nights we craved a burger, and they were never loud.
Taipei is a large city, like large, and when we were at the 101st floor observatory of Taipei 101, the city’s skyscrapers looked like miniatures. I thought that maybe God could see us from above, like tiny ants. Char. We waited for the sunset, and it looked like we were on a spaceship, but we were still very far from the sun. We weren’t satisfied, so we chased the sunset to a mountainous town called Jiufen, known for its alleys, narrow streets, and delicious peanut ice cream wrapped like a burrito. As we made our way back to Taipei, it looked as if we were in the sky, right next to the sun.
by kadu 
Saya ng gala. Sa mas marami pang byahe! Enjoy!
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