Michael Peter Hartmann

I wrote most of these notes after my first full week in Taiwan, and it’s now been almost two weeks. I started learning some Chinese through Duolingo and it’s true that i can b very confusing. I have most of my numbers down including tens and hundreds so getting prices from stores is a little easier. My second week was mostly filled with working and Advent of Code, so although I visited many shops I haven’t made notes for them all. Possibly a fun project for the future.

Time Change & Jet Lag

I’ve been waking up really early (around 5AM) and trying to go back to bed, especially because most of my meetings at work nd around midnight or 1AM I’ve got to sleep in so my day isn’t ridiculously long. Taipei seems to be very much a night time culture with many shops not opening until late morning or afernoon, and some restaurants not opening until dinner service around 5PM. The first couple days I napped in the afternoon but decided that was worse for trying to adapt to the time change.

Food

The food has been great so far although with the heat and humidity my apetite has been a little lower. I kind of expected this as the same thing happened in Thailand and Egypt. Some of the notable things I’ve eaten are pork buns, pork dumplings, scallion pancakes, beef noodle soup, ramen, and lots of bubble tea. I ordered some beef noodle soup one day in a food court and the server insisted I NOT mix the noodles and the soup. They even had a sign in 3 languages reiterating this. I did not mix the noodles.

City

There is a lot going on in the city, especially at night with markets, bars, restaurants all buzzing as soon as people are off work. Being a large city with somewhat hectic traffic I expected it to be quite loud but it really has not been bad. Compared to the constant sirens and random yelling going on on Fraser Highway or the 3AM honking in Egypt I’d say it’s downright peaceful, even in the center of the city. Many of the streets have large, wide sidewalks to accomodate bikes and pedestrians with trees and shrubs lining them. It’s quite green and the trees give good cover when the sun is beating down. The temperature and humidity have varied a lot in the time I’ve been here, with drizzling rain and 12C some days and sunny and 32C the next.

Coffee

There are more coffee shops here than you can shake a stick at ranging from your generic second wave to well done third and fourth wave. Nearly every day I come across another shop I add to my list to visit later. Most places are focused on pour over coffee rather than espresso, although there have been a couple espressos that hav been good. You’ll find mostly washed and honey process from my experience, and the espresso is usually a single origin washed. On my first day in Taipei I had to visit Simple Kaffa, and went to their flagship store. The coffee was very good but very expensive compared to the many other options out there. My first week I just walked and took the metro so my range was limited. Now that I’ve been renting bicycles I’ve been all over the city hunting great coffee. Independent cafes are very service oriented here, with table service in some and baskets to put your bag so it doesn’t touch the ground. I asked a local what this was about and he basically said “It’s a service business, so they want to make sure you and your belongings are treated properly”. Overall there has been so many cafes to explore, with the list ever growing.

Night Markets

I went to a few night markets my first full day with a friend I met on the train into the city from the airport. After visiting the Longshan Temple we went to the Guangzhou and Ximen markets, with a detour through the ‘snake’ market on the way. Yes here were very large and very real snakes as well as some snakey activities.

Co-Living Space

The place I’m staying hosts around 15 people on two floors. There is a common kitchen and living area on the lower floor where people work and hang out, particularily in the evenings. There are people from all over (Malaysia, Phillipines, France, Italy, Japan) and some from Taiwan as well. Most of them speak fluent Chinese and English. Everyone there is very friendly and seems to get along well. On my first Saturday a bunch of us went on a hike to Jin Mian Mountain. The mountain was not tall but the trail was very steep in som sections with steps chipped into the quartz sandstone. It’s been a while since I did the grouse grind but this was definitly steeper on average, although maybe a little shorter. At the top huge rock formations mak for great 360 degree views of the Taipei valley and the Songshan airport.

##My Second Week I started renting the shared bikes here and it has allowed me to explore more of the city. You can simply buy a card (or in my case a leaf shaped keychain charm) and tap the bike to rent it. It costs 5 NTD ($0.21 CAD) for 30 minutes of riding and there are docking stations all over. Google maps shows you which ones have bikes available and empty spots to return them to. You can ride on the uncovered sidewalk or on the street, depending on what the traffic is like. This most recent weekend I went to the Museum of Contemporary Art (150 NTD) and the Museum of Fine Art (30 NTD). The Contemporary was interesting but not really spectacular. It’s locatd in an old building and the exhibits included wood art, painting, some animation and films. The Museum of Fine Art on the other hand is this huge 3 story building with a massive atrium entrance. There were works from dozens of artists and the art ranged from contemporary painting to very modern and abstract. I would go back to this again.