taiwan day 1: coffee, tea, ximending, and chiayi
welcome to the next installment of my travel blog: my taiwan and japan trip! i will be going lots of places on this trip (maybe too many), but it will definitely be a fun and interesting time. i will be in taiwan for about 9 days and japan for 6 days. be sure to read to the end for a fun surprise!
my flight left seattle at 1:15 am on saturday morning. this was my first ever time flying starlux (a newer, space-themed taiwanese airline) and to my surprise, the whole flight was snoopy themed: the ticket, the bag tags, the snacks, the napkin, and more. (more flights need to do character collaborations)
my flight was about 12.5 hours long, and i landed in taoyuan around 5 am on sunday morning. after moving through customs, i hopped on the train headed into taipei. i had until the mid afternoon before i needed to take the high-speed rail to chiayi city. once at the train station, i dropped all my luggage in a coin locker and set off unburdened on foot. taipei is super humid, overcast, and rain showers keep passing in and out.
mission 1: breakfast. i went to a famous soymilk restaurant in a food court near the train station: 阜杭豆漿 (fuhang soymilk). there was a long line down the stairs and around the block. in total, i waited for about 45 minutes to order and get my food. as i was approaching the counter, i could see the kitchen where cooks were preparing the youtiao and signature thick breads.
baskets full of youtiao:
i ordered a soymilk, thick bread with egg and youtiao, an egg pancake, and a black sesame roll. i actually sat next to a man who had been on my flight from seattle. i asked because he was wearing a mariners AL west champions hat :)
after stuffing myself, i walked through the sidestreets of taipei to the ximending district which has lots of small shops, cafes, markets, you get the picture.
i stopped by a small cafe to get a coffee and figure out what i was going to do. the owner was very sweet and also loved talking about seattle lol
i walked around a bit more, went to the convenience store to reserve bus tickets for the next week, and went to another cafe. this time i ordered a taiwanese red tea and a fresh lemon cheesecake.
next i went to a cute print shop: レトロ印刷jam. i took some photos of the riso-print plastered stairwell leading into the shop.
the lady working there gave me a free riso-printed map of neighborhood recommendations!
then i wandered through the street market, saw a buddhist temple, and eventually found my way to another cafe: solé. the owner, lance, is a coffee judge and grader who specializes in coffees grown and processed in taiwan. we talked for a long time about taiwanese coffee, and he let me try the coffees that he was cupping in preparation for next month’s roasts.
he even gave me some special coffee-tree tea and a small sample bag of alishan gesha green beans :)
here is a map he had showing the coffee growing regions in taiwan:
he even gave me his own map of neighborhood recommendations:
at this point, it was time to head back to the train station and catch the train to chiayi where i will be staying the night. i booked a business class seat and they give you free tea and snacks:
after arriving at the chiayi hsr station, i took a shuttle to the main station in downtown. from there, it was a short walk to my hotel; the hosts were very sweet.
i dropped my luggage and got dinner nearby. at this point, i think i am far enough off the beaten track that there is no english anywhere except for transit signs. i have to take pictures of the menus and translate them to order anything :)
i ordered tofu with sesame sauce, cut dry noodles with pork, and seasonal vegetables:
finally, after eating my first vegetable of the day, i headed to bed. big day 1!! tomorrow, i will ride the train through the mountains to alishan; stay tuned!
BONUS!!!
i am beginning to see capybaras everywhere 🤔
