Category Archives: Taipei

The last day of your holiday is often the hardest. You would probably need to allocate enough time to get to the airport on time, leaving little time to plan for anything else. You could either spend the day packing up and checking out, or you could sacrifice some sleep and pack the night before, so that you could spend the precious few final hours to do just one last thing…

… which we did. To eat, what else!

Lu Sang was actually the first food destination we visited the very day we arrived in Taipei, but like all typical local Taiwanese place, they are opened only at meal times, for a mere few hours.

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I am at a loss of words on how to describe the day.

It has been a day of culture, food, relaxation and pain all rolled into one. The only common denominator in all these is that our dear friend, Sam volunteered to spent the day with us making some day trips out of the city centre. It was proven to be a learning experience for us and him, something which you couldn’t get out of any guidebook.

Our first stop of the day was the Guandu Temple, one of the oldest temple in Taiwan and overlooks the Danshui river. Although he has been living in Taiwan for years, Sam has never been to this particular temple and we were all equally astounded by the majestic rise of intricately carved spires, colourfully tiled roofs and tunnels which seem to glow. There was hardly any visitors around, just a handful of locals doing prayers. The atmosphere couldn’t have been more serene.

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The next time I am going to do this, I will make damn sure to check also on opening times.

It was a day of missed timings. We woke up bright and early, had a hearty breakfast at the hotel and chirpily planned our day ahead. Oh yes, did we plan for it. Only when we were about to board the taxi that we realised, hey, that Su Ho Paper Museum is not opened on Sunday!

A quick redecision later, we found ourselves at the Miniatures Museum of Taiwan.

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It was a day of extremes.

In my previous trips to Taipei, I discovered too little of the city’s culture and history. This time round I was eager to make amend.

An early head start to the day saw us at the famous Taipei Confucius Temple… or more accurately, a model of it. The impressive structure built towards the north of the city was, afterall, a replica of the real thing located at Shandong. While the temple carries a certain garish, pretentious vibe with its over-vivid colours and over-the-top displays, I took heart in the simplicity of Confucius’ teachings. Learning about the history of Chinese characters, the musical instruments used in rituals, and the lives of many of the disciples, it’s hard not to take a liking for the old man.

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Taipei has been gloomy and wet from the moment we touched down, but in our state of involuntary sleep displacement, the dreariness escaped unnoticed. Which is probably a good thing. We were focused on food (that is to say, I was, and the better half had to go along), and to food places we went.

But first, a word about our hotel.

The better half choose Hotel 73, which is very reasonably priced for its city-center location, though the room is quite small. Hotel 73 is somewhat like a design hotel, with little touches of arts and attention to details evident from its lobby to the lift to the walkway to the room itself.

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