This is a continuation of my trip. If you haven’t read Days 1 & 2, the link is here
Day 3 (February 13) National Palace Museum & Miramar Entertainment Park (Actually it’s a Shopping Mall)
On my third day in Taipei, it rained all day. Since it was so nasty outside, I figured that it would be a good museum day. I went to the National Palace Museum. I recommend this museum for anyone who is interested in Chinese art and history because it has the largest collection of Chinese art in the world. My favorite gallery was the Painting & Calligraphy Gallery. If you enjoy visiting art museums, than this is the place to go. It has some really beautiful things to see.
Another great thing about the museum is that it has a free shuttle bus to the Miramar Shopping Center. For most people, this is just a mall with a big Ferris Wheel. However, for the Taiwanese Drama Lovers out there, like me, this is the setting for the drama Why Why Love (aka Huan Huan Ai) with Rainie Yang and Mike He. I feel like I have seen it in another drama too, but I can’t remember. For all you drama lovers out there, was Miramar featured in another drama?
Well, I know for sure it was in Why Why Love because it was one of the main settings of the drama. It was raining, but I was holding an umbrella with one hand and taking pictures of the mall with the other hand. I was so excited to personally see this Ferris wheel & mall. lol. I’m such a dweeb. A woman was passing by and she kept looking to try to figure out what I was taking a picture of. I think that she probably couldn’t believe that the tourist was taking a picture of the mall. (^_^)
At the mall, I went to the music store and bought Fahrenheit’s (Taiwanese boy band) Fantasy World Concert DVD and the soundtrack for the drama Autumn’s Concerto.
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I then took the MRT to a couple of places such as Ximending and Taipei City Hall, but everything seemed to be closing down early. Everywhere I went, the doors were closed and the lights were off. The night markets weren’t even in business and there didn’t seem to be much movement on the streets. I think it was because of New Years. I decided it was time to find something to eat and head back to the hostel.
Day 4 (February 14) Happy New Year!
Danshui, Beitou, Maokong & Shilin Night Market
Since it was my last full day in Taiwan, I tried to pack in as much sightseeing as possible.
I began in Danshui. Yes, I went back there and I’m happy that I did. The morning was warm and nice. It was a perfect day for boardwalk fun. There was food, ice cream and games. I couldn’t believe how many people were there. I really enjoyed walking around the streets and going to the shops.
By the way, I recommend buying your souvenirs there. The shops have really cute things like keychains, phone straps, and trinkets. I bought a phone strap, Mario mirror, 2 keychains for myself and a bunch of keychains for my friends.
After spending a nice, relaxing morning in Danshui, I stopped by at Beitou (Xinbeitou MRT line). Beitou is known for its hot springs. It’s like the Oita (Japan) of Taiwan. Although I didn’t have time to go to a hot spring, I walked around Beitou Park. Then, it was time for my next stop, Maokong, which is known for tea growing. This area has many hiking trails and you can drink tea at the tea houses there.
To get there, first I took the MRT to Taiwan Zoo. The Maokong Gondola is not working at the moment, so they have free shuttle buses to take you up to Maokong. I took some pictures while I was there, but since I came too late (It was around 4:30) I couldn’t explore as much as I wanted to. If I ever go back, I would like to get there early, walk around the area and drink some tea.
After Maokong, I took the MRT to Jiantan and went to Shilin Night Market. If there is only one night market you can visit while you are in Taipei, Shilin is the one you should go to. It has a bit of everything. There is food, drinks, games, accessories, clothes, etc. It’s really fun for the whole family. However, there are a lot of people. I’m just warning you in case you happen to not like crowds.
DAY 5 (February 15) Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall
On my last day, I checked out of the hostel and put my bags in a locker at Taipei Main Station. Since my plane only left in the evening, I had some time to do last minute sightseeing. I went to Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. I looked around for about half an hour. Then, I went back to the station, had some lunch, bubble tea, grabbed my things and caught a bus to the airport.
On the bus, going to the airport from the station- 
A little story about my flight to Fukuoka. The flight attendant’s name was Icarus. For a flight attendant, that is not a good name to have. lol If you don’t know what I’m referring to, Icarus was the character from Greek mythology who had wax wings so he wasn’t supposed to fly too high (close to the sun). However, he was careless and didn’t care so he flew too close to the sun, his wings melted and he fell to the ocean.
Anyway, when I saw the Flight Attendant’s name- this was my face. First- o_0 Next- @_@ Then. (T_T)
Advice: If you plan to go to Taiwan, a good blog that I recommend checking out is 12 Foot 3. They even explain how to use the city buses in case you need it.
If you want to see more pictures of my trip to Taiwan, you can go to my Flickr.
