Day 1

Going into this trip, I did not have any plans or arrangements apart from flights, car rental for 1 week, 1 night in an airport hostel and a rough idea of what I wanted to see. My intentions were to do one lap of the mainland of Taiwan seeing as much as possible in the 14 days I would be there for. Personally, the things I was hoping to get do on this trip were: to grow from spontaneous solo travel experiences, learn about Taiwanese culture, experience Taiwan’s natural and human-made beauty, mingle with locals and other tourists, and experience travel in a country that is not all that accessible for native English speakers. I was also hoping to practice some Mandarin which I had been studying outside of university and other commitments for 3 months leading up to this trip.

Prior to my arrival I had a 9-hour layover in Manilla Philippines, in which I was hoping to spend getting some local food and exploring Manilla a little. However, due to some delays in my flights I was unable to do so. Nonetheless, when I finally arrived in Taiwan in the early hours of 17th of June 2023 my level of excitement was high.

On my first day in Taiwan, after only getting around 5 hours combined sleep for the previous two nights, it would be expected that I would be extremely tired. However as usual when I travel the excitement often outweighs the fatigue. I woke up around 8am and was quick to find a 7-Eleven to get hold of some essential items to kickstart the day including an iced coffee, some fried chicken (which they microwave for you at the store and tastes amazing), and my first easy card (Taiwanese version of Myki card). My flight was scheduled to land quite late, so I had stayed the night in a hostel close by the airport called ‘Backpackers Hostel Taoyuan Airport’, so I was still outside of Taipei, where I planned to spend my first full day. So, I boarded a bus headed for a hotel in Taipei and dropped off my bags.

On the bus I did some quick research into what I should do today in Taipei. I decided that I would visit the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Liberty Square, before hopping onto one of their public rental bicycles called a “YouBike” and riding to Taipei 101.

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall & Liberty Square

This memorial hall has many things to see, so I spent around 2 hours walking around the gardens admiring the architecture, walking inside the hall exploring the museum of Taiwanese and Chinese history. The museum mostly contained information written in Chinese, however there was an audio guide that I was able to get hold of in English. It is split into two sections, one being focused on Taiwan’s “long walk to freedom of speech” (stated on a sign in the museum), and the other section being focused on “President Chiang Kai-shek and the Republic of China”. Both sections feature many interesting artifacts and texts as depicted in my photos.

A famous thing to see at the memorial hall is the changing of the guards. They remain still for 1 hour to guard the statue of Chiang Kai-Shek in the top section of the memorial hall. I was able to watch and record the famous 15-minute ceremony. I noted how precise all their movements were and the sound of their clicking boots and rifles all in sync gives an impression of pride for their role.

Walking around the gardens and nearby buildings I stumbled upon two people who were seemingly practicing some kind of fencing.

It felt very surreal standing in Liberty Square looking back towards the memorial hall still coming to terms with the situation that I was in Taiwan.

Biking around the City and Visiting Taipei 101

Next up for my first day was biking to the famous Taipei 101. One of my favorite things to do when visiting a foreign country is leisurely cycling around the city looking at the differences of the city, compared to my home city, Melbourne. I was starting to get the impression that Taipei was quite like Melbourne in terms of safety level although the roads were quite a lot more chaotic. People seemed quite curious, friendly, and welcoming.

When I arrived at Taipei 101, I took some videos of myself riding past the tower before having a quick look inside. Inside the bottom of the tower is a shopping center with many luxury stores. The weather was a little cloudy, so I opted to wait until later in the trip to take the elevator to the top of the building.

I then went and had some delicious beef noodle soup containing Australian beef, although it was not the cuts of beef we typically eat back home. The soup contained all kinds of fats, tendons, stomach lining (tripe), and many other chewy parts of beef which sometimes are best eaten without asking what they are. The meal was quite delicious and satisfying – exactly what I needed before heading to my hotel for some much-needed rest.

After the nap, I caught the MRT back to Taipei 101. At the station close to my hotel, I discovered an underground bookstore. Walking around it I saw many books that looked quite interesting to me but were sadly in Chinese – more motivation for me to learn the language. I decided to purchase two Chinese textbooks from the store as a souvenir for myself. There were also other underground stores and an underground gym. At Taipei 101 I bought myself some spicy hotpot as I was craving something to set my mouth on fire. The hotpot containing many tofu, dumplings, noodles, Chinese donut, Bok choy, cabbage, etc. was quite delicious but sadly not as spicy as I was hoping. This was when I discovered that Taiwanese food does not tend to be as spicy as some other Asian places I had been to.