Hot Springs, Cats and a tall building …

After some much needed sleep, we woke up this morning around eight. I was feeling well rested and ready to explore. Our first order of business was breakfast, so we took the quieter option of a light breakfast in the Club Room of the hotel. We then went to the Taipei Main Railway station a short walk from the hotel to try to work out how to buy a ticket for the metro. Of course, you have to buy a card that I will add to my collection, with my Go Card, Opal Card (Sydney), Myki (Melbourne) … and a few more that I’ll pick up before I get home. With the card sorted, we caught the metro to the Beitou Hot Springs. There are some nice walks as you wind your way along the stream that is fed by the springs.

On the way up the hill we came across and old house, known as Plum Garden. This was the summer retreat of Yu Youren a famous Chinese calligrapher and writer. He was a key player in the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty in the early 1900s and the establishment of the modern Republic of China. As a Chinese nationalist he came to Taiwan in 1950, fleeing the Communists and like many, never returned to mainland China.

We then went to the Hot Springs to rest our weary legs after a big day of walking yesterday and I learned that togs with pockets are indecent, so I had to pay an extra $15 dollar to buy a pair of decent ones. I found when I got into the pools that ‘budgie smugglers’ are somehow more decent than togs with pockets. Our dip in the hot pools,  was pleasant enough, but is no Hanmer Springs in New Zealand, We walked back to the train station. On the way, we passed the local museum which was unfortunately closed, but is still an interesting building.

 Like most Asian cities, Taipei has a great Metro system. So far our longest wait for a train has been 6 minutes. The metro was opened in 1996 and now boasts 117 stations and 2 million passenger journeys every day. We headed back towards our part of town and found a restaurant where we had some noodles, which incidentally are also a Taipei tradition.

Following lunch, it was time to indulge in another of Taipei’s specialties and needless to say, also one of Debbie’s specialties .. a cat cafe. We had noted that there are very few stray animals around Taipei and it just may be that places like the cat cafe that ensure that the strays are looked after. There were about 10 cats of various ages and temperament, but of course one found it’s way to Debbie’s lap in under a minute.

Following the cat cafe, we thought we should perhaps get a bit more of a cultured understanding of things, so we caught a taxi to the Taiwan National Museum. This was established in 1965 and hosts a huge collection of Chinese historical artifacts and documents dating back 1000s of years. It is an imposing set of building with a spectacular staircase leading to the main entrance.

Given that it had been a pretty clear day, we decided to rejig the schedule and go to Taipei 101, which is the world’s 8th tallest building at just over 500m tall. Taipei is subject to changes in the weather, so by the time we actually got there it wasn’t looking all that good.

So after not seeing anything from the Observation Deck, there was one more adventure for us to have … and that was to find dinner. Debbie had done lots of research and found a highly regarded restaurant called Shin Yeh. On looking at all the directories and maps, we ascertained that it did exist, but not it’s location. After asking the shopping centre concierge, we were directed to an area on the second floor where they would make a reservation prior to sending you to the 85th floor. There’s a complex process of changing lifts, but eventually we got to our dinner… Pork belly, Chicken, Scallops and braised beef.

The clouds did clear for a few minutes so I took this photo through the dirty windows…

Lastly, I had a dessert of Pineapple Cake…. which incidentally doesn’t actually have any pineapple in it. The centre is generally made out of other berries mixed with egg yolks. It tastes quite nice … so I am sticking with it.

Until tomorrow!