This is what makes Taipei special, you can wander endlessly with a bubble tea (it’s from Taiwan after all) looking at shop after shop of talented people creating the kind of affordable couture we’d kill for in Europe, everything from the much-loved Asian street style to sartorial suits and dresses. I spent day after day absorbed by all the city had to offer. For a fashionista I think this might be what heaven feels like, even if in July its really rather hot. One of the good things about China Airlines was the 30kg of baggage, and let me tell you dear reader, all the gifts I’d brought for friends and my partner were handed out, and the space that left wasn’t enough, I still had to get a second suitcase to fit all my purchases into.
As for food, well it may be a bit touristy, but if you want an easily accessible range of dishes to try head over to Raohe Night Market where stall after stall has the freshest food cooking away, the only problem is trying not to eat everything. In one belt busting night I tried coal grilled mushroom with Taiwanese spice, tofu soup, stinky tofu (you have to try it, it’s unbelievably good), and fresh dragon fruit, a deep purple rush of sweet and crunch, oh and of course all that and a watermelon juice squeezed in front of me from that mornings crop.