National Palace Museum

With the time difference, I woke early at 0600. Breakfast wasn’t available till 0730 so I had some time to kill.

My plan for today was just to do the one thing I didn’t managed to do over a year ago on my previous visit. That was the National Palace Museum. I set off at 0800 using a combination of MRT and bus. This houses the treasures that were taken from the Forbidden City in Beijing when the fear of Japanese conquest was real. They were eventually taken to Taiwan before communism took over the mainland.

I had been there as a child so didn’t have much memory of it. It wasn’t really me, seeing ceramics, bronze cauldrons, jade etc. The two most impressive pieces, the jade cabbage and the rock pork belly, were both on tour in Taichung and Sydney respectively.

I was out in 1h15 around 1030. After a rest, I spent the afternoon checking out places around town.

: At the National Palace Museum.

: Cloisonne incense holder.

: Coral belongs in the sea.

: Carved ivory ball.

: Love the colour of this cloisonne container.

: Jade cabbage (the item was out on tour).

: Jasper rock that looks like pork belly (the item was out on tour).

By late afternoon I was wilting. I headed to the Tonghua night market after 1700. It was starting to stir. I stayed till around 1830 when it was busy and during that time had a Shengjianbao (which wasn’t as good as the one in Auckland because the crunchy side wasn’t crunchy enough) and a Jipai (big flattened deep-fried chicken steak).

Wandering around, the area was full of pet shops with cute dogs and cats. I had had enough for the day. Back in my part of town, I treated myself to a Pudding Milk Tea which was like a light cream caramel pudding drowned in milk tea, which I had with optional red bean. Yum yum yum. That revived me a little, which meant I was able to stay up a bit when I got to my room around 1930.

: Crispy shells filled with red bean, taro or sweet potato. Tough choice as I like them all. If only they had black glutinous rice as well!

: I wanted to limit myself to just one, so I had to make a choice. Red bean it is!

: Tonghua Night Market. Less touristy than the Shilin and Tamsui night markets. Taipei is famous for its street food. Love the city!

: Instead of Bubble Tea, I tried Pudding Tea. It consists of a dairy dessert somewhat like a cream caramel, topped up with milk tea. I opted for a red bean version and that sits at the bottom. Awesome drink-cum-dessert.