Taipei Day 1! Night Market FTW

OK, our Taipei trip is actually a very-very short stop-over between Kaohsiung and Tokyo. LOL.  We stayed in Taipei for a total of 3 nights and 3.5 days (since our flight to Japan left quiet early in the morning).  We tried to jam pack as many restaurants as we can during our stay in Taipei.  Plus, one of our dinner was already accounted for because we booked a fancy dinner at the Morton's Steakhouse overlooking the infamous Taipei 101 new years eve fireworks on December 31st.  I know... I know... judge all you want; we figured this probably would be the only time I would be able to ring in the new year together with my sister and my 3 godbrothers.  I don't think this will ever happen again in the near future because we all live in different places, with different time zones.  

Moving on... 

In Taipei, we stayed at an Airbnb (of course) in the Zongsheng District.  We picked this Airbnb because it's a newly renovated unit close to the train station and a lot of restaurants.   We were very satisfied with our pick.  Accommodations in Taipei is quiet pricey... so we lucked out, I think, getting this really cozy, nicely decorated, and functional unit.   The AC was cold, the insulation is quiet good (we didn't hear any traffic noises from the outside), security system was good (there are multiple security access codes you have to punch in before you can enter our room), AND, there's a washing machine inside!!!  We were so happy!  We washed our clothes on the 2nd day in Taipei, so that we would have plenty of clean clothes and underwear during our trip 10-days trip in Japan.   

On the day we arrived in Taipei, it rained.  It didn't rain hard, but enough to deter us from spending time outside.  We did pack umbrellas and insulated rain coats from Vancouver just in case this happened, but we somewhat prefer a dry, chilled apartment rather than a wet, muddy venture through the city. Or maybe we're just lazy.  HAHA.  Anyway, we ended up taking a quick nap while waiting for the rest of the gang (who are basically my godbrothers and their significant others) to arrive in Taipei from Kaohsiung; they left Kaohsiung a bit later than we did.  

After a couple of hours of nap, we ventured out (still in the rain) to meet up with my godbrothers.  Our first destination?   Night market, of course!  

We went to two night market, and that's practically what we had planned for dinner that night.  It proofed to be a great idea to do that for dinner because we ended up trying so many different food at 2 different night markets, and anywhere in between.   

We went to:  Ningxia Night Market and Linjiang Night Market.  

Unfortunately, because it was raining that night, I didn't take any pictures because both hands were holding food (or drink) while my head and jacket were dripping rain water (hello, my trusted Helly Hansen rain coat, I am glad I always have you by my side, and even glad-er that I found you at the outlet for less than CAD$100!).   We did have to use our umbrella a couple of times because it started pouring rain, but the rest of the time our coats kept us toasty and dry.  

By the time we finished eating and went back to our Airbnb, it was about 9pm.  Took a nice hot shower, and then went to bed early.  What an awesome way to start our super-short Taipei trip! 💗