Taipei

We made it to Taipei and out the other side. It’s been a dreamy start to the trip. I’m on train to Tainan as I write this (it’s a good train).

Year of the horse

First it feels relevant to say that I’ve decided I’m so locked into the year of the horse right now. Taipei is so horse themed it’s unreal. Fire horse makes it even cooler. I’ve never been a horse person because I found them too big and freaky and countryside vibes, but I’ve really changed my tune. That is actually so relevant as well because the year of the fire horse means rapidly changing things and passion. Maybe I’m channeling that into my feelings about horses.

What we ate

Food gets a dedicated section, it was the primary agenda item every day. Everything has slapped honestly, but we’ve settled on a tight top 3:

1. Crispy milk donut
   • I didn’t think a donut could taste milky without being dipped in it, I literally don’t even like milk. I was so wrong, milky donut is the only donut I ever want now.

2. Pork rice breakfast
   • Gooey pork belly mushroom rice sounds conceptually wild for breakfast but when it’s a lil rainy outside it is so good. We had this at Wang’s broth, Mr Wang definitely knows his broth. Accompanied by sweet potato leaves which I’ve never tried, but were giving a kinda nice spinachy energy. Vitamins achieved.

3. Winter melon beer
   • We went all in on fun drinks in Taipei - had a wine with notes of roasted jujube, a cocktail with fermented rice. George ordered the winter melon beer and it was just: really good, maybe a little smoky? I don’t know how to describe winter melon or what it is, but I think it’s good.

Alongside these highlights we’ve managed to accidentally eat some fun things we didn’t plan on. Fish noodles with what we thought was seafood and turned out to be salted pig intestine. Also a skewer of chicken heart and one of cartilage. Not being able to read anything means you accidentally get a lil more adventurous but honestly these were all tasty so not too many qualms.

The one thing I can’t be a legend about it stinky tofu. I always feel like I’m gonna like funky smelling food, but durian proved me so wrong. Walking past a stinky tofu stand is pure nose wrinkle vibes - the energy of durian but warmer and stinkier. I think I gotta sit this one out.

Inconsequential things that stuck out to me

1. Everything is cute
   • Taipei is full of cute shit and I love to notice cute shit. We have spent most of our days mooching around pointing at silly things. There is frogs on the lamp posts, blow up cats everywhere, and everyone has a zillion little fluffy bag charms, all the dudes included.

2. Brainrot mountain
   • The brainrot phone vibes are so real when people are walking about. We walked up elephant mountain (more of a hill tbh) and spent the entire time behind someone playing TikTok’s out loud whilst climbing up steep steps. It was honestly a skill to navigate whilst scrolling.
3. The pavements feel really specific
   • They are so wildly smooth. Maybe the smoothest city I’ve ever had the pleasure of wheeling a suitcase through. But: it’s quite rainy and damp and it makes Taipei feel kinda like a slip n slide. Also, some thoughts on jaywalking. I always can’t help but feel like my personal freedom is being impinged upon when I’m not allowed to take my life into my own hands and cross on a red. But all the traffic lights have countdowns for how long until you can cross which I have been enjoying as consolation.

Activity update

So my main extracurricular activity has been an unexpected hyperfixation on the history and politics of 20th century China and Taiwan. It’s kinda mad how easy it is to be out of touch about 20th century shit that wasn’t that long ago, but I guess you just don’t learn about it in school. I started reading Wild Swans by Jung Chang on the plane, and it’s truly wild (also it’s so long and I’ve only read 1/3 so I probably have lots of mad shit yet to come - but I guess spoilers don’t exist when it actually happened). It’s been a perfectly timed book to read whilst in Taiwan - you’ll learn about some mad Kuomintang stuff then walk straight past the Chiang Kai-Shek memorial hall. Mostly I’ve supplemented my learning by asking Claude or Rory Malcolm to answer my questions - trustworthy sources.

What’s next

I really would love a lil sun. Taipei has been b2b fleece weather and a consistent 15 degrees, and I just need to do a bit of photosynthesising before I expire from feeling like I’m still in the UK. Tainan is looking like a sunny 24 tomorrow so I think maybe we’ll make it through alive.

One thing about Taipei is that all the dudes and bros be getting pedicures all the time. It seems like quite a macho and legendary activity. I’m trying to convince George it’s a good idea and we gotta do some cultural immersion and get our nails did, but so far it’s proving difficult - wish me luck.