The Orange Tree: Taiwan

The trip to Taiwan was a spur-of-the-moment decision. The hubby and I were walking along Orchard Road on our second day in Singapore and I suddenly exclaimed, "Let's go get air tickets now and fly somewhere for a holiday!" The hubby looked at me and asked, "Where?" Without any hesitation, I said, "Taipei!". I have been to Taipei before and I miss the yummilicious street food. I thought since the hubby loves food, it would be nice to go on a food safari in Taipei.

So instead of heading to the brand new SIA office located in Ion to get the tickets, we returned home and booked the tickets online. I called my eldest brother to inform him about our sudden arrival the next day. He suggested we stayed with him in Taichung for a night before continuing with our trip in Taipei. I immediately agreed. It would be nice to spend some time with my nephews and to visit my brother's new apartment for the first time.

We didn't visit any major tourist sites in Taichung. The main objective of our trip to Taichung was to visit my brother and his family. We had a great time hanging out with my nephews at the Feng Jia Night Market. It is the biggest and most popular night market in Taichung. We went there mainly for the delicious street food and of course we ended up stuffing ourselves silly. I especially love the mouth watering glutinous rice sausages. I'm still thinking about it till today.

Before we headed back to Taipei, we also had the opportunity to visit the primary school which Ian and Sean were studying in. Ian was part of the school's Chinese orchestra. He played the cello. The hubby and I had the privilege to watch him play with the rest of the members. Ian even took us for a mini tour around the school.

We returned to Taipei on our second day in Taiwan. By then, there were warnings about the impending heavy rain and strong wind brought about by the typhoon. True enough, it poured for the next few days. But the wet weather did not deter us from venturing around Taipei. We had our raincoats and wore them everywhere we went. We visited several tourist sites and most importantly we ate to our hearts' content! I have a feeling that the hubby and I will return to Taiwan for more tantalizing food very soon!

We had to take a high speed train from Taipei to Taichung. It was an hour train ride.

Street food at Feng Jia Night Market. Left pic shows a stall which sells glutinous rice sausages which I LOVE so much. Oh! And that's my all time fav street food on the bottom right pic - Stinky Fried Tofu! Woo hoo!

More street food at Feng Jia Night Market.

We visited the primary school which our nephews attended on the day Ian had Chinese orchestra practice.

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei.

Taipei 101 on a rainy night. We went up the building to the 89th floor but it was so foggy we couldn't really see the panoramic night view of Taipei City.