Trekking Taipei: Day 1

My daughter, Ayana Grace, posted her blog of our Taipei Day 1 itinerary. 
She did it so well that I was inspired to work on this. 

After a 30-minute bus ride from Taipei airport to Taipei Central Station, we walked to our hotel that was strategically located in front of the Taipei Main Station. Perfect location!

Day 1: 

Breakfast at Fuhang Soy Milk

Peace Memorial Park

Liberty Square

Longshan Temple

Bopilao Historic Village

We arrived at the hotel before the sun was up so we had plenty of time to stroll along some streets before reaching our first destination--- Fuhang Soy Milk where we planned to have breakfast. 

Stopping along the way to take snap shots of buildings

The bus stop was no exception for our street photo ops

Finally, we reached our destination.
But we had to join the queue before we could enter the place.

FuHang Soy Milk (located at Zhongzheng District, Section 1, Zhongxiao East Road, Taiwan, Taipei City) is a very popular Taiwanese restaurant with a huge food court where a lot of people enjoy soy milk breakfast. We had to join the long queue from the back street outside up here! 

Do we look starved?

We didn't seem to notice the long wait though as we were busy taking photos of the surroundings, the people lining up and uploading our photos to Ig or FB.

I was amazed at the many people patiently waiting to reach the counter to order that I failed to take photos of the big hall with long tables shared by customers from other shops. I was conscious of warning from hubby and kids to think fast, order fast and act fast. The truth is I really didn't know what to order. I couldn't get myself to choose anything that was written on the menu flyer. 

It's a pity I failed to take photos of the food we ate but I loved watching the chefs in action.

Watch this 👇👇👇

I loved the soy milk! It was worth the wait.
I confess I was afraid my stomach would go nuts after breakfast
as I would be missing my daily morning routine. We had our itineraries lined up already.

Right after our breakfast, we had more walking to do. 

We passed by these smiling bikes along the road.

A few blocks away from FuHang Soy Milk was the 228 Peace Memorial Park located at Ketagalan Boulevard, Zhongzheng District. 

The sight of these colorful pagodas at the Peace Park offered  a very tempting background for photo ops before proceeding further to explore the park.

If you don't know which one to post, post them all!

These signages won’t allow you to get lost in the park. 

A historic site, the 2/28 Peace Memorial Park in Taipei, contains memorials to victims of the February 28, 1947 massacre where 10 to 30 thousand civilians were believed to have been killed during the tragic event in Taiwan's history of independence. 

The monument below was erected by Taiwanese architect Cheng Tsu-tsai at the center of the Peace Park in Taipei as a reminder of the 228 massacre.

The 228 Massacre Monument


The Peace Park is a traditional park with Japanese garden landscaping, ponds, arched bridges and exercise area.



Watch this 👇👇👇

Welcome to Taipei!

From the Peace Memorial Park, our next destination was the Liberty Plaza at No. 21, Zhongshan South Road, Zhongzheng District.

The Liberty (or Freedom) Square, a public plaza that serves as Taipei's public gathering place, has a historical role as it plays Taiwan's transition from a one-party (Kuomintang) rule to modern democracy.

There are four main tourist attractions here: the Liberty Square Main Gate, the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, the National Concert Hall and the National Theater.

The Liberty Square Main Gate

The Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall

The National Theater


The National Concert Hall

Let's go and explore each of these buildings.

The Liberty Square Main Gate (or Gate of Integrity) is a traditional Chinese arch (paifang) leading to the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall.


The National Theater


Standing at the veranda of the National Theater one can view the three other tourist attractions.

Considered as the first major facilities of modern performing arts in Asia, both the National Theater and the National Concert Hall are referred to as the Chiang Kai-Shek Cultural Center.

Here's a panoramic view of the huge Liberty Square Plaza with the Liberty Square Main Gate on the left, the National Concert Hall at the center and the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall on the far right.

If one is standing in front of the Liberty Square Main Gate facing the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, the National Theater and the National Concert Hall can be seen on both sides facing each other.

The kids are nowhere to be found.

They must be having their own photo sessions, so hubby and I did ours, too.

Selfies with hubby with the Liberty Square Main Gate, Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall and the National Theater as our backdrop.

Still standing at the veranda of the National Theater, one could get a good view of
the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. 

I couldn't wait to see what's inside. Exciting!

Here we go!
Walk, walk, walk... 

That's the pavement leading to the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall.

We're here! A few minutes before 10:00 am.

There he is--- Chiang Kai-Shek seated at the main hall.

Chiang Kai-Shek was the President of the Republic of China who relocated to Taiwan after the overthrow of the Kuomintang regime in China during the Chinese civil war.

Thanks to family itinerary planner, Ana Cristina, who deliberately timed our visit to the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall so we could witness the changing of the guards ceremony at exactly 10:00 am.  We had to be there 15 minutes before the ceremony starts. Perfect timing! The guards change every hour.

Watch this video coverage 👇👇👇

The changing of guards at the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. 

Did you see that? The timely and coordinated movements of the incoming and outgoing guards.

Of course, we didn't forget to pose before leaving the memorial hall.

And here's our family selfie. 

The growling tummy was a sure sign that we needed a break, the much awaited lunch break.

Hang Zhou Xiao Long Bao

Our first Xiao Long Bao experience at the Hang Zhou Xiao Long Bao, the humble version of Din Tai Fung. Strategically located right next to the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, the Hang Zhou Xiao Long Bao is said to be more popular to the locals. 

We didn't escape the long queue but the ordering system was organized and fast.

The store opened at exactly 11:00 am.

Reviews say the taste of Xiao Long Bao is comparable to that of Din Tai Fung's but cheaper.

Tummies satisfied. Time to move on to our next destination. 

To the Longshan Temple at No. 211, Guangzhou Street, Wanhua District we went.

Longshan Temple, one of the most popular and most loved temple in Taiwan, is a mix of Taoist, Buddhist and Confucian faiths.

Pose... pose... pose... with the beautiful waterfall backdrop.

Here’s my video clip of Longshan Temple 👇👇👇

Ana Cristina included Bopiliao Old Street among our Day 1 itineraries because she knew her father likes exploring historic places.

On our way, this old woman crossing the street didn’t escape my attention.

Bopiliao Historic Village

The Bopiliao Historic Village is just a few blocks away from the Longshan Temple. The place is characterized by narrow but scenic well-preserved streets between brick buildings from the Qing period. The ancient buildings are said to include homes of eminent scholars. Quite an interesting place featuring historical buildings and creative art works.

Tired from the long walk, I didn't feel like standing anymore... if not for photo ops.

Before bidding Day 1 goodbye, we reserved some energy to explore the streets of Xuchang and Nanyang near our hotel for street food.

I love staring at billboard ads so I take photos of them.

Exploring the streets of Xuchang and Nanyang for street food!!!

I was craving for something hot so I got noodles 👇👇👇 for my first dinner in Taipei. 

Yes, Tin and I had the same choice.

Do you think it was a long day? Well, it really was.
Let's go take a good night sleep for tomorrow is another day. Excited for Beitou and Taipei 101!

Meanwhile, click here to view Ayana's blogpost where she featured practical travel tips and our family vlog from the week-long trip. 

Read also Day 3 (Gondola Ride to Maokong) and Day 4 (Elephant Mountain)