mr. taxi taxi taxi takes me traveling?

[meitachi]

Off to Thailand in a few hours! Will be there a few days and so far my plans involve EATING and SHOPPING (cheap LFC jerseys? hell yeah) and, okay, sure, palaces and temples and possibly the aquarium. :3 While I'm over there having fun, though, I do have a quick question for any friends familiar with Taiwan (which is next week alskgjd):

What's the best place to stay?

- around Shida near Guting MRT station
- Nangang District near the Songshan Train Station & Taipei Metro
- Ximengding District near the Ximen MRT station
- around ZhongShan MRT station
- elsewhere? other suggestions?

Thanks kindly for any suggestions or other pointers! Throw in any amount of advice on places to go, things to do, things not to do, or things to watch out for. I would particularly enjoy any talk of FOOD. /priorities. :D

Comments

[herocountry.livejournal.com]

omg HAVE FUN

[meiface.livejournal.com]

♥

[meiface.livejournal.com]

lol sorry I'd need a visa to get into China, alas. thanks though!

[catskilt.livejournal.com]

Stay in Ximending. It's the centre of shopping and it's just a really nice place to stay in. I've stayed there the two times I've been to Taipei.

[meiface.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I ended up getting a hostel in none of the areas listed above, haha, but everything should be more or less accessible by MRT. I'm excited for food, yay.

[konnistique.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, I can't be very helpful even though I went recently. It was a tour so everything was fixed ;; But I stayed at the Cosmos Hotel near Taipei Main Station, which was 1 or 2 stops from Ximending. I don't really have many pointers, sorry ^^; 4 days there didn't help in learning too much.

...I hope you have fun though! :D

[meiface.livejournal.com]

aw thanks though. ♥ I will have fun.

[forochel.livejournal.com]

I'll ask my taiwanese hallmates for advice!


as I recall from my friend's recount of her trip to Taipei though the food markets are particularly good.

[meiface.livejournal.com]

haha yes I plan on eating my way through the entire trip. sightsee? what is that? eating!

[papered.livejournal.com]

eee HAVE FUN MEI

when i was in taiwan, we stayed at a small hotel near minquan west road station. it was pretty convenient, haha, because it's sort of in between places like the memorial hall/ximengding and the shilin night market. the only thing is, the trains stop running at midnight-ish and we stayed at the nightmarket later than that a few times - but it wasn't a big deal, because the cab ride back wasn't very long nor was it very expensive.

these aren't really ~pointers~ since I'm hardly qualified to give them, but... (keeping in mind that my whole trip = shopping centric, LOL) here is some info! that might be completely irrelevant! (ie. very long comment ahead):
- we spent a fair amount of time in ximengding, and the shilin nightmarket was good for local foods! (we had a friend make a list of foods we must eat at the nightmarket, which included fried chicken, shen jian bao, stinky tofu, and bubble tea.)
- we also went to the SOGO department store and taipei 101 - although to be honest, both were fairly underwhelming. the latter has a food court and some places where we bought some food to bring back, but most of it was brand-name stores, etc.
- we also went to the shida nightmarket, although I think I liked shilin better. (mostly b/c atm, I can't remember much about shida, lol.)
- we spent half a day at danshui (which is like, the last stop on the metro, at the very top), which was more ~scenic~ - you can see the ocean, and there were little streets with small food carts on either side so you can buy and eat while walking.
- we also made a stop at yong kang street, which is supposed to have lots of food.... but we just had mango shaved ice, haha. if you go there though, you should definitely not miss the shaved ice - it was delightful. (the store is called yong kang 15 (http://www.taipeitravel.net/user/article.aspx?Lang=2&SNo=05000385), and I don't think you can miss it when you wander down the street, haha.)

~

ALSO, some tips on the shilin nightmarket! this is from the stuff my cousin's friends living in taipei sent us before we went, haha:

- apparently, one ~side~ of the nightmarket is aimed towards foreigners and travelers, and therefore overpriced - and the food isn't as good. the other side is for ~locals~, and that's the side you should go to, if you go! from what I remember, it's the side on the right after you get off the metro and are facing the main street, but here's a hopefully-more-clear map!


- if you see these specific stands, you should try their food! :3
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l135/ostiria/CIMG1252.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l135/ostiria/CIMG1275.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l135/ostiria/CIMG889d7.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l135/ostiria/CIMG8862.jpg



UM. I THINK THAT'S ABOUT IT. haha I feel like I just gave a condensed version of my visit-to-taiwan post (which ended up never getting posted t__t). HOPEFULLY YOU FIND SOME OF THAT BLABBERING USEFUL.

[meiface.livejournal.com]

thank you sooooooooooooooooooooooooo much liz, you are amazing. basically printing all of this off as a guide ♥ let's catch up sometime after i get back too! i assume you've been busy studying? imu. :3