Taiwan part 2 in Adventures in paradise

I can say I've experienced my first typhoon.  It wasn't anything to worry about in the end, but the anticipation was pretty scary.  I was comforted by the fact that Taipei is surrounded by mountains, which generally soften the blow of typhoons.  However, this particular typhoon was the biggest since 1996, so I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little concerned.  I could still see people out and about walking from the window of my hotel room.  I thought they were crazy.  Some were fighting their umbrellas against the wind lol.  The worst part of the typhoon hit at around 3pm last Friday, and there were a few moments where I wondered if the window in my room was gonna blow out.  I was pretty fascinated with the small point of view I had of it of the street outside.  The rain was intense and going sideways with the bursts of wind.  A few potplants had been blown over, and the awning from a business across the road had been ripped off.  A few motorcycles had fallen over.

So there was about 24 hours there that I didn't leave the hotel.  I had enough food, just, but I was a bit annoyed at myself that I hadn't bought a bit more, as I was down to junk food, which I knew was going to make me feel bad (they have Dove chocolate here, which I love).  Luckily the breakfast buffet in the hotel was still operating the morning of the typhoon, so I had some healthier food there.  It wasn't until the next morning that I got to go out and see some of the damage the typhoon had done.  A few scooters/motorcycles that had blown over had their mirrors broken and ripped off as they hit the concrete.  There was a big metal sculture outside one of the museums ripped from it's base, as well as a few rather big trees, uprooted from their roots.  Kinda crazy to see!  But the Taiwanese were already out doing the cleanup.  Every park, and most business owners were out there with their straw brooms, sweeping leaves and debris into bags.  Most businesses and schools were closed for the day of the typhoon, but I believe 7/11's and such were trading.  

Anyway, it was back to exploring the city for me, once the storm had passed.  I had woken up to a message from H asking if I'd felt the earthquake.  Earthquake!?  What the?  I told him I hadn't.  Apparently there was one whilst I was asleep lol.  It must have been closer to the area he is.  Or I sleep like a zombie.  Either or.

I overheard a guy telling his friend, "I can't believe we were here during a typhoon!", and I had to think to myself and agree.  The real Taiwan experience, I suppose haha.  And an earthquake as well?  I probably would have been an anxious nanny had I experienced that though.

I'd signed up to the bikes here, since I have a Taiwanese phone number, and after a day or so I got the hang of it.  Moreso the surrounding traffic and road surfaces more than anything, but everything is designed so well here in Taiwan, with marked bike paths pretty much everywhere.  I even became one of those bike riders was was getting annoyed with the pedestrians walking in the bike lanes, when they have plenty of space on the walkway closer to the shops.  But it was okay, as I just rode around them.  It's a smart design, as the shops get the foot traffic and the riders can keep on going.  But in the aftermath of a typhoon, I had to ride around the occasional fallen tree and such, which was fine.  Like I said, they just get on with it here and the cleanup has been amazing.

I made my way down to the river-front where I'd gone for that long walk a few days prior, to instead ride my bike in a safer area.  It was so good, but I'd really underestimated the length of the bike ride.  I didn't think it was ever going to end, and I rode for about 12km!  My butt was so sore haha.  I ended up catching the MRT back.  Speaking of, I've probably already praised the MRT, but it's so convenient, clearly numbered and colour-coded, and combining that with Google Maps, at this point, I don't even need maps anymore as I know how to get back to the hotel now.  Seriously impressed.

Here's some pics when I stopped my bike.  There is a Snapchat of me riding along trying not to crash lol, but videos don't really work here unless I upload a Youtube.

It was so fucking bright.  I was annoyed I'd forgotten to bring my sunnies, as it was overcast when I left.  So I'm holding my hand up to try and block the sun lol.  Man I look tired after 12km of biking haha.

Not as cute as my pic with the Swiss mountains in 2018, but still

I knew I couldn't put off having the authenic experience here, so I dined in a nearby restaurant near the hotel.  I ordered some beef noodles which had good reviews.  It was called "Chef Hung's Beef Noodles", so the name sold me as well lol.  Of course I had to make it a Facebook check-in, which of course brought out of the woodwork some of my dirty-minded Facebook friends :P  But anyway, the food was just okay (so I probably didn't order the right thing), but the broth was nice.  I actually thought I was doing fairly well with the chopsticks... until the lovely waitress brought over a fork, spoon and extra napkins for me (I'd already grabbed a bunch) LOL.  I must have looked so white, in amongst all the Asian clientele.  So then I felt even more self-conscious.  But they were lovely.  They really are so lovely here, and I really haven't had to speak much of the language at all.

I've ended up back at that boba-tea place I think four times now lol.  It's just SO nice.  All the brown sugar's probably no good for me though, but meh.  I'll probably go one more time before I leave.

I leave in a few days now, so the trip's almost at an end.  I do feel I booked too long here, but given there was a typhoon, I'd probably wouldn't have been able to fly out last week anyway, had I only stayed a week, so I'm seeing that as a positive.  Last night, I did the Elephant Mountain trail hike.  Well, part of it lol.  I wasn't doing the whole thing.  It sure let me know how unfit I am.  I felt like I was gonna die from being out of breath!  I had to stop and rest three times.  Anyway, I finally made it to some of the lookout spots and got some lovely photos, despite it being busy as fuck and people hogging the viewing platform for 30+ minutes at a time.  Some people had professional camera set-ups and everything.  Anyway, if you've seen my Instagram/Facebook stories, you'd have already seen these.  If you're on my Snapchat, you get all the boring pic as well.  I tend to just post everything on there, boring or not.  It only lasts 24 hours anyway.  I figure I'll put my fav pics in an actual post when I get home.

I've also checked out two of the night markets here (the two biggest ones), over the last few nights, as they aren't open the last few nights I'm here, so I knew I had to go over the weekend.  When it was the busiest lol.  I made sure I had my mask on.  The stinky-tofu smells gag-worthy.  I couldn't imagine trying it.  I didn't try anything at the first market, but I bought a chicken stick at the biggest one last night.  I've been waiting to see if I feel sick from it, but so far so good!

Yup, it was like shuffing-along pace here, but all part of the experience.

My Snapchat live-post lol

I love the buildings here

And this was the Shillin night marker, last night after I climbed the mountain.  I preferred the smaller one.

And here's my mountain pics.  Man, I felt so unfit haha, but I haven't really been to the gym in a fortnight or so now, so makes sense.  I didn't realise my cardio was so bad though!

I rode a U-bike to the mountain (cos you can do that!).  I'm on one here in front of Taipai 101, but you can't tell.  The only thing I have to do here yet is actually go to the observatory!

This was only the first viewing platform, and I was already a sweaty-mess LOL.  I'd brought my jacket mostly to protect from potential mosquitoes, but I was glad I had it once I'd wiped away the sweat from the climb and started to cool down again.  There are 400 steps.

I'd tried to time it to see the sunset, and I think I did pretty well.  The trade-off was that I had to deal with the crowds.  I was lucky to be able to do the climb only a few days after the typhoon, as I imagine it would have been a mess up there.  One of the entrances was still cut off by a fallen tree.

I think this is one of my favourite pics.  I only had to crop out the top of one guys head lol.  I prob should've cropped some of the sky out too but oh well.

And day becomes night!

Getting a selfie wasn't the easiest, but I got one!