#Shillin night market

[ejamesquijano]

A FARAWAY CITY Hello, Taipei

I would like to believe that life is only worth it if you collect memories that you would carry with you as you leave this world someday. A future nostalgia as you age, and a supercut that will play during your very last breath. Sometimes I think about dying with a smile knowing that I have done it all — but that is still a constant goal right now. And I am really convinced that this memory is one I would remember for always.

I have spent four amazing days in Taiwan with Wence, the boy who’s been pulling my heartstrings for almost a decade now. And oh heavens, it was my first time to travel out of the country and I wouldn’t do it any other way. It was a beautiful core memory to carry with me although at times I still feel like it was only just a dream. It was also an awakening, that life is bigger than you could ever imagine and I am just a dot in this incredible planet.

The Supercut: Hotel overnight. Airport stories. Red-eye flight. Taiwan touchdown. Subway train rides. Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. Bopiliao Historical Block. 7 Eleven snacks. Ximending walks. Red House x DVD stalls. Met Jai Hang. Blue hour mornings. Coaster Bus rides. York as our tour guide. Met our kabayan, Athena. Yehliu Geopark. Shuinandong Smelter x Golden Blue Sea. Golden Waterfalls. The mystic Jiufen Old Street. Shifen Station. Sundown bus ride and realizing I was happy. Shillin Market. Photobooth moments with Wence. Bought charms and crystals. Warm hotel nights with Wence. U-Bike moments. Din Tai Fung x Taipei 101. Fell in love with Da’an District’s Jinhua and Qingtian Streets. Train to Tamsui. Biking x Sunset Watching at Tamsui. Spa night. Biking x midnight snacks at the hotel. Fong Da Coffee. Longshan Temple. Spent the afternoon biking around CKS Park. Luggage shenanigans. Streetside Noodles for dinner. Train ride back to airport. Another red-eye flight, but every little thing was so worth it.

For someone like me who thought his heart was hardened by life’s mishaps and shits, these moments remind me that there are still a lot of things to look forward to, a lot of experiences to warm your core, and that cliché statement is nothing but true: Happiness really starts from within. I have come to realize that I never want to lose that sense of wonder, to discover more and understand life better.

At this moment, I still think about how life isn’t really perfect after all, that I still might duel with sadness in the future. But let me just capture this feeling for a little while. It may be simple for others but let me just dive into this memory a little longer. For one day I’ll get older and I’ll reminisce those days when I felt genuinely happy.

*** 35mm Expired Fuji Superia 200 March, 2023

[r4chtulip]

I’M STARTING TO MISS TAIWAN 🇹🇼

2017 - after a week of Christmas vacation in Taipei, i have a lot of recommendations and happy memories to share.

1st mirror selfie ITS WINTERRRRRRRR

make sure you rent a bike and do the main street from Taipei 101 ‘Taipei City Hall’ to Ximending ‘Ximen’ if i had to recommend a taiwanese experience, i will advice for you to go to “Shillin Night Market” - a messy yet amazing pancake fried with spring onions and wrapped around a fried egg; spicy squid on sticks; bacon, cheese, and egg pancakes for breakfast; fried bright purple sweet potato balls; mango shaved ice drizzled with condensed milk; challenging dishes, like duck tongue, pig blood cake, and chicken feet; a hundred varieties of bubble tea; an enormous fried chicken cutlet the size of my face; oyster omelettes; stinky tofu… Okay, maybe not stinky tofu.

make sure you spend the time to visit the temples in Taiwan!

TAIWAN IS THE LAND OF THEMED RESTAURANTS - it’s no secret i have an obsession with themed restaurants, and in Taipei, you could eat out at a different one every day for month and not run out of places to try. they’re so much fun! so far, in Taipei, i have visited a Hello Kitty cafe, a hospital-themed restaurant; a toilet bowl-themed; and also visited Gudetama Chef restau ~omooo~

Taipei’s metro system is one of my favorites in the world: it’s clean and air conditioned, stops are announced in English, and everyone lines up on the platforms in single file. getting from city to city is simple, too. trains cover many of the destinations you’d want to visit.

for such a small country, Taiwan has an incredible amount to offer. if you’re looking to visit somewhere that has incredible food, is affordable and easy to travel around, has beaches to lie on and mountains to climb, and the friendliest people you’ll ever encounter, go to Taiwan. 🇹🇼❤️

[verbballetstaipei-blog]

Day 14- last day in Taipei☹️

Oh my goshhhhh!!! Today was my last day in Taipei😩 I'm sad guys! This has been an amazing trip and it's hard to see it come to a close. But I guess they say all good things come to an end. Fine. Still feel like that's a dumb saying but ok ok I get it I can't stay on tour in Taiwan forever. So here's how the day went down: I got a good night of sleep (always a blessing before a performance day) and had my last hotel breakfast of fruit, veggies, a hard boiled egg, one cappuccino and one cup of coffee with steamed soy milk. I shall miss their fancy coffee machine😌 Then I attempted to start packing, got overwhelmed by the amount of dirty laundry and souvenirs (man I can really accumulate some stuff!), and gave up in exchange for heading to the theatre. On our way in, Kelly and I saw a ceremony of sorts for a big summer athletic event that Taipei is hosting, complete with many of the marching bands that we had seen practicing the day before. There was so much pomp to be had. Woo! Amped up for the last performance, the Verbers took our last company class with the BodyEDT dancers. They're beautiful movers, and I can't wait to see more of them when they come work with us in Cleveland! One of the dancers named Hsin (pronounced "She") gave us little cakes with egg and pineapple in the middle that were sooooo tasty. I have tried a lot of pineapple cake since being in Taiwan and those were by far the best. Thanks again for the tasty treat, Hsin! 😋 Then it was showtime for Program B. I thought my performance Saturday night was better for me personally, but the show still went well overall. I find that my best performances happen when I can completely lose myself onstage and immerse myself in whatever piece I'm dancing. If I let conscious thoughts drift into my mind, like "Oh I have to do this step that I can usually do fine, but what if I mess it up today?" or weird second guessing thoughts like that then it's hard for me to get back into that performance zen mode. But the audience still seemed to enjoy the performance, and that's ultimately the most important. Lots of people wanted autographs and pictures after the show, which to makes me feel a silly to be honest (it's just little ol' me🤓) but I was happy that I could do something to brighten their day. One young woman took a picture with me and posted it on Instagram with the caption "I'm in Love." They sure showered us with their affection! After the audience meet and greet, we did a quick photo shoot on the stage. Then we said goodbye to BodyEDT and the stellar stage crew and we were on our way! Richard, our associate director, had kindly arranged reservations and transportation so we could all have a final Verb dinner together. Mexican food best fits the dietary constraints of the group so it was Eddy's for nachos and margaritas for us. Thanks Senor Richard! Taiwanese Mexican food is surprisingly tasty! Since it was our last night, we wanted to make sure that we spent every Taiwanese dollar that we had exchanged when coming into the country, so our last stop of the trip was Shillin night market. Although we had already been once, the night market is so huge that when we went back I saw entirely new stall and stores. We had a total blast🤠 Because we didn't have to work the next day (actually we were purposely trying to stay up for most of the night in attempt to initiate the 12 hour time zone switch), we enjoyed ourselves and stayed out late. I bought a really obnoxious Taiwan hat that I plan to wear all around Cleveland this summer, some earrings in the shape of Taiwan, and a fo-jade necklace with Christina. We figured we could call it "genuine night market jade." I also tried a grass jelly tea (the tea part was great, I think I'll pass on future grass jelly😝) and Michael and I split this divine little cheese tart. Michael got a cute shirt to add to his crop top Friday collection and Christina got a pretty ballerina style tulle skirt. There were so many great options! It is very rare for ballerinas to have a little money to spend and time to do it so we enjoyed the luxury💁🏼 Thank goodness Kelly decided to buy some snail earrings because the jeweler who made them alerted us that the MRT was about to close. We ran to the MRT station (Lieneke buying chopsticks and Kelly purchasing a postcard rapidly along the way) and hopped on the red line. It was a really good thing the jeweler told us because we were out of Taiwanese money and wouldn't have been able to pay for a cab! That could've been a very long late night walk! When I got back to my hotel room, I had a package waiting for me from Connie, the hotel desk worker that came to our performance. She had hand stitched a "Verb Ballets in Taipei" embroidery and left it for me with a very sweet note. The whole trip, I found myself consistently overwhelmed by everyone's generosity and adoration. Taiwanese people are just so stinking kind! The tapestry is my favorite thing I'm bringing back from the trip. Thanks again Connie💌 Then Kelly and I turned on Taiwanese TV (we think it was a show similar to ninja warrior only with super crazy sound effects) and got to packing. Yaowowza I had a lot of dirty laundry😝 Like ehw! If TSA decides to do a random search of my suitcases, they'll be in for a rude awakening. I somehow managed to smash everything in (both of my suitcases had to be expanded to their maximum size), wrote a couple thank you notes, and I set my alarm to get me up in 2 hours. It was a great last day in Taipei!

[expatem]

Shillin Market

Our hostel was about a 5 minute walk from Shillin Market, which is hailed as the biggest night market in Taipei. It has literally everything, including amazingly great street food!

[raunchyrod]

In Her Jeans At Shillin Night Markets, Taipei!

In Her Jeans At Shillin Night Markets, Taipei!

People often ask me about my travels in Asia specifically Taipei, Taiwan. I have not been there for almost a decade and I love recounting all the stories I picked up in my time there. I loved the vibe, the people, the scenery… but there is one encounter that I have always kept to myself. Until now.

It was ten pm on a beautiful summer evening in Taipei when I met her. I had gone on holiday to…

[k-shayde]

A temple near the Shillin Night Market.