Shilin Night Market, National Palace Museum
When I landed in Taipei, the first city I planned to visit in Taiwan for the beginning of a brand new adventure, I was greeted by a hot and cloudy day. The surprising change in weather was quite nice, as I tend to prefer a warmer climate. Without any planning I was going to rely on recommendations from other people.
And so, my adventure in Taiwan started at Shilin Night Market. I met up with a local acquaintance of mine, who was going to show me around and be my guide for the evening. When we got to the market it was already bustling with activity, with people walking around the place, shopping around playing games, or queuing in front of one of the many food stalls, patiently waiting so they could taste some of the local street food.
As we were hungry, we queued up in front of one of the stalls where the line was not long. The first thing I tried was fried corn with cheese. My first thought was that it’s crunchier than I expected it to be. Then I noticed that on top there was a layer of cornflakes, which added both the crunchy texture and an extra level of sweetness to it.
The second stall was right next to the first one, and it sold some kind of a fried dough cheese ball with a filling in it. The vendor recommended the plum filling, supposedly the most popular one, and I picked that one. The outside layer was not as crispy as I expected, but rather chewy. When I got to the filling, it was quite hot and I had to be careful not to burn my mouth. It was a sweet treat that could be bought as desert, but there were still more things to try.
Next, we went over to a bigger stall that had a sitting area. That food stall was selling fried potatoes, which were then cut open and stuffed with different fillings. For me, it was onion, egg, and some herbs. The whole dish was then covered in a very liquidy cheesy sauce of sorts. I was surprised that the sauce wasn’t particularly hot, although the potato itself certainly was.
I was starting to feel full at this point, but that was not the end. After trying some street food it was time to get a drink. I followed my guide over to a tea stand that sells some kind of ice tea with different levels of bitterness. Not feeling very brave at the moment, I went for a mildly bitter tea. It was a refreshing beverage, and I liked the lack of sugar in it. After that, it was time for a drink that does contain sugar, so off we went on our way, wandering around the maze of corridors of the night market until we arrived at one of the many stalls that sold fresh juices. I picked a mix of pineapple and lemon, which was both sour and sweet, with none of the flavors being overpowering. It was quite a big cup, and it took me quite a while to finish it.
There was a temple located in the middle of the night market in Shilin, but it was closed at the time I was there. As it was too late at night to enter the temple, and I was not interested in shopping all that much, there was one more thing to try at the market- games. There were a few game stands set up around the market, most of them seemed to be sniping games, trying to shoot at balloons, or trying to put a ring around a bottle.
At the nearest game stand, I had a go at trying to shoot off balloons, but my marksmanship skills were not up to the task, and I missed quite a few shots. It was still fun to just try it out. But at that point I was tired, full, and not up for anything, so it was time to say goodbye to my guide and go to sleep.
The following day, hoping to learn a little about the culture and the history of Taiwan, I made my way to the National Palace Museum. From the outside it looked quite clean and impressive, and I was wondering what’s waiting for me inside. As I was told I can’t bring any food inside the museum, I packed my stuff in one of the free lockers available, grabbed an audio guide, and got inside to start my tour.
The place had 3 floors with different exhibitions from different periods in history, relating to Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. I couldn’t find clear directions to tell me where to start, so I just walked into a random room and looked for the sign that indicated I can use the audio guide there to learn a bit more.
Going in and out of rooms, I found it quite difficult to focus and pay attention to the audio guide, or to read the different signs telling me all about the exhibits on display. Paintings, books, statues, household items as well as some other stuff were on display, from all those different periods in history, and while I did find it somewhat interesting, nothing really captured my attention.
From the first floor I went over to the third floor, to look at some more sculptures and items made from different materials, mainly jade, including a particularly famous sculpture which was designed to look like a piece of pork. I didn’t find a great deal of interest in that particular sculpture, but I did enjoy walking around and learning a bit on how jade is found and transformed into jewelry and other items.
After I had a long enough look around, I went back down to the second floor, and I just could find much interest there. A lot of the exhibits were quite similar in my mind, although the material and the period of time in which they were made was different. Still, I didn’t feel like I really enjoyed it and soon enough I went back down, returned the audio guide, took my stuff from the locker and exited the museum.
I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the place, but I thought it would be more of a palace and less than a museum. I didn’t get much of a palace feeling from the place, and I didn’t feel like I learned a whole lot about the history of the area, so that was a bit disappointing. To be fair on the museum, I was sleepy and a bit under the weather on that day with a mild headache, so I just wasn’t able to fully appreciate everything. I can’t fault that on the museum, although I did expect more of it, based on my previous experiences so far. I went back to the hostel and decided to just rest for a little while before going on any more adventures.