Wrapping up in Taipei

My group for the design challenge visited Yongkang street, with the great pleasure of being led by our professor, Meichun Liu, who lived in this neighborhood for some years while studying at NTNU. It was such an incredible experience to be guided by a past local. I was surprised to see a Venchi shop on the main street, a semi niche chocolate shop from Italy. It’s my favorite one, which I always visit and buy specifically eleven hazelnut dark chocolates to bring home and have one everytime I miss my boyfriend. The park was lush with thick green nature, and even had cute figurine statures in it. I really loved the first tea pot place we went to, Eilong Yongkang Shop. I wished so badly to buy a tea set or even just a pot to take home with me, and drink tea like a royal queen, reminded of my days in Taiwan. Sadly, I am travelling with only a big backpack, and don’t have much extra room. I bookmarked the location of the shop and told myself one day when I was a “real woman with an actual job” I could come back and buy one. 

The shop nextdoor, was even better. There were fish in a kitchen bowl on the bookshelf! I admired the “Big Book of Tea” flipping through its pages while our professor chatted away with her old friend. Everything felt warm inside this shop. The soft light, bamboo furniture, and shelves lined with delicate teacups made me feel at ease and comfortable. I borrowed money (since I didn’t have cash) to get a VERY expensive and fancy looking bag of high mountain tea. I can’t wait to share it with my mom and my grandma. 

We got to visit Meichun’s favorite bakery, and I was very tempted to try the bread she recommended. All of the food is SO GOOD here, and carbohydrates are my favorite food group, a real weakness of mine. I reminded myself of the time this summer I ate so much focaccia I felt sick, and I thought it best to avoid buying an entire ½ loaf, and feeling pressure to finish it before it goes stale. Afterall, once you buy bread, you need toppings. And anyways, we didn’t have a kitchen to slice and share. Maybe I’ll also come back to this bakery and try the walnut bread when I can stay in an air bnb and cook for myself and my family…

The gift shop we visited was interesting. I thought that the chairs were made thoughtfully. I also appreciated the exhibition in the basement, which revolved around textural experimentation. 

On a door on the street, I saw four 11’s (my favorite number) which felt double luckier than 11:11, the time. I picked pink flowers from a bush and gave one to everyone in our group. The bandaid Ai gave me for my thumb was starting to peel off, and I was sad to throw away a gift she made to me. 

The afternoon was great, but by the time the sun had set, I was a grumpy grinch. I was tired and uncomfortable, and angry at myself for being compliant and easy-going in doing things I didn't want to do, only for pleasing people. When we departed after dinner, I found myself in a ginger store, crying. The woman who offered a sample of the jasmine oil, rubbing it into my shoulders was surprised. With the language barrier, I couldn’t explain myself to her. I just cried. I missed the smell of my mom’s hair, and collecting sticks in the forest for my dog. I missed the familiarity and comfort of my own bed, my chipped orange polka dot teacup and… I hadn’t realized how burnt out I would be travelling for so long. Between Uzbekistan, Italy, Switzerland, France, then flying back to Oregon for 24 hours for a friend’s wedding, a 3 hour drive to Seattle, then 3 hours more to Canada, then all the way back down in one go the very next day, finals for summer classes, seeing a few friends, trying to pay off my sleep debt, unpacking, and repacking then flying to Taiwan, and the unknown that awaits me when I leave for Japan and Thailand after this program… Done is done. And I felt like crashing. 

I didn’t realize at that moment, I was actually just coming down with a cold. It’s funny how weak being sick can make us feel. 

I saw a turtle on the side of the road and pet his head, which made me feel way better. Then I tried to use an ATM for cash, but it wasn’t working, and 2 very sweet university boys could tell I was struggling. They were kind enough to exchange my USD cash for Taiwanese money. I walked the 40 minutes back to the hotel with a sore back, and stopped to get myself my favorite treat, a box of big blueberries. I fell asleep as soon as I got to my room, waking up in the middle of the night to change into pajamas, brush my teeth, and crawl under the covers.

°‧ 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 ·｡

We got to visit the 2026 Taiwan Ceramics Biennale, which was quite amazing. It was an excellent exhibition, and I especially enjoyed the interactive displays. Our activity afterwards, where we visited a pottery studio, and got to paint our own cups and saucers was delightful. It made me feel like a little kid, to be creative for no other purpose than just to make for fun. 

꧁⎝ 𓆩༺✧༻𓆪 ⎠꧂

The Raoche night market was a crazy experience. I read online that this one was particularly interesting because there was a temple outside, and it made me feel less conscious of my white skin to see so many locals around. 

My visiting boyfriend tried grilled snails. We quickly passed the stinky tofu, and shared a pork bun. I was intrigued by the Michelin star mochi, and many other things, but didn’t have the stomach for it. 

My favorite memory was when we played at the crane claw machine, and he won a pink squishy stuffed animal and gave it to the little girl watching us.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚

After our design presentations, which taught me a lot and made me realize how much I have to learn, we visited the Chiang Kai-Shek memorial hall. We took a tour of the museum to escape the rain as well. It was interesting to see every everyday object of the first president of Taiwan, how much they were handled like precious treasures. I thought the layout of the exhibit itself was also very well done. I was most interested in learning about Nylon Cheng. He was the one to start the Freedom Weekly, and he tried to use journalism as a way to advocate for democracy, human rights, and freedom of speech. When the KMT censorship laws came to conflict with his written ideals, he was ordered to court. Instead, he barricaded himself inside his office for 71 days. When the police finally stormed the building, he set fire to the whole room, and died. His sacrifice is still seen as a symbol of martyrism for the freedom of Taiwan, and this story sent chills down my spine. At the last part of the exhibit, there is a wall of letters, written by people around the world. It touched my heart to read them, write my own, and contribute my own story to this little corner of the world. 

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

The next morning was 7/11 breakfast, a potato and an egg, eaten at the park, then we went on a hike to elephant mountain. 

I love how nestled into the city the temples in Taipei are. It reminds me two very different aesthetics can co-exost together. 

⋆⊱༻𖥸༺⊰⋆

Getting to Jiufen was an adventure in of itself. Raced to a 7/11 for an easy card, and hopped on the bus right on time to transfer to Shonghan station. Our bus was “at depot” so we decided to wander around and wait. After 45 minutes, when the schedule said it would arrive, we discovered it was 25 minutes late. We waited more, and when it finally arrived, the driver told us there were only 2 seats left on the bus! We ended up taking a taxi. 

The old street itself was bustling with life. Many vendors offered us samples. I think I ate dried squid? There was a long line of locals for a stall, and I didn’t even know what it was for, but I stood with them, imaging to myself whatever it must be, must be good. 30 NTD later, I had a radish green mochi in my hand, and it was awful. I hated it. But hey, sometimes you have to try things to discover you dont like it. 

I pet an orange cat, we admired a huge spider. We drank tea over the view, and wandered down a creepy tunnel to find a chinese puppet show. I resisted temptation of buying things, and we popped in and out of different shops until we reached the temple. 

In the evening, we visited the Shinlin night market, and found a small cute little business that had just opened. It was a japanese izakaya resturant, and I ate some of the best mushtrroms of my life. It was phenomenal. I encouraged a man passing to try them, and he ended up sitting down with us for a drink and ordered some food. He was from Nigeria, but moved to Calgary in Canada, and was traveling in Asia with some friends. It felt like a real blessing to run into him, because he gave good advice to my boyfriend, who is moving to canada this month.

⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺

Our last morning together, before going different ways again, we stopped at 6 am for a “typical Taiwanese breakfast".” While we didn’t get fresh soymilk, chinese donut, or congee, we did try the radish cake and an omelet. Davide said it was the best food he had during his whole trip. I thought it was funny, especially since it was the cheapest too. Sometimes I guess it’s the dirty greasy places, which make you question the sanitary conditions of the restaurant, which have the entire family in the back, which make the yummiest food. 

Farewell Taipei. Goodbye NTU. I was all packed up within 30 minutes, and it was a bittersweet bus ride. I read the letters my boyfriend left me while we shared reflections as a class. Sad to leave such a beautiful place, but I’m grateful for the memories, and ready for what adventure awaits. 

𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆉 𓆝 𓆡⋆.˚ 𓇼