On the last day of our stay in Taipei, we explored around the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (or 中正紀念堂) little downward from the Taipei Main Station.
the Office of the President, nice view without people nor cars in the early morning.
(Although I overslept a bit,) around 6:00 we went to the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall first, and joined a group doing Tai Chi (or 太極拳). After my friend tried it for a while, I also followed the practice the group was doing. When I was observing, it looked pretty easy but it was actually very hard to follow….
It was rather hard to follow their practice…
Large memorial hall, where Chiang Kai-shek is enshrined. This is really magnificent.
Following the morning exercise, we had a popular Taiwanese breakfast, yes Tofu porridge but at another shop recommended in the guidebook.
Compared to the Tofu porridges we tried on the last two days, this looked pretty milky, also tasted great 🙂
Lastly, we looked around Shida market (or 師大市場). Although we went there quite early, there were already many local residents shopping in the market.
shopping street, well crowded; lunch (only 50NT$!) nearby the hotel.
In closing, we had soup dumpling at the airport, and came back to Hiroshima.
soup dumpling (Xiaolongbao; or 小籠包)
I stayed in Taipei for four days only but I was really touched by friendliness and kindness of local Taiwanese people. Wherever we went, there was someone stopping to speak and even kindly guide us in and around the city regardless of the language barrier. I found so many things which Japanese people should learn and possibly orient ourselves to, especially friendliness and behaviors in public transportation. As I really liked Taipei, I’m thinking to bring my mother for a trip together and show her around there this year-end.