Taiwan Day 1: Holo Hostel, Miniatures Museum of Taiwan, National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, St. Christopher’s Church, Long Shan Temple, Huaxi Night Market

Taiwan was a revelation.  And I thought it was all food trip.  Then, we had all our days fully packed. And we enjoyed every single one of them.  Here's what we did in Taiwan:

Day 1
Miniatures Museum of Taiwan
Dolls even dolls on eggs, toys, very detailed houses and rooms, scenes and sceneries, historical landmarks and places of interests

Then we ate lunch at a nearby underground restaurant – they serve good fried chicken.

National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine 
We went here to witness the changing of the guards. We like taking pictures when the place is clean, I mean no photobombers. This can be achieved when after changing of the guards, you run in the middle of the Shrine’s ground and click away. By this time, most of the crowd are still at the entrance of the Shrine where the changing of the guard ended.  The shrine was magnificent. It looked like a location in one of those Chinese royalty movies.

Taipei Fine Arts Museum
We went here to just roam around and see pieces of interest. We like the tea and weaved installations best. But we went here for the free Art Spaces for kids. The kids have a happy time trying on the art exhibits and installations.

St. Christopher’s Church
We walked around 3 blocks from Taipei Fine Arts Musuem to St. Christopher’s Church. It always warms my heart that when there’s a Catholic Church in a foreign country, there’s most likely a Filipino churchgoer or a Filipino priest. In this case, both are true. The Church has many Filipino goers, since we also have a good number of OFW here. It felt very comforting to have a kababayan sit right next to you in mass.

Long Shan Temple
One of the more famous temples in Taipei. There were a lot of devotees offering their gifts and saying their prayers. We just went around and took photos.

Huaxi Night Market
It was just across Long Shan Temple. We saw this restaurant teeming with patrons. So we went inside to check it out. The menu is in Taiwanese. And the owner can’t speak and understand English. Good thing their menu has pictures. So we pointed out everything to him. We had the best hotpot in Taiwan in this restaurant. And I don’t even know it’s name. We just know that it’s very near the entry of the night market, closest to Long Shan Temple.

DETAILS:

Where we stayed:  Holo Hostel 

Address: 100, Taiwan, Taipei City, Zhongzheng District

Nearest to Taipei Main Station and Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Taipei Station

Miniatures Museum of Taiwan

Address: 10491, Taiwan, Taipei City, Zhongshan District, 

How to get there: Green Line and Orange Line interchange Songjiang Nanjing, Exit 5, continue walking straight on Nanjing East Road. At the intersection of Jianguo North Road (建國北路), take a right. The museum will be ahead on the right side.

National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine 

How to get there: Red line Jiantan station, leave Exit 1 and go to the bus stop to the right side (busses heading south). Take bus 267, 556, 902, or 紅3區 to Martyr's Shrine (忠烈祠).

Taipei Fine Arts Museum

Address: No. 181, Section 3, Zhongshan N Rd, Zhongshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 10461

How to get there: After arriving at Yuanshan (圓山) on Red Line, exit into Taipei Expo Park, walking east through the park to the museum. Signage is readily visible.

St. Christopher's Church

Address: 10491, Taiwan, Taipei City, Zhongshan District

How to get there: We just walked from Taiper Fine Arts Museum to here.

Long Shan Temple

Address: 10853, Taiwan, Taipei City, Wanhua District

How to get there: Take the Blue Line to Longshan Temple (龍山寺), the temple is located just north of the station plaza, Exit 1.

Huaxi Night Market 

Address: 108, Taiwan, Taipei City, Wanhua District

How to get there: Just beside the Long Shan Temple

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