I went to Taipei with little to no expectations and it blew me away! I haven’t fallen this in love with a new city in a long time. The weather was perfect this time of year — low 70s with lots of sun, a light breeze, and some clouds here and there to offer some shady respite. It was fun to immerse myself in a completely new city and culture —something I haven’t done in a while, since almost everywhere I’ve gone in the past few years has been a repeat visit.
I totally fell in love with Taipei for:
the abundance of beautiful trees and plants
how clean the city is (as an ex-New Yorker, clean cities never cease to amaze me)
how wide the streets are, with plenty of sidewalks
the amazing graphic design in city signage and everyday objects like takeout packaging
how kind and friendly the people were
how affordable and accessible transportation is
The city was bigger than I expected too, with each neighborhood having a distinctly different feel. More than anywhere else, Taipei reminded me of Mexico City in the best ways. (I used to travel to CDMX a lot for work and have been countless times — being in Korea really makes me miss Mexico — isn’t one of the best parts of living in the States its proximity to Mexico?) Other parts of Taipei really reminded me of the calm streets of Fort Greene or Park Slope, and certain neon sign-filled alleyways reminded me of streets in Tokyo or Seoul. Each day really felt like a new adventure and it was so much fun.
All in all, Taipei was pretty perfect. I haven’t been this excited about a city since Tokyo, and I am hoping and praying I can return several more times before I move back to the States. I’m still no expert but here’s my travel guide to a perfectly short and sweet (3-5 day) trip to Taipei.
Celestial (天廚菜館) - I didn’t know what to expect here because the reviews were all over the place, most notably saying along the lines of: “This place has been around for ages and is iconic but is the food necessarily amazing? Maybe not.” Well, we were pleasantly surprised. First of all, the interior is so cute and crazy. Purple and mint colored silk tablecloths and chair covers. All the wait staff aunties in red qipao dresses clashed with the interior’s colorscheme in the best way. We came for the peking duck and it did not disappoint! In all honesty, duck meat is never my first choice. I don’t mind a great duck filet while in France but in Korea, I find myself avoiding duck BBQ restaurants — it’s just not my cup of tea. I’ve only had a handful of peking duck experiences, almost exclusively in NYC’s Chinatown. All were good, but this one really changed my perspective! I LOVED it! The skin was soooo insanely crispy and juicy (exploding with fat..) in the best way. The flour wraps were so warm and comforting. The hoisin sauce and perfectly trimmed scallions were everything. They even gave us a duck broth soup at the end but we could barely even sip on it, we were so full. (We ordered the M size for 3 people and 2 tiny appetizers and nearly couldn’t finish). I really recommend coming here for a last-day-of-the-trip lunch like we did!
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