Last May 2, 2019, I visited a place I have never been to for the first time. Taiwan is a controversial “country” because of its complicated history with China (which I won’t dwell on, but read up on it if you’re interested). Together with friends from work and my brother (who was traveling outside the country for the first time), we packed our bags, left any thought of work behind, and went on an adventure in Taiwan!

The weather forecast for the weekend was rainy, and true enough, it was raining when we landed. We hired 2 cars to bring us to our hotel since we landed past midnight and there were no trains running at this time. If you’re a big group, it’s worth hiring a private car instead of taking the bus with your luggage.

Hotel PaPa Whale

We got to our hotel – which I have to say – exceeded my expectations! We booked it for a big discount over at Agoda so my expectations were basic. Turned out, we booked a unique boutique hotel with great interiors – I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

So, the hotel’s name is Hotel PaPa Whale – so basically the image that comes to mind is a whaling ship or a submarine – and immediately, you get that feeling when you step in. The rooms are also designed the same, like you’re in a bunk bed on a ship which is so cool. They have free wi-fi, and offer unlimited breakfast buffet of shabu-shabu! I swear, we booked it for cheap, and got more than what we paid for!

We still had a bit of energy after checking in so we went out to the nearby convenience store to get some snacks, drinks and essentials for the trip.

After buying, we had some snacks at the hotel cafe with the food/drinks we just bought before calling it a night.

Breakfast (Shabu-shabu)

A few hours later (remember we arrived early in the morning past midnight), with only a couple of hours of sleep, we woke up tired but excited for the day ahead. Little did we know that we had to walk A LOT today. Good thing we started out with the unlimited shabu-shabu breakfast which to be honest, I immediately had enough of for the entire stay because I ate a lot.

We hung around the hotel cafe while waiting for everyone to finish eating. So, more opportunities for photos of our fresh faces.

After a couple of minutes, we were ready to explore Taipei…BY FOOT!

And the walking starts…

Our hotel is located at the edge of the Ximending area (which is sort of known as the main tourist/shopping hub in Taipei much like Tokyo’s Shibuya or Seoul’s Myeongdong areas). Our first stop was a popular landmark called the North Gate.

But before that – some photos of us walking towards the North Gate.

The North Gate

STORY TIME: There are 5 historic gates built in Taipei during the Qing Dynasty in 1884 to enclose the then new prefectural capital. Of these 5 gates, only the North Gate is left in its “original” state while the others were destroyed during Japanese occupation (West Gate) and/or were rebuilt with a different design/look (East, South, Auxiliary South Gates). (source)

The North Gate is also surrounded by several old buildings so I took the opportunity to take more photos as well.

And then we’re off to our next stop – the National Taiwan Museum and the nearby 2/28 Peace Park. But before that – a distraction!

Some more walking…

Walking resumed from the North gate to the National Taiwan Museum. We passed by Taipei Station and again I got distracted with the flowers and different things I wanted to take photos of.

After passing through Taipei Station (on the left of the photo above), we passed through buildings which felt exactly like Tokyo! There were signs and Japanese stores all over – true enough, Taiwan has been under Japan’s control for a while so you can really feel the vibes of old Japan in Taipei.

Obviously, the signs are in Chinese characters but I’m just talking about the vibe. On to the second main attraction of the day – the National Taiwan Museum!

National Taiwan Museum & 2/28 Peace Park

We arrived at the museum and wasted no time taking photos!

So, we didn’t actually enter the museum because we were on a tight schedule. We just went there to take some photos (haha). We then proceeded to the park beside the museum, known as the 2/28 Peace Park.

STORY TIME: The 2/28 Peace Park was named after the February 28 Incident or the February 28 massacre, where anti-government protesters were killed starting February 28 of 1947. The number of Taiwanese deaths was estimated to be in between 5,000 and 28,000, making it one of the most important event in Taiwan’s history and a key to its independence. (source)

To be honest, I didn’t know what the park stood for until just now when I read about it to provide a bit of trivia on the blog. I’m feeling a bit silly about taking happy photos here when I should have taken the moment to think about the weight of the history behind it.

There’s a gazebo by the fountain towards the end of the park (coming from the museum) where we took some more photos before finally moving on to our next stop.

After a quick toilet break, we were on foot again towards our next destination (note – this all happened BEFORE LUNCH) – Taipei’s most famous landmark – the Chang Kai-shek Memorial.

And more walking…

On the way to Chang Kai-shek Memorial, we passed by several notable buildings such as the East Gate (think North Gate but renovated).

We also saw the Presidential Office Building from afar. We didn’t know if we could go near it and take a photo with it (you couldn’t do that in the Philippines), so we just decided to continue our way.

At around this time, we were already thirsty and our legs were aching. We stopped for a quick water break at the side of the street near the Chang Kai-shek Memorial.

Liberty Square Park

The Liberty Square Park is probably one of the two most famous landmarks in Taipei (the second one, you’ll meet later on), although most people would know it as the Chang Kai-shek Memorial which is it’s old name.

Just seeing that gigantic gate of white and blue (Liberty Square Arch) takes you out of this world. My brother said, and I agree, that it was like seeing the gates of heaven before your very eyes. I was mesmerized. I took my time appreciating this huge gate before we proceeded with the picture taking.

After perhaps 30 minutes (we took our time at the gate), we finally entered and saw the park in its entirety.

From the arch, you will see the National Concert Hall on the left, and the National Theater on the right. At the far end is the Chang Kai-shek Memorial hall, in all its glory.

STORY TIME: This Memorial Hall is erected in honor of Taiwan’s most famous man – Chang Kai-shek, who served as the leader of Republic of China back when it was located in mainland China from 1928 to 1949, and in Taiwan until his death (1975). (source)

Time for photos!

This was already at noon so there’s not much people out, most probably because they’re at lunch or the sun was blazing hot. Speaking of which, it’s time for us to eat! We were already hungry after all of the walking (including climbing the stairs up to the memorial hall).

I will end this blog here for now because it is getting quite long. I will continue the 2nd half of Day 1 in the next post! For now, I’ll leave you with the last few photos on the way to lunch.

Catch the next part of this adventure – we’ve only covered the first half of Day 1!