The island state of Taiwan was my first country to visit in Asia that wasn’t technically a part of the southeast Asian region (it is just considered east Asia). I didn’t know what to expect, but upon landing in the capital of Taipei, I immediately fell in love with the vibrant city. I spent my first night sampling *amazing* food at Shilin Night Market. At this point, I have been to a lot of markets in Asia, but this was the most crowded, hard to walk through Market I’ve been to. Claustrophobic people beware, but it was worth it.
Taiwan from the sky was ridiculously beautiful. 
Shilin Night Market crowds. 
Pretty sky and lots of people. 
Candied tomato on a stick. 
“Ring the bell if you need beer.” 
Temples in case you forgot you’re in Asia. 
Flaky scallion pancakes are the BOMB. 
Squid and mushrooms…yum? 
Basil pork roll YUMMMM.
As usual, most of the time I was just walking around, looking for food and exploring.
Life under the monorail. 
Rich people in Taiwan. 
Walking around and passing zen walkways like this was neat. 
Picturesquely Asia. 
Fortune Teller Street!! An underground mall hallway that is lined with fortune tellers.
I also went to the National Palace Museum, which has over 700,000 ancient Chinese imperial artifacts and artwork, and the National Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall.
A protest for something. It was in Taiwanese. So I didn’t know what for. 
This is a theatre. 
Look at the pretty sky. 
Another museum. 
The memorial hall. 
There was a weird and random Christian rock concert happening?
Aaaaaand more markets! They were everywhere and NoTHInG was in English… so that was fun.
Xicheng Street Night Market 
Xiecheng Street Market 
Fooooooood 
Huaxi Street Market 
Games at the Street Market! 
Pinball on the street! 
I don’t even know what street this is. 
Markets everywhere. 
Healthy food. 
There is always a lot going on. 
You can buy anything on the street.
I also found the Times Square of Taipei. The Ximending district at night is lit up with electronic billboards and bustling with thousands of locals and tourists exploring the shops and food stalls along the pedestrian-only walking streets.
Panorama 
Times Square! 
Walking around!
Below is another random assortment of photos from Taipei.
Just a random bridge. 
Dumplings are for sure my favorite Taiwanese food. 
The North Gate of Taipei. 
Taipei 
Street pork buns! 
They stick the buns to the side of this oven and it’s really cool. 
Fire sky! 
Cool pagodas in parks. 
A selfie to prove I was really in Taipei. 
Peanuts and tofu in a sugary soup. It’s a really popular Taiwanese dessert but it isn’t good.
😀