I'm safely back in Bangkok today after a wonderful weekend in Taipei. Yesterday I was on my own to visit Danshui, a small neighborhood that is near the mouth of the river. They have a fisherman's wharf area which I had a great time just walking around and looking at all of the exotic (to me) food for sale. My new favorite snack is red cherry tomatoes stuffed with prunes. It sounds a bit wierd, but it certainly was tasty!
I met Ike and Jonah again for dinner at the Shih Lin Night Market. Then we headed back to the mountain for another visit to a different hot spring spa. This one was completely outdoors (luckily, it was not raining for a change) and had a steam room, jacuzzi, and 4 tubs ranging from the cold tub at 18 degrees Celcius to the hottest tub at 45 degrees Celcius (64 - 113 Fahrenheit).
So my observations of Taipei? Well, in general, I really liked it. It is a big city of several million people, but it is very laid back and relaxed. It is definitely a very different atmosphere from other Westernized Chinese cities like Singapore and Hong Kong.
But now I am back at work, back in crazy Bangkok, back in my office where I can start planning my next trip...