To Undreamed Shores: Day 1 - Taipei to Taichung

I dislike waking up early. But we all decided that we'd be better off meeting at 5am on Saturday morning. From there the 8 of us rode the subway to Taipei Main Station and bought tickets for a three-hour ride to Taichung. All of us slept on the bus ride even though we had our own TVs in front of our seats. When we got out of the tour bus, we were BLOWN AWAY by the heat. It was at least 15 degrees (Fahrenheit) hotter than it had been in Taipei. So much for my long sleeved shirt and down jacket.

There wasn't much to do in Taichung, so we got settled in the hotel and took naps. This particular night we had two people to a hotel room, so it was the most comfortable and enjoyable night of the trip. After our naps, we took taxis to Taichung's most famous night market: Feng Jia 夜市. A friend that we met at NTU was there to visit his family, so he took us to the better parts. This night market had the most variety of foods, the most stands, and by far, the most people. There was a particular point where we didn't move a single step for 2 minutes. This night market was also geared towards a younger crowd, so there were plenty of fried chicken, ice cream, crepes, and onion pancake stands.

The first day was essentially a pit stop. We weren't there to see anything in particular, and there was nothing of historical value that we wanted to see. Other than having the best bus, the best room, and the best night market, it was the least exciting city of the trip.

Our beautiful leather bus seats

One of my friends took us to a relatively famous noodle shop. His father is very good friends with the owner, and he owns four separate stands/restaurants in Taichung. He treated us to his specialty!

One of the strangest things I've seen in Taiwan: a tree growing on the top/side/edge of a 13 story building. We all tried to come up with the most creative story in regards to how it got there.