In Taipei, we stayed in a place called Hotel Eight Zone, which we found through the internet. Sometimes what you see on the Internet is far from what you get, but when we were led to our room; call it Feng Shui or what, we were totally in tune. The hotel itself was new and clean, a boutique designer style that was centrally located. It didn’t hurt that the room came with a large and modern bathroom fully equipped with a separate Jacuzzi tub and a shower stall with a rainfall shower head and hot steam sauna. We only booked the hotel for one night but we immediately extended our stay.
The courtesy and friendliness of Sophie and Sheena at the front desk was another reason why we extended our stay here to six nights. On the first night, they kindly worked out a thorough itinerary as to what to do and see in Taipei. They even wrote a note written in Chinese to show the local people in order to guide us, in case we needed it.
The hotel also included a delicious breakfast every morning - made to order noodles, rice porridge, omelette, etc. All this without Joanne having to lift a finger.
The next morning, Tina came to show us around the city. Tina is a senior in college studying to be a teacher. She is from a small town in the southern Taiwan, attending school in Taipei on scholarship. Joanne met her last summer at Glacier National Park, where she was working for the summer. Despite her busy schedule (she's taking 10 classes and has two part time jobs), she spent a whole day taking us around. She has a bubbly personality with a big bright smile but I think she was afraid to show her braces in this picture.
The first place our young friend took us to was Lungshan Temple which was only one subway station away from our hotel. The temple was crowded with worshippers holding incense over their heads, wishing for good fortune.
In front of the General Chiang Kai Shek memorial building. We noticed Taiwan is politically trying to distance itself away from his legacy. Many places that used to honor his name have been changed recently.
We asked Tina to show us her school. When we walked in, a celebration was going on. Tina told us this was the traditional freshmen festival. Students were divided into teams wearing different costumes and were competing for a grand prize. We got into a festive mood as well.
What to eat is one of the important questions we ask the locals when we first arrive at a new country. Din Tai Fang is a highly popular chain restaurant specializing in dumplings. The restaurant is internationally known and there’s even a branch in Arcadia. By Sophie and Sheena's suggestion, we ate several times at the home of the dumplings.
In Taipei, MRT subways run very efficiently. They were frequent and fast. All we needed to know was the red line and the blue line; it got us where we needed to go around Taipei.
Other means of transportation is by taxi or bus. Our direction was to take a bus from Jiantan station to get to the Palace National Museum. Being there during the holiday season, even the drivers were in a jolly mood.
Palace National Museum is a must stop when in Taipei. It houses many of the most exquisite and valuable treasures from Xian, the ancient capital of China. The treasures were moved by General Chiang Kai Shek when he fled to Taiwan.
A Japanese businessman we met on our plane ride to Hanoi had advised us to spend a whole day in the museum. We only got to spend half a day and it definitely wasn’t enough.
There are many night markets in Taipei. This one near the Jiantan station is one of the largest. We stopped here for dinner at Shihlin Food Square, before heading back to our hotel. It reminded us of Nam Dae Moon ("South Gate") market in Seoul.
As for the menu, a passenger who had been sitting next to Joanne on the bus, wrote down (in Chinese) what to order. Without speaking a single word, we were able enjoy four different kinds of local favorite dishes. 
We took a half day tour to Yangmingshan National Park which is located about 40 minutes north of Taipei. One of the highlights of the park is the "flower clock". The park was pretty, but in our opinion, the name 'national park' should have been bestowed on something much grander.
The other highlight of the park was the hot springs. The guide took us right to the source of the hot springs; where the natural hot water is piped from. The water was the smelly kind. We soaked our bodies in the hot springs for an hour which led to both of us smelling like thousand year old eggs for the next two days.
The end of the MRT red line is Danshui where we were told the sunset is the prettiest. This is the view from the station where you get the best view, high above this small city.
After having spent a restful afternoon I told Joanne we couldn’t have timed the sunset better by arriving at the station in nick of time to see the sun go down.
It was Friday evening and a lot of locals came out to enjoy the Danshui Wharf, strolling, shopping, and eating. The temperature was balmy for late December night. In fact, Taiwan had the perfect golf weather, mid 70 F, all the while we stayed there.
National Taiwan University was where a few of my friends and colleagues went to get engineering degrees. Since I heard that it was the best university in Taiwan, I decided to pay NTU a visit. 
We walked in thru the gate from the main road and it led us to the university library. It looked like the university was celebrating its 80th anniversary.
We asked this student for the directions to the engineering building. Her name is Han-Chen, a graduate student majoring in physiology. She couldn't tell us the way to the engineering building, but led us to a good waffle sandwich place to have lunch. We invited her to eat with us and spent a good hour sharing each other's company. 
Taipei 101 is a landmark building sitting next to the city hall. It was filled with high-end shops and many people doing Christmas shopping.
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