Taipei (Day 28): Movie Monday

March 28, 2016

This morning, we were woken up by Tim’s Taiwan cell phone ringing in the other room at 8:30am. It felt good not to have any set plans until later in the day. Taipei is 15 hours ahead of Vancouver, so when woke up, it was perfect timing to FaceTime with my family who were at Uncle Barry’s for Easter dinner.

It was nice to see everyone together and it felt like we were there too! They had finished eating dinner, but I saw all the plates of turkey leftovers and it made me really want a home cooked turkey dinner. We will have to have a turkey dinner in the summer when we’re back. There is a Canadian restaurant (Whalen’s) down the street from us that has a turkey dinner on their menu, but it’s quite expensive, so we’ll just wait.

We decided to go for breakfast and have a nice walk since it was sunny out today. It was about 20 degrees with a warm breeze (pretty ideal weather). We headed back to King Soy Milk and had the same meal we had the very first morning we were in Taipei. We shared a sao bing with egg, rice roll and a cold soy milk for 85 NT = $3.45 CAD.

Back to our fave breakfast place
Back to our fave breakfast place
During down time, staff continue to prep for the day
During down time, staff continue to prep for the day

After breakfast we decided to walk towards Taipei 101 and watch the movie, “Batman v Superman”. There is a movie theatre in the mall right beside Taipei 101, called Vieshow Cinemas. The walk to Taipei 101 took about 20 minutes. The weather was very pleasant so it was good to walk off those carbs we just had for breakfast. When we got to the theatre, we saw that Batman V. Superman was playing pretty much every half an hour (they have a lot of theatres). At the ticket counter, they asked if we wanted popcorn and drinks. The cashier said that if we bought the package with the tickets it was cheaper. He told us the price and for some reason we had miscalculated the conversion in our heads and thought that for two tickets and a popcorn combo (two drinks and a popcorn) was $20 CAD, but after we paid we realized we divided it wrong and it was actually $37 CAD! Each ticket was 270 NT = $11 CAD and the combo was 369 NT = $15 CAD. It wasn’t outrageous, it was North American prices.

Sunny and blue skies on our way to Taipei 101 area to watch the movie
Sunny and blue skies on our way to Taipei 101 area to watch the movie
Vieshow theatres
Vieshow Cinemas. This complex is attached to Taipei 101 via an outdoor overpass
Waiting for our popcorn at the concession
Waiting for our popcorn at the concession. It wasn’t that busy.. we’re the suckers while everyone else brought in their own outside food
We miscalculated the price of the food when added it on to our tickets. We only realized after we paid that it was 369 NT = $15 CAD
We miscalculated the price of the food when added it on to our tickets. We only realized after we paid that it was 369 NT = $15 CAD. Not pictured is a stuffed toy car, maybe they ran out of batman figurines. This is not something we would normally buy at theatres…

When we first went into the theatre, we sat there and thought we should’ve double checked that the movie was in English and subtitled in Chinese (i.e. not dubbed). Tim spoke Mandarin to the cashier so he never would have told us if it wasn’t in English (Tim: that’s a pretty big compliment to the quality of my Mandarin I guess). We had only thought about this after since a Canadian family behind us were told that the Zootopia time they wanted was dubbed and was in Mandarin. As soon as the movie started, we were relieved to hear English (Tim: Ben Affleck’s sweet voice) and see subtitles in Chinese (phew!).

The movie wasn’t the best, that’s all I’ll say. When we left the theatre at around 4pm, there was a huge ticket line up wrapped around the entrance, so we’re glad we decided to watch an earlier movie.

We headed back to the apartment and walked down Tonghua St. to look for something quick to eat for a very late lunch. Tim found some oyster vermicelli (soup) and decided to have that. I just had a few spoonfuls since I was still full from my healthy lunch of pop and popcorn from the movies.

Oyster vermicelli
Oyster vermicelli shop on Tonghua St.
Oyster vermicelli (45 NT = $1.80 CAD)
Oyster vermicelli (45 NT = $1.80 CAD)

Our bubble tea for the day was from Ten Ren, a Taiwanese store known for their tea. We had passed by so many locations but hadn’t tried it yet. We ordered pearl milk tea and it was 50 NT = $2 CAD.

Waiting for our pearl milk tea at Ten Ren
Waiting for our pearl milk tea at Ten Ren

We headed back to the apartment and rested for about two hours before dinner, which was at 7pm. Dinner tonight was with Tim’s relatives (Tim’s Dad’s cousin’s family) who I had met during our 2013 trip.

G-Woo is known for their chicken soup
G-Woo is known for their chicken soup
A super delicious dinner (with lots of greens too!)
A super delicious dinner (with lots of greens too!)
A wonderful dinner with the Chuehs
A wonderful dinner with the Chuehs. We’ll see them again when we come back briefly in May.
G-Woo's most famous dish. A very rich chicken broth with very tender chicken pieces
G-Woo’s most famous dish. A very rich chicken broth with very tender chicken pieces
A-Giak with 11 month old Oliver
A-Giak with 11 month old Oliver. He kept waving to me all dinner!

After a big dinner, we met Austin at the Raohe Night Market to walk around. It was Austin’s last night in Taipei before heading off to Hong Kong so it was great we got to see him again on his Asia trip. Raohe Night Market is located north of where we are staying but very close to the airport in the city, Songshan. It’s one of the more popular night market’s in Taipei after Shilin.

At the Raohe Night Market with Austin on his last night in Taipei
At the Raohe Night Market with Austin on his last night in Taipei
Temple right beside the Raohe Night Market
Temple right beside the Raohe Night Market
These pork buns are what I would come back to Raohe for
These pork buns are what I would come back to Raohe for. They are cooked in a “tandoor” and served piping hot. It was like a sao bing on the outside with juicy pork and vegetables on the inside. We only got one to share because we were full but if I had an empty stomach, I would order more than one.
The finished product (40 NT = $1.60 CAD)
The finished product (40 NT = $1.60 CAD). This was the only place that had a pretty long line. Lucky they’re super efficient
Raohe Night Market is located just south of the Keelung River
Raohe Night Market is located just south of the Keelung River

It was a great night being able to spend time with Tim’s family in Taipei and seeing Austin while. Obviously family is very important to both myself and Tim and we know we are very lucky to have such amazing people in our lives – we don’t take any of it for granted.

Tomorrow is our last full day in Taipei before our Korea and Japan portion of our trip. We’re planning on meeting another one of Tim’s second cousins for dinner and use the rest of the day to pack and prepare.

Steps for today: 20,000