Brain Dump — Full Blogpost to Come Later

I woke up early and joined Lily's anniversary livestream — super fun way to start the day!
Did a bit more work on the blog and got myself ready.
Got an early breakfast. They had eggs! It’s been too long since I’ve had those sloppy yet comforting hotel scrambled eggs.
I was up too early for the first museum, so I walked to a culture park… but it was completely closed, which was weird.
Then I headed to MOCA Taipei. Reviews said it was small and that you could spend maybe an hour there.
I spent over two hours — I loved it.
It was small, but the exhibitions were super interactive.

You could also draw a bird and send it to someone. I painted a nice little bird and hung it between some ugly birds so it would look better.

One of the coolest pieces was a sushi train with origami sushi. Each sushi plate had a card referencing a social issue. You could pick one, fill in the blanks to “shape” the story, then write a comment. Other visitors could respond or boost it.

It was basically a physical social media platform.

I loved the commentary on how we pick only certain topics to engage with, ignore others entirely, and often respond just because something is trending. It was ingenious.

Everything was in Chinese, so I translated a bunch. It was fascinating reading local perspectives on topics like Hong Kong resistance, the Russia–Ukraine war, mental health, etc.

Afterward I went for lunch. I ordered using a paper form, but the lady ended up speaking English anyway. I had no idea about the portion sizes and accidentally ordered way too much food — but honestly, great decision.

It felt so good getting a proper lunch again.

Downtown Taipei

After lunch I walked through some of the older areas of Taipei.

Passed through an old street filled with Chinese herbal medicine shops.
Walked to the harbor.
Tried walking a 2 km stretch through a park but got bored and rented a bike.
The bike was faster, but there weren’t enough bike lanes to make it efficient. I also kept losing track of the route.
And the moment I rented the bike, the buildings started getting more interesting — of course.
Visited an old temple.
Stopped by the Red House — originally a Japanese boutique store, now a Taiwanese one.
Wandered through some brick alleyways and even visited a free children’s museum, which was surprisingly interesting.
Then I wasted quite a bit of time trying to find food. The busy shopping street didn’t have anything that appealed to me.
Walked a long distance to a scallion pancake shop that was supposed to open soon… waited 15 minutes… and it never opened.
At that point I was done and just grabbed some hamburgers.
I had planned to visit another smaller museum, but all that food-hunting ruined the timing.
So I headed straight to my final stop of the day.

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial

This place is so much bigger than I expected.
I’d seen it on so many souvenirs, so I knew I had to visit, but I didn’t expect it to be this grand.

Chiang Kai-shek, former KMT leader, took control of Taiwan after losing the Chinese Civil War. After seeing the scale of the memorial, I pulled up Wikipedia — and as I suspected, he was… not a great guy.

The White Terror — suppressing dissidents.
Ruled undemocratically — Taiwan only democratized after his death.
Kept pushing claims over China.
Strict land reforms.
Corruption.

It’s strange seeing such a massive monument dedicated to someone with such a complicated (and often negative) legacy.

He did have some positive contributions — building the foundations that later helped Taiwan thrive, and resisting Japan — but it doesn’t really balance out.

I watched the changing of the guards. It looked impressive, but also a bit silly considering it’s mostly for tourists. They don’t even do it when it rains.

Inside the main building there was an exhibit. It did a bit of the usual “he was great… but also bad” balancing act. Still, I learned a lot about the history.

They even had a copy of the UN vote admitting mainland China, which only happened in 1970.

The place closed at 18:00, so I had to leave, but I feel like I could’ve explored more.

Din Tai Fung

Time for dinner! I really wanted to try Din Tai Fung since it’s so iconic here.

While walking there I read more about Taiwanese politics and cross-strait relations. It all felt so complex and contradictory.

I got to the restaurant and discovered it was take-out only — perfect.
I placed a big order of their popular items and waited about 25 minutes. It was unbelievably busy for a Wednesday.

I brought everything back to the hotel.

It was pretty good, but honestly… I’ve had better.
Maybe dining in is the superior experience — the food was warm but a bit soggy from condensation. Still, I’m glad I finally tried it.

I had planned to do some more trip prep and Hong Kong planning, but instead I ended up watching videos on the Chinese Civil War and Taiwanese politics — and then just went to bed early.

A really good day with some great sights! The museum was fantastic, and exploring downtown was super interesting. I feel like I saw a lot of the city. Too bad I wasted over an hour trying to find food, but everything worked out in the end.

It was fascinating learning about Taiwanese history and politics. I still don’t fully understand it — but honestly, I don’t think they do either.