Eclectic Trips

The bar at Luxie

The first time i went out to a club in Taipei, the thought that kept popping in my head was that the scene looked like it was straight from some cool Asian action flick. The people are excited to be here, the music is good, the strobe lights are flicking. My lovely Taiwanese friend James took us out on an excursion around Taipei clubs, and what an adventure it was! The first club we went to had an endless maze of small and large rooms, that we walked through pretty fast, with James saying hello and “high fiving” tons of people on the way  (totally felt like a scene from a movie). Then we moved on to “Luxie”- the hottest and largest club, which also had tons of various rooms, playing different music genres- house and hip hop being the two main sounds. The crowd here varied, much like the music and different rooms’ environments. Lots of super hip, gorgeous Taiwanese girls, boys of all ages and styles, businessmen, Western models, expats- you name it. Everyone seemed to be having a blast- huge smiles on people’s faces, mostly everyone dancing, some with glow-sticks. I especially loved the design of the club- very modern, posh couches, red being the predominant color. The bars in different rooms are all designed differently, pretty over the top and definitely beautiful. Luxie also serves some of the best exotic specialty cocktails, that come in all kids of funky glass wear. We danced and explored Luxie all night, and I really had a blast. So when the following week James invited us on his “Club Tour’ again, I very gladly agreed, and tagged along for the more familiar, but still very exciting and fun ride.

James and friends at Luxie

KTV- Taiwanese Karaoke is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. After reserving a  room for a large  group of us, I arrived to meet our friends at what looked like a giant Palace or luxury 5 star hotel. I double checked the address to make sure I was in the right place- it looked way too fabulous to be the Karaoke bar. Apparently, in Taiwan Karaoke is very serious business- and is not done in a bar, but instead in a very posh Imperial palace  type place. Our private room was huge, with couches, table, movie theater size screen and all the Karaoke equipment imaginable. What a fun time  to sing karaoke with a lot of friends and have a private spacious room to do it in. Of course all kinds of drinks and food is available here, and the waitress made sure to tell us that f for some reason they don’t have something that we want they will go out and get it for us. Now that’s what I call service

KTV fun

If you are ever in Taipei, I highly recommend a visit to a few of Taipei’s nightclubs and KTV- it really is a lot of fun.

very cool candy at the night market

Taipei is a place full of smells. Sometimes I walk down the street in a new city and I catch a whiff of something that instantly reminds me of Taipei. There are so many smells- sweet and pungent, street food being prepared, and some completely unknown smells that while I lived in Taipei for 4 months I still was unable to properly identify. The one smell that is utterly unmistakable is that of Smelly tofu. I thought Smelly tofu is a purely Taiwanese phenomenon, but recently found out that it’s also served in China and Hong Kong. It’s tofu that’s been soaked in fermented brine for anywhere from a couple of days to months. When it is cooked up by street vendors, it smells so repulsive and inedible, that the scent permeates the air for several blocks around. How this particular item of food can possibly be consumed by a human being is beyond me, though I have seen people eat and seemingly enjoy their smelly tofu on many occasions. If you are a true daredevil, give it a go, because if ever there was an acquired taste, and a truly exotic food, smelly tofu would be the ultimate expression of it.

cooking up scallion pancake and other goodies

Street food culture in Taipei is huge. There are tons of varieties of street food to be tried. You can find street food everywhere all the time, but the largest selection is at the night markets. Everything form meat on the stick and 20 different varieties of sausages, to dim sum, to soup and “international” goodies such as cheese fries and Indian curry wraps to veggie options like deep fried mushrooms, spring rolls and my personal favorite scallion pancakes. There is an art in selecting your street food- of course the cleanliness of the vendor must be taken into consideration. A line of people in front of the vendor is always a good sign, and then there is of course pure instinct.

Taipei is famous for it’s night markets, where you can buy anything your heart desires … That is if your heart desires cutesy kitschy things, designer knock offs, trendy clothing, “hello kitty” stationery and lots of street food. Shilin Market is the king of all Taipei night markets. It’s huge with one main street and many different small streets, alleys and pathways all around. You can spend hours and hours here, it’s bustling and rowdy and packed with people.  Shilin’s particular street food specials are oyster omelette, and my personal favorite- “small bun inside of big bun”- how awesome is that??? They also have tons of stands with super fresh exotic cut fruit, it’s the best dessert! There is something really fun about going to the market at night, can’t put my finger on exactly what that is, but trust me it’s a very cool thing to do.

at Shilin night market

If street food is not your thing ( although from what I gather, even if it was never your thing, in Taiwan you might reconsider) There are plenty of restaurants everywhere, and Taipei has all kinds of food to offer-Indian, English, Italian, Japanese, Thai, French and of course Chinese

One of my personal favorites is Grandma Nitti’s kitchen in Shi Da.  Great breakfast and even better brunch. Beware though- it does get pretty packed, and there could be a bit of a wait for your table.  The staff speaks English and is very friendly and nice, and since  it’s near a college, there is a nice mix of students, expats, and tourists. Sometimes the services takes longer than it should, but the place is so cute, cozy and lively that it’s not too much of a nuisance. I like the fact that you can refill your own coffee- so even if the food is taking a while, and your server is nowhere in sight, at least you have that . The area is  lovely, and walking around Shi Da with many small shops, cute whimsical streets and a nice relaxed vibe is a nice treat after a Sunday brunch.

Grandma Nitti's Kitchen

If you will be visiting Taipe for a while and need extensive dining options please do visit this girl’s blog Hungry girl in Taipei. I love her- she is truly obsessed with food, and is a great guide to Taipei food culture.