It was yet another cloudy day in Taipei, it was little sis's last day here, so we decided to go to the places she wanted first. As always, little sis's number 1 love is coffee. I don't know how but she found this pretty popular and picturesque cafe called Cafe Chamber located near Gu Ting Station.
We headed straight towards there and had a little trouble finding the cafe, luckily it was just drizzling so it wasn't too bad. We finally found the cafe after about half an hour of walking but the cafe was busy and closed. There was a shoot or filming going in the cafe so we decided to just explore the area since White Wabbit Records is just nearby.
Lucky for us, we stumbled upon a street aligned with cute cafes and we decided to try the one that had a ton of Yoshitomo Nara artwork. I was impressed with the amount of his work they had in Dot dot Cafe, even the menu had a small biography of Yoshitomo Nara. It made me not want to go to A to Z Cafe in Aoyama anymore. I like it there but after going to this one in Taipei, I don't think I could ever look at it the same way. Dot dot Cafe wins, hands down.
More photos after cut >>
Actually, I wonder why they call it Dot dot because isn't polka dots more of a Yayoi Kusama thing? But anyways, it was lunch time and we were all starving, so we ordered pasta and my parents weren't hungry so they shared a burger. It was hard to order because the menu was entirely in Chinese and as we all know already, my Chinese is NOT good.
In the end, little sis got a pesto vegetarian pasta and I had a bolognese pasta which was surprisingly spicy but it was good. I didn't have to bother the waitress for tabasco this time, haha. My parents' burger was pretty good as well, it was a mixed pork and beef patty with bolognese sauce. The fries were good, I was pretty surprised dad liked the food.
Another thing I liked about this cafe is their music choice, or maybe I just went at a good time? But, they were playing Japanese rock music when we were there. Namely, I heard some Larc'-en-ciel and 9mm Parabellum Bullet.
After lunch, we went to another cafe for dessert. This one was more feminine and the drinks were so-so.
We only ordered coffee and an apple pie to share. Nothing fantastic but it was a cute cafe to chill in. Dad fell asleep, so little sis and I went to White Wabbit Records for a little bit before waking him up. I browsed through the CDs and most of them were post-rock, a genre I'm not too familiar with.
After we got back, we tried to go back to Cafe Chamber again but the shoot was still going on so we decided to leave. Dad really wanted to see a temple so we took the train down.
I forgot the name of the temple we went to already but, all I remember is that I really liked the details in the sculptures and architecture of it. I can now see where some of the Taiwanese artists get their inspiration from.
We decided to walk down to The Red House Market For Artists & Designers in Xi Men. Google maps said it would only be a 15 minutes walk. As usual, Google Maps is a liar and it took about almost half an hour to get there by foot, it wasn't too bad since we passed by some interesting things and shops along the way.
Little sis took some of the more "normal" sides of Taipei that we would see often. Like these small food shops by the road.
You could easily spot The Red House Market once you get to Xi Men. It is the only break house in sight, hence the name "Red House".
There were small pop-up shops inside the Red House, it was interesting to just explore and look at independent artists. The one thing I really like about Taiwan is that I can feel like the art is thriving there. I might be wrong but I feel like at least the government funds these kinds of places to let art grow. It's very different in Japan. I like the art here in Japan but I was happy to discover new artists again and some I really wouldn't have found online.
I fell in love with this artist called 有空 5 mins. Of course, you don't read it the Japanese way. In Chinese, it's called " You Kong" which literally translates to "Do you have time?" Photos were not allowed, sadly. I really loved the artist's hybrid of a cat head and fish tail and some other lovely things he probably dreams of.
Little sis on the other hand, fell in love with this artist and I think it suits her.
She bought a pouch and a really cute necklace! We spent about close to an hour just exploring and checking out all the artists. My parents were just drinking at a nearby pub. Typical.
I found this artist pretty interesting too. He uses recycled glass bottles to make home decor. Clocks, plates, small bowls... it was interesting. Once we were done, we joined mom and dad and explored Xi Men. There was nothing interesting to me, people call it the "Shibuya and Harajuku of Taipei" but I'll be brutally honest... Zhong Xiao Dun Hua (stay tuned) feels more like the "Harajuku of Taipei" to me.
We walked around until it was time for dinner and decided to try Ma La Hot Pot that our Airbnb host recommended. We op-ed fo the half Ma La soup and half normal soup. I've missed CHINESE hot pot. We call it steam boat in Singapore which makes no sense but it's something we do on Chinese New Years' eve as a family reunion dinner. This felt like it.
I don't know if it's just me but the Ma La soup tasted very Indian. The normal soup was salted vegetable soup!!! My favorite soup of all time. I really miss my mom's cooking and she would always make this soup for me when I go back to Singapore, it was nice to have it here. Also, a good thing having a dad as a chef, I'm 100% guaranteed I won't get a stomachache from undercooking my food here, haha.
After dinner, we went shopping for souvenirs. My dad bought so many boxes of pineapple tarts. I don't like pineapple tarts. We headed back not long after and little sis and I went to get some bubble tea at Chun Shui Tang, the creator of bubble tea. There was one near our apartment so we chilled for a little bit over there. YES, the bubble tea there is awesome and I will judge how sweet Gong Cha is from now on. (Though, I still love you Earl Grey Milk Tea with triple jelly)
After an hour or so, we both headed back to the apartment and little sis packed her luggage. I was bummed out that she was leaving so soon. At least, she's visiting me in Tokyo next month for more than 2 weeks so I'll spend time with her then.
For her, it was a nice way to end the last night in Taipei. I was worried how I was going to handle my parents for the next two days.
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