The Return to and (Eventual) Exit from Taipei

I decided to try a different hostel than before. Motivation one, was my curiosity of what other hostels were like in Taipei; motivation two, was I wanted a more central location; and motivation three, I had heard a few good recommendations for this particular place, Eight Elephants Hostel. Upon entering the hostel, there was a slight theory of the business model of this place (that would later be corroborated by others). Hire only females and make sure they are attractive ones. There were four people working, and they all fell into this category. Anyway, the place was pretty lively and an invitation was immediately extended for Friday night festivities. I'll fast forward since there isn't anything terribly exciting except going to an all you can drink bar, me subluxating my shoulder, witnessing a fight between an expat and a Taiwanese guy and then having the misfortune of still being around when the police showed up, all capped by an eventual 7am bedtime and an Egg McMuffin!

I slept in late on Saturday but was completely fine with it, the week had caught up to me. I had evening plans to meet up with Debbie (from my first day in Taiwan) to get a feel for the nightlife like the Taiwanese do it! We met up at Ximending (the trendy bustling area mentioned in an earlier post), and as soon as I exited the subway, I was greeted by Debbie with a bubble tea in hand for me, so nice! We grabbed some famous noodles (that weren't anything to write home about), walked around, then stopped at a giant courtyard of outdoor seating for various establishments. It was a very lively atmosphere and they also had BOGO drinks! We decided to continue exploring and headed to the nightlife area of City Hall where I was able to witness some of Taiwan's finest folks entering and exiting the place. No attempt was made on our part since I was sporting the sneakers! We hopped for a bit, but finally got comfortable at Roxy Roots listening to live music, having a few, and eating again! I didn't want a late night, since I had to catch my 1pm flight the next day. Fast forward again, heading to the airport on Sunday when I realize my flight is not 1pm, but 1am. No matter, I think to myself, I'll just be 12 hours early, I'll kill the time in the airport. Quickly I realize that 1am actually means I've already missed my flight by 12 hours. So while I was jamming to the tunes at Roxy Roots, my plane took off, without me, oops!

I was already on the bus to the airport when I realized this, but figured I'd just talk to the ticket counter when I got there. However, low cost airlines, don't really have ticket agents and everything has to be conducted by phone. Thank God for Skype and free wifi, otherwise how else could I easily and, relatively, cheaply make a call to the Philippines! Anyway, if I wanted to fly that night it was going to cost me over $200, but if I waited two days, I could fly for $90. What a great opportunity for me to see more of what I haven't seen, is what I told myself! I decided to change hostels again since I was too embarrassed to say hello to everyone that I had just said goodbye to. I did learn some interesting stories about Eight Elephants that would be worth sharing sometime. Nothing bad but kind of interesting!

The Cats Pajamas was the next hostel I decided to try. When I arrived, I ran into some Spanish friends that I knew from Manila, truly a small world! They were catching the return flight that night (or actually morning), but they invited me tag along on their random shenanigans. Those guys truly kept me entertained, as soon as we all finished lunch, all (and I mean all) of them were looking for a bakery to get some desserts. Once they found desserts, they did not hesitate to dig into each other's choices without asking. I thought that was kind of cool. Once dessert was finished, they were looking for a coffee shop. Quite frankly, I'm not sure how they got to see any of Taipei. Eventually, we all returned to back to the hostel, they packed their stuff up to get ready to leave, while I watched some of the guests and staff sing karaoke. I didn't know this, but you can turn any computer into a karaoke machine with only a microphone. The program needed is called UltraStar and in addition to providing lyrics, it shows you where your pitch needs to fall as you sing. One thing I noticed throughout my time in Taiwan is how many young expats are able to speak Mandarin like nobody's business. It's quite a sight to see, and is always refreshing to see that westerners are so willing and able to learn a complex language like Mandarin!

The next day I just took a stroll by one of the major rivers of Taipei with a bubble tea in one hand and a couple dumplings in the other. I had just remembered that my phone can be used as a radio, so I listened, walked, sipped, chomped then chomped, sipped, walked, listened then repeated, for a good part of the day. Oh yeah, I also almost stepped on a snake!

Determined not to miss my early morning flight to Manila again, I got back to the hostel swatted a few mosquitoes with an electric racket/swatter (a very unique experience), swapped a few stories with a Thai girl and a couple Canadian guys, then headed for the airport around 9pm--a good 4.5 hours before my flight would take off! I arrived to my apartment in Manila close to 4am, but not before walking by another 7/11. This time I gave it a miss!