4ever Discovering

Living in Taipei, the most popular thing to do any night of the week is venture through one of the many night markets in the city.  When I first heard of these, my first thoughts were they were going to be like flea markets.  While this may be a little true, the Shida night market is more like a popular shopping street.  They have their food vendors like any other market, but they also have great shops to buy clothing, jewelry, and shoes.  Someone pinch me; I’m in heaven!

 

The Shida night market is easily accessible and walkable from the Taipower Building MRT stop on the green line.  It is only a short distance from our apartment, which makes it possible to rent bikes and ride to the market.  On a Sunday evening, we decided to activate our ubikes (bikes rented through the city) and take the trek along the bike path near our house.  It took roughly around one hour to bike to Shida and is quite the scenic view.  You start biking along the river, and if you happen to leave around sunset, you are in for an even better treat!  Thankfully, the path is paved and you do not have ride with the local Taipei traffic on the street.  I don’t think I’m ready to get hit by a scooter just quite yet.

 

When you first walk down the street of the night market, you are immediately greeted with clothes and food.  It is a great way to window shop, or even spend your first paycheck!  Clothes here are pretty cheap compared to other places; we were advised this is THE place to go for new clothes.  It was just our luck when we realized all of the clothes were on sale for Fall.  (I say that, but it is currently still 30 degrees here; I’m scared to see what summer is like).  Emily and I bought some new Taiwanese-style clothing to try to fit in with the locals; it consists of long sweater dresses and loose fitting clothing.  Right up my alley!  Just a heads up, there aren’t any fitting rooms in the stores so whatever you buy is yours to keep!  A lot of the clothing is one size fits all, so make sure it stretches when you look at it.  As much as I wish I was the size of the women here, I just don’t think my body type will ever agree with me.

 

Besides our clothing purchases, I decided to treat myself to a new pair of running shoes.  The ones I brought didn’t really survive the trip through the Taroko Gorge; the heavy rain caused quite the smell in them.  We all know my feet smell on a good day, let alone drenched in rain.  With that being said, my feet are a little too big for women’s shoes here.  I tried on the biggest size they had (size 8), and my poor little toes were too squished to be comfortable.  I had to swallow my pride and buy my first ever pair of men’s shoes.  They were exactly the same style and colour, expect they actually fit.  I knew before I came here I wouldn’t have much luck shoe shopping; I just held onto that little glimmer of hope that I would find something that fit.  No such luck.

 

Now, let’s talk about the good stuff: the food.  There are lots of food options to choose from at the Shida night market.  You can grab anything from a little snack, a refreshing drink, or a meal fit for a king.  Our first time we went here, we were guided by our Taiwanese friends who knew exactly what to eat.  We went to a boiled food stand where you can choose what you want to be cooked for a stir fry.  You wait in a long line (because where there is a line, you know the food must be good), and choose a basket to put your pickings in.  I was overwhelmed by the amount of fresh veggies offered, I went a little overboard and had a pretty big portion for one person.  What can I say, my eyes have always been bigger than my stomach.

 

My next recommendation is the best pork belly sandwich you can ever eat!  Although the worker is not the friendliest man you will ever encounter, I swear it is all worth it when you taste the sandwich!  You can even order it with extra fat (my mouth is still watering).  This can be paired great with the fresh lemonade stand right beside it.  The lady even lets you have free samples of her different juices if you really can’t decide which delicious flavour suits your fancy.

 

Lastly, for dessert (or a second dinner), you need to try the steamed bun shop just outside of the market!  You can find pork buns everywhere in Taiwan; but this stand in particular is famous in the city.  You can choose anything from their many different flavours, and even try the peanut one like me!  I would say it is more of a dessert bun than anything, but either way, it was delicious!

 

If you have any free time on your hands and you are looking for something to do in the evening, make sure you try the Shida night market.  It opens at 5pm and is quite busy on the weekends; next time we will try to go during the week.  I am starting to get used to all of the crowds here, but sometimes it is still just too much to handle.  We definitely recommend renting some bikes and taking the scenic route to the market!  It doesn’t take a whole lot of time and lets you see more the quieter areas of the city.  Just make sure you look both ways before changing lanes; people are very aggressive with their bells and passing you if you are too slow.  But hey, that’s life; always in such a rush!