We went to the National Palace museum with Jenn's parents first. The museum looks like a palace, thus the name. Like most museums, it's full of history and art, and can be rather boring unless one is interested in the minute details of history and art.
However, going to Taiwan and not going to the Palace museum is kind of like going to Vatican City and not seeing the Sistine Chapel. The museum is full of ancient Chinese artifacts and art that the KMT (previous ruling party) shipped over to Taiwan after they were chased out of China by the communists in 1949. After the Communists took over China, they burned and destroyed tons and tons of art and historical artifacts because communists are nutjobs - so what's at the National Palace Museum is basically the best of Chinese art and history.
We went to the Chiang Kai Shek Residence Park afterwards, which was the home of former President/Dictator Chiang Kai Shek. It was only opened to the public in recent years. It was beautiful and had a bunch of gardens. There was also a private chapel which had been visited by Nixon and other American Presidents (before the US decided to adhere to the one-China policy).
We walked up to the top of a small temple and Jenn was attacked by a swarm of mosquitos. She got like 10 bites in 3 minutes and itched like crazy.
For dinner, we found some random Japanese restaurant in an alley. We had to take our shoes off to go in, and the tables were low, for traditional Japanese seating. It was dugout underneath the tables, so you didn't have to sit Indian style. The food was really interesting. I now have a better understanding of what authentic Japanese food is. We had a plate of sashimi, and while the tuna and salmon were good, there was also some raw shrimp and squid, which were incredibly fishy, squishy, chewy, and odd. Another dish we ordered was some starchy root (like a relative of the potato maybe) and it was really sticky and slimy. It was definitely a memorable experience, but I don't think I'll do it again. I'll stick to the sushi rotating on conveyer belts, probably.
At night we met up with Helen and Judy at the Shi Lin night market. It was insanely crowded, with people and vendors flooding the streets. The police came at one point and a lot of the illegal vendors who didn't have a license started fleeing the scene. Jenn always laughs when that happens. It's a funny sight.
After shopping, Helen came home with us and we drank some beers outside on the lawn furniture.
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