Taiwan and SF

I got a hotel right next to Ximending this time. The plan was to hit up all the souvenir shops that I scouted out previously and fill my bags. I bought carry-on luggage in Japan so I could start shopping in earnest in Japan, Korea and then back in Taiwan again. I was hurting quite a bit at this point so I just stayed at the hotel that night.

There were like 4 bakeries by my hotel so I went to town on them. They definitely have completely different flavors than I'm used to in the US. They're much more willing to try to throw European flavors in there whereas maybe it's not as tolerated in the western Chinese bakeries. There was an almond tofu shop which was basically my favorite dessert when I was a kid. I would've never imagined there it'd warrant its own shop, I hardly ever see this dessert anywhere besides Dim Sum places in the US. There was also a Lu Rou Fan shop right next to the hotel which is braised pork rice. It's like the signature dish at any place that claims to be Taiwanese in the US cept it'll cost 14 dollars. This bowl was ridiculously cheap, probably 2 American dollars. Taiwan is known for incredibly inexpensive street food and the invention of Bubble Tea/Boba.

This scene just looked like a movie set but there was a ton of construction/demolition going on around the area just outside Ximending.

Like I think this building was mostly unused except for one popular hot pot restaurant.

They have karaoke booths in the subway station!

I had a 14 hour or so layover in Manila on the way to San Francisco. After a ton of research I felt it was too much of a hassle to explore the Philippines in half a day solo with concerns of traffic so I bought a Nintendo Switch in Japan. They refused to sell me any of the cool collector's edition ones. (They checked IDs!) I also researched all the airport lounges at the airport and there was a pretty inexpensive and quiet one with a lot of good food included.

I was visiting my bestie in San Francisco so she and her family drove me around to see Alcatraz by the coast, get sourdough clam chowder and get a Mission burrito. I got to see the insanely steep roads on the hills, the 'Full House' houses and Golden Gate Park. The area where I was staying was like an Asian suburb it was really nice. I walked around a bit in SF and surprised their transit had Chinese voice lines.