Avisala!
We are still in my Taiwan series and I'll share our first night exploring the streets of Ximending. We were so tired and still lacked sleep after the flight, so we decided to sleep through the afternoon and roam around to find something to eat during our first night.
We visited Taiwan during the culmination of its Lantern Festival, so the streets were livelier than usual and adorned with colourful decorations. Our hotel was located somewhere on Xining Road, so we got back to Ximen Station Exit 4, where the Rainbow Pedestrian was located. We walked along Zhonghua Road from Ximen Station to explore where to eat in that part of Ximending. We only stopped to take photos and then turned left on the second corner, where we found Ay Chung Noodles. I'll share our food on our first night in Taiwan in another post.
We haven't ordered any food yet because we wanted to explore the area for more options. It was still supposed to be winter, but I was disappointed when it was so hot on our first night. Since some of the streets in the area are permanently closed to vehicles and are designated as pedestrian walking areas, there were many tourists sightseeing and shopping.
Street performers were at one intersection, and they became tourist attractions in the area. I'm amazed by Taiwan's support for these kinds of entertainment. I can only wish the Philippines would also designate some streets to be permanently given back to pedestrians. I observed that even if there were a lot of people walking and eating at the corners, there was no garbage littered on the streets. The only litter I saw were the fallen leaves of Madagascar almond or African talisay trees that are lined on each side of the streets.
It was such a lively scene, and even though we were basically in the Ximending Night Market, it was very far from the usual night markets that I've visited. It felt like the whole of Ximending was the night market. It was such a great first impression of my second international travel and made me so excited for the food and the tours.