DareSheGoes Happy Town Taipei

What’s your wish? I have lots of them. Mostly wishes for other people, but I wouldn’t mind a seaside cottage. My other wish is to keep exploring new countries, like Taiwan. I always buy a travel guide, because I expect to travel alone, although there’s usually someone in the crew who wants to join me. And that was the case this time round.

I worked a galley with two fun stewards and on the outbound trip we’d already started making plans for our weeklong layover in Taipei, helped along by tips from colleagues and my nice, new guide. We were also joined by a stewardess who was keen to discover Happy Taiwan.

Make a wish in Pingxi
The metro makes for fast, cheap and easy travel in Taipei, with good connections to local and express trains. We’re on our way to the picturesque mountain village of Pingxi, where beautifully coloured and decorated wishing balloons constantly take to the air. It takes us about an hour to get there. So beautiful, so cheerful. Pingxi isn’t very big, so you can easily see it all in an afternoon. We drink tea at a café that’s less than a metre from the railway track, and we take photos and buy cards and other souvenirs. When evening falls, we decorate our own wishing balloons. We paint all our personal wishes onto our balloons and then release them. May our wishes come true.

Paper pandas
Our visit to the Memorial Hall quickly turns into a unexpected encounter with 1,600 paper pandas designed by French artist Paulo Graneon for the WWF’s Pandas on Tour Exhibition. Great fun for young and old.

Which brings me to the Eastern part of Taipei, which has wonderful little shops (take the Zhongxiao Fuxing metro line), but also amusing themed cafés like Hello Kitty Sweets and the Barbie Café. No matter how old you are, you’ll be swept along by the fun, watching waitresses in their honey-sweet outfits, Bubblegum Pop, eating Hello Kitty burgers and cupcakes or Barbie macaroons. An unforgettable experience.

Maokong Gondola
To end off, we took a trip with the Maokong Gondola (Taipei Zoo metro station). We pass over the green landscape, with wonderful views of Taipei and the 101 Tower. In Maokong, we visit a traditional tea house.

What surprised me most was the Taiwanese themselves. So friendly and helpful, and they all speak English. For me, this first encounter was more than I could ever have hoped for. Happy moments. All made in Taiwan.