Just north of Manila, Taiwan beckons with its quiet, gentrified charm. I've always wanted to visit Taipei, thanks to the allure of old town tea houses, character cafés and bubble milk tea. So during one long weekend, I took the opportunity to give Taipei a visit and explore its city and out of town attractions.  

Things I love about Taipei:

1. The convenience stores- Just like Japan, Taiwanese 7-11s and local kombinis are  full of quirky, cute stuff and affordable take away meals. The assortment of milk tea products on the shelf is amazing as well! They also have gachapon machines outside the the convenience stores. Yay! 

 2. Eslite Bookstore- One reason I will go back to Taipei in a heartbeat.

 3. Character cafés- I love Rilakkuma Café and I hope to visit Gutedama Chef Café and Moomin Cafe the next time around. 

4. Tea Culture-  Next to Japan, the Taiwanese are crazy about their mountain grown leaf teas and bubble milk teas. Taiwanese leaf teas are beyond delicious.

5. Easy transportation and connectivity- Yes, the hallmark of a true cosmopolitan city likeTaipei.

6. Counting Mercedes Benz cars- I  read in a National Geographic Magazine many years ago that  Taiwan has the highest concentration of Mercedes Benz cars. It is indeed true. While waiting for the pedestrian light to go green, I actually counted more than 20 Benzes at one time. BMW comes second.

7. Taiwanese people are very friendly, polite and very sweet!

8. Lastly, Taiwan loves cats! If you look at the map, Taiwan is shaped like a sitting cat. Outside Taipei  they even have Houtong Cat Village which unfortunately I was not able to visit due to time constraints.

Xie xie Taipei! Till next time!