Day Two: Taipei

Thursday, April 27th
9am
Our first full day in Asia presented me with a (let’s hope) once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: when and where to propose to Gioia! I had already committed to popping the question on the trip and for a whole host of reasons (wanting to fully relax, not wanting to lose the ring, etc.) intended to get it done as soon as possible. So day two, the first day in which we would be fully awake and not sporting sweat-stained airplane clothes, was the day it was going to be. My mission then, was to figure out the perfect time and place to do it.

I obviously needed some coffee in my system to figure it all out so we returned to our trusty Louisa Cafe to get the day started. From there, we took a short walk over to Golden Flower Grilled Toast, a breakfast stand that specializes in grilled cheese sandwiches with just about any topping you could want. Even better, it’s mess free! Check out the plastic gloves they give out instead of napkins. As tempting as it was to slip the ring on one of those gloves and propose there, it seemed a bit risky, and thus we moved along with the day.

11am
With full bellies and caffeinated bloodstreams, it was time for more sightseeing! First up was The Red House, a beautiful octagonal brick building that formerly served as Taiwan’s first public market. Today, the building functions as a historic site and cultural center in the city.

Near the Red House, I had one of the most wholesome and best interactions of my life as we found a street shop that sold movies. The merchant there noticed me browsing around the local cinema section and although he couldn’t speak English and I couldn’t speak Mandarin, we communicated our love for many of the same titles through gestures and Google Translate. The end result was that he threw in an extra movie (Super Citizen Ko) that I had not seen yet as a recommendation based on what I had picked.

Next up was the Bangka Lungshan Temple. While it was my first time seeing a Chinese or eastern-styled temple, I imagine its not any less stunning on your tenth or hundredth trip. The precision of the temple’s finest details contrasted with its sheer size made it impossible to do justice to on camera. Still, I tried my best.

We closed our historic city sightseeing (all of which was conveniently located in the nearby Wanhua District) with a trip to the Bopiliao Historic Block. Dating back to 1644, this block was literally the beginnings of what would become Taipei. In present day, its buildings are not only preserved to represent the stylings of Taipei’s past, but function as shops, museums, and cultural centers. One of the coolest facts we learned over the entire trip was that this block had historically served as a first-aid station during periods of war or epidemic and had reprised that role during the Covid-19 pandemic helping Taiwan have one of the lowest Covid-19 transmission rates in the entire world.

2pm
Time for a food break. For lunch, we headed to the Taipei Fish Market to check out the array of catches and eat some spectacularly fresh sushi at Addiction Aquatic. Not only would it turn out to be Gioia’s favorite meal of the day (impressive considering we had an 8-course, Michelin star-rated meal on deck), but it’d be her activity maybe of our entire trip. I realize we’re only halfway through day two of this trip and we’ve already covered both mine and Gioia’s favorite meals, but I promise there is plenty of amazing food still ahead! Those first 30ish hours in Taiwan just happened to be otherworldly.

3pm
If you’re ever stuck on an idea, let me tell you this, a pile of sushi and a couple beers is great for inspiration. Suddenly it hit me. We happened to be fairly close to the Keelung River, I knew there was a park and a trail along the water, why not rent bikes for a romantic river ride. What can I say? Sometimes things just go according to plan. We found a bike rental place, burned off some sushi, saw some stunning views, and when I pretended that I needed to stop and got off my bike, I asked Gioia to marry me and she said yes. If I made one mistake, it was not taking any pictures of the beautiful skylines we could see from the trail. I can live with that.

7pm
Another reason for proposing when I did was because that night we had reservations for Longtail Restaurant, a Michelin-star rated restaurant with a seasonal menu that specializes in fabulous dishes representing the local food offerings paired with unique cocktails. I managed to capture the menu and most of the courses (my memory is a bit fuzzy as my dinner package included four different cocktails).

11pm
Sure! We may have had two of the best meals of our lives, gotten engaged, and had about 8-10 drinks already, but it was a night to celebrate! We made our way back to our neighborhood and checked out Hanko 60, a speakeasy disguised as a movie theater featuring some of the most elaborate and cleverly-disguised cocktails I’ve ever seen. It was the perfect end to the perfect day.