Island eats

Number 21 Goose and Seafood shop is well-known at 21 Jing Hou Street.[Photo by Rebecca Lo/For China Daily]

After checking out some fabric boutiques that petered to dried good stores and subsequently into rattan shops, we stopped for a bite at Fleisch Cafe. The colorful cushions in the full-height window caught my eye, and we saw that a beef stew was being lovingly prepared alongside a wide assortment of teas.

As we were waiting for the stew to be ready, we ventured upstairs into the rest of the space. The second story is a large gallery and dining area, while ceramic artist Xu Enguang carved out a studio on the third floor. It turns out that Fleisch is just one part of a cooperative enterprise: Many designers, artisans and craftsmen also use it as a platform for showcasing their ideas.

We were informed that Raohe Street night market is a good one for foodies, and we were not disappointed. I had some of the best pork and chive dumplings imaginable at a little stand there. Sadly, the lines for Taipei's famous pepper buns were much too long for our rumbling stomachs to endure, and we feasted instead on deep-fried milk, spicy chicken salad and ices awash with multi-hued beans and syrups.

On our way back to Just Sleep, we stopped for a nightcap at W Hotel's Woobar. It was full of merry makers, and our hostess suggested we would find it quieter at Wet Bar. The funky interiors overlook the pool area, and we enjoyed watching the groups of hip young things looking fashionably cool while sipping signature cocktails.

For me, a trip to Taipei isn't complete without a soak in its famous sulfuric hot springs. I had already enjoyed the ones in Beitou and its historic Hot Spring Museum, and wanted to try ones further afield.

We made our way south to Xindian, the terminus of the Xindian MRT line. Then, with a little effort, we found the bus that would take us to Wulai village. The district was once dominated by Atayal aborigines, and their handicrafts can be purchased in the village's many shops.

But it was the hot spring that we came for, and we saw from the bridge that there were a row of fleshy folks soaking away alongside the river. We bravely marched there to join them, after shedding our thick garments discreetly behind a makeshift change area further up the hill.

Although Wulai has many hotels and spas to enjoy its waters in comfort, it is the only place in Taipei where a number of public pools are free to enjoy. Wulai's grannies and grandpas swear by the water's restorative properties and recommended that we jump into the river - a cooling 5 C - if we get too hot in the 42-plus C pool.

I turned beet red as soon as my skin hit the water, and we wandered around to find a more comfortable 38 C one to indulge in longer soaks. Welcomed by Wulai water aficionados, we learned that this was a way of life as old as the village itself.

We returned to Taipei for some roast goose at 21 Jing Hou Street - the shop is known as Number 21 Goose and Seafood - and a stroll around Shida night market.

Unlike its siblings, Shida is actually a series of chic boutiques and eateries rather than temporary stalls. Fashion was the prevailing theme here, though there were also a limited number of stalls in case shoppers got hungry.

We finished the evening back at our hotel with a bowl of beef noodles at Lu Wang Kei, one of the city's most famous beef noodles joints. Available in spicy or non-spicy, it was a perfect end to our culinary journey through Taipei.