In only a few short days, Taiwan’s scenic beauty tickled our senses with sights of limestone cliffs, sound of waves crashing on the coast, smells of the ocean, and the feel of burning sand under our feet. The only thing we were missing was something to titillate our tastebuds. Lucky for us, Taipei’s culinary scene is food porn heaven.

Our time spent in the capital city was as follows: wake up, eat, explore, eat, shop, snack, eat, walk it off, sleep. We spoiled ourselves silly with daily doses of xiao long bao (Shanghai soup dumplings) and wontons from Din Tai Fung, searched for the best beef noodle soup in all of Taipei, ate some not so delectable snacks from their famous night markets, discovered danzai noodles, and topped off each evening with a shared bowl of Taiwanese shaved ice so cold we experienced prolonged brain freezes that no one should ever endure.

And even with all that eating, we still carved out time to launch ourselves into a magical galaxy to the 89th floor and beyond in the Taipei 101. Although it is no longer the tallest building in the world, it’s still pretty high up there if you’ve never been to any of the other tallests, and the elevator ride is simply a delight. The dimmed lights and sonorous spacey music provided the perfect backdrop to enjoy the colorful fiberoptic light show on the ceiling, easing the nerves of anyone who may have a fear of heights. In a mere 37 seconds, we traveled from earth to sky, and now were afforded a beautiful view of the sprawling metropolis just in time to watch the falling veil of dusk.

Goodnight Taipei.