— BREADCRUMB —

Five nights, four days — and why it wasn’t enough for Taipei

I came for the food. Stayed for the mountains, the rain, and a cat at a temple in Jiufen.

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Syakier Salleh – 12 min read – November 2025

There’s a particular kind of light in Taipei that you only see if you stay long enough. It’s not the postcard glow of Taipei 101 or the neon spill of Ximending. It’s the soft, almost grey light that arrives after the afternoon rain — when the streets are still wet, the air smells like soy and gasoline, and the city briefly forgets it’s a city.

I had five nights and four days. It wasn’t enough. It never is.

This is the slow itinerary I wish someone had given me — built not around the must-sees, but around the moments worth waiting for. The 5pm light. The empty alley. The stranger who looks like a film still.

Jiufen at dawn

Everyone tells you to visit Jiufen at night. They’re not wrong — but they’re also not telling you the better secret. Go at dawn instead.

I caught the first bus from Taipei at 6:40am. By the time I arrived, the old street was empty — just shopkeepers sweeping, steam rising from the first pots of taro soup, and a cat sleeping in front of a closed teahouse. For two hours, the town was mine.

Some cities you visit. Others, you keep returning to in your head long after you’ve left.

— Field note, day three

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