Anyone else in Taiwan?

Nibble

I have a friend coming to visit me in Taipei on the 19th/20th of this month, so I need to plan out some activities for us. The problem is that I live in Tainan and I have no idea what is fun to do up in the capital. My friend is Cantonese, and he's interested in all the standard nerdy things -- video games, electronics & computers, anime, etc -- and also photography. What would you guys suggest? I am fluent in English and Chinese, so language is not an issue.

Pipe Dreamer

Gamers tend to congregate at the Taipei Metromall (台北地下街), which is behind the Taipei Main Station building, under the overpass. There are a bunch of gaming-oriented shops there, but I don't think the selection will be too different from what he could get in Hong Kong. The KMall building, next to the Shinkong Mitsukoshi tower (新光三越大樓) on the stationfront houses a Gundam specialty store if he's into that kind of thing. He could shop for electronics in the Guanghua market, which is five minutes' walk from the Zhongxiao Xinsheng MRT station, but I'm not sure I'd recommend a foreigner go there because the vendors there can and will rip you off.

If he likes photography he could probably find some nice things to photograph at Yangmingshan. A number of buses will take you up the mountain from the Shilin MRT station, and from there the S8 (小8) bus runs through the national park itself. It's a big place, though, so do some research on where to go (http://www.ymsnp.gov.tw/ is the park's official website.) Also you will definitely want to go on a weekday, because the mountain is insanely crowded on weekends and you'll spend hours stuck in traffic.

Then there are the standard touristy places. Taipei 101 is an awesome photo op, but admission to the observatory is overpriced in my opinion. You could go to the zoo and see the pandas. I can't imagine coming to Taiwan without going to the National Palace Museum. Ximending is an interesting place to just walk around and people-watch unless your friend hates crowds (go on a weekend).

If your friend is the type to go for night markets I would suggest the one on Raohe Street (饒河街夜市). It's much more authentic than the touristy Shilin night market in my opinion. Take the train (the old-fashioned train, 台鐵) to Songshan and it's right in front of the station.

I don't know how familiar you are with Taipei, I'm assuming that you know how to get to all the famous tourist traps. Feel free to ask if none of them mean anything to you, or if none of them sound appealing.

EDIT: Oh, and I also assume you know about EasyCards (悠遊卡). Get one for your friend, and one for yourself if you don't already have one. They're a real lifesaver since you're most likely going to be using public transit.

Nibble

Thanks! Those are all great ideas.

The Gundam store sounds right up his alley, as he grew up on the shows and has several models at home. What's it called?

I've been to Guanghua before, and I think we'd both be interested in that. Besides, you can actually get decent prices if you get a Taiwanese friend to ask for a price in Chinese and then get offended when you "overhear" the vendor offering him a lower price

Pipe Dreamer

The Gundam specialty shop is called 鋼彈主題館, and it's on the third floor of Kmall. Looking through the mall's website (http://www.kmall.com.tw/menu32.htm) there's also an EA flagship store there. Not having been to either of these places, though, I can't vouch for their awesomeness.