April 7, 2026

After 93 days at sea we had our first day of rain. Not just rain, but treacherous rains with umbrella crushing winds. We had planned to visit Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. This one-hundred-year-old bustling city in the East China Sea is situated 18 miles west of Keelung. The driving time to and from Taipei varies depending on traffic; approximately 50-60 minutes. We were told with the rain the driving time might increase to 90 minutes each way. With that limited time crunch we decided to explore the port city of Keelung where Coral Princess docked.

Our main objective was to check out the Miaokou Night Market about a 25-minute walk from the cruise terminal. While Asian markets typically come alive at night, many also operate throughout the day. Here in Keelung the core of the market fills a few luckily covered closed streets, with rows of small carts lining the middle and down the sides – just allowing enough room for crowds to squeeze through. Busy storefronts are behind the sidewalks.

Despite the weather and for whatever the reason, the market seemed packed in midafternoon, but I saw parades of vendors pushing more and more carts out of narrow alleyways to the surrounding streets in preparation for the night.

But Chongae and I had a specific mission. Not just to experience the Miaokou Night Market but to find a specific vendor: Stall #49 – Gua Bao (刈包. Here are the two detectives on the scent.

The reason we were on the track for Gua Bao (刈包 is because they are known and famous for having the best Dim Song in Taiwan. Left to our own devices, honestly, I don’t know if we would have found it. Surprisingly, we ran into someone I had just recently met in the gym and not known to me Walter has been to Keelung before and pointed us to an alley not far from where we had ended up and there it was Gua Bao (刈包. Chongae, who loves Dim Song was happy as can be as shown by her embracing the Dim Song like a long-lost friend. She didn’t eat all of them but was a happy camper.

And the Taiwanese love their pets. As evidenced by these pampered puppies and a first for me taking your pet duck with you to the market.

Thanks for traveling with us.