shane’s apartment was perfect for my stay in taipei, it was clean, well furnished, and the location was as convenient (for shopping, eating, walking, transportation, etc) as one would want. checkin and communication with the host was smooth and well coordinated. building has a doorman so it’s secure, but taipei in itself is probably one of the safest cities in the world. i stayed at shane’s for my seven-day self health maintenance portion of entry into taiwan, the first seven-day quarantine was in a quarantine hotel.
the apartment: was a two-bedroom located on the top floor of a corner building, literally steps from the subway, and catching a taxi/rideshare out front was a breeze. it’s also an almost straight-shoot up to songshang (tsa) airport. the master bedroom had a queen bed w a small side table for work. and two large enclosed closets, plus room for luggage and a convenient shelf for placing travel nicknacks. the second bedroom had a floor futon bed w access to a small enclosed balcony where the washer/dryer combo was. the living room was decent sized w a small open kitchen. the bathroom was adequate and there were even a couple umbrellas available for use, which came in handy. you do have to sort your trash into separate recyclables as well as food waste so just be aware of that (it’s a national/local thing as some food wastes gets repurposed as food for livestock, which is amazing to think that they’re eating some of the most amazing leftovers!).
location: there are tons of food options all within a block or two, for bfast, lunch, dinner or late-night, including some awesome whisky and sake bars; plus for those missing the flavors of home, even a new authentic nyc style pizza slice shop a few blocks south off anhe road on linjiang street. linjiang street one block east becomes the lingjiang night market with your traditional taipei night market experience. in the morning, it’s a wet market w fresh vegetables and meats and in the afternoon transforms into the night market w stalls and shops. meals can come as cheap as $100-300NT ($3-10usd) to hip sushi omakase joints for $3000NT ($100usd) per person. a couple small pocket parks are also within a few blocks and taipei 101, with its shops and food court, is just a 15-20 min straight-shoot walk down xinyi road. two carrefour supermarkets were a couple blocks away for convenience supplies during the stay as are the plentiful watsons, 711s and familymarts. it really covers all the bases for an awesome taipei experience.