On our first night in Taipei, Melissa Chang and I hit up the famous Shilin Night Market, one of the largest and most popular night markets in the city.

And I thought it deserved its own blog post.

A little background: Shilin Night Market is located in the Shilin District of Taipei, which was a 15-minute commute on the MRT (the city’s rapid transit). It boasts more than 500 vendors selling everything from fresh fruits to skewered meats.

Most of Taiwan’s traditional — and popular — street foods can be found here — and at reasonable prices. You can find giant fried chicken cutlets, bubble (or pearl) tea, oyster vermicelli, oyster omelet, fried bun, peanut candy and, of course, stinky tofu, a Taiwanese delicacy.

The market can be a bit confusing. There are essentially two sections: outside, there are small vendors and games; inside, there’s way more food and tons of retailers selling T-shirts, shoes, bags, even condoms.

This market was first opened — only in the daytime — in 1909. With the influx of customers, and market grew and, after several years, opened at night instead.

And it’s as popular as ever.

Here’s what we saw, bought and, of course, ate:

MRT

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The Taipei Metro — or, for short, MRT — is one of the most common ways folks in Taipei get around. Started in 1996, it's Taiwan's first metro system. The system carries an average of more than 1.78 million passengers a day.