WE CAUGHT the sunset just as our carriage reached the top of the Ferris wheel.
A 17-minute ride on the Miramar Ferris Wheel in Taipei cost as much as a movie ticket, but on this clear evening, many gladly gave Hollywood a miss in exchange for a view of the island's scenery. The sunset is a significant moment in the daily lives of Taiwanese.
In the past, nightfall marked the curtain raise in puppet theatres, which became so popular in the 1960s and 1970s that the televised version took the nation by storm. From students to doctors, people stopped work to catch the show.
There are other forms of night entertainment. In the five nights that we stayed in Taiwan, we lived five different "nightlives".
We emerged from our private dining room at 9pm. I looked around and noticed that all the customers at the restaurant had left.
"Where's everyone?" I asked. "Well, the Taiwanese have many other things to do besides eating xiao long bao
in a restaurant," came the reply.
Indeed, next door to the restaurant was the 24-Hour Six Star Foot Reflexology, which charged less than $30 for a 50-minute massage of the neck, shoulders and foot.
You can have dinner, supper and next morning's breakfast all in one night's outing.
Foot massage
Foot massage in Taiwan is not a dingy "downstairs" hole-in-the-wall set-up in Chinatown or a splurge in an "upstairs parlour" in Shinjuku.
Rather, it is a bright, clean multi-storey shophouse facing the main street. Professional reflexologists work at your feet around the clock.
Your session begins with soaking your feet in a tub of herbal water. As you doze off on the leather couch, the "internal reflection" will "massage" your internal organs and rouse your appetite for supper.
Supper
In Taiwan, 24-hour supper can be found in porridge restaurants along the Fu Xin South Street or at dim sum restaurants at Zhong Xiao East Street. The Yau Yueh Tea House serves noodles, rice gruel meals and spicy hotpots priced at about $10. There is also the 24-hour Yong He Dong Jiang, famous for its Taiwanese breakfasts.
Motel
Boutique motels are one of the unique features of Taiwanese nightlife, especially the ones in Taichung, a couple of hours away by car from Taipei. Known as the city to eat, drink and be merry, Taichung's luxurious drive-in motels began as cheap haunts in two-storey semi-detached apartments.
Five years ago, the owner of Mulan Motel built his as a boutique style, luxurious accommodation, thus changing the reputation of these motels. Today, couples drive straight into a private garage of their motel apartment and take the private lift up to their rooms on the second floor.
No reservation is necessary. A walk-in guest usually stays for three hours, and it costs about $50. Overnight stays are available too. The motels are usually fully occupied after 8pm and during lunch hours on most days, as well as important dates like Valentine's Day.
(left) Some boutique motels in Taichung have garages with private lifts to the rooms. (right) Check out the 24-hour Eslite Bookstore after a sunset ride on the Miramar Ferris Wheel in Taipei.
Karaoke
Taichung is also known for its KTV, short for karaoke. It is a big hit in Taiwan, as singing in front of friends, family and even complete strangers is a popular pastime. Most KTV outlets are open 24 hours, or from 12.30pm to 7am, when KTV creativity reaches its peak.
Form your own Air Band, make up lyrics when you can't remember or talk at normal speed when doing a slow number. No matter how badly you sing, you will be greeted with smiles, enthusiastic applauses and iced Taiwan beer.
Book store
Back in Taipei, however, the most important nightspot is the 24-hour Eslite Bookstore. More than a destination for insomniacs, the seven-storey outfit carries an impressive collection of foreign and local literature, all neatly stacked up amid tearooms, restaurants, museum space and a music store.
The ambience is steeped in literature. In the company of book-loving, foodloving and night-loving people, who needs sleep?
This trip was sponsored by Taiwan Visitors Association (Tourism Bureau).
Midnight spa
ONE nightlife activity to cure insomniacs is the new Midnight Spa package by Dosha Spa. The largest Aveda concept spa in Taiwan opened in Taichung in April 2006.
It is the largest Aveda partner outlet to open in Asia and uses the renowned American spa brand's environmentally friendly and natural ingredients.
Taking its name from the Ayurvedic principle, Dosha, which describes the three human body types, the salon-spa allows customers to check in after 8.30pm for a treatment and stay overnight.
The next morning, it serves a designed breakfast, plus a choice of yoga class or a new hairdo and nail-styling session at its Dosha hair salon.
Insomniacs can go for the sound frequency treatment with massage, which uses a Tibetan singing bowl from the Himalayan mountains. It is handmade with stones and metals such as gold, silver and copper.
The midnight spa customises treatments such as health management, slimming, firming, facial, hand and foot treatment to maximise energy replenishment.
This is one 24-hour nightlife activity that may just put you to sleep.
For more information, visit www.dosha.com.tw
Unless otherwise stated, all photos are courtesy of Lim Yann Ling and Taiwan Visitors Association.
This article was first published in The Straits Times on July 31, 2008.
