Taiwan Day One, Or "NAR?!"

I like to flatter myself that the Chinese government is reading this, so first I'd like to say that Taiwan is not a country! But somehow I went there, along with Meaghan, Lindsey, and Gaelle.
I like the idea of a pre-trip photo to contrast it with a post-trip photo where faces may be scratched and eyes gauged:

First night in Taipei, we maneuvered our way to the hostel: Eight Elephants. A Taiwanese flag for a door of maximum security:

We dumped our accoutrements at the hostel, made some quick friends and ventured out to the ShiDa Night Market for food. Mandarin is spoken in Taiwan. My Mandarin is currently limited to "Hello", "Thank you", "I am American", "Delicious!" and "Where?". The last one proving the most helpful when combined with pointing at a map and looking confused. We arrived late, even for a night market, yet in time for these traditional noodles,
I asked the noodle guy if he spoke Cantonese. A long shot--like asking someone in Jacksonville if he speaks Hungarian. However, he spoke Canto--first Christmas Miracle of the trip! Never in my pre-HK life did I think, "Thank God someone speaks Cantonese around here." But in Taiwan, that thought surfaced more than once.
The group with noodles:

A quotidian image of a chopstick wrapper spear:

Upon our return to the hostel, I invited myself to play Apples to Apples with the other residents. Is "residents" the appropriate term? Sounds like we're in an institution. The next morning, after our escape:

In all seriousness, as pink elephants necessarily are, I would highly recommend this hostel. It caters to the new hippie in me. Also, there were a lot of Canadians there--Canadians showed up all over Taiwan, usually doing awesome things. They're my new favorite species. So ends Day One...stay tuned. Four more days to go.