Taiwan – Day 5

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After our adventures in Lukang the previous day, we got a bit of a late start on Day 5 but we still managed to pack a lot of activities in.  First stop on our agenda was to head to Taipei for breakfast (known as “lunch” to most everyone else based on the time of day) and visit the Nanmen Market.  Our usual guide (our host’s cousin) explained to us that this market is very high-end and that politicians’ wives shop here and this is where people come for important gifts and meal components.  We only visited the first floor and wow was it packed full of Tiawanese specialties.

Day05NanmenMarket1

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Taiwan – Day 4 (Part 1)

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We hit the HSR early to hop on a train to Taichung where we caught a cab for Lukang (aka Lugang).  My host’s cousin continued to act as our guide and he explained that Lukang is basically a town frozen in time.  It used to be a very busy port and it was the closest major port to China so it has quite a history including some lovely old buildings.  We started off in the historic district where vendors lined the streets to set up their shops for the day.

 Day04LukangOldTown1

Thankfully, not many tourists were in town at that time even though the town is on the major tour bus route and the town remained fairly calm all day. Continue reading →

Taiwan posts are coming – really!

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Apologies for the delay in posting about my trip.  My days in Taiwan have been packed with lots of activities, so much so that I haven’t had a moment to throw together any posts for the past few days.  New posts are coming today, though, as tonight we’re taking it easy before a big trip to the east coast of Taiwan tomorrow.  Thanks for your patience!

Taiwan – Day 3 (Part 1)

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Apologies for the late post.  My time in Taiwan has been packed with so many activities that I haven’t had time to post, which I suppose is a good problem to have. 🙂

For day 3 (Tuesday) of the trip, we were able to meet up with my host’s cousin who is a tour guide and was happy to show us the sights.  My host explained that Zhubei is known as “The Windy City” here in Taiwan and upon awaking on Day 3, I found out what that this name is deserved as the wind was howling between the high rises as rain started to fall.  Rain and wind won’t stop us from venturing out, of course, so off we went to catch the HSR in Zhubei to get to Taipei city.

Day03ZhubeiStation

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Taiwan – Day 2 (Part 2)

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Continuing on from the previous post about our first full day in Taiwan, after the visit to the University area we headed to Huashan Creative Arts Park to find a nice location in which to savor our bubble tea.  There were a lot of young people out and all kinds of bands, street performers, and arts & crafts sellers scattered throughout the complex.  We ducked inside a free art show and came across some, er, interesting things.

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Taiwan – Day 2 (Part 1)

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I have been fortunate in my travels to not suffer from jet lag and, fortunately, this trip so far hasn’t been an exception.  Despite needing to catch up on the sleep we didn’t get before the trip and during the flight, we were all ready to go and explore a bit of Taipei.

We caught the high speed rail (HSR) from Zhubei to Taipei city via business class (sorry, no pics) which was a very nice way to travel indeed.  It amazes and shames me that so many people here speak English while I can neither speak nor read any Chinese.  This is my first time being in a country where I do not speak the language even a little so it’s quite humbling when even the 7-eleven clerks and train stewardesses speak perfect English to me.  Everyone we have encountered here thus far has been exceedingly kind and I genuinely feel very privileged to be able to spend time in their country.

Once we arrived in Taipei, we went searching for a traditional Taiwanese breakfast and found the place but decided not to go in as there was a 2-hour line snaking out of the building.  We decided to head for a street market instead and slowly worked our way through the stands sampling the delectable treats for display.

Day02StreetMarket1

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