2016-05-08, Taiwan

Sunday, May 1
I decided to go back to Taiwan for our Golden Week vacation.

We're off - 2 1/2 hours late on Peach Airlines (Not a comfortable airline.  The seats are so close together and the way our necks really hurt as well.)
Amanda is my replacement for the nighttime classes.  She's 25 and turned out to be a great traveling companion.

Taipei Metro Map

By the time we dropped our luggage off and went out to find dinner it was around 10pm.  But since the night markets seem to be open until at least midnight it wasn't a problem.

The first thing we tried were duck wraps which were very good.  We had some fresh juice (orange for me watermelon for Amanda) and some delicious fish cakes wrapped around a quail egg on a stick which was fried.  I'm guessing that's what it was...
We do think that the duck wrap lady and the juice man overcharged us (still extremely cheap but it's the principle) - one reason we didn't go back to that market (the Nanyan market).

 I think these were smoothies - notice they're using Kirkland milk!

Monday, May 2
  I was here for about 5 days in 2013 but it wasn't quite enough time, or so I thought.  Although I've only been here for a day, I'm not enjoying it as much as last time.  Hopefully it's just because today we went to places I've already been to, but I wanted Amanda to see.  I think we'll see some new places tomorrow.  Last week the weather here was perfect - in the mid-70's to 80, but this week it jumped up and will stay in the high 80's to mid-90's.  Same as last time I was here in June.  The humidity wasn't too bad today but still, it's not easy to spend the day walking around for miles in that kind of heat.

This is near our station - Fuzhong.  That glass and metal structure is built in the shape of a dragon or caterpillar and can be used to cross the streets.  But most people seemed to wait and cross at the crosswalks.

The Dante Cafe.  Our breakfast place.

This is sort of a tuna quesadilla, very good, with eggs, potatoes and salad.  And some kind of sweet coffee drink.

I had a little sample plate with some egg salad, some tuna, ham and potatoes with cheese.  And a milk tea.
The mayo here is on the sweet side but makes tasty salads.

 Longshan Temple was one of the most interesting sites to me on my last trip so we started out there.  So different than Japanese temples.  The colors, the noise, the offerings...none of which you would find in Japan.  Maybe India...  I just looked it up and Wikipedia says it houses Buddist and Taoist dieties.

Across the street there's a plaza that has a zodiac mosaic on the ground.  That's me - Gemini.

Inside the temple.

All kinds of offerings.  I'm not sure if they're being offered to the gods or to relatives who have died.  I thought it was for the gods but then I noticed shirt's and toys, etc. so I'm not sure.

 There are many different alcoves and areas with different dieties.

Candles and incense.

And really intricate carvings.

Amanda fell in love with this bird.

See the dragon in amongst the shrubs?

The outside wall.

Across the street.

We came across many great murals.

After the temple we walked around a little and found a Vietnamese restaurant and shop.  We both LOVE Vietnamese food, and haven't been able to find it in Japan, but we had plans to eat other things for lunch so we decided to come back another day and headed instead to Taipei Main Station.  I wanted Amanda to see the building, but in addition I'd had my best meal in Taiwan here last time (thanks to a tip from Lauren's friend Grace).

The main hall of the Taipei Main Station.  I noticed that except for one white square, everyone was sitting only on black...
Besides being an impressive building, this is a food lover's paradise.  Whether you want to eat there, take something home or on a train, or buy food gifts - it's like a wonderland of food.

It certainly is!!!

We honestly couldn't figure out why this round ice cream is called Mt. Fuji.

Yum.  Roast, or fried, crispy chicken and noodles in a wonderful light broth.

Wrapped and fried shrimp for Amanda.

Don't know what this is an add for but I loved this poster with the cat and dog heads.

On to the Chiang Kia Shek Memorial.

 There are 89 steps leading up to the hall for the 89 years of his life.

For trash.

See the baby ducks?  They're black.

We're not sure what this is, it smells so sweet and someone passing by wondered if it was jasmine but it's a tree, or a large bush not a vine.  We sat on a bench for awhile surrounded by these flowers and their sweet fragrance and enjoyed a our bakery snacks while we tried to get re-energize for the rest of the day.

Then we learned what Santa's reindeer do on vacation!

You have to go to Taipei 101 as a visitor.  We went but didn't go up.  There was a very long line AND a very steep price so we walked around (air conditioning) a little and went to find our next meal.

We wanted the famous soup dumplings of Taiwan, and while there was a branch of the most famous shop in Taipei 101 there was a long wait.  So we found another branch in the Mega mall.

Honestly, they were a little disappointing but I loved the cucumbers, wish I knew what was on them.

These were good too.  Noodles with a pork/tofu sauce.

 We ended up walking about 7 miles today but also getting on and off the subway a LOT.  Which also means a lot of walking!  That's not really a bad thing since we're doing a lot of eating as well!  There's a nice little bakery close to the apt. we're staying in, a good cafe as well, incredible, multi-national food courts (in the Taipei train station) and night markets that have all kinds of 'interesting' foods.  Actually our day was pretty much built around meals (not so unusual for me I guess and Amanda is that kind of girl too) with a little sightseeing in between.  We won't be near too much food tomorrow so it might be different.  Anyway, we're both exhausted and sitting in the living room with the air conditioner cooling us off and an American movie on TV.

Tuesday May 3

Can you have a very tiring but relaxing day?  I think so.

The cafe's menu.  We didn't try the waffles... to many other interesting things.

We had a nice breakfast at 'our' cafe and hopped onto the subway heading to the zoo.  The plan was to go up a mountain in the Maokong gondola to a tea area in the morning, and walk around the zoo for a couple of hours in the afternoon.  We ended up spending so much time on the mountain that we weren't able to go to the zoo.  We took a 30 minute gondola ride to the top station and started walking past many tea house/restaurants and stalls selling very interesting looking things.

We opted for the car with the glass bottom.

Taipei 101 in the distance.

Below us.

Pretty high.

We went into the tea promotion center, tried some tea - good but I like Japanese tea better, and had a nice lunch with various dishes made with tea (tea oil, tea leaves, steeped tea) while sitting on a terrace overlooking the mountains.

Didn't eat here but liked the name.

There are lots of happy Buddhas here.

The tea promotion center.

Take a mug and put it under the spicket and have a cup of tea while looking around.

A nice lunch of foods made with tea.

Shrimp infused with tea leaves served with strips of ginger, soy sauce and wasabi.

Yummy fried rice with tea leaves (the black pieces).

The best dish was tempura tea leaves with a sugar/salt concoction for dipping or sprinkling.

Chicken

Sweet potato leaves.

Then we started down and got off at the next stop which was the site of some shrines and temples.  Walked around there for a while and then went back to the bottom.  Some of the cable cars had glass bottoms which was fun but you just saw the trees through the floor, you had to look out the windows for the view.  I am glad to report that I am now fine riding cable cars.  I'm getting better and better with heights.

The gold things are for wishes.  Health, safety, etc.  You  buy one, check off what you're asking for and hang it from a tree.

Look at those thorns!

Here are the options for your wishes/prayers.

We were so tired, and full by the time we got down we decided to pick up something for dinner and eat at home, watch a movie (there are a few English stations - must be cable) and although it's not even 9pm yet, Amanda went to bed.  On top of all the walking, the heat really sucks your energy.  We stopped at the bakery and picked up these weird wrap sandwiches (we didn't think they were strange when we bought them).  What we thought was a tortilla wrap turned out to be bread that seemed to be rolled with a rolling pin, and inside was ham, lettuce, mayo, maybe some fried shrimp and then peanuts that were a little sweet and so finely ground it was almost like peanut butter, and a little chili sauce.  Interesting.  And of course we each bought a piece of cake.

'Sidewalks' in Taiwan.
Sidewalks is in quotes because except on main streets, and even then, in a lot of areas sidewalks don't seem to be much different than roads when it comes to safety or the lack of it.  The pathways themselves have random steps and slopes and broken pieces, and the way is often blocked with motorbikes, food or other stalls, supplies and boxes for those stalls, occasionally tables and chairs set up for the stalls, trash, boxes of goods with things for sale, etc.  So even if you try to walk on the sidewalk you're often forced to walk in the street to get around obstacles.  On top of that, motorbikes seem to use the sidewalks as a way to get around obstacles in the street, or when leaving their 'parking spaces' they sometimes travel down the sidewalk.  There aren't so many bicycles here but there are thousand of scooters/motorbikes/motorcycles.  And they come at you from all directions.  To say the least, it's not the safest place to walk.  And as some of you might know, Jake especially, I tend to look around and not where I'm walking, so even in the best of circumstances I stumble often.  Here, with uneven stairs, terrible sidewalks etc.  it's a constant thing.  We were so tired yesterday (= silly), we were in hysterics while searching for food because I was tripping every few steps and even  Amanda missed the bottom step which was the same black marble as the other steps but not really a step!

Wednesday, May 4
Got up, had breakfast at our usual place - they have good coffee and assorted coffee and tea drinks - and went to see the Lin family mansion and garden.
I love the walk/don't walk signs.  The little people - on the bike and walking - actually move.

A typical street.

Our bakery.

Sweet and savory baked goods.

The intersection that means we're almost home.  It's very strange but there's a sports shop across the street and it's doors are open to this street and the one in back.  Most people walk right through the shop as if it's a street, and that's what we were instructed to do to get to our apartment.  After the first couple of times it started to feel normal.

Breakfast, an egg and vegetable sandwich on good bread and a cafe latte.

Amanda wanted to try eggs benedict but in reality it was cheese spray!

 Off we go and here are some sights we passed on the way.

A very big shrine or temple.

A day market which was definately selling some stinky tofu - something we didn't try.

And here is the Lin Family Mansion

This was interesting, this vine was growing out of the tree.  It looked like a hula skirt.

There were also a lot of orchids attached to trees.

Tools for making these things.

Are your ducks in a row?

A sample from the art class.  

 It was interesting but like everything in Taiwan, and unlike everything in Japan, it was very run down.  There were a number of people doing sketches, well not exactly sketches since they were using black ink and brushes and material instead of paper, but whatever they were they were beautiful.


Then on to the zoo.  Unbelievably, to me anyway, Amanda had never seen an elephant or a hippo.  And not so unbelievably she'd never seen a panda.  But now she has.  The Taipei zoo is very nice and very large and it was very hot, so again we were exhausted by the time we were done.

My 2 favorite things about this zoo are 1) The animal areas are very nice and 2) the 'poop' art and education.

Ok, so that's not a branch.  It's a gigantic snake AND there's no glass on the window we were standing at... right out of the first Harry Potter book.

Sooooo hot and tired.

The zoo is also very jungley.

We had a little ice cream

before we boarded the nice cool train and went to try the Vietnamese food that we had seen a couple of days ago.  It was soooo good!!!

Brisket pho.  It took us about 20 min. to figure out menu, or actually to figure out where the pho was, we didn't figure out the rest of the menu - it was written in Vietnamese and Chinese....




Vietnamese and Greek food are what I miss most.  And a good steak/prime rib.  Afterwards we walked around a little and Amanda stocked up on some Vietnamese coffee they were selling in a little shop, and then we headed back home with the usual stop at the bakery.  We did some laundry and decided once again to go to bed early.

In the area...

Home.

Thursday, May 5

Today we went to a town to the northwest of Taipei city called Tamsui.  Evidently it's very crowded on the weekends with tourists and people from Taipei wanting to get out of the city.  It took us about an hour by metro (and amazingly less than $2) and it wasn't too crowded today (Thursday) especially after we left the area close to the station.

Breakfast.  A tuna sandwich with Earl Grey and Mulberry tea.

Assam bubble tea - my favorite!

I think those are power boxes (like generators or something not like Sedona, AZ 'power spots'), I saw them here and there.

It says 'Rose is red, violet is blue, the sun is hot and so are you.  Sweetie let's watch sunset together.'

We visited Fort San Domingo which was built by the Spanish and taken over by the Dutch and then the British who used it as a consulate.

See the Queen on the mantle?

Upstairs the strangeness started.  Evidently a couple met here, fell in love and got married and so now they're billing this as a place to make wishes for love, or to confess your love.  Quite funny.

Write your love message and hang it on this window.

It's next to a university which had a distinct 'ivy league' feeling to it.

Interesting roof tiles.

We found a Korean restaurant and ordered Korean fried chicken.  We were presented with a great array of side dishes and after a very long wait (since we were the only ones there) the waitress came out with a HUGE bowl of fried chicken.

 It would have fed at least 6 people...  we did our best but hardly made a dent, and unfortunately couldn't take the leftovers since we wouldn't be going home for hours.

We walked along the river to find the ferry.

And then took it across the river to a town called Bali.

  Nice little walk, and back on the ferry.  A light rain started to fall - the first since we've been here even though rain was in the forecast everyday. I had oolong tea ice cream and then we stopped at the Amanda Cafe where Amanda had some Baily's coffee. By the time she finished it had stopped raining and we went to find a bus to go out to see the illuminated Lover's Bridge at Fisherman's Wharf.

 There was a nice cool breeze out there and it was very pleasant.  We weren't anywhere near as tired today as we have been.  Both because we didn't do nearly as much walking, and because it was much cooler (maybe mid 80's instead of 90 - a big difference).  Trying to decide what to do tomorrow, our last day, and it looks like we're going to go southeast and visit another tea area.  We both like being out of the city better than being in it and we're both interested in tea so it seems like a good idea.

Friday, May 6

The American breakfast.

Our last day in Taiwan.  95F.  What shall we do?  We decided to go to Pinglin, a tea growing area in the SE part of New Taipei City.  We took the metro to the end of the green line then a 40 minute, very pleasant bus ride out to the country and mountains.

It's quite a sleepy town, a majority of the people either grow or sell tea or tea products like tea seed oil, soaps etc.  There's a pretty river and rows of tea on the mountainsides.  They have a wonderful tea museum with an amazing 'fairy land of tea' exhibit downstairs.  And a great air conditioning system.

This map shows which teas grow in which areas.  My favorite is assam tea from the Sun Moon Lake area.

This exhibit shows the 24 hour day during tea harvesting season and what happens at what time.

Tea picking clothes.

A table prepared for a tea ceremony.

Tea service for a wedding.

Clothes that can be worn during a tea ceremony.  I'd love anyone of those - t
hey're all cotton which is very hard to find here or in Japan.

 This was a great exhibit of different tea drinking fantasies.

Outside but still in the museum area.

95F - not even this view could cool us down...

Tea plants.

 There was an 'ecological park' next to the museum.

Rows of tea plants.

Those white things in the trees/bushes are birds.

 Evidently there are nice biking roads somewhere as well, but we couldn't find them and it was so hot we didn't think we'd get very far anyway.

So we started back to the bus and saw a woman picking up some food at a little shop.  Most shops were closed and the ones that were open had meat and things out in the heat so we weren't too keen on eating there.  But as we watched we saw that this was a shaved ice shop - YEAH!!!  It was so delicious and refreshing, perked us right up.

Choose 4 toppings -  mochi, jello, tapioca, fruit, sweetened beans...

Nothing can beat shaved ice on a hot day.

We arrived back at the MRT station and walked along the riverside where there was quite an upscale area and a suspension bridge.

The old buildings to the right of the bridge...

and the new area to the left of the bridge...
Quite a difference.

We saw that there was a Korean area near another subway stop and decided to go there for dinner.  We walked through the area and although there were a few Korean markets there were no restaurants.  Strange.  We ended up in a Chinese place (that we thought was Korean since there was Korean writing on the flyers) and had dumplings and a yummy - and VERY garlicy - cold chicken dish.

That's all raw garlic!  There was also a mild vinegar sauce on it that I really liked.
I think I'll give it a try but use ginger instead of garlic.  That garlic stayed on our tongues through the next day.

Back to our home station (Fuzhong) where Amanda made a last trip into our bakery and then we picked up a little snack for dinner - onion rings for her and fried mushrooms for me.  Time to pack up for a relatively early trip to the airport tomorrow.

We took the metro to the high speed rail and then a shuttle to the airport.  Altogether less than an hour and about $5 US.

Breakfast at the airport.

The flight only took 2 hours 10 minutes.  The trains and buses to get home from the airport took about 3 hours!
We had a late lunch/early dinner (why is there no word for that - like brunch?) at a Korean restaurant near Kyoto station.

And then home sweet home.

It was a good trip and I think that's enough of Taiwan for me, but it's a great place to visit.  The Taiwanese are so friendly.  A number of times when we were trying to figure out which way to go,  someone came up to us and led us to where we were going.  It's a very safe country and we never felt uncomfortable even on empty side streets and alleys.  The public transportation system is fantastic - easy to use, VERY inexpensive and you can get almost anywhere.  We bought EasyCards at the airport and used those for all the bus, metro, ferry and gondola rides.  That way we didn't have to figure out how much each ride was!  They can also be used at convenience stores, the zoo and other locations.  Very convenient.  Food is cheap, varied and everywhere.  There is upscale shopping and outdoor markets on streets with crumbling buildings.  It's a study in modern technology and old village life.
But there are very few really beautiful places.  Of course the mountains are pretty but wherever people can live they are dotted with buildings that look like they will fall down with one heavy wind.  Of course they don't seem to since Taiwan does have it's share of typhoons.  All government owned sites, like the Lin family mansion, the memorials and parks, offer free entry which is really nice but that system doesn't provide money to keep things up.  Which is better?  As a tourist it is nice to see beautiful places, but as a resident it would be nice to have free access to all these places.
Taiwan, like Japan, doesn't have the same kind of countryside that we do in the U.S. with open empty fields, cows and horses and buildings few and far between.  There are little towns that to me seem like small cities.  Narrow streets, loads of motorbikes, and that dingy city feeling.

It's definitely worth a trip if you like to explore different cultures, much cleaner and friendlier than China I think, and I would recommend it to anyone.

I  used Airbnb for our accommodations for the first time.  We had a 3 bedroom apartment with 2 separate bathrooms which was really nice.  There was also a kitchen and living room with cable (English stations) TV.  And it was very reasonable.  It was nice going home each night and staying in a neighborhood where we 'got to know' the cafe and bakery staff.  I will definitely look into Airbnb for my next trip.  I already miss sleeping in a real (and very comfortable) bed.

On the other hand, it's awfully nice to be able to talk to people, to ask questions, learn about what you're looking at, etc.  I think I could, eventually, learn to understand some Chinese but it's such a tonal language I'm not sure I'd ever be able to speak well enough to make friends.  Never mind reading.  I have entertained the thought of teaching there for a year but I'll probably stay here.

It's always great to get away from every day life, to see, taste and experience new things.  Can't wait for my next trip.  And in the meantime I'll try to take advantage of the (hopefully) good weather we'll have here for a couple of months before it gets too hot to go out and around and see some more of this area.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you.  Children, cats, dogs, whatever kind of mother you are I hope you have a great day and your 'kids' show you some appreciation!