A Day in Taipei: Kismet and the Karaoke Tower of Doom

Down Town Taipei! Look Coffee!

On our recent trip to Taipei we decided to only spend one day in Taipei. Our flight was at 8pm so we decided to do our last day in Taipei to guarantee getting to the airport on time and because being from a big city like Hong Kong, all cities are somewhat similar. "OO.. Look a big building! Let's take a photo of it!" As you have read in previous entries, I have been to Taipei last Chinese New Year with my girlfriends but this was Michael's first trip and I wanted it to be nice for him. So we made some quick plans.

We arrived the night before after hopping a train from Chiayi. We only had a ticket to Taichung but stayed on and then paid for the rest of the journey when we got to Taipei. We had to sit in between the train cars for a while and also had to stand for a bit but we paid for our full tickets despite having a seat and got to Taipei around 8pm. I was still feeling sick due to my peanut incident. Michael being a man and always being hungry got a small snack from the Family Mart and the 7-11 next to our hostel. Our Hostel was called "The World Scholar House". We were staying in the private room for the price of the dorm because when I called and booked the room I asked if she had a room available she said yes. We got there and she realized she had given it to someone else so we got the private for the price of the dorm. A very happy accident and the private room had one of the most comfortable mattresses in the world!!! YEA! After sleeping on Tatami mats at the Winson House for two nights this was going to feel like HEAVEN! We snuggled into the hostel with our good tv and good bed and free internet and went to sleep.

The ditches in Beitou have steamy hot spring water in them!

Living like a local in Taiwan

A wild turkey in Taiwan. Very noisy!

I have just gotten back from Taiwan for my CNY vacation. I spent days going north and south. I had the most fun in a town called Chiayi. Chiayi is not mentioned a lot in the guide books. It is most famous for being the starting point of the Alishan Rail Way and for being a large bus port for several buses to several hot spots such as: Guaziling (hot springs) or Sun Moon Lake.

I was going to Chiayi to see my friend, Amanda. I met Amanda in Luxembourg after my 10 hour train ride on Christmas Eve. We bonded over a hatred of our Russian room mate and love of Taiwan. She invited me to come back to Taiwan and visit her and my room mate Michael and I took her up on the offer.

In Chiayi with friends!

10 hours to Luxembourg or Why everyone died on the Titanic

Luxembourg on Chrismas Eve

  The Train Ride from Hell

At 8 am I left Ghent to travel to Brussels. After an hour and half wait my train arrived. We boarded the train and by station 2 we had about 30 people in the aisles and standing in the door area. At 7:30pm I arrived in Luxembourg. It should have taken 2 hours, It ended up taking over 10 hours on the train. It included being stuck in Germany in the snow, people refusing to let people in "when there was no more room at the inn" And trust me when I say they were lying. People stealing seats from old ladies and women with babies! The insanity level of the train ride was set at a pretty high level. Hundreds of people crushed on the platform when only 2/3 were let on the train at each car. This ride brought out the worst in the human condition and I now know why everyone died on the Titanic. Because I was on this train where they refused to let babies on the train (when there were seats available!)

I got to Luxembourg very late on Christmas Eve. This was due mainly to the snow issues but also because my train got stuck in Germany. Having lost the entire day on a train with no food, no bathroom and very angry people I had been looking forward to exploring Luxembourg. I could not that night due to the snow and the dark. Luxembourg is not very well lit at night and is built into a mountain, so walking in the dark was hardly advisable. I got to my room to find everyone sleeping. At 8pm. I had also had my pillow stolen by the cranky Russian woman below me. I hung out in the lobby for a while, ate my Christmas eve dinner out of vending machine (Waffle, chips and hot chocolate. A well balanced meal!) I also tried to watch 'Bridge to Terebithia' in Dutch. Didn't work out so well although I've read the book hundreds of times and have seen the movie version before. So off to bed I went so far disapointed in Luxembourg.

I awoke the next morning to an amazing breakfast. Some of the best bread I had my whole trip. I had a pleasant although slow conversation in French with a couple from Swiss. They eventually switched to English when they realized my french was "tres horrible". Then back to my room I went where I ended up meeting Amanda and Sharon of Taiwan! As you know, I have a deep love of Taiwan and we bonded a while over Taiwan before I had to pack up and go. But they were very sweet girls and agreed with me that the Russian lady was crazy and mean... Something about the cold just makes Russian people more unpleasant than the rest of us. It must be a natural defense for them or something.

Bruges, Belfrys and Belgian Boys!

I arrived in Bruges to Snuffel Hostel. Hands down, the most personable hostel on my trip. I was greeted by a very cute Belgian boy (who was also the most attractive hostel staff member on the whole trip...) The pros to the Snuffel hostel were location to the town, personality and the fun atmosphere. Lots of fun people, and lots of locals at happy hour in the bar. A nice fun place. But the negatives were... interesting. One, they have a very tall spiral staircase which could be a bit dangerous for travellers with suitcases on wheels instead of backpacks. Also, to get to the showers (which were co-ed, eep!) you had to walk outside in the SNOW across the backyard to a seperate building. I dreaded the shower I took here because you also had to do the walk of shame through the bar with your towel and shower caddy saying hi to all the non-lame people who were not about to freeze their asses off. Snuffel Hostel in Bruges, 5 out of 5 for personality and fun, 3 out of 5 for facilities. Boo...

Snuffel Hostel, note the cute Belgian!

I met two very nice girls at this hostel. One was Angel from Shanghai! The same Angel from Brussels. Angel is a very interesting girl. She studies in Milan, wears high heels in the snow, has very cute clothes to backpack in, and drink her beer dilluted with hot water. A character for sure, so glad I met her! I have never met a more stylish backpacker than Angel.

Brussels is more than a sprout!

After doing an emergency crash in Paris. I ran to the train station as soon as I could to see if I could go to Brussels that morning and cancel my Eurostar ticket and head off to Belgium a day early! I got on a train that was 2 hours late. (BRR...) Sub freezing train station, I should have stayed in the hotel! I left finally and went off to Lille, Flanders. (Home of Don Lillie's people.) It was a very pretty place but I was only there for about an hour so only had time for a short stroll around before I had to go back on my train.

I got to Brussels and hopped on the train to get to where my hostel was. Geez, was Brussels ICY! For some reason Paris wasn't so slippery. Then I proceeded to get lost... AGAIN. Poor me! I think I spent a majority of this trip lost and wandering. 1 hour later wandering in the snow I found the Hostel Van Gogh located in a dark alley of Brussels, pretty easy to find during the day time but at night time not so easy... The sheets were clean, the owners were (meh), and it was really well heated. I went off to find dinner and the only place close was a turkish resteraunt where I ordered something really yummy by pointing and smiling. (I still have no idea what it was, but it tasted great!)

Snt. Catherine's Cathedral, with shitty construction all over it's lawn!

Trains, Planes and Wedding Bells!

I went to Europe for my christmas vacation. My friend Gaelle was getting married in Strasbourg at a castle, and who's going to turn that down? So, I scrimped and saved- found a cheap ass ticket on Cathay Pacific and flew off to Paris for the wedding. I had made the decision once I got the invitation to backpack Europe afterward- why not? I made a big itinerery, booked my hostels and set off! Little did I know I was going off into the WORST blizzard in European History for my trip... This for the poor girl who has never been in snow! I was in for a wild ride.

This entire vacation felt like it was ruled by the train systems in Europe, and the snow...

Trecking through Taiwan

My first backpacking experience happened last chinese year. A pile of my girlfriends and I decided to backpack through Taiwan from top to bottom over four days. We started Taiwan at Taipei with a night in The Eight Elephant Hostel. This is THE BEST hostel to stay at in Taipei. It is quirky, it feels like home and the people are lovely. It is conveniently located by the night market in Taipei where we had yummy food and lindsey bought a sweater because she was FREEZING! It was surprisingly cold in Taiwan for that chinese new year and it rained the whole bloody weekend. I'm surprised Lindsey didn't turn blue at somepoint during the trip.

This is the trip where I met, Juno! Juno has since become my Korean sister. I talk to her about everything. I have gone to visit her in Korea and she has come to visit me in HK. I am eternally grateful to Taiwan for giving me Juno.

At 101

Walking with Buddha

In Hong Kong is the world's largest bronze sittig Buddha. He was completed in 1993 after a long construction that began in the Victorian era!!!
His base was sitting there unoccupied by anything all through WW2. Through generous donations he was completed and is now one of the biggest symbols of Hong Kong and one of our biggest tourist destinations.
Some people avoid taking visitors to the buddha due to the crowds but I believe he is something you CANNOT miss if you visit HK.

TRAVEL

You can get to the buddha by two ways.
1) The Ngong Ping cabel car. A glass cable car will carry you over the mountains and straight to the buddha. This is the fastest and most scenic way of reaching the Buddha. However, lines can get pretty long so book ahead or go early in the morning to avoid the crowds. COST- 60-100HK a person
2) The Tai Wo Beach Bus. Located at the Bus station at Tung Chung a bus can take you to the Buddha for MUCH cheaper than the cable car. This trip can take up to 50 minutes and has some of the scariest roads in HK. Not for the easily car sick. This bus is also the way to reach Tai Wo beach which is excellent for camping, dolphin watching and sun bathing! COST- 10

Ngong Ping Cable Car and Tung Chung

Avoid Foggy Days at the Buddha or you will have no visibility.

The mysterious Patrick

I have this "friend" named Patrick. I met him backpacking in Taiwan and he's a perfectly friendly guy. He's nice, has an interesting sense of humor, australian (so he has the accent thing), and he gets my star wars references. Why would this guy get his OWN blog entry. Because meeting and getting to know Patrick cemented the way I meet/talk to people when I travel...