Journies of a Foodie- Prt 4- Talking Turkey

Enjoying honey candy in Kaoshing! Delish!

The food of Taiwan is something very natural and organic. I would find it completely normal to travel there and simply eat my way across the country. The food just like the people are very warm and comforting and also tell you a lot about the part of the country in which you are in. Regional cuisines are very common in Taiwan. Seafood dishes in Kenting, Turkey Rice in Chiayi, Pork balls in Hsinchu, Coffin Cake in Tainan and Suncake in Taichung: just to name a few examples. You can go to a different city and enjoy a different dish in each one. The food is part of the people and they spend a large portion of their lives producing delicous food. Some things that they make are not so healthy for you and some things are fresh, straight off the farm. Street Food is a huge part of the Taiwanese culture, particularily at CNY when a lot of the main resteraunts are closed and in order to feed yourself you must hit the streets and hunt for food among the markets. Avoid the stinky tofu though! It's foul and you can smell it from a mile away!

Sunset and Surfing on the Pacific

Jalishue Beach, Taiwan. Right after our arrival.

I have just finished my trip to Taiwan last week. The first place we were determined to go to was Kenting, Taiwan. I felt a deep connection to Taiwan on my last trip but had felt that I had not spent enough time on the southern tip. My room mate Michael wanted to go surfing. So, we made our plans to do 2 nights in Kenting area.

We ended up staying in Jalishue, Taiwan which is slightly eastern of the town Kenting. It is located inside in the national Park area and has great hiking, views and is most famous for being the best surf spot on the whole island. We took a long distance cab to reach this place because NO buses really go to Jalishue. They will go to Hengchu which is about 15 minutes away by scooter but because Michael did not have a liscence and I have never driven car we could not rent scooters while we were there.

A Picture Tells a Thousand Words

I am not a very good photographer at times. Often times things are super blurry or out of focus. I have been known to take off some heads frequently or amputate an arm or foot out of photo. But I enjoy taking pictures because I think they are a wonderful way to preserve and share the memories of the places I've been.
I am going to go through all the places I have recently been and choose one photo to represent that trip and coutry.

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!

CNY in Taiwan!

I will be heading back to Taiwan for CNY.
I think I shall explore the east side of the island and Kenting further this time!

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

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...