Taiwan Day 20: Karaoke Night

Day Twenty

The beginning of my Taiwan trip was not so smooth because of expectation mismatch and I thought that I would just spend the rest of my time here tackling that problem. On my twentieth day here the problem is still not solved but I am enjoying my stay a lot more because I am meeting the right people. Not all Christians fit the friendly, kind stereotype and the same is with AIESECers but the nice ones are incredible and I'm thankful for meeting them because it has turned this trip to Taiwan around for me. I only have a little more than a month here and I know that it will be filled with memorable adventures!

In the evening Hui Chee, Darm and I went to an AIESEC event that is meant as a farewell party for outgoing exchange participants but us interns were also invited to interact with them.

AIESEC SCU members, EPs and interns

We had self introduction sessions and played ice breaker games to learn more about each other.

Of course we also ate! I bought a cheese, egg, tomato waffle sandwich and it tasted great :) The waffle was a bit too soft for my preference though.

After the event, a group of us decided to go sing karaoke. We stopped first at Party World in Ximending and I was surprised by its scope. The lobby looked exactly like a nice hotel complete with front desk and a chandelier. The place was full so we didn't sing here.

Party World at Ximending

We ended up going to a place behind the Red House at Ximending. Although I didn't know most of the songs, I had a great time listening and interacting with my new friends. While sitting there, I realized that when I leave that I would miss Taiwan more than I thought. The fact that Darm is going back to Thailand tomorrow due to visa problems doesn't help. Two friends leaving within three days!

Karaoke

Before we headed back to our homestay we had a quick snack at Family Mart. This is one of the things I like about Asia, the actual convenience of convenience stores. In Canada, only Tim Hortons or McDonald's would be open 24 hours and they don't offer all the different choices at a convenience store!

Family Mart

Something I've learnt: when things are going downhill, just be patient and your ride will turn upward again.

Take care,

Taiwan Day 19: Modern Toilet Cafe

Day Nineteen

Today's theme was all about waste. In the afternoon Hui Chee, Darm and I attended a lesson on Tamsui River's pollution and Taipei's water purification system. When I went to Tamsui on my first full day in Taiwan, I was disappointed in the discrepancy between the photos on tourist brochures and reality. The river was murky with litter and even had a slight stench. In today's lesson I found out that in the last 20 years, the Taipei government has already been cleansing out the waste in the Tamsui River since its height of pollution at the end of the 20th century.

Lecturer giving lesson

To complement the waste theme is the Modern Toilet Cafe! The absurdness of this restaurant has made this a must-eat place for tourists visiting Taipei and thus led to its cons. In general I had fun eating here, taking photographs and sitting on the toilet seats. Yet this will likely be the only time I visit this restaurant ever. Taiwan offers some of the best food and Modern Toilet Cafe is not up to par because its food is only mediocre at best. Also each person must order their own meal, meaning that if you are an un-hungry party of five you cannot order four meals to share.

Onto the fun parts of the restaurant! The tables are basins or bathtubs and seats are toilets with different toilet cover designs. The sink at the real bathroom is also a toilet o.o

Before coming here, I thought that I would find it slightly gross to eat out of the toilet themed bowls but it actually made no difference.

Chicken curry rice meal

Hui Chee and I

Darm and June

 The shaved ice was humongous but did not taste splendid. Like everything in the restaurant, it was simply fun to photograph. This truly is a restaurant where the camera "eats" (i.e. takes photos) of the food before the human and will shed a better light on its taste.

Strawberry ice cream and kiwi sauce shaved ice

Taiwan Day 18: Unexpected Departure

Day Eighteen

Last night we learnt some unexpected news that Olivia's grandmother passed away so she has to leave Taiwan for the funeral and won't be returning. Although sad to see her leave, family comes first. All of us homestays took a photo with our host uncle and auntie.

There was still some time before her flight, we went to Taipei Main Station to look around. There was a long line up at this Uncle Tetsu's Cheesecake the last few times we passed by it so we finally tried it today! One cake cost NT199 and we were lucky to get it freshly baked without lining up!

It was light and fluffy but did not have very strong cheese taste at all. This cheesecake is definitely more catered towards Asian preference of dessert.

Uncle and auntie gave all of us a ride to the airport to send Olivia off. There weren't many of us working on this project to begin with but now there is one less :( Glad to have met you friend!

Since Duanwu Festival (aka Dragon Boat Festival) is coming up, auntie made homemade zhong zi for us to try. It was delicious because she added lots of ingredients unlike the ones you eat at restaurants with only a single piece of meat if any.

Farewells can be unexpected, so appreciate the people around you while you can!

Take care,

Taiwan Day 17: Beitou and Hot Springs

Day Seventeen

We've been intending to visit the hot springs at New Beitou for a few days and finally went today! To get there, we took the Tamsui MRT line (red) to Beitou then switched trains to go to New Beitou.

New Beitou has the most informative signs I've seen in Taiwan so far. Out of the MRT station there was a sign with clear directions on how to get to the tourist attractions in both Chinese and English. Along the route were additional maps and signs to guide you along the way.

On the way to the Hot Spring museum we passed by the cultural museum so we went to check it out. It had information about the different aboriginal groups in Taiwan including their clothing and ways of life.

At the aboriginal cultural museum

Aboriginal cultural museum

A short walk down the road was the hot spring museum. Upon entrance you had to take off your shoes and change into slippers just like at real hot springs in Japan. There was information on what the beitou mineral is and origin of this hot spring area in Taiwan.

Hot spring museum

Finally we arrived at the public hot spring which only cost NT40 and an additional NT20 for locker rental. The street it is on is called Hot Spring Road and is home to many hot spring hotels. You can only use those hot springs if you stay the night at those hotels so the public one is popular for both locals and tourists.

Inside were four hot spring pools of varying temperatures and two cold water pools. The hottest water temperature was 45 degrees Celsius and I lasted less than a minute in that one! I quite enjoyed the second and third hottest ones with soaks in the cold pool in between. In total we were there for an hour which felt plenty enough and left us feeling toasty warm and relaxed.

Millenium Hot Spring

Since it was very hot out and the hot spring session made us feel even warmer, we went to the local library to enjoy the air conditioning. The library was quite new and we read children's English books for fun :)

Beitou library

Below is a photo of a cool dessert we saw at a bakery in Taipei Main Station. Inside the egg shells is pudding that tastes like creme brulee filling. There was taste-test so I tried it and it was so delicious! Too bad that it has to be refrigerated and it was quite pricey or else I would have definitely bought some.

On a side note, finally went to apply for the Taiwan Youth Travel Card (YTC) today. I actually didn't find out such thing existed until yesterday but it is not too late since I still have a little over a month in Taiwan. This YTC gives youth aged 15-30 discounts on transportation and admissions around Taiwan. For example, I could have paid for the concession price of NT80 at the National Palace Museum instead of NT160 with the card. Application was extremely fast and took less than five minutes at the Taipei Main Station desk. The lady just told me to fill a form, took a look at my passport and gave me the card.

Take care,

Taiwan Day 16: Jioufen and Keelung

Day Sixteen

Having explored Taipei City quite thoroughly the past two weeks, Hui Chee, Olivia and I finally left Taipei City! We started our day early at 8am to go to Zhongxiao Fuxing Road MRT Station. There,  we transferred to take the 1062 bus that goes to Jioufen. The ride was 1.5 hours long and I recommend sitting on the left side of the bus for the best scenery!

Jioufen

Previously, I did not know what to expect out of Jioufen but it was beautiful and reminded me of Japan. We went to the Jioufen Old Street which was full of souvenir and food stores. There were cookies, jerky and teas to try as you walk down the street.

Jioufen Old Street

Shaved ice with mochis

Fishballs in soup

After exploring the old street, we took a short bus ride to Jingguashi's gold mine museum. There was no admission fee for the place itself but individual exhibits like the tunnel one had an admission fee.

Touching a block of gold!

From Jingguashi we took a half hour bus to Keelung and switched to another local bus that took us to Heping Island Park (Peace Island Park).

Keelung

The park had an admission fee of NT60 for adults and NT40 for concession price. From the entrance it doesn't look that spectacular but the scenic view inside was beautiful.

Heping Island Park

Proud Canadians

It was late in the afternoon and the sun was peeking through the clouds. There was a slight breeze by the water that felt fabulous in the humid air.

We headed back to Keelung to visit the famous Miaokou Nightmarket! It is not very large but the food sold here has some variety compared to the ones in Taipei. I got four pieces of sushi for NT10 each, one whole sliced mango for NT50 and pig blood rice cake for NT10. I was skeptical to try the pig blood rice cake at first but after seeing it sold at so many nightmarkets I felt that I needed to give it a try. Turns out that it just tasted like very salty rice cake.

Miaokou nightmarket

To return to Taipei from Keelung we opted for the railway train. The ride was about an hour and quite confusing because there was no announcement inside the train for the name of each stop and the signs of the station aren't always clear.

Cannot wait to explore more of this island!

Take care,

Taiwan Day 15: Bihu Park and Miramar

Day Fifteen

I read online that Neihu is a region of Taipei City that is not yet discovered by many tourists so I suggested to friends that we visit it, specifically Bihu Park. We took the MRT to Wende Station and walked out of Exit 1. To head to Bihu Park, walk straight from the exit and turn right at the first traffic light then continue walking until you hit the park.

Exit 1 of Wende MRT station

Turn right at this traffic light

The description I read online about Bihu park made it seem larger than what we saw when we got there. It was a small lake with many elderly men fishing in it and some hiking trails on the hill.

Bihu Park

It was quite hot and sunny at the park so we didn't stay for long. We took the MRT back to Jiannan Road Station where the big shopping centre, Miramar is. On the train we saw this artistic looking building so we went to take a look.

Turns out that it was a restaurant with very cool interior design and a pricier menu than the typical restaurant in Taiwan.

Interior of the restaurant

Back at Miramar, we went to the top floor to take a photo with the ferris wheel in the daytime but we didn't go on yet because we wanted to enjoy the night view.

Tonight's dinner at Saizeriya is my first Western cuisine meal in Taiwan and I missed it very much! Taiwanese food is delicious but after awhile I miss trying out different cuisines like I do back home.

The ferris wheel really is a lot more beautiful at night! Adult price on weekends is NT200 but I paid  concession price of NT150 after I showed my university student card. The entire ride is 17 minutes long but it felt faster than that!

Taipei 101

View of Miramar from the top

Take care,