Taiwan Day 50: What I Learned

Day Fifty

It is my 50th day here in Taiwan! Only a week more until I go home.

Today Hui Chee and I led a tour around Monga to showcase what we have learnt over the past 7 weeks of living and taking classes there. It was a little weird because we were two foreigners teaching Taiwanese people about their own place. Some aren't from Taipei but some are and they have never walked around Monga so indepth before.

Bopiliao

They say teaching is the best way to learn and I realized that today. By telling them about all the things I have learnt here, I felt that I wanted to spread the why of Monga's specialty and have them be convinced just as I am. I didn't realize that I had learned so much during my weeks here and showing them the website and YouTube videos that we created allowed me to reflect on why I came here in the first place and what I have achieved.

Tea display at Bopiliao

In the evening our team (June, Emily, Leanne, Linda, Jackie and I) went to Nanshi Elementary to prepare for the first day of our camp tomorrow. The teacher treated us to dinner and prepared things for us like mats and sleeping bags. This is my first time sleeping overnight in a school!

Take care,

Taiwan Day 49: Yangmingshan and New Taipei City Hall

Day Forty Nine

June 29- The weather hit 34 degrees Celsius and we were outdoors almost the entire day at Yangmingshan. To get there we took bus 111 outside Jiantan MRT station which took about 30-40 minutes.

Bus 111

Our first stop was the observatory where we could see the mountain view but I thought views I saw after were more beautiful.

Group of 17 at the Observatory

View from observatory

Next stop was the flower clock and I really like this photo of us because the colours are so vibrant! Our group of 17 consisted of people from seven different places: USA, Canada, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Mongolia.

Flower clock

The afternoon sun rays were strong and there was a slight burning sensation so we all hid under umbrellas when there was no shade!

Hiding under umbrella

Then we took the shuttle bus 108 to another part of Yangmingshan called Qingtiangang. The ride was almost an hour long and quite bumpy because it followed the winding curve of the mountain.

On bus 108

Finally we were there! This was my favourite stop in Yangmingshan because the air was breezier and the scenery was nice.

Qingtiangang

We walked into the rolling hills with calm cows on the side munching away at grass. I even liked that it was slightly cloudy and misty giving the entire place a "far from everything" feel.

After cow and scenary gazing, we all sat on a hill and rested. Although under the sun it wasn't too hot because there was some breeze.

Resting on the hill

By 4:00pm we took the bus back to Shilin night market and ate steak dinner there.

Steak at Shilin

We finished off the day at the 32nd floor observatory deck of the New Taipei City Hall in Banqiao. Entry is free and you can see Banqiao city from the city hall.

Night view from New Taipei City Hall

As I countdown to the days until my departure from Taiwan, I am so grateful that each day is filled to the brim with great memories.

Take care,

Taiwan Day 48: Nanshi Elementary

Day Forty Eight

June 28 - We are holding a camp in English for primary school children in a few days, so we went to the school today to have a look and to meet with the teacher in charge. It took 1.5 hours from Taipei due to bus infrequency.

The school has 4 floors but only about 270 students because the area doesn't have enough residents.

Our team outside the school

In the evening Hui Chee, Eason and I went to eat sukiyaki at Ximending. It was all you can eat and so delicious! I definitely ate too much beef but also a ton of vegetables because they offered many types.

After dinner we wanted to watch Monsters University since it came out that day but tickets were sold out until the 10:00pm show so we went for that one. The movie was so cute and brought back childhood memories of when I watched Monsters Inc.!

Monsters University in 3D

Take care,

Taiwan Day 47: Revisiting Gongguan and NTU

Day Forty Seven

Finally caught up with my posts! In the morning my team for the camp project came over to our homestay's house to work on the camp rundown and to prepare our sessions. I left for a bit in the afternoon to meet Irene who reached out to me after reading my blog! We talked about internships and Canada which made me miss home a little.

Back at the house, we worked on the camp until 5:00pm then went to Gongguan to meet up with the others. I tried the famous supposedly best bubble tea in Taiwan (photo below) but it was only mediocre to me. The drink was too sweet and didn't taste like much.

"Best" bubble tea store

We walked around the National Taiwan University because it was only next door at Gongguan Night Market. Hui Chee and I visited before on Day 24. I think this is a sign that I've been in Taipei for too long because I'm visiting some places twice like NTU and Bitan Bridge two days ago.

At National Taiwan University

We enjoyed a yummy Korean dinner which was all you can eat. There was pancake, bibimbap, Korean rice cake, bbq and lots of banchan. Although not very authentic, the food was plentiful!

Take care,

Taiwan Day 46: Training Day

Day Forty Six

June 26th was a really long day for me because I could not sleep at all! Therefore I was awake from June 25th all the way until 7am of June 26th. I don't know what was wrong but I just couldn't sleep. Instead, I finally gave up trying to sleep at 4am and got out of bed to exercise for an hour, shower and lay in bed until 7am when I was suppose to be up.

William, Hui Chee and I had been working on a Training Day for the Organizing Committee (OC) of the summer camps that we will be hosting for elementary and secondary students next week. Some of the OC members feel uncomfortable hosting an entire camp in English so the purpose of our Training Day was to prepare them for that and to remind them of why they joined to host the camp in the first place.

From 9:30am to 5:00pm we had sessions, discussions, rehearsals and mock scenarios. I was so happy to see it come together and watch our planning for this Training Day pay off.

William presenting

OC and Exchange Participants

Take care,

Taiwan Day 45: Bitan Bridge at Night

Day Forty Five

Although it is almost 12am and I have to be up by 6am tomorrow I can't put off blogging anymore because I will have more and more days piled up! So Day 45 was June 25 and a filled day.

We had a meeting during lunch time about our project while enjoying my delicious burger.

Meeting

The next batch of exchange participants for the summer arrived so we went to meet them. They were a varied bunch from Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia and Australia! It was fun getting to meet new friends and made me a bit nostalgic because only 7 weeks ago that was myself. I was once that clueless about Taiwan myself and now I could tell them where to go and what's fun to do.

In the evening we went to Bitan Bridge again and the lighted up version was even nicer than when we went in the daytime here. Although nighttime, the humidity still made the walk sweaty :/

Bitan Bridge

Entire Bitan Bridge

It is a bit sad that as I am about to leave at the end of the project, my new friends just came to start theirs so I won't get to spend much time with them but so glad I still got a chance to meet them! :)

Take care,

Taiwan Day 44: Souvenir Shopping

Day Forty Four

With some free time on my hands I went souvenir shopping at the Taipei Main Station underground mall. I wasn't too sure about what to buy so I got what Taiwan does best: food. These boxes were heavy to carry!

Souvenirs

When I had a conversation with a Taiwanese saying how much I liked the papaya milk here, he told me that I had to try the Avocado Milk. So I did today and it has become an addition to my favourite drinks! This store that I went to was especially good :) Inside the drink is creamy milk, a spoon of pudding, syrup and avocado. The taste is like sweet pudding milk with a hint of avocado so it is very easy to drink. Plus I loved the thickness of the texture.

Avocado Milk

In the evening Hui Chee and I watched Django Unchained while doing our face masks. I'm not sure how I feel about this movie. Before watching it, a friend had told me that it was funny but the cruel parts to the slaves in the movie make it hard to laugh.

Django Unchained

Take care,

Taiwan Day 43: Meetings days

Day Forty Three

It was good that I stayed in today because it was pouring rain again in Taipei and my umbrella is pretty broken. I did buy a big yellow poncho for the typhoon season though! Doesn't seem like I will need to use it since I don't have that many days left in Taiwan and typhoon season hasn't hit yet.

Had two separate meetings to discuss the camp we are holding for primary and secondary school students next week from 2:00-8:30pm but it didn't feeling tiring at all! Rather it felt very productive and I love that feeling.

Meeting mode

Anyways I wrote an article about How to Navigate a Taiwanese Night Market published on VergeMagazine.com so please check it out! (Read here)

The photo in the post is of Monga Nightmarket located outside Longshan Temple in Wanhua.

Take care,

Taiwan Day 42: Tour of Ximending

Day Forty Two

At 9:30am we went to class which was an outdoors one today at Ximending. It is a popular area for youth in Taipei now but didn't always used to be so. The area became developed during Japanese colonization and housed some of the first theatres in Taiwan. Due to Japanese influence, theatres came to Taiwan only years after it began in France.

Ximending tour

In 1935 a type of world expo was held in Ximen for 50 days where countries from all over the world came to host their own exhibition. In those 50 days they attracted almost 300 000 visitors worldwide which I found impressive given the inaccessibility of transport in 1935.

Japanese buildings in Ximen

There's a graffiti street in Ximen designated for the artists because they didn't want them to vandalize the area. The art really added to the colourful vibe of present day Ximending. Apparently more than 240 000 people visit Ximending every week of which 40% are high school students, 20% are college or university aged youth and 20% tourists. Local adults and elders hung out at Ximending when they were young but don't return when they get older because they feel like they don't belong due to the fast pace of the area.

Graffiti Street

In the evening Hui Chee, Elvira and I had dinner with AIESECers. Many of them were new faces which was cool but unfortunately only one of them is remaining in AIESEC while the others are all leaving.

Overall a very fulfilling dinner :) The upcoming week will be one of our busiest yet because it is preparation for the finale to our internship project here in Taiwan. 

Take care,