Author: Sharon

It’s a gray and drizzly day but we didn’t let that stop us from seeing more of Taipei. The MRT (subway), with a station just outside our hotel, makes it easy to get around the city, even if the distance looks daunting on the map. Today we set a course for the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.

This complex is more than a memorial space. It’s surrounded by beautiful gardens;

And two ornate buildings which house the National Theater and National Concert Hall.

We left the grounds to wander the streets of the Zhongzheng neighborhood. The Nanmen Market at lunchtime was a busy place – very clean and organized.

Outside the market, we saw people lined up to buy “shaobing”, a baked layered flatbread that tasted like a stuffed bagel.

When we see a line at a food stand, we know that it must be worth the wait. Ours were hot, tasty, filled with scallions and topped with white sesame seeds. The photo below shows the barrel-shaped charcoal oven.

We couldn’t resist one of these passion-fruit flavored cream-filled donut pastries. They are available in many flavors!

Yellow and red caladiums brightened up a drizzling day!

We’ve enjoyed another day of wandering. Taipei is great because the subway makes it so easy to get around, the city is clean, and there are many public restrooms. Plus, there is something interesting around every corner. We’re happy to be back here for a few days.

Tainan is one of our favorite cities. People complain about the traffic, but to us it seemed well managed, with traffic police helping cars, scooters, and people move relatively smoothly. The scooters are a nuisance and you do have to stay alert, but it’s better than many other Asian cities we’ve visited.

There are two Art museums in Tainan, both beautifully designed. The interior of Building 1 is open and contemporary.

We enjoyed seeing an extensive collection of works by Taiwanese artist Tseng Pei-yao.  This is just one:

Just down the street, Museum Building 2 was equally impressive. This past weekend the museum was hosting a design show.

Around town there were street fairs in various locations with arts and craft stalls and street musicians…this young man from Japan was especially talented.

Murals around town leave us puzzled…

We saw floats and people lining up for a parade which seemed to have a religious purpose. None of the people associated with the parade could tell us  when it was set to begin.

Along the way, we gather simple garden display ideas.

Our last evening in Tainan, we went to a Japanese teppanyaki restaurant, where we had a delicious seafood okonomiyaki -a savory pancake cooked on a teppen (grill) right at our table.

This morning we took the High Speed Train from Tainan to Taipei – a ride that took about 1 hour and 45 minutes. While we enjoyed the fast train ride, we had to take a taxi to an out-of-town station which added cost and negated some of the time savings we anticipated.

It’s raining and cooler in Taipei and it feels refreshing compared to the hot temps in Tainan. We’ll be here until the end of the week – there’s still a lot of this city to see!

 

We’ve been moving around Tainan at a pretty active pace, so today we decided to move a bit slower. It’s hot and humid so we’re finding that we need to do laundry often. It’s a good off-day activity. Larry is a whizz at using Google Maps to find laundromat locations but reading maps in Chinese was a challenge. It took us over an hour to find the location but once there, a helpful attendant told us all we needed to know. The machine (made by a Japanese company) did the washing and drying in the same machine for about $5.00 U.S.  The entire wash/dry cycle took an hour and we were able to leave to have lunch while we waited.

The Christmas Market just opened here! Recordings of Jingle Bells and other American favorite holiday tunes are playing non-stop.

This evening, we went to a Night Market in search of some good food. We took a bus part of the way so that we could walk from there to the market. We took a wrong turn and ended up in a dark alley. A young man on a motor scooter stopped and asked where we were trying to go. He said that it would be best for us to take a taxi. He then diverted from his route and rode his motorcycle to the main street, hailed a cab for us, and told the driver where to take us. It was such a kind gesture . Nowhere else in the world have we encountered people as gracious and kind as the Taiwanese.

The market was fun with dozens of food stalls to choose from…selling colorful balls of gelatin, stinky tofu, chicken fingers, and chocolate banana pancakes to name a few. These night markets have a carnival vibe, sort of like a miniature state fair.

The sunset this evening was pink – an interesting background for this blue creature lurking on the other side of the street.

We have a two more days here before we move back to Taipei for the last days of our trip.

 

 

We don’t have to walk far in this town to find either a tea shop or a temple. Each one gives a chance to relax after a long walk. The temple below is the Tianhou Temple, one of three major temples in Taiwan from the Qing Dynasty.

The Koxinga Shrine is dedicated to the historical figure Koxinga who was given the same status as a god. The beautiful gardens surrounding the shrine are a nice place to visit even if you don’t have an interest in the shrine.

Our feet needed a rest and we felt that we had earned an afternoon tea. Larry discovered a new-to-us version, iced tea with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  It’s better than it sounds!

And if we need a cup of tea at night we have this option near our hotel.

We are traveling at a slow pace, taking our time to explore different neighborhoods in Tainan. Today we took a bus to Anping, a seaside village. We’ve learned that Koxinga (on the horse above) chose the name of the city which means “place of peace.” We toured the fort there and then found a nice lunch spot on this landlocked boat.

Tainan has been a nice place to relax and explore! We hope that all is well with you.

On our last full day in Taichung we walked to the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts and visited the current exhibitions; bought a Sun Cake, a flaky pastry filled with honey; and checked out a nearby street market. We liked Taichung but we found the city complicated to navigate. While we found many interesting things to do and we were grateful to find a safe, comfortable place to hang out during the storm, it was time to move on. Monday morning we packed up and walked to the train station for the 1.5 hour trip to Tainan.

Our first stop when we arrived in Tainan was the Tourist Office. A helpful young woman pointed out the bus stop and wrote down the name of the stop closest to our hotel.

Down the street, a lady who was about to get on a bike-share noticed that we were looking for the bus stop. She then stopped what she was doing, told us she wanted to practice her English, and carefully told us which bus to take, and exactly where to catch it.

From then on, a whole host of people helped us get to the right stop. Passengers on the bus asked us where we were going and then made sure we got off at the right stop. Even the bus driver called out to let us know when we arrived. The people we met were so helpful and kind… it was like we’d fetched up in Lollipop Land! With the help of the good people of Tainan and Google Maps, we arrived safely at our hotel.

Our first impressions of Tainan are very positive. It’s a larger city than we expected and very clean.

Tainan was one of Taiwan’s early capitals and it’s known for its culinary culture. While this photo wouldn’t make it in Food and Wine Magazine, it was a decent lunch with chicken, rice, and vegetables for $2.50.

Today we visited the Tainan Confucius Temple also known as “Taiwan’s First Institute of Learning” built in 1665.

Young couples come to have photos taken on the temple grounds. The couple below is in the Hall of Ethics. We learned from the brochure that the calligraphy on the wall was intended to encourage scholars to be worthy and virtuous people.

We’ve never seen an orange hibiscus but we think that this one looks pretty against the the rose colored wall.

We’ve met some interesting people today; a couple from Texas who were raised in Taiwan and a Scottish man, Charlie who’s traveling alone around Asia. It’s nice to meet fellow travelers and many people ask us about the upcoming Presidential election – everyone seems to be watching.

We like Tainan and plan to spend the rest of the week here as there is still much to explore.

Sharon and Larry

 

Taichung is a larger city than we realized. The population in 2024 was around 1,040,725 which might explain why we’ve had difficulty trying to figure out what’s where. We are staying in the “old” section of the city, so on Saturday, we set out to explore the “newer” part of town. Along the way we found pretty parks;

a pot of lotus flowers;

And some very tall buildings.

Not all of the newer part of the city is shining…there are still some gritty areas too.

In spite of this, we are amazed by how clean the streets and sidewalks are. The puzzling thing is that there are very few trash cans around. We’ve learned this and take a small plastic bag with us for any trash we might accumulate during the day.

A beautiful Botanical Garden is in the new part of town with lush tropical plants;

and a giant glass dome that encloses a rain forest environment.

The public transportation system isn’t great here so we walked over seven miles on Saturday. At the end of the day, we felt that we’d earned some ice cream at the famous Miyahara shop. The ice cream flavors are exotic and the historic building that was formerly an ophthalmology clinic is an elaborate and beautiful space.

The shop is already decorated for Christmas, and holiday music plays while people shop for beautifully wrapped packages of chocolates, cookies, pineapple cakes, and oolong tea..

At the end of the day, the sun is setting and our weary legs remind us that it’s time to return to our hotel. It was a very nice day.

The hotel in Taichung is such a sound structure that we could barely hear the wind and rain. The storm moved through while we were sleeping and this morning the streets were wet and the skies gray but there wasn’t any flooding in the city that we could see. People, cars, and scooters were bustling about the city after a day when nearly everything was closed. The young woman at the hotel front desk told us that it’s a “special experience” to be here during a typhoon.

There is a nice small lounge area where we could read and relax during the day. We took our noodle cups, cake, and beer there for a memorable dinner last night.

Today we walked to the rail station for a tourist map and then found our way to the Taichung Park.

It’s been a quiet day – a chance to catch up on laundry and explore more of the city. It’s a mix of old and new.

With interesting alleyways and shops.

We feel grateful that we found a safe place to stay during the typhoon. Other cities experienced more rain and wind than Taichung.

We’ll spend the weekend here before we travel to our next stop, Tainan.

Hoping all is well where you are!

Today is the day (Thursday, October 31) that typhoon Kong-rey will make landfall on the island of Taiwan. We’ve read that everything except the 7-Eleven’s will be closed today.  This morning the skies are gray and it looks breezy from what little we can see from the window of our room. We’re staying in the Blue Sky Hotel though the name doesn’t match the day.

We wandered around the city of Taichung yesterday – it seems like there is quite a lot to do here so we’ll explore more after the storm. Taichung is the third largest city in Taiwan.

We’ve been encouraged to stay inside as the storm passes through. We have plenty of food and water. We loaded up on noodle cups, fruit, yogurt, cake, and a beer to share. No one here seems too concerned and we feel like we’re in a sturdy structure so we’re not too worried!

We did make a quick trip to the 7-Eleven where people were watching the final game of World Series on the big screen.

Cheers!

Sharon and Larry

We planned our travels to avoid typhoon season but, the first typhoon to arrive in November since 1967 is heading this way! We’ve been following the track of the storm for the last couple of days and it looks like it will make landfall on the eastern coast. To be safe(ish) we spent this morning readjusting our itinerary. We learned that it might be safer to be away from the coast and in a larger city. We’ll leave Taipei as scheduled to take a train to Taichung, a large city in the interior of the island. According to news reports,  “Taiwan will be hardest hit by the storm on Thursday and Friday. The weather will improve over the weekend, though lingering moisture could bring additional rain to some parts of the country.”

We’ve totally rescheduled our trip and will save Hualien (originally our next destination after Taipei) for later in the trip.

We’ve spent the last couple of days wandering around Taipei. Yesterday we went to the famous Taipei 101 Building.  This very tall structure is sits on top of a shopping mall. In the photo below the 101 Building is on the right.

We find lovely walkways and parks all around the city.

Today we took a long bus ride to visit the National Palace Museum. We saw beautiful ceramics,

and the Jadeite Cabbage along with some beautiful jewelry.

Things in Taiwan are amazingly organized and efficient. At the entrance to the metro stations is a rack of umbrellas that you can rent for a few hours on a rainy day.

Leaving the hotel on our way to dinner this evening we were in the elevator with another couple. We had a conversation with them and discovered that they they’re from Atlanta too!

The winds are picking up but we should be at our next stop in Taichung by mid-afternoon tomorrow.  We’ll get some supplies and prepare to stay put for a day or two until the storm passes. These storms are very fickle so it could be a false alarm or maybe lots of wind and rain. In any case, we’ll be careful!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have many delicious dining options in Taipei and we’re enjoying food from various Asian cultures. In addition to Taiwanese Street Food we’ve eaten at Indonesian and Thai restaurants. All very good!

People line up at this stall on Yongkang Street in the Da’an District to try the popular Scallion Pancake. There are several options to chose from like egg and basil or egg and cheese. They were filling and cheap…50 Taiwanese dollars or $1.56 in U.S.D.

To quench our thirst we bought a fruit drink sweetened with sugar cane, flavored with kumquat juice and embellished with unexpected “bubbles” or pearls of tapioca. It was very tasty! Interestingly, it was Taiwanese immigrants who brought bubble tea to the U.S. in the 1990’s.

There are many interesting eateries on Yongkang Street and we plan to return to try other spots like the one below.

We visited the beautiful Longshan Temple which was established in 1738.

We’re walking lots and enjoying the sites. It was a big weekend in Taipei with the Gay Pride Parade and Halloween celebrations around the city.  As we returned to the hotel from dinner this evening, we first noticed this Ramen Noodle Shop with every variety of packaged noodles imaginable – then we noticed the World Series being broadcast on the T.V. screen in the window.

It’s been a good weekend here. We have two more days in Taipei before we move to our next spot – Hualien.