Author: mochatruffalo
Yesterday was the 6-hour walking tour. Today is the 7-hour car trip from Marrakech to Fez. Before leaving Marrakech, we stopped by the Majorelle Garden, which was closed for the last 2 days. Normally a popular and crowded garden, we had the whole place to ourselves thanks to the fact that there are hardly any … Continue reading Marrakech to Fez
Our tour guide, Yousef, met us at the riad shortly after breakfast for our 6-hour walking tour. Before retirement, we always felt the need for a vacation after returning home from vacation, because the trips were always packed to the hilt so that we could see as much as possible. Since we’ve retired we’ve approached … Continue reading Marrakech – The 6-Hour Walking Marathon
After conking out for 11 hours last night, we woke up refreshed and ready to go. Breakfast at the hotel Casablanca is a modernized city, and wasn’t exactly what we were looking for on this trip, so we were pretty happy to leave and move onto the next city, Marrakech, which is a 3-hour drive … Continue reading Marrakech – Day 1
We got off the flight completely jet lagged. Morocco is 8 hours ahead of California, and we didn’t get a chance to adjust while in NYC. With hardly any sleep on the plane, we landed in Casablanca bright and early in the morning ready to go to bed. Watching the sun rise over the Atlantic … Continue reading Casablanca
Our Morocco trip was booked back in late 2019 for April 2020. With the pandemic, the trip was postponed. Since this trip was booked pre-retirement, the duration of the trip was only for a week, which is short by today’s standards. Morocco is open to US travelers, albeit with restrictions. First, we had to test … Continue reading Pandemic Travel – Africa Edition
The first leg of our trip to Morocco involved flying domestically from the West Coast (LAX) to the East Coast (JFK), since Royal Air Maroc had cut out all direct flights to Morocco except for the JFK route. Domestic travel is nothing like international travel. The crowds! Everyone, minus the grandmother, is traveling! Had we … Continue reading LAX to JFK Flight
Joshua Tree National Park is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from us - a nice day trip for a hike. Of the 15 National Parks we’ve been to in 6 states, this one ranks smack dab in the middle of my favorite (#1&2 being Zion and Grand Teton). Judging by my list of favorite … Continue reading Joshua Tree National Park
Being in nature makes me happy, and National Parks are a great source of that happiness. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels that way, because the people you meet on hiking trails are in general the nicest and happiest bunch you’ll ever encounter. How can you not be happy when Mother Nature … Continue reading Death Valley National Park – Day 2
Once retired one has nothing but free time. Add a little dose of spontaneity, and you get last minute trips like our Death Valley National Park trip. Thanks to the internet, a quick research can help cobble up a trip in less than 12 hours. And thanks to credit card reward points, one can score … Continue reading Death Valley National Park – Day 1
I generally book flights directly from airlines, but when Kayak showed a lower fare through FlightHub (a travel agency based in Canada), back in November 2019, I went with them. I understood at the time that the airfare was non refundable, and I was willing to take the risk thinking what could possibly throw a … Continue reading FlightHub Experience
Having been to different countries and places, the sunset at home is still the best.
So it appears that I’m one of the few insane people flying into Covid territory that is known as California. Most people want to fly into Taiwan, not out these days, especially given that Chinese Lunar New Year is coming up in 3 weeks. As for me, I have a husband home alone whom I’d … Continue reading Flying Back to the US
The site we visited today is a mouthful - Double Dragon Waterfall Rainbow Suspension Bridge (雙龍瀑布七彩吊橋). The Double Dragon refers to the double waterfalls, and the rainbow suspension bridge is the longest in Taiwan. The town that it’s located in is named after the two waterfalls - 雙龍 in Nantou (南投) area, about an hour … Continue reading Double Dragon Waterfall Rainbow Suspension Bridge
My initial expectation of the Xitou Nature Area (溪頭自然區) was that it was going to be a walk in the park, so all I had with me was a small daypack with my sweatshirt, wallet, and passport. I donned my Vans and was ready for a stroll with the parents. Entry fee is 200NT ($7) … Continue reading An Unexpected Hike
I had wanted to visit Sun Moon Lake (日月潭）in Nantou (南投), but ended up in Xitou (溪頭) because dad kept raving about Le Midi, reportedly one of the prettiest hotels in Taiwan (trust me it is not). Luckily, there are hiking trails in the area so I was willing to change my plans. The drive … Continue reading Road Trip to Xitou 溪頭
Tim Ho Wan is a Cantonese dim sum place that has US franchises - a couple in NYC, one in Irvine, Vegas, Houston, and Waikiki each, so it wasn’t top of my list to hit while in Taiwan. However, I wanted to open up my parent’s culinary horizons beyond Ikea food, so we ventured out … Continue reading Tim Ho Wan 添好運
After weeks of rain and cold weather, the sun finally came out these last 3 days. We took advantage of the warmer weather to visit the Wulai 烏來 area, which is known for its hot springs, waterfalls, and aborigines. We decided to go to NeiDong 內洞 National Forest with our packed breakfast to enjoy the … Continue reading Wulai 烏來
Quarantine in Taiwan is 14+7, meaning strict quarantine for 14 days, and 7 days of self home management where you should avoid public areas, but if you must go out you need to wear a face mask at all times. I finally finished my 3 weeks of quarantine and was eager to enter into the … Continue reading End of Official Quarantine
My quarantine ended at midnight, and I was picked up by mom and dad at 10 after. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one checking out of the quarantine hotel at that hour. Some of us wanted out ASAP. I could have stayed until after breakfast, but mom insisted on picking me up early because I … Continue reading Taste Of Freedom
Two weeks have finally passed, and I have survived quarantine. I really can’t say it was very difficult, as various friends and family have constantly texted, video chatted, and called every single day to keep me company. I would imagine it would have been much more difficult had I not had any contact with the … Continue reading Survived Quarantine
I’ve just experienced one of the strongest earthquakes in my life. The epicenter was located offshore 15 miles east of Taipei, and the quake was measured at a 6.2. Being on the 7th floor definitely made it much worse. The swaying lasted longer than any other earthquakes I’ve been through, and I have to admit … Continue reading Huge Earthquake!
Update - in less than 24 hours, the government located and tested the missing Vietnamese migrant (negative for COVID). Unfortunately for her, she’ll likely be deported back to Vietnam. According to dad, there is a huge migrant population in Taiwan since locals no longer want to do the back breaking work of yore. A lot … Continue reading Beef Noodle Soup
One more week of quarantine to go. There’s some rumbling that there may be some community COVID cases in Taiwan. Nothing confirmed, but the fact that one Indonesian migrant worker tested positive after she was discharged from the 14-day quarantine caused authorities to be worried. As a result of the positive case, the health department … Continue reading Halfway There
I have so far settled into a routine in quarantine. Wake up at 4-6AM, have a light breakfast (coffee with fruit), walk for at least an hour, and then have the breakfast that the hotel has prepared at 8AM. The collective response to today’s breakfast was “What?” The rest of my morning walk is often … Continue reading Quarantine Routine
Quarantine day 5. Now that I’m down to one meal a day, I’m finally starting to feel a little hungry. I was going to finish up all the fruits that mom and dad had dropped off before ordering from Uber Eats, but I could only eat so much dragon fruit at one time before the … Continue reading Uber Eats
FIRE'd @ 47 