Category: Taiwan
When people think of Taiwan, they think night market, building 101, high-mountain tea. But, once you scratch past the surface, you’ll realize how much more Taiwan has to offer, especially for hikers. The island is beautiful outside the city. No wonder the Portuguese called it ‘Ilha Formosa’ when they first set their eyes on the … Continue reading Four Days, Four Hikes
While en route to the gym and Din Tai Fung two weeks ago, I lost my California driver’s license. Neither the gym nor the restaurant had it, so the next logical possibility was the Taipei Metro system. I filled out a lost and found claim on the Taipei MRT App, but was resigned to the … Continue reading The Future Is Here
It’s been almost 3 weeks since we’ve landed in Taipei. A couple days after arriving, we developed mild flu-like symptoms which made me think we caught the flu since our Covid tests were negative 3 days in a row. Unfortunately, Joe lost his sense of smell a few days later, and a repeat Covid test … Continue reading Taiwan Routine
Post-pandemic airfares have been obstinately high this year due to increased demand and limited supply. Travelers have been willing to pay for these astronomical prices just so they can get away after being stuck at home for 2 years. Premium economy prices on transpacific flights have now doubled. Round trip business class flights now cost … Continue reading EVA Air Royal Laurel
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
Well that was fast. In the last two days I’ve asked the hotel to cancel first my dinners, and then my lunches. First, it is just too much food. Second, the meals tho varied, aren’t really. The repeat offenders - sweet corn, broccoli, baby corn, pepper, cauliflower. They’re even laid out in the same way. … Continue reading Quarantine Day 3
I debated whether to journal everyday during quarantine or not. There isn’t much to talk about as nothing much is happening. However, journaling helps pass some time. Time flows very slowly during quarantine. So far I have spent the bulk of the time consuming news on the internet. Joe and I don’t have the habit … Continue reading Day 1 of Quarantine
This time being back in Asia feels like being back home, even though home for me has always been in the US for the last 30 years. It hasn’t always been this way. I used to feel a sense of relief when back in the US after a trip overseas. The cumulative unfortunate events in … Continue reading Arriving in Taiwan
Well, that sure didn’t take long. I didn’t expect that I would be hopping on a plane 2 weeks after arriving back to the States from our 2-month Turkey trip. The original thought was to fly to Taiwan sometime in January or February of next year. However, the trip serendipitously came together within 24 hours … Continue reading Going To Taiwan
FIRE'd @ 47 