Blogs from Danshui, Taipei, Taiwan, Asia

Queue the Who! (CSI Miami reference) Alright, so in my attempt to play catch up with my blogs, I’m going to cover my three trips to the beach I made so far (not counting my time at GaoXiong, which will be a totally separate blog). So pitch the super umbrellas and lay out the towels, it’s time to catch some rays of light (see what I did there? That can mean the sun and enlightening knowledge! Awww yeah). Sept 10th: So being new to Taiwan and the coast, Ben, next door neighbor Cuauhtémoc Reale (I’m not going to lie, I still can’t pronounce his name, so I’m calling him by his last name from here on out. And if you’re curious, he’s half Mexican and half Canadian – which if you average the two makes him ... read more

Zajtrk je bil kar ze brunch, in sicer pri drugem kaficu za vogalom, tokrat luo bo kao z jajcem in tistim njihovim super cajem. Potem pa v Beitou! Gre za postajo nedalec stran in zelo znano lokacijo toplic oz. hot springs! tajvan je namrec nabasan s temi hot springi, in ce kdo, potem sem jaz veliki ljubitelj teh zadevscin, tudi v soncnem vremenu in kaksnih plus 25 stopinjah. Ampak najprej besedica o busih tu. Placas ob vstopu ali izstopu, vozniki pa se pogosto zahvalijo potnikom ob izstopu in oni njemu. Noro, kaj takega sem do sedaj dozivela le v Vancouvru. Mimogrede, do sedaj lahko recem, da me Tajpej spominja malce na Singapur. MRT je fascinantno ucinkovit, same stacune in soping povsod, hrana je odlicna, arhitektura je moderna, blazno je cisto ... ampak nekako ima vec duse, ... read more

The food, oh the food! The food is quite worth mentioning, because it's nothing like I've ever experienced elsewhere. Meats and vegetables are fresher than I have ever seen. The tastes are amazing, and utilized in ways I have never thought of, and has awoken taste-buds I didn't know exists. There are more vegetables to choose from here than I've ever seen in an American grocery store, and it looks like it was JUST PICKED five minutes ago, and is there right in front of you. Even the chickens are killed right there, and they put them in water to drain the blood, and then put them out on the counter. It is divine. (My apologies to the vegetarians) Oh ya, and I ate a chicken foot. It is supposed to be full of collagen, hence ... read more

At some point around midnight or so I made it to LAX. I was feeling a little rushed, but not as much as when I left FL. Passed a bunch of airlines... still wondering if Malaysian truly exists... and there they are down the third row. Now I just have to hope that a series of events occurs that results in me boarding this plane. OK, my ticket is confirmed, it's looking pretty good until they say that having a one-way ticket is no good and i have to buy my onward ticket now. No problem, I'll go to Hong Kong... but for some reason I have to go to another airline to buy that ticket. Over at Cathay, they kinda take forever, but the ticket costs what I expect. Hey this should be simple; I ... read more

March 30 So lucky I checked my flight last night because they changed it on about 8 hours early. Which I was a little bummed about because I didn't get to do the last few things I wanted to do but was good because I was getting into Taiwan earlier. The flight was fine. I found the bus to take me to Taipei main center. Then I called Talbot the couch surfer guy I'm staying with and he picked me up from the metro close to his house. He is a nice guy. American teaching English here in Taipei. When we got back to his place we took his dog molly a golden for a little walk. Then we grabbed some food chatted a bit and I passed out watching tv. March 31 Let's see today ... read more

April 3 So today I headed out to hit a few beaches. First up was Fulobg beach. It want a great beach and it had a decent lil wave. There was a river mouth splitting the beach so the waves had some form to it and the wind was off shore. The water felt around 60ish though. I walked around here a bit then hopped back on the train and headed to Dasi beach. This was a tiny town not much there. The surf spot was about 1/2 k down the road in a lil cove area called honeymoon beach. The name is much nicer then what it actually is. No resorts or anything just a foundation from something. The beach itself was mostly black stone. That was the most interesting part it was black sand ... read more

Kristen writes: Sorry it’s been a while since we’ve written you last, but it’s been busy here since that time. Nick has started school at National Taiwan University, and it’s been rather routine here since we’ve communicated last. It’s been a lot of homework and study for Nick, so he’s been focusing a lot on that at the moment. I am supporting him as much as possible. I’m very proud of him!!! I know a lot of you have been wondering and asking what I’ve been doing since I’ve arrived here. After working for almost ten years straight without a real vacation, I feel this is a well-deserved break, and so I’ve decided to come out here simply to support Nick and be with him. I know that some people can’t understand that concept and feel ... read more