The Long Way To Japan - Part 2

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Arrived in Chiang Mia after a 12 hour train ride wasn't too bad. At least I had a flat bed for this trip and even if it wasn't the comfortable bed I've ever been in I was still lying flat which was good. Making it to the hostel around 9am and having to wait around until 2pm for check in wasn't too bad, I got to catch up a bit on the net and make a couple of Skype calls. Have I mentioned how much I love Skype, Line and Whatsapp?? technology these days is Awesome!! If you don't have them get them now!! haha

Chiang Mai was good, straight away you feel the people are more friendly and not trying to scrap every last cent out of you, except for the tuk tuk drivers but they are the same everywhere. I pretty much just walked around looking at more temples etc. was starting to get templed out by this stage.. there's only so many temples one can see that is especially not religionist. I did meet a Monk that wanted to practise his English which was pretty cool. He was 16 years old and told me about his family and the village from where he came from, this was really cool. The night I went out trying to find a bar I could have a couple of drinks at and meet some people. I did come across one that had a pool table and after my pool playing time with the hookers in Bangkok I was keen to have a game. I played against this English guy, Corby his name was and beat him on his own table. He was a little guttered about this but still all friend. I called it a night after that.



The next few days I rented a scooter and rode around town just checking out the place and while riding down one of the alley ways went pass a little Cafe Shop called The Shack Cafe that I thought looked nice and feeling like a coffee I pull in to have a drink. This was the best move I made in whole Thailand, meeting Penny a beautiful Thai girl who owns the cafe and Chris an American photographer living in Chiang Mai. Instantly I felt these people were really my type of people, easy going, relaxed, kind and happy!! My one coffee turned into being invited to dinner and drinking cocktails and later going out with Chris and a few of his friends to some lady boy bars to get some photos. I remember we met up with Penny and Myrtlye later in the night. This was such a good time! I remember drinking and just laughing non stop with some crazy dancing to go with it all. Chris still had his camera and I pretty sure got some crazy photos which I kinda scare of seeing if they ever see the light of day. The rest of my time in Chiang Mia I just hung out at The Shack Cafe with Penny just chatting and drinking coffee while trying all these different types of dishes Penny and her mum made, really good times. It was time to leave, so saying goodbye to all my new friends in Chiang Mia it was off to Singapore for me.



In Singapore I didn't really do too much, having been there before and not really the cheapest country to go to, I just relaxed a bit. I did happen to meet Alex that I went to MotoGP with in Malaysia which was pretty cool, didn't go out together because he was flying back to Canada but just caught up on stories. I also which to a park in Singapore with a Japanese girl I met at the hostel, while trying to practise my Japanese. It wasn't long and it was time to go to Taiwan!!



Landing in Taiwan the first thing I notice was it was cold!! First time this trip in Asia I really felt the cold, not freezing but enough to notice it. Finding the bus terminal without a problem and then training to my hostel all went pretty smoothly until I arrived at the hostel at around 9am. I had the normal having to wait until 2pm to be able to check in which was no problem but when I asked to have a shower in there communial set up showers I was told i'd have to wait until I checked in, which I thought was an over reaction. Amazingly enough they still let me use their toilet which I made sure I used to it's full extent due to my stomach still feeling a little rough from all the thia food. With time on my hands I thought I'd go for a walk around the area. The time was around 10am by this point and another big difference I noticed was 95% of the shops where still closed, I couldn't believe it. Later I found out Taiwan pretty much doesn't start its day until around 11am but runs to 10pm-12am everyday, well that's the shops anyways. While I was woundering around I heard what seemed to me a huge explosion from down one of the streets, as I looked down it I could see this massive cloud of smoke feeling the street and raising up the buildings. I seriously thought a building had collapsed but the people around me didn't blink an eye lid making me second guess myself. I straight away changed my direction and walked towards the big cloud being 200m down the road. Getting closer the noise stopped and I could see a big crowd of people standing around and then people all in costume and dancing around. Later I found out this parade only happens twice a year and I was extremely lucky to see it. Great start to Taiwan!! I took plenty of photos and also photos with some of the guys dressed as warriors/demons it seemed to me, one of the best photos I have ever got from my travels. Following the parade down the next couple of streets I found out that first noise I heard was from fire crackers, and there was millions of them covering the road it was insane!! they set off another street full of fire works and being only a few meters away the noise was deafening not to mention the smoke covering everything and there were people closer than I was. Being overwhelmed with the parade I had a smile ear to ear and ended up talking to some guys apart of the parade who let me put on one of the big costumes and walk down the street for 100m being apart of the festival, how cool is that!! with about 200 extra photos on my memory card and following the parade for nearly 1 km around the street I thought it was time to head back to the hostel to check in and maybe even get my shower.



Evening soon come around and being the only western in the hostel and pretty much the only one that could speak English I thought I'd google a few bars in taipei and see how I go. Taking the MRT (subway) to a different area I come across a Tissot shop and with my knock off Tissot MotoGP watch losing it's strap bolt I thought I'd try my chances getting it fixed. This was yet another Taiwan good luck time, the girl at the stored had a spare bolt and the next day fitted it for me with her and another worker unable to tell the difference between my knock off version and the real thing, Score!! back to finding the bars I googled I manage to find one that was pretty busy, “Brass Monkey” and it was lady's night even tho when I got in there were twice as many guys than girls. This was were I met Fiona a Taiwanese girl that a few days later showed me a couple of cool bars which I would of never of found by myself. With some drinks and a bit of dancing it was time to call it for the first day in Taiwan and what a day it was.



Day 2 in Taipie, Taiwan I took it pretty easy during the just walking around and really only wanting to see one thing and that was Tiapei 101 the tallest building in the world a few years ago before Dubai and now Tokyo with it Skytree. Slowly making my way there walking instead of talking the MRT to soaking in the vibe of the city I met Sylvia at an intersection while crossing the road. I didn't know it at the start but Sylvia would turn into a friend I believe will have for a long time to come. She had travelled a fair bit of Australia before and loved the backpacker lifestyle so straight away had heaps to talk about. She showed me 101 and then had to leave but organised to meet later on and she'd show my a bit of Taiwan's night life. 101 was an impressive building but was becoming a little difficult to take a good photo of with all the other buildings around and only having my little flexy tripod but still got a couple of good shots. After 101 I just walked around the shopping district which doesn't sound interesting but was pretty cool because the Taiwanese people are so friendly and everywhere I went i'd talk to new people which was fun. That night I met with Sylvia again and went to a club called Luxy which was pretty cool, some how the bouncer let us skip the huge line as well, great start. The night was spent dancing non stop and watching Taiwanese hip hop group performing on stage which was interesting.



Next few days in Taipei was spent partying, Taiwan is a great place to have a party, but I also went to the big night market in Taipei Sheldon. The night market was pretty cool with a lot of good deals and food everywhere you look. I tried a few Taiwanese foods, chicken schnitzel with chilly powder and a soup with oysters in it which wasn't too bad.



It was time to leave Taipei and the next stop was Taichung. Ordering my bus ticket the girl at the counter didn't understand me even tho she spoke perfect english and gave me the wrong bus ticket. This wasn't too bad because it was still stopping at Tiachung but it just cost me twice as much, being only $10Aud over I wasn't too concerned. I'm just lucky that I had Sylvia on the phone and she was able to steer me in the right direction to get me back on track. Arriving in Tiachung I first met Sylvia again as she lived in Tiachung and was only in Taipei for business. She is a director of a gym which was great for me as I was starting to feel unhealthy not working out for weeks. As we got to her gym to show me around I saw they had Vibram Fiverfinger shoes and with my pair getting lost when I lost my bag in Vietnam I had been looking for a new pair for a while. Sylvia gave me a great discount so I soon had a new pair of Vibrams on my feet again, score again!! in the gym they had a BMI scanner and wanted me to go on it. This is when I found out I had lost 7 kg since leaving Australia, just can't seem to put weight on in Asia, all the food is just too healthy and my body fat at 8.5% the lowest it's ever been.



The next few days in Taichung I took it pretty easy just hitting the gym, woundering around trying different foods and search for a new carbon fibre road cycle which was one of the main reason why I decided to come to Taiwan. Ohh and there was one night I went out to a club called X-Club which was interesting because I was the only western inside the club. I did meet Max a Canadain with Taiwanese background which let me join his group and made my night a lot easier.



While in Tiachung I met Jeff a manger at Fuji Cycle shop. Look at their bikes and working out a good deal I decided to buy their SST 2.0 which they had on display and the frame was too big for most Taiwanese so Jeff looked after me big time with the chance to sale it. I was really happy with everything going to plan and Jeff being overly nice with picking me up to go to the shop and oragnising a bike bag for transport and ever cooking me dinner one night, Taiwanese people are amazingly nice and hard to believe.



Time in Taiwan starting to run out I thought I'd see another city before leaving and that was Tianan the old capital of Taiwan. It just happened to be Fuji Cycle was having a test day in Tianan and I went down to say hi to Jeff and was introduced to the Fuji Cycle family which was pretty cool as well. I found my hostel and once again just wander around with no real plans other then to feel the vibe from the city. I did go to the night market in Tianan and it being staturday the crowd was out of control, shoulder to shoulder and me being twice as big as the Taiwanese made it even harder to get through. Was fun tho and manage to pick up a couple of bargains. The night I met Cherry at my hostel a Taiwanese girl that was down from Taipei and see a friend in Tianan. We got along really well and she invited to breakfast the next day to try some food that was famous in Tianan.



The next day Cherry showed me to a rice and peanut dish (can't remember the name) and shark fin soup which both tasted pretty nice. The day was spent walking and talking around until Cherry had to go see her friend so we went our separate ways. From there I kept walking and stopping at little food stores everywhere, food was fantastic. Cherry was finished seeing her friend and so she met me again which was good, at least I knew what I was eating when I was with her because reading Chinese is impossible. With time flying when your having fan it was time for Cherry to go to the bus station to go back to Taipei.



Taiwan is so hard to express how good it is because there's no big attraction and must see really there but it's the people you meet with all their different life stories and the variety in food that you can't go wrong with.



The rest of my time in Taiwan was spent making my way back to Taipei for my flight and catching up with all my new Taiwanese friends across the country to say goodbye. Taiwan is such a great place and made me feel sad to leave which Japan is the only other place that's made me feel that way. Taiwan will always have a place in my heart and will be revisited in the near future.

But for now it's time to start my Japanese adventure!!!!

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