Blogs from Ximending, Taipei, Taiwan, Asia
February 25th 2012
This will be my last blog in Taiwan. As i sit in this Taipei internet cafe, Jordan searches for places to use his AMEX. Unfortunately, it's the only card he has and is not widely accepted. Oh well, if i have to cover for him so be it. Today is bitter sweet. I want to enjoy the shit out of my last day here but feel a bit heart broken to leave. Before coming out here, i had little interest in Taiwan or Taipei but now i don't want to leave. Maybe it's being away from work and my everyday life. Maybe it's hanging out with my bro for the first time in 6 years or maybe it's falling for another asian city. Either way, I will be back - hopefully sooner than later. Day 6: ... read more
May 5th 2010
Today was pretty jam packed with fun - my feet feel like they're ready to fall off! Where to start... This morning we decided to go to Taipei Zoo. Taipei has a pretty decent sized zoo with a special feature on Giant Pandas so we figured why not? (The tickets were cheap too!) We got there plenty early so it was quiet at first but things picked up after lunch. I've gotta be honest - the pandas were pretty boring. Honestly the most boring animal I have ever seen at a zoo. I realize that they are living in a quasi-natural habitat and that they aren't meant to be on display but wow... just glad we didn't pay extra to see them or anything. The Koalas were pretty boring too. They just sat there motionless. There ... read more
May 2nd 2010
We landed in Taipei International Airport around 9:30pm on May 2nd and were anxious to get to our hostel, Fun Taipei Backpackers. We managed to easily locate the buses that drove us into the city which is a good hour drive from the airport, 90NTD/person=$2.85. The hostel we were staying at gave us fairly detailed directions. At our bus stop we were instructed to take the adjacent subway one station over to where the hostel was located. We weren’t exactly sure as to when we were supposed to get off the bus so we asked a Taiwanese guy sitting next to us whom was speaking fluent Spanish. My thought was if he knew Spanish then he for sure speaks English. Not only did he speak English which was helpful he agreed to share a cab with ... read more
September 27th 2009
Ximending Ximending (isn't that a nice word to say, go on say it again)is one of the last areas of the city we have left to explore. It's traditionally been the place to go to watch a film as it has so many cinemas. From what I've read it was hit pretty hard by the opening of the more modern cinemas and shopping malls in the east of the city so the government pedestrianised the main shopping area which has completely revitalised it. It now has over twenty cinemas and is the shopping hub of Western Taipei. It's predominately a young area with gaggles of teenagers perusing fashionable clothing shops and mandopop bands performing live in the street. There are also a million and one different places to eat whether you want traditional Chinese, Japanese or ... read more
April 25th 2009
Today, after waking up with tiny cloudy and cold weather, so weird, it is already closed to summer, but the weather changed dramatically these days from hot to cold. anyway, i decided to visit Red Floor in Ximenting where used to be the market of creative for the young. Look at what are new there, well decorated , cute stuff.. but most of them are for girls. Beside the red floor, there is a publoc sqaure with many coffee shops around the corner, with many gays sitting there for drinking and chatting also, with many foreigners , you could find one restaurants named "Alley's Cat" on the second floor..i have been to try, its pizaa and pies are nice, if you come there next time you could try. There is also antoher coffee shop with ... read more
August 7th 2006
Today is our last full day in Taiwan. We stayed 2 nights in Hsinchu, a large town SW of Taipei, where Wendy's aunt's husband is from. Mostly, we've just been laying around in the dense humidity and eating really well. In Hsinchu, I had an amazing traditional Chinese dinner at the inlaw's home. It was a group effort by the grandmother, her daughter-in-law, and the Vietnamese maid. There were about 15 different meat, fish, and tofu dishes, steamed buns, soup, wine, and fruit for dessert. I struggled a little with the chopsticks but I certainly didn't go hungry :) Wendy noticed that there was no rice and asked about it, and it turned out that that family never eats rice. Very abnormal. They are obviously well-to-do. One of the adult brothers is second in command at ... read more
April 23rd 2006
I have finally been able to get round more of this island and have been overwhelmed by the rich mix of destinations. From the breathtaking Toroko Gauge to the tranquil Sun Moon Lake. The Hectic ciities of Kaohsiung & Taichung to the chilled sun dreanched beaches of Kenting. The beaches were amazing. Clear blue waters, clean beaches and safe seas with plenty of fish to swim with and chase. Bars a plenty kept the lazy sea side atmosphere going well into to the night and as with everywhere i've been in Taiwan the people have been as warm as the weather and friendlier than anywhere I've known. Taichung and Kaoshung were really laid back, clean and more relaxed than Taipei. The slower pace of life was great for a holiday mood. Unlike tapei there was cafe ... read more
January 31st 2006
The first six months in Taipei seem to have traveled so fast. The troubles and trials of adapting to life seem so long ago now that it was hard to see why they happened at all. For me it was not an easy transistion into Taiwan life. We arrived in late September and the humidity was rife. Taipei is not on first glance a beutiful city and the hazey skyline offered little respite from the heat that seemed to press down so heavily on my smile. Layers of sweat, smoke and mosquitoes hung in the air like a bad tempered rainbow in our hostel and even the roaches seemed to worn out by the heat to do anything but sit and wait. Only the typhoons were strong enough to life the blanket of heat and came ... read more
Beautiful Formosa (10 - 17 December 2005)
Published: December 20th 2005Asia » Taiwan » Taipei » Ximending
December 10th 2005
It was love at first sight during my first visit in July 2005 to this beautiful island about 55 times the size of Singapore. This December trip reaffirmed my love for this island, home to some 23.5 million people. There was much to acclaim about regardless of her small size. From having the tallest building in the world to having the highest mountain in Northeast Asia and the 2nd tallest Ferris wheel in Asia. The Taiwanese are in this frantic race to become world leaders in infrastructure. And a new high speed railway aka bullet train is slated to open in 2006 to link Taipei and Kaoshiung together under 2.5 hours. Anyway before I digress too much from the usual fare that is available from Lonely Planet, we reached Taipei in the evening of 10 Dec ... read more
