Blogs from Taiwan, Asia

I spent about 5 days in Shiacarl Guesthouse (aka ITH in English) during this Chinese New Year. The weather was great. Though it rained for a couple of days, it was sunny and warm most of the time, unlike wet and rainy Taipei. The laid-back lifestyle there is contagious. So I could totally relax and enjoy my short vacation. Well, it’s long history between me and Shiacarl/Green Island. Two summers ago, I had the chance to do help exchange with Shiacarl. When I first stepped out of the ferry, I felt like I was in Bali. People there have really dark skin due to long periods of time outside. And some of them holler at tourists for business. Other than that, Green Island is tranquil and the natural scenery is stunning. Every picture I take is ... read more

Booking a trip from Taipei to the isolated Pescadores Islands (Penghu) is as simple as stepping into one of Taiwan's five thousand+ 7-11s and buying a 4000NTD (130$) return flight. Once a stepping stone between China and Taiwan, and a staging point for various colonial invasions of the latter, the archipelago now receives a sprinkling of primarily domestic tourists. Leanne and I opted instead for arrival by sea, hopping on a 90-minute bumpy ferry from the tiny port town of Budai, about an hour west of Chiayi in southern Taiwan. Despite their seafaring past, most modern Taiwanese do not fare well with the waves on the sea, and spend the better part of the journey huddled up with painful looks on their faces, or trying to sleep off the urge to vomit. Upon arrival Penghu's capital, ... read more

I got back from Taiwan a week ago and have finally got a free hour to smash out a blog a week later. We left on Thursday evening, Thanksgiving. Three spaniards, two Americans, two Austrians, a German, an Italian and a Brit. REPRESENT. Ten people was a huge turn off for me and i wasn't happy with it initially as i was very worried about fitting everything in but i'll come to that later. From the word go we had the hurdle of feeding the blood-born American a Thanksgiving meal. He got a turkey sub. We arrived in Taipei at 22.00, stopped by the Hostel (VJ's Hostel- which coincidentally had some of the friendliest and most helpful staff i've come across) and headed straight out to sample the nightlife of Taipei. It was late and we ... read more

Hello everybody, so last time I posted on my weekly blogs, I educated my friend on higher comedy, I went to war with mosquitos, and my sleep schedule got all out of whack (spoiler alert, that didn’t change this week!). So while I’m high riding the sleepless-color dream coat, lets see what I remember. Nov 14th: Well I spent most of the night being awake studying for a Chinese midterm, and was pretty dog gone tired when taking it, but I think I did well. I finished faster than most (which is only good when I’m taking Chinese tests – oh look, I was taking a Chinese test!) and the oral was a freakin’ joke. We were given a small passage (maybe 10 lines?) and were told to read and summarize, and could refer to the ... read more

Vaihteeksi (lähes) ajantasaista juttua blogiin eli lomamatkasta Taiwaniin kahdeksi viikoksi Marraskuun 2011 lopussa. Lennot kulkivat aikataulussa joten koneenvaihto Hong Kongissa ei tehnyt liian tiukkaa. Olin aloittanut sopeutumisen aikaeroon jo ennen lähtöä heräämällä vähitellen aikaisemmin, eli lähtöpäivän aamuna jo ennen aamuneljää. Suunnitelma oli nukkua lennolla mahdollisimman paljon, ja suhteellisen alkumatkasta uni tulikin, joskaan ei kestänyt kuin pari tuntia. Kovin tarkkaa suunnitelmaa ei ollut Taiwaniin laskeuduttuani mutta hotellin olin bookannut saaren eteläosassa sijaitsevasta Taiwanin toiseksi suurimmasta kaupungista Kaohsiungista eli sinne suuntasin. Bussi lähimmälle high speed rail asemalle löytyi helposti ja siellä junalippua automaatista ostaessa sorruin hiukan omaan näppäryyteeni. Asema jolle olin matkalla ei ollut samanniminen kuin kaupunki joho... read more