Blogs from Taiwan, Asia - page 129

Xiaonanmen Wulai Hotsprings Bitan Miramar Ferris Wheel Shilin Nite Mkt Day 5 of our trip and we were back to where we started, the city of Taipei, home to 2.6 million inhabitants. While many Taiwanese had associated this city as another metropolis that is not livable, our impression of her had been great right from the start. Her unique charm has drawn repeat visitors overtime. Our day started early today to visit the Xiaonanmen (Little South Gate) which once hold fort of the Taipei City Walls. Okie it is nothing spectacular but since it was a MRT station away from my hotel, it was relatively harmless for us to view it to reminisce of the major changes that have taken place in the city over the past 100 years. Wulai hot springs ... read more

We left Taipei at 8.35am today on our way to Chiayi - 3 hours to the south by the express train. The amount of leg room was definitely wider than the Jetstar Asia plane that we took earlier. 10.55 am - The “train stewardess” started selling Bian Dan which was picked up from Taichung. It was delicious as we had a hurried lunch. The next station was Chiayi. 11.36 am - Chiayi and were immediately harassed by taxi touts who somehow knew that we were heading to Alisan. We had already anticipated the touting thanks to Lonely Planet. We sought refuge from the Tourist Information Centre where the helpful lady volunteer pointed us the direction of the bus station to Alisan. The wait continued until 1.10pm when the bus bounded to Alisan came by. From then, ... read more

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

prvy den Let z Aucklandu na Taiwan prebehol OK, za zmienku stoji azda len vzdelavaci kresleny film o vtacej chripke, ktory nam premietali v lietadle a ktory prebiehal takto: Kreslena postavicka pripominajuca Pokemona kychala, ochkala, soplila, horuckovala a kadejako inak prejavovala symptomy chripky. Preto sa dobrovolne prihlasila na Vladnom Oddeleni Karanteny kde ju k jej obrovskej radosti zobrali do sanitky. Potom film nazorne a kreslenou formou v style "Manga" ukazal, ze netreba jest vtacie hovna a pred papanim si treba umyt ruky. Fakt zazitok. Co sme si vsimli na Taipei co sme si minule nevsimli: - Zujuc zuvacky usilovne ako kravicka Milka sme zaregistrovali v metre tabulu informujucu o prisnom zakaze zut zuvacky (a jest a fajcit) pod hrozbou pokuty 1500 NZD. Zuzka zuvacku rychlo prehltla. Ja som ju schoval za zadnu osmicku vedla plomby. - ... read more

After marrying in the summer of 2005 Natalie and I decided to travel to Taiwan to teach English. We arrived there in November and spent about a month checking out the country and contemplating where to settle in and find some jobs. On a whim, largely because we were sick of hanging around train stations, we decided to go for Kaohsiung, the southern city. The southern part of Taiwan seemed to have better access to the mountains and Kenting with its killer beaches and national park on the southern tip of Taiwan. All in all we spent about 8 months in Kaohsiung teaching english, exploring, and generally trying to overcome confusion. Our, stay there was certainly enjoyable, stressful at times, but fun none-the-less. Look for more on our adventures later. Cheers, Tim... read more