Blogs from Taipei, Taiwan, Asia - page 4

Given that our flight back from Denpasar Bali to Canada typically involves around thirty hours of being in transit, we have begun the practice of breaking up the long haul flight with a stopover en route home, generally determined by where the overseas carrier stops. When flying with Cathay Pacific Airlines, we took the opportunity one year to explore Hong Kong for a couple of days. Very worthwhile - both for breaking up the flight and lessening the effects of jet lag - but also because it enabled us to experience the culture of another international cosmopolitan city. This year we flew EVA Airlines, based out of Taipei, Taiwan, and finally got to visit this interesting city. Unfortunately Stan picked up a bit of sinus congestion from the five hour flight to Taipei from Denpasar, so ... read more

Geo: 25.02, 121.45Ship docked in Keelung about 30 minutes on a good day to Taipei. Our weather was overcast today. It misted a little at times but nothing too bad. We started our tour at the Lin Family Garden. Very green. Next stop was Dalongdong Baoan Temple. The architecture was stunning. Very ornate. Basically what you would expect to see. After lunch, we stopped at the National Revolutionary Martyrs Shrine. Again typical architecture but also the changing of the guards. Next was the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. A huge building dedicated to him. Probably known as the liberator of Taiwan. Didn't like the Chinese rule. Our final stop was a photo stop for Taipei 101. It was the tallest building for a few years. It's one the buildings you see on New Years Eve and the ... read more

Hit and Run, six countries, one month, two girls! We had one month off school for winter break. A whole month to explore Asia. After looking at a lot of different routes and working out the best financially Val and I decided to do Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, The Philippines, Taiwan and Japan. Our trip to Taipei Taiwan was the one I was looking forward to the least, but I was wrong. I loved Taipei and will defiantly be returning to Taipei and Taiwan at some point. We landed in Taiwan at around 2am and instead of paying for a hotel for the remainder of the night, we slept in the airport. It was cold and two chairs does not make a bed!! By the time we left the airport at around 8am I was tired, sore ... read more

Saturday, 29th October 2016 Jinguashi - I made a visit with my sister some 10 years ago and I was determined to trace back the journey once again. The weather today was quite unlike yesterday. Plenty of dark clouds and rain even though it did really help to bring down the temperatures. From Taipei Station, I hopped on to a train to Ruifang before bussing through the rest of the journey to Jinguashi. On the way, my bus passed through Jiufen where it was overrun with tourists despite the wet weather. I was quietly hoping that the crowds would thin down at my destination. At the Gold Museum where I alighted, I parted NT80 to commence my visit. The crowds comprised mainly Taiwanese - were manageable. I followed one of the free guided tours to gain ... read more

Thursday, 27th October 2016 A short flight from Naha International Airport brought me back to the doorsteps of Taiwan this morning. In contrast to the bright blue skies that greeted me in Naha, Taipei was shrouded by haze as my plane made its final descend at the CKS International Airport. Since I was too early for check-in at the city hotel, I took a short shuttle service #705 to Taoyuan High Speed Rail where the Gloria Outlets were located. Perhaps it was a weekday morning when I visited, there were literally no crowds. I had read online that the prices at the Gloria Outlets did not come cheap. My visit proved the point as I came out from there empty handed. I had my lunch at the foodcourt though - Taiwanese fried bee hoon, thick soup ... read more