Blogs from Taipei, Taiwan, Asia - page 6

Kinda late with this post, but well as they say, better late than never! After leaving Japan en route back home to Singapore I decided to pop by Taipei in Taiwan for a bit. I'd been there just a few years ago, but that was a really short two day stay so I thought I'd re-visit and check things out at a more leisurely pace. I have to say for some reason I had rather high expectations for Taipei -- everyone talks about the friendly people, the great food in the night markets, and the cute and pretty girls with their pleasant Mandarin accents. And they're all true. But for some reason Taiwan just didn't quite grab me like Korea and Japan did. Taipei reminded me a lot of Chongqing on the mainland -- old, rather ... read more

Hi everyone! Tonight is my last night in Taipei. Tomorrow I head down to Taichung to begin my study program at Tunghai University. Before I talk more about Taiwan, I would like to apologize as I more or less promised photos of hanboks. It turned out that the place Tanya and I were planning on going to was only open like one week a month or something, so we didn't get to go do that. Also, we did try the Kpop museum again, and found that we had been at the wrong building the first time, but that it was closed on Sunday (although it should have been open - especially since that Sunday was the start of the last week the exhibit was supposed to be open. It was very weird and kind of disappointing, ... read more

Two weeks in Taiwan Less than 24 hours after landing in Taiwan we were accompanying Will's uncle Paul to an aboriginal wedding in the Nantou mountains. We travelled across Taichung (the city Will's uncle lives in) to a 7-Eleven to catch an organised minibus to the wedding along with some other guests. The atmosphere on the bus was a lively mix of South African, English and Canadian expats, who all teach English in local schools. The groom, a colleague of Paul's from Wales, was marrying a Taiwanese lady from an aborigine tribe in the Nantou mountains. We were the last to arrive and had to awkwardly squeeze through many large circular tables filled with hundreds of guests from the village to find some spare seats at the front. Quickly seated and with the attention diverted away ... read more

A year of teaching in Taiwan has begun! I've now been living in Taiwan for 2 months, and I'm enjoying it. I live in the North of the country, near Taipei City. It's very modern, busy, and somehow still has plenty of nature, which is nice for people like me; I need a walk in a non-inhabited space once or twice a month to stay sane. Working here seems to be fraught with few complications, provided your school (I'm an English teacher) is on the ball with the visa applications, and other such things. During my exploration so far (which has been limited by money, but fun nonetheless) I've been hiking, rambling, shopping, clubbing, and getting to know the fabulous array of restaurants that are all a stones throw from where I live. Taiwan seems clean ... read more

I know it's been a while since I was actually in Taipei, but I am going to try to get caught up on my blog posts this week and next! I've had a lot I've been focusing on / researching as far as travel plans and such, so I've been neglecting this a little. Sorry! On to Taipei... After a few days in Manila, Taipei almost felt cold! Not New England winter kind of cold... but it was chilly, and raining. I was glad I had a good jacket for the wetter days and didn't need an umbrella. It was also very nice knowing that I could take a bus from the airport to the subway station and then on to the stop a couple blocks from the hostel I had booked. No more sketchy taxis ... read more