Ronald and I took the bus from Taipei Main Station's West Bus Terminal (you have to go out a special exit and it's not really connected to the metro) and paid 90 NT for the bus. It took an hour and dropped us off at Terminal 2 (it goes to both terminals) and the driver was...interesting. He was chewing on a betel nut half the time and we were sitting in the front so we could see everything. Normally when the bus is stopped at a green light and you're sitting in the back, you just assume there's something in front preventing the bus from moving. When you're in the front, however, you can see how the driver just isn't paying attention and is trying to charge his cell phone/mp3 player/etc. Checking in was fast and ... read more

Yesterday we didn't do much besides walk around the nearby Yong Khang street. There's a famous restaurant there, but Holly's housemate says she's not sure why...basically it was sort of a fancy street and not really our style. Today we went to Danshui (pronounced "dan shwey"). It's about a 40-minute metro ride from where we're staying and the station is right next to all the action. There's a long cycling trail along the coast and tons of little shops and food stands that get going towards the evening. We also saw some couples taking wedding photos on a small wooden dock...there were at least six couples with their photographers there, so it must be somewhat famous! Next to the photoshoot was a restaurant that had the table grills and a great style. I can't really explain ... read more

Yesterday we were worthless and barely made it out of the house. When we did go, Eva walked around the city with us and we bought food to cook for dinner. We made a massive beef-filled squash and some salad and we couldn't eat it all, so we're gonna reheat it tonight. Today we went with Eva to Taruko National Park. It was really beautiful, but the trails we "hiked" were sort of a joke. The first one we did, the Swallow Grotto, was literally next to the main road. The second one, Lushui Trail, was overlooking the road -- not really the experience I'd been expecting, but nonetheless pleasant. Tomorrow we head to Taipei and meet our next CS host! Technical details - The garbage trucks play a tune like ice cream trucks would in ... read more

Today Ronald went out to scout prices for the train and/or bus to Hualien. It seemed that we needed to take a train to Kaoshiung and then a bus or train to Taidung and then another bus or train to Hualien. We packed and got in a cab (with help from Thomas and Bárbara) to go to the station. We got there at 13:50 and the woman at the counter sold us a ticket for 13:59 and it should take about 2 hours. When the train stopped and everyone got off, we had gone one stop too far. We were in Pingtung, so we asked a couple of conductors and eventually just took all our stuff with us to ask at the information counter. The woman sold us a ticket by train to Hualien leaving at ... read more

Today was sort of a lazy day. The four of us walked around the university park a little and then they sent us on our way to go to the Confucius Temple. We decided to walk there because it was a nice day and we had nothing else to do. So about 30 minutes later (including some stops) we arrived. It was pretty…there were a few old red buildings, a half-circle pond with tons of turtles, and a running track in front. Kids in the middle of the track, in the field, were playing ultimate Frisbee. It was a nice, relaxing scene, and then we headed to the next block to see the south gate. It's the only gate left standing but it was closed, so we just took some pictures from outside and then walked ... read more