A Whole New World.
Many travel accross oceans to see old family,friends or for simple vacation. As for me, let's just say I'm not the travel guru with extensive knowledge of getting around to places. Hailing from Canada, I haven't even had the chance to go to all the beautiful places within. Fortunately, I was given a chance to come to Taiwan and here I am sharing about my experiences!
the first moments
Once arriving to Taiwan, I was surprised by the heat…It was bearable, yet simply walking in the humid air was exhausting after a flight of around 16 hours from Canada. Although I expected lots of it, I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed by the continuous onslaught of rain. As time passes, you will easily become accustomed to it, and feel indifferent with the weather. Do make sure to bring a pair of sandals. As ugly as they may look, YOU WILL NEED THEM. Shoutout to my mother for convincing me to bring them. I doubted my eyes when I saw a little child probably no more than 10 years old sitting on her mother's lap on a scooter! I thought this would be a rare occasion, but was I wrong, you will see this everywhere, heck I even saw a family of four on one scooter. It seems that even more than cars, scooters are the most conveninent mode of transportation. If you have been to Italy, you will know that there are a lot of scooters, well there are more in Taiwan! Acknowledging that I was on a student budget, I decided to minimize my costs, thus I decided to put my legs to work and TRY to walk to all the places I wanted to go.
food
Of course we can't leave out one of the highlights of Taiwan, the food. Knowing that I love to eat, I knew I would not be satisfied unless I ate the "must eats" outlined by sources online as well as from locals. I attempted to dedicate the first couple of days to food, but I must say the list gets longer and longer as I discover new foods.
Comment other food I need to try during my stay in Taiwan, gotta eat them all!
Huashan 1914 Creative Park
This park used to be a winery, but is now filled with various creative stores and places to eat as well. After going to a couple stores, it seemed like some exhibitions required an entrance fee, but I thought it not necessary to go through the paid ones as there were plenty others to explore. There are not a LOT of stores, but some stores, I could imagine myself spending hours inside.
There were two places that caught my eye. The first place was a book cafe, and it seemed like the perfect place to catch up with friends over some ice tea, or to drop in for a some time to yourself enjoying a book. I wasn't able to get a look at what kind of books they had, but I'm sure they won't mind if you bring your own.
The second location which I later heard is quite well known was a store called Wooderful and as the name says, it sure was! The name to begin with, I loved, but once you walk in, you'll be hit with so many cute things to see. Moving installations of wooden characters, home décor, kitchen items and sound systems. I could have spent the whole afternoon here, as it brought out my inner child boggling over the mini creations. The back of the store is dedicated to DIY, yes do it yourself! They allow you to select the pieces you'd like to assemble, to create your own masterpiece and seems to be a great way to spend some time with friends.
I believe there is also another park called Songshan Creative Park, that I didn't go to, but I'm sure you will enjoy wherever you go. Do bring some money with you as there are various cafe's, restaurants, stores with cool products and also exhibitions that require an entrance fee.
Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall & Liberty Square
Although regarded as a controversial figure in history, as a foreign tourist, I can't deny that the place is beautiful and can see its reasons for being such a popular tourist destination. There are various methods of entry as I entered through the back, others enter through the main gate, but once you are close by it is hard to miss! I walked up the stairs of the memorial, and there were quite a few people gathered and I recall reading that they have the guard change every hour and realized that it was 1:57! As they began the change, it was interesting to see but was difficult to capture video over the heads of others that had gotten there earlier. As interesting as it is, it's not a "must see", but you might as well see it if you're near, ya feel me? I had no problem seeing over the heads of others, but if you are of smaller size it wouldn't hurt to beat the crowd to the front lines. There is also a museum inside if you'd like some more information on Chiang Kai Shek.
Presidential Office Building?
On my way to Longshan Temple, I ran into the Presidential Office Building. I began taking pictures on the side for a better shot but a security lady that was standing in the area, kindly told me in Taiwanese (As I look like a local, everyone makes the mistake when speaking to me). Once realizing that I don't understand, she told me again in english that in order to take pictures I must stand on the platform provided. I'm not entirely sure why, and wanted to ask, but I didn't as I guess I felt embarassed for being an oblivious tourist that knew no better. Well, now you know!
Longshan Temple
Knowing that Taiwan has several temples, I wanted to visit at least one during my trip. I decided to head on over to the famous Longshan Temple. I told myself once arriving in Taiwan that I would minimize my transportation costs by walking everywhere. Thus I walked over to the temple and I arrived quite late around 2 or 3 pm after leaving around 11am due to my continuous detours in n' out of the various stores lining the streets. Once entering you will be greeted by the temple and a waterfall to your right.
Once entering you can see people throwing two red pieces onto the ground, with each combination having a different meaning. If I had heard the sounds of the pieces hitting the ground elsewhere I would find it quite annoying, but something about everything that happens in a temple seems so peaceful. I was quite hesistant in taking pictures as I thought it may be disrespectful to take pictures while people came to seek peace and practice their religion. I was itching to take so much pictures, but had to keep myself contained. The result, well after seeing many other tourists taking multiple pictures I decided to sneak a couple pictures here and there. As I was looking through the temple, there were so many questions that I had unanswered as I did not have a tour guide. Fortunately there was a group of Korean tourists with a guide, and thankfully my Korean side kicked in and I tried my best to follow along with what the guide was saying. I tried not to be obvious that I was tailing their group, but I guess she caught on so she called me out, so I just spoke back in english replying "I am from Canada"...the beauty of knowing multiple languages. After having their whole tour group stare me down questioning who I was, I dispersed among the others and continued my solo tour of the temple. I wasn't embarrassed at all, as I simply happened to be walking in the same direction, and it's not my fault that the guide was loud enough for me to hear, right?
Elephant Mountain
Remember when I said I would walk everywhere? I walked from Longshan Temple to Elephant Mountain, and that was obviously not the smartest decision as I was a heap of sweat with legs wobbling before I even got to the base of the mountain.
My goal was to arrive around 5pm to make sure to see the sunset and afterwards the night view. There weren't as much stairs as I would have expected, but my body was not in the best hiking condition as you may expect after a 2 hour walk... Midway up , exhausted, I reached for my water bottle to see none left. In addition it began to rain, so I'm sure you can tell that it wasn't the most pleasant hiking experience.
On the way down, since it had rained until moments ago, the stairs were quite slippery and I was worried that I would slip, fall, and tumble down the stairs. As you guessed, I slipped and slid down a couple steps and those around me were like "Ooh ouch", and surprisingly I didn't injure myself seriously just a few scratches. [NOTE to self: Don't wear your Nike Air's with soles that have worn out grip, you will fall on the way down.] With that incident underhand, I wanted to end my day on a positive note, so I headed over to Tonghua Market and I was able eat to my content!
I think these circumstances are what make the experiences unforgettable, falling down some stairs on Elephant Mountain, seeping with sweat, walking from Longshen Temple, is all part of what makes the experience special to me. Although I think I will avoid walking for a while...
Yangmingshan National Park...Millenium Hot Spring...Shilin Night Market
Once arriving to Yangmingshan National Park, you can do so much due to the sheer size of the park. I had planned to go to Xiaoyoukeng and Qiantangang, but due to the lack of time remaining until the arrival of the last bus in Qiantangang at 5:30pm , I decided to just enjoy the spectacular view of Xiaoyoukeng. You can smell the sulphur slightly, but nothing severe. If you can, make sure you start your day early if you want to get the most out of Yangmingshan National Park.
This hot spring requires you to wear speedo material swimsuits to enter, but they sell them as well. There are four pools dedicated to levels of heat, while there are two cold pools. At night they reopen from 7:30 pm to 10:30 pm. It was nice to recollect the events of the week and to simply relax with many old folk.
Put your google maps away as Shilin Night Market can be found by just following the lights and people. I was able to try several different types of food, some were too good that I forgot to take pictures! The night market has various stores such as Nike, Adidas, cheap technology, FOOD, and souvenir stores to buy a special something for yourself or your loved ones.
I didn't even realize that time was passing, that when I arrived to the Jiantan MRT Station, the guard told me that riding a taxi was my only hope in getting home. My phone at 1% battery (no google maps!) the driver couldn't understand where I needed to go, so he was quick to take me to a hotel. After having the clerk translate for me I was glad to be safe at home!
This was a collection of destinations that many suggested, and I'm hoping to go to more exciting places and share with you my experiences! Tag along to my next journey in Miaoli!
