Taiwan 27 May - 3 Jun 2012

Since our trip to Shanghai last year, we decided that we should visit a Mandarin-speaking city at least once a year for the language and cultural immersion. We considered going to Beijing, but were told the June period was notorious for the sand storms. Other Chinese cities were also considered "too hot", "too dirty", "too ...". We eventually decided on Taiwan as a compromise.

It was a first trip to Taiwan for HL and the kids, and I think it turned out much better than expected for them. One thing we were very clear about was that we wanted to relax on this trip, so we simply booked a serviced apartment for 7 nights in Taipei with no fixed plans to go anywhere outside of Taipei, other than to see the Taroko Gorge on the East Coast.

Before starting on the photos from Taiwan, I thought it would be interesting to share this photo of HL and TP at Changi Airport Terminal 3. It's a temporary 3D painting on the floor of the departure hall. 

It's quite easy to get around Taipei. For the 4 of us, we reckoned it cost marginally more to take a taxi (also affectionately referred to as xiao huang,  or little yellow) anywhere within Taipei than to take the MRT. It's also nice to walk, because there are some interesting areas not mentioned on the tourist maps. As a local taxi driver described many Taiwanese tour packages - zhuo ma kan hua, meaning, riding the horse to look at flowers.

 At the National Taiwan Museum, not to be confused with the National Palace Museum.

 At the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial. HY and TP were really tired after walking about 3-4 km from the serviced apartment.

Taiwan is also famous for its night markets. I believe the most famous one is the Shilin Night Market. We didn't really enjoy the food at the Shilin market though - maybe we didn't order the right stuff. 

 TP trying to win NTD1000 using the air-pressured cork gun

HL and HY could not get used to the aroma of stinky toufu. 

We also visited Taipei 101, at one time the tallest building in the world before the Burj Khalifa in Dubai was built. The Taipei 101 has 101 floors and is 508m tall, while the Burj Khalifa has 160 floors and is 828m tall. To get a sense of how tall these buildings are, our UOB Plaza is 280m tall. 

Of course, there are the obligatory tourist photos to be taken before getting to the top. Remember not to wear green if you do visit Taipei 101 (look at HY's shirt).

HY and TP posing with a model of the Taipei 101's dampers - particularly essential in typhoon and earthquake-prone Taiwan. 

The only trip we planned to do outside of Taipei was to Taroko Gorge on the east coast. We had seen this place on a Sunday morning travel show with Janet Hsieh, and we thought it looked really interesting. We took the morning train from Taipei to Hualien station, booked a cab with guide for a day, and took the night train back. Its not too rushed, but do remember to check the train schedules before booking the train because the journey can take between 2 to 3.5 hours, depending on which train you take. As a guide, take the Zhi Qiang trains with the Taroko symbol on it because there are rarely any stops in-between with these trains. 

At the entrance to Taroko Gorge. It's interesting that the rock walls we see in the gorge was the seabed about 200 million year ago. The story about how the Taiwanese government employed the ex-KMT soldiers to build the road is also an interesting, albeit tragic story. Do google for more information and better pictures.

TP and I took a picturesque walk into the gorge. HL and HY were with us initially but stopped after 200m because HY saw the sign that read "Beware of Wild Animals". 

At one of the many photo-stops above. 

And adding a bit of excitement to the trip with the suspension bridge below. 

After Taroko, we had a bit of time to look around the east coast area near Hualien. The photos below are taken a pebble beach near the airbase, with the Pacific Ocean in the background (Hawaii is about 5000 miles away).  

Back in Taipei, we managed to persuade the kids to go visit the National Palace Museum. The collection is interesting, and I think the story about how the treasures were on the road for about 30 years, escaping the Japanese and Communists, is equally interesting. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to see the Jade Cabbage, which is the museum's Mona Lisa, because of the long queues . 

 TP found a stall selling crepe at the Q Square food court that he really liked. I made him order his own in Mandarin, but he couldn't say "without fresh cream". So he simply said "wo bu yao na ge bai de dong xi". Well, at least he's improving.

On our last weekday in Taipei, we decided to make one more trip out of the city. Technically, I think it may still be in Taipei because Danshui is the last stop on the MRT's north-south line, at the mouth of  the Danshui River. Many Taipei residents enjoy getting out of Taipei over the weekends, so we thought we had to do this before the weekend arrived, otherwise it would be too crowded.

Here's a local treat at Danshui - soft serve ice cream. Taste wise, it's quite normal. The thrill is in getting the tall ice cream cones. The NTD25 one that HY and TP got was supposed to be 50cm tall, but I don't think we quite achieved it here.

HY and TP posing with the statue of Mackay the Barbarian - a prominent Canadian missionary to the area. Well, he wasn't really a barbarian, but that's what the locals called him then. 

At Fort Domingo, which used to guard the entrance to the Danshui River.  

This was the highlight of the Danshui trip for TP, and surprisingly, HY too - having a go at BB guns. 

Near the entrance to the Danshui street market.

Earlier in this post I mentioned that the trip turned out better than expected for HL and the kids. I guess it was the combination of good shopping, good food, good service, and a clean environment. HY was initially disappointed that there was no equivalent to da pao chen in Taipei, but was equally happy with shopping she managed to do - instant camera (the films are going to cost us a bomb from here on), Fitflops etc. TP was also thrilled we bought him a new MTB from Giant. Foodwise, everyone enjoyed the food there, especially our breakfasts at the dou jiang places. Guess we'll be going back.