A solo trip

It's kind of funny; I have traveled all over the world, to many countries. And for most of these journeys, I have traveled alone. While many people would consider that boring or scary, I have come to really appreciate solo travel for the most part. There's something really nice about setting your own pace without having to worry about someone else.

Life in Taiwan has been more social than I originally expected though, and I often find myself with people here. It's definitely a lot of fun, but I found that I missed the solitude a little bit. And so on a long weekend, I took a solo trip to Wulai to unwind.

Wulai (烏來) is a small town in southern New Taipei City. Located up in the mountains, a dizzying bus ride was required to reach Wulai. It's famous for its hot springs, and there is also a small street market and a waterfall nearby. And so on the most perfect sunny spring day, I set off.

Perfect sunny day! Not too hot, with a light breeze

A view of the old street

It's a beautiful little town, flanked by lush mountains

The waterfall was also very picturesque! I don't know why but
I now have 20 pictures of this waterfall in 12 angles. :P

No filters needed for these vibrant colors!

I ended up staying a night in Wulai, at a hotel that offered hot spring spas. There was a public Japanese-style bath, where the genders were segregated. I went to that one briefly and enjoyed a nice warm soak. But my fingers were doomed to be pruney that evening as well, because I had a private bath in my room!

Relaxing!

It was really cool. I called a number from the phone in my room, and the tub would automatically start to fill. It definitely felt very luxurious to have TWO baths in one day. I tend to get bored easily in baths, so two short soaks was a lot more fun than a single long one.

My stay included both dinner and breakfast on the balcony,
accompanied by a beautiful view

While not particularly exciting, this little jaunt away from regular life was a refreshing way to spend a day and a half!

Oops, a month late

I went to Hong Kong for a long weekend! A whole month ago, and I forgot to upload my pictures!

This trip was solely for the purpose of spending time with family, and in the requisite Chinese fashion, that meant squeezing as many meals as possible into one long weekend. I didn't see any sights, I barely bought anything at all. But yep, I ate. And ate. And ate.

Hong Kong at dawn

My trip didn't start off so fortuitously. I rushed to the airport on a Friday afternoon after work, only to find that bad weather delayed my flight. This was only conveyed to us after boarding, so I sat in the plane for hours... and hours... and hours. So much for a short skip and a hop to Hong Kong! By the time I landed, it was nearly 2am in the morning, way after public transportation had stopped for the evening in HKG. So I napped in the terminal until the first bus arrived at 6am.

Luckily, the rest of the visit was framed in sunny cool weather. I saw many relatives, spent time with the parents, and ate my weight in seafood.

Seafood, BEFORE

Seafood, AFTER

My favorite still has got to be the mantis shrimp. It's hard to find them anywhere else, and these were so large and plump,
and the flesh was so sweet and tender. It's a treat I only seem to have in Hong Kong.

Not quite HK food but delicious (and pretty!) just the same.

Besides fancy meals, of course I had to find some time for some old favorites. Looking back at these pictures though, it's probably a good thing I don't get to eat like this often... I'd develop some pretty serious health issues very quickly!

A breakfast I often dream of: instant ramen in borscht (or, the Cantonese version of it), toast topped with butter and
condensed milk, and the always unique HK style milk tea served in a thick porcelain cup.

Street-style rice crepes... I could write poetry to its amazingness.
The classic trio in the background aren't slouches either: curried
fish balls, braised pork skin, and stewed turnip.

I did, however, notice something different about Hong Kong this visit. People seemed so unhappy there. The populace seemed to be in a constant rush, everyone was hustling hard to get through the day. And even in that, there was no joy. People were often rude, and easily aggravated and grumpy.

Is it them? Or is it me... have I changed? Have I been away from New York City for too long? Have I already become accustomed to the more laid-back charm of the Taiwanese people?

In the end, this visit made me feel pretty happy about my decision to come to Taiwan. Hong Kong will always have a special place in my heart. I have family there, people who touch me with their sincerity every time I visit. But in the end, I have decided that Hong Kong is like a bad boyfriend... you'll always love him, but you know you just can't be together. :P

So I'll enjoy my occasional visits, especially now that I'm so close by, but I think I can finally put that vague desire to live in Hong Kong to rest.

Not a lazy Sunday

I feel like I've been so busy the past few months with creating a social network in Taiwan, that I've been neglecting things like travel and going to see new places. So on this quiet-ish weekend, I took the plunge and trekked a little bit out of the way... to northeast Taiwan. Not exactly long distance travel, but still a nice little day trip.

Jiufen (九份) is easily accessible via bus from Taipei, and so in about 2 hours, I arrived at a quaint mountain town, complete with narrow winding streets and sweeping views. It was easy to amble along for a few hours, browsing the many bespoke shops (as well as more tourist-oriented souvenir places). Food vendors beckoned from every corner, tantalizing smells wafting into the streets. It was a nice way to spend a pretty Sunday afternoon.

Jiufen is located in a very hilly region

The ride up was a little dizzying... just like being back in Cannes! :)

Supposedly, Hayao Miyazaki drew inspiration from this town for his movie, "Spirited Away". See any resemblance?

The narrow streets were packed with visitors

Ha. Dragon. Ball.

Look, a cute kitty!

During cloudy moments, the fog makes the view look very surreal

Curvy mountain roads, everywhere!

A cool wall next to one of numerous staircases in Jiufen

Looks pretty, but they're actually flavored malt syrup candy! 

As I finished browsing around Jiufen, I contemplated traveling a wee bit further to see the Golden Waterfall, located in nearby Jinguashi (金瓜石). Its golden hue was supposed to be imparted by volcanic sulfur. I found a bus (thank goodness for Google maps!), and was on my way.

Unfortunately, my going was not smooth, and after several mishaps that included me losing my Easycard (with over 400nt still on it! Waaaah!), I finally arrived at the Golden Waterfall. Are these pictures worth the 12 dollars or so that it took to get me there?

If only I could you know, get some ACTUAL gold from these waters

I believe that on certain days, the water itself takes on a more
golden hue too

The actual waterfall... which was not very big or impressive.
Oh sadness.

Tired and defeated by the transportation gods, I bused my way back to Taipei. I fell asleep for a short nap during the ride, and it was kind of amazing how that restored my mood. So despite the less than perfect ending to this day, it does carry a few lessons. Most importantly: when all else fails, take a nap. It works for 4 year old toddlers, and it works for 40 year old adults. Whee!

New fangled art

During my many years in NYC, I was lucky enough to be able to visit numerous art exhibitions. Some of them featured classic works, while some were cutting edge and modern. It naturally led to the question: what is art? Does a pile of computer wires dangling from the ceiling suffice? What about an installation of 20 TV screens in one room, each blaring out a segment of a haunting song?

I've always struggled a bit to answer that question. Even the technically perfect paintings at the Met sometimes struck me as soulless. And so in that regard, I decided that for my own personal definition, art makes me FEEL something. Happiness, sadness, confusion... sure, I can roll with that. All this is to preface that I went to a rather interesting exhibition recently.

TeamLab Taipei is a creative group that strives to meld together the combinations of art, science, and technology. To this end, they put together an... experience, so to speak, that is quite interesting and unique. Visitors wander through a dark maze, to be deposited into various rooms filled with projected light. As each person walks through the rooms and along the walls, the light patterns get projected onto them as well, so that they too, become part of the 'art'. There was also a room filled with large bouncy balls, each lit up in a brilliant color. It was simultaneously beautiful and playful. The whole experience resulted in a feeling that I don't feel like pops up a lot when I go to art exhibitions... that of childlike wonder.

Wait, what? My expression doesn't convey childlike wonder??

Big colored balls... everywhere!

Of course, as I spend these few paragraphs putting an artful spin on this place, the rest of Taipei's young population was busy taking as many selfies as possible. Every single person had their cell phone out, sometimes spending many minutes trying to get the perfect shot. I admit, I took quite a few pictures myself, but I thought this became an interesting piece of social commentary. So many visitors were so busy taking pictures, that they didn't quite get a chance to just look around the room and absorb its beauty. Is that life today then, and what are we missing as we glue our eyes to our electronic devices?

Taipei's youth, just hanging around

Okay, fine. You caught me... I was on my phone too!

My favorite room was of course, the shortest one that the organizers hustled visitors through. You walked through heavy black drapes to come into a brilliant land of brightness and mirrors. It's a little dazzling as your eyes adjust, and then you feel like you're being literally bathed in a shower of ever-changing lights. It's all at once beautiful and overwhelming.

Loitering visitors, taking snapshots

Closeup of the brilliant lights

Okay, this made for pretty stunning photo ops too

It's interesting, this crossroads of art-meets-social media-meets-vanity. It's definitely not highbrow, but definitely pleasing to the masses. Which, in essence, may define modern art at its finest.

(caveat: the pictures posted here really don't do the exhibition justice; I wore black so the projections don't show up as well. I am just wary about posting pictures of my friends without their knowledge)

A late Happy New Year

Life in Taiwan has been flying by. It has been interesting, rewarding, and very yummy. It's been so busy that I really haven't been keeping up with writing. So in a very late entry, I will post some pictures of the Lantern Festival out in Taipei.

The Lantern Festival traditionally marks the end of the Chinese New Year holidays. I had never celebrated it before, but it seems to be a pretty big deal in Taiwan. Out in Pingxi, thousands of people trek into town to participate in the release of sky lanterns... huge white lanterns written with the wishes and hopes of the New Year. As the lanterns heat up, they gently float up the night sky in a brilliant display. I wasn't able to go this year, but it's definitely on my list for 2018.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, there is the Bee Festival down in Yanshuei. Thousands of firecrackers are lit and fired into a crowd of people, who are all covered from head to toe in home-spun protective gear. Apparently, being hit by a firecracker will bring you luck... that is, if you don't first sustain burn injuries! The pictures I've seen of this event are insane, and I can't imagine being in that crowd!

In comparison, my own Lantern Festival experience was very mild. I wandered out to Taipei, where there were light shows, floats, and a myriad of lanterns on display. The mood was festive but mild, even with the huge crowds of people. In the end, it was very nice to partake in a bit of this local culture, especially since Chinese New Year was never a huge thing while growing up in the states.

It's the year of the rooster. Guess which animal popped up again and again? It's like... there's a theme or something!

One of the streets was decorated with strings of light. It's kind of
amazing how something so simple could create an atmosphere
that almost felt magical.

A large area was reserved for all the lanterns. Obviously, in this modern age, everything is lit electrically... no
unintended fire hazards here!

Some of the lanterns were made with recycled materials... this
pretty bird is made up all of plastic bottlecaps!

Chickens chickens.... it's the theme... (whoa, evening pictures = blurry pictures)

I'm not sure what this display meant... lots of ants crawling
on box-like structures...?

Another chicken! The globe-like 'eggs' that he is surrounded by
are actually plastic cups! I believe that this was one of the
student entries. Pretty good, right?

Another student entry; this time an abstract one. It looked really cool and impressive in person.

Part of the appeal of being in Taiwan is the interesting combination of both the familiar and the new. So many of my childhood celebrations and events are represented here, but done in a way that is new to me. It's both comforting and thrilling, all at the same time. :)

Refreshment for the soul

It's still hot in Taiwan, and it's getting to be the end of November! How is this possible?? Luckily though, it's not nearly as warm as it was a few months ago. So it's been great to head outside and take advantage of the weather before it apparently turns humidly cold and rainy.

In Cantonese, hiking is called "行山". It makes sense, it's about walking. But apparently, people in Taiwan use the term "爬山" instead, which makes me think of rock climbers scaling impossibly steep cliffs. But it means the same thing, even though one sounds so much more impressive!

So today, I went to 爬山. In reality, the hiking trails here aren't even what I would consider trails in the states. These roads are all paved, with lots of built-in wooden stairs for easy traveling. All the vegetation is neatly trimmed to stay off the paths, and little pavilions dot the landscape to give hikers a resting spot.

Still, it was very relaxing yet rejuvenating to do a little exercise on a Sunday morning. Better yet, I was able to do this with a friend, and thus I felt like I got a good workout physically, mentally, and emotionally!

Lots and lots and lots of stairs

18 Peaks Mountain is a park area located pretty smack dab in the middle of Hsinchu, a town about an hour train ride away from Taoyuan. I think the park would be prettier in the Spring, when there are flowers blooming. Still, we got some nice views as we walked upwards.

The city of Hsinchu down below

One of the many pavilions that are scattered around the park. This
one was surprisingly empty; many of the others were filled with
older residents who were out strolling for the day.

Can I randomly bump into a temple in Hsinchu? Why yes, I can.

It seems counterproductive to tire myself out physically before the start of a workweek, but a long peaceful night's sleep should take care of that. Looking forward to more outdoor activities as long as the weather permits!

Snapshots

Life has been really busy and eventful so far in Taiwan, but I never seem to have enough pictures for a full fledged entry. So here are a few random shots taken on various outings over the past few weeks.

This large temple is located near my apartment. It's interesting how in Asia, modern life can be interrupted at regular
intervals by these imposing buildings.

A pretty view of a river running through Beitou. The area is best
known for its hot springs.

Beitou's Thermal Valley, an expanse of water that is so hot that
it is literally steaming. 

Steaming!

A really interesting piece of art from the Taipei Fine Arts Museum.
It looks like a messy splatter of paint, but is actually
embroidery. Spot the 'imagine' in the middle...?

Another interesting piece. The caption reads: 'between a
rock and a hard place'.

With the weather finally cooling down in Taiwan, it's definitely time to get outdoors and see more great sites. Hopefully more entries soon, with pretty pictures!