Tainan – hot and humid

Jul 30, 2016Aug 1, 2016 / Georgie / 3 Comments

After the clear heat of Taipei, I felt like I was ready for a change: I planned to go to Tainan and although I knew it would be hotter there (as it is in the south of the country), I definitely wasn’t ready for the increase in humidity!

Before I left Taipei, I met my lovely roommate who was also from the UK, from London, and had studied Chinese in Sheffield and was waxing lyrical about the programme. I knew I should have gone there! I then got my backpack back on and made my way on the metro to Taipei Train Station to get the HSR (high speed rail/bullet train) to Tainan, which would take less than 2 hours to cover the 160 miles at around 170mph. I stopped by the Taipei Station Bento shop to get a lunchbox – had pork cutlet with rice and salad.

The train journey itself showed me just how friendly Taiwanese people are; a lovely older chap was sat next to me, he was from a town in the north of Taiwan called Hsinchu, and told me about the speciality foods I need to try, both from his hometown and from Tainan. Lovely conversation, apropos of nothing!

Once the high speed train arrived in Tainan, I realised that the station was not actually in Tainan at all but about 12 miles from the city. Supposedly there was a free shuttle bus but when I arrived at the bus area there was absolutely nothing, so I walked to a local train station and caught a tiny local train into the city.

The hostel I am staying in is down a tiny alley with a little temple, the hostel itself is nothing to write home about (no functioning sink, tiny showers, the room I was meant to stay in is flooded, lots of staff who have filled up the small communal space etc) but hey free laundry!

I ventured out for a walk around the area to get my bearings, and when I returned to the hostel I met my roommate who was from Australia. We then went out to grab some food and had a delicious zongzi (sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves stuffed with pork and mushroom) and a beer. I then decided to set out to find a cash point that would accept any of my UK bank cards as so far I hadn’t managed to find one.

It took me over an hour and 7 different cash points to eventually find one that would accept my card! Citibank, I love you ❤️ I then continued on to another bar to have a local beer, which I felt was well deserved!

Taipei – from old to new

Jul 29, 2016Jul 29, 2016 / Georgie / 1 Comment

Today was spent thoroughly exploring the “touristy sites” of Taipei. It started with a soy-filled breakfast at Yong He Dou Jiang Da Wang (Yong He Soy Milk King), where I ate a youtiao (fried dough stick), congdan (egg omelette with onion) and fantuan (Taiwanese onigiri/riceball, in this case with meat floss as a filling.

Mmmmmmmm so much soy…!

I then ventured out into wider Taipei, visiting the Chiang Kai-Shek memorial, walking around the park which also contains the National Theatre, Bao’an temple, before then getting the MRT (metro) and bus over to the National Palace Museum. What I found quite interesting was the nationalism so evident among everyone, the pride of having such beautiful works of art on display, but also interesting how they portrayed the war between the KMT and the Communists, which was quite different to the dialogue of the West.

After that, it was back for more street food (shengjianbao, my favourite!) and then out once more to explore the Harajuku of Taiwan, Ximengding. So busy, such a wonderful buzz to the place, with everything on sale from cosmetics and clothes to stinky tofu! Also the most bizarre street entertainer who was playing songs from A Little Mermaid on a flute, competing with the woman across the street who was advertising her shop’s wares with a loudhailer. This area also contains the gay district – it’s great to see such a vibrant lively LGBT community, although why one of the touts tried to drag me into a “bear bar” I still haven’t quite worked out…! Finally went to a craft beer bar back in Shida district and had a lovely local bottle of bitter, even if it was rather expensive. Hey ho, you only live once!

Tomorrow, off to Tainan in the south!

Taipei times begin!

Jul 28, 2016Jul 29, 2016 / Georgie / 1 Comment

I arrived in Taipei after what seemed like a never ending flight (although that may be because the flight crew insisted all the blinds were closed throughout the entire flight when I was trying to stay awake to avoid jetlag. Was then promptly met by the lovely Michelle who gave me a bubble tea and walked me from my gate in the direction of the immigration desks😘❤️

View of Taiwan from the plane

Had a nice chat with the security lady at immigration (the chap in front of me wasn’t allowed through and was escorted off to a room, so I thought there was no harm in being extra nice!) and my bag awaited me at baggage reclaim, so I went off to catch a bus into the city. Taipei hasn’t yet got round to extending their MRT (metro) to Taoyuan airport so bus was the easiest way for me. Certainly one of the cheapest at only 125$ – about £3. Very retro bus, and completely full with people, but it took me directly to Taipei Main Station which has an MRT stop.

Might not be the most awe-inspiring view in the world but it was my first view of Taiwan from the ground.

Got a couple of MRT trains after flailing around trying to decipher the difference between all the English train related acronyms, or even just decipher all the traditional Chinese characters. It might be beautiful but it’s hard to read 😦

Arrived at the youth hostel and managed to communicate with the staff member on duty in an amalgam of languages – I blame lack of sleep? Then went to locate something to eat at Shida Night Market.