The Pingxi Climb

Third time is the charm, the first time I tried to go it was pouring rain, the second time I didn't want to go alone and finally I had someone to climb the mountain with.

I had to after my friends told me all about it, they rambled on about the incredibly stunning view that resided in the Pingxi district.

Okay, they were right...the climb was a bit arduous for my wee smoking lungs but after some whinging and whining I made it to the top of the peaks.

I don't usually do two takes but I think the second one is better. 

We stopped off at the lantern town where you can scribble your wishes with a calligraphy pen. There are many different colours and they all represent some significance.

It was really nice to just go out and experience something new. This was a wonderful day with steep hills, ladders and questionable steps.

I would highly recommend anyone who likes an outdoor climb to go there. It doesn't cost much from Taipei either. I used my 'Easy Card' to get to Taipei Main station hopped on the next local train to Raifung and then the Pinxi line (return is 60NT)

Taroko National Park

First stop.

We woke up today at 6am to catch the very efficient high speed rail. I highly recommend it. It's pretty cushy.

The high speed train only took 2 hours and 800NT = $28 got a return train ticket. Booking them online and picking them up at 7-11 took some assistance but it was well worth it. (Thanks Rice) at the train station look for the green counter next to information and bam we were able to pick up our day pass for the Totako bus. 

250NT it is 400NT for a two day unlimited bus ticket. We got our time table and late breakfast where I learned that congee can have its own innovative bag. Mind blown.

From Hualien station to Taroko National Park gate is only 30 minutes according to the schedule. In reality it takes an hour. There are 8 main stops including the gate and you can hop on and off anywhere. At the last stop, the last bus is at 18:00 but remember that's everyone's last bus too.

I want to let everyone know that when we got on the return bus trip there were people who paid 15NT which means we paid a lot more than was needed. Unless you got on and off at every stop it really wasn't worth the amount we paid, it was more for the convince. 

After our first stop we wanted to wait for the bus but we were impatient and decided to walk through the tunnel onto the next stop.

The 51 year old man who gave us a ride.

From there we started walking and walking, then I was thinking to myself there isn't a side walk nor were there anyone else on the road. I started to think maybe I could wave down a bus to stop for us and then I quickly realized that we should try to catch a ride.

We stuck out our thumb and grabbed a ride from an old Taiwanese worker. He took us to the last stop where we finally felt like we were part of civilization again. I did however think that we were going to die a couple of time due to his reckless driving. Safe and sound now.

Waterfall Cave, this was the best part of the whole ordeal, in the cave you should wear waterproof shoes (sandles) or go bear foot. The water was cold, yet refreshing. Most people were putting on the raincoats provided by the place and brought their own water booties. We went in with an umbrella and we both got wet...haha. 

Side note: There was a very tiny old lady that went through all the dark tunnels and wore a helmet and later on I saw her in the waterfall cave. She is an inspiration to all!

A picture taken by Tina...me and my backpack.Woo! 

Waiao Beach

A huge group of us caught the bus to the main bus station. We bought our tickets for 90NT a one hour bus ride to Jiaoxi. Strangely there was wifi on the bus! On our way the sun came out I'm super stoked! One more 15NT train away with a mini pit stop for food.

Sadly, when we arrived there was rain and as soon as we made it onto the beach after a trek along the beach side path the guards came and told everyone that they had to vacate. I assume because the waves were very strong and was too dangerous for anyone to be swimming in it. Most people ran for the nearby Mr. Brown cafe to take shelter form the start and stop rain. The breeze was making it a bit cold as well. 

On our way back to the music festival we saw a temple across the street, we made a full circle around to visit the temple.

Sunny Jiaoxi pit stop.

Here is a picture of the temple that we found after taking a very tucked away pathway between two buildings. Passed a large barking dog where we went through this tunnel that reminded me of the underground subways. It really was a peaceful place, I couldn't believe that there was no one there.

Trying to get to Pingxi

This place was recommended to me by my dear Taiwanese friends, then someone from the hostel said that they highly recommended it.

First stop Goabao this mantou sandwich that I think might be my new staple food. I had a wonderful veggie and scallop soup today! There are so many different kinds of fillings but most of it is pork based. While we were sitting in there, I found the guy very accommodating with explaining the menu to us.

Off to Taipei main station to get on the TRA railways, it's seems pretty cheap to get to Pingxi buy it looks like it will be a little more costly. (Since we have took a transfer) I'm going to have to keep asking how to get there just to double heck out route.

I was under the impression that there was an hour long direct train there but alas there is not. It seems simple for the locals I am sure but this is our first time so it is a bit confusing. The easycard got us through the ticket gate after being approached by an older gentleman that thought being a bit crass was being helpful. He was right about the train we were suppose to catch, though his demeanor made me think otherwise. I think he likes to help foreigners. The ticket lady inside pulled out her local train schedule and said that we had to wait an hour. Then quickly after a short Chinese man tried to guess if we were Japanese it Korean. (I get this a lot here) He informed us that we would have to make a transfer and pay again. Hmm.

The train showed up after 45 minutes and I am very quickly starting to feel like we are losing precious day light. When we get on the train I realize that it is a much lower grade to the train that stopped previously. I should have taken a picture of both. The reserved seat cars were where we boarded.

I suggested we just sit down until someone told us we couldn't sit regret anymore like when I rode the KTX in Korea. Shuffled quickly to the area between doors and the cars. I wanted to sit down and then someone pointed out the sign that says no sitting, this is going to be a long hour to Pingxi, there has to be a better way. I just think we missed the orientation class, 'how to travel in Taiwan efficiently'

We made it to the transfer station called Ruifang (44NT) and picked up our day ticket for the Pingxi line (64NT) which isn't bad at all. Then the rain started to come down, I hoping that we could out run the rain but alas that doesn't seem to be the case. Now we can just refund our tickets and turn around. So we powered on....

The rainy train station. 

Lazy day Video :)

Just being lazy today, I had to say good bye to my new friend. I hate saying goodbye right after you make such a strong connection. I have to make sure to visit her in Shenzhen!

Maybe we will travel in the future together.

The hope is that I can travel again with all the good people that I have met in the hostel, I have been really lucky about making new friends. :)

Today was a slow day after eating some wonton noodle soup, we dropped her off at the bus stop. A real bittersweet goodbye...

After grabbing some bubble tea we finally decided to make our way over to the Daan Park. It is a nice little place with a playground, a pond and an amphitheater which I made a little video for everyone.

I hope you enjoy more of my rambles. :P

Sunset at the station in front of Daan Park. 

I posted this picture because these little cakes with your choice of fillings was the beginning of a very long and arduous journey of trying to find the right food. I wanted Dim Sum, after dragging my fellow hostel mates into a very high class restaurant we quickly found out that they didn't have what I wanted. Which made sense since you can't get Yum Cha in the middle of the night usually. So instead we went to the street market, after a wander around (and again) asking for directions we bought enough food to satiate us. 

Elephant Hill, Memorial Hall and Longshan Temple

I met a girl in the hostel from Austraila last night and we wanted to go sight seeing, just winging it really. We talked about all the possible places we could visit.

Started off the day with some fresh tropical fruit which always makes me happy. I can't think of a better way to bring in a new day of adventure.

We got on the train and make it to the last station where we meandered around until we made headway on which direction we should be going. From there we climbed up a flight of starts to the half way point I want to say about 250m and then one more time making it a total of 500m.

At the summit we were able to take some photos and even make a video for everyone. Again I am sorry that the video is the wrong direction. We took the long way down and we were off to the next stop after I grabbed my coffee.

We had really good timing because when we arrived at the memorial hall the ceremony of the guards changing was about to happen. It is done ever hour on the hour and they made a very big display of it. I didn't take a video because I couldn't be fussed to squeeze into the crowd but you can see it at any memorial hall in Taipei.

Last stop before home was the Longshan temple.

A day in Tamsui, Taiwan

Today I got to meet some old friends from Tokyo, they are two of the sweetest girls from Taiwan. I was overjoyed that I could see them soo soon. You know sometimes when you say good bye to people and you are worried that you will never see them again. This didn't play true this time. I have a long list of people to visit but at least I got to get together with these two fabulous ladies.

I took the metro for an hour and met them at Tamsui which is next to a river on the north east side of Taiwan. Here we got to walk along the river and they were kind enough to ask all my questions about Taiwanese food. I sure have a lot of questions. Either way, we went and visited the first hospital, the oldest temple and a church. I learned a little later that the Spanish arrived and made a little settlement in Taiwan. Either way we visited Fort Santo Domingo and I got a chance to learn about the history of Tamsui.

When we made it to the end of the walk way we got on the bus to The Fisherman's Wharf.

Julie and I at the temple, making wishes. 

Yehliu and Jiufen (Spirited away village)

I joined the Saturday day trip with the hostel and a bunch of us went out to the Geopark in Yehliu. We caught the metro and then an hour long bus.

Nature's art can be found everywhere, it is always an eye opener when you have a chance to just walk into something that you weren't quite prepared for.

80TWD gets you into this ocean side sight were the rocks will instantly make you tilt your head.

Next stop Jiufen (The inspiration for the movie Spirited away) if you haven't already watched it you should. A classic! Here is the trailer.


I was blown away with how many people were there since it is National week in China. Really should have known better when taking this trip but then again it would have been busy anywhere I went.

First the street with all the food, it was swarming with people buying things on both sides of me and a single file line shuffling in both directions. As we already know it is really important to keep your eyes on the road.

I mean when you are aiming to get somewhere you should get caught up in all the flashy sales. It is really hard to avoid all the delicious looking food stalls with all the specialty foods of the local area.

As soon as I saw this I was blown away, like literally. It is a real place upon a mountainside! The little girl inside me screamed then I fell asleep watching the movie. I think I will watch it again this evening as well. A real place come to life, now I know why Hayao Miyazaki fell in love with it and was so inspired. If I go missing you can find me in a hostel here. 

Learning about Taipei

Again I slept in really late and got up in the early afternoon hours. I got ready and picked up a bubble tea. (Green tea with passion fruit and no sugar) I loved how many options they have and I am sure that I will buying more of them during my stay through out Taiwan.

From there we headed off to find some lunch,  we picked up freshly made green onion cakes and then straight to a dumpling restaurant. We got 15 dumplings for only 90TWD = $3.60 split three ways :) 

We decided yesterday that we would take the cable car up to the tea house and then maybe head to a traditional Taiwanese play. 

First stop the subway station, after figuring out the Tokyo subway station the one in Taipei one was super simple to navigate! We bought a subway card for 100TWD and topped it up. We're all ready to start exploring! 

I love how we can use our subway cards for the gondola. At the cable cars they have the option for crystal cars (see through floors) for the same price but the wait was immense.

We decided against going to the show and hit up another night market (shilin) to see what they have. There are lot more people and stalls here and I found that you can get hustled very easily. Got to learn how to haggle better. Lesson for the day: Watch out for fruit ladies that are faster than you. 

Expensive tea houses at the top of the mountain. 

Jenny In Taipei

I woke up after an epic sleep of 11 hours. talk about insomniac making up for lots time. Either way my old roommate the Korean girl moved out before I could even say good bye. Two new people moved into the room and they are both here to stay for a couple of days. We all instantly hit it off and became friends I was really pleased that I could converse with both of them in different languages.

The girl is from Shenzhen and I could speak in Cantonese with her and the boy is from Kyoto, I can keep using my Japanese. From there we decided to head on out to grab lunch and they were able to pick up prepaid internet sim cards which go for really cheap here. 300TWD for a week or 800TWD for 15 days unlimited. I would have liked to take advantage of this but I cannot since I don't have a sim card slot on my ipod. It just means I spend less time on the internet and that I can just wander and get lost a little easier.

We walked all the way to the tower 101, where we found out that you would have to pay 800TWD which is about $24CAD I think that is a lot. So we opted out and I dragged them to the shopping market next door. After we made it in I couldn't believe how boring this shopping mall was. Though there was an upside that is there was a rooftop that we could have some photo opts on!

Yay roof top! 

We hopped back into the taxi which only costed us 

$3 split three ways, this really is nothing. I am super impressed that all taxis in Asia are so cheap excluding Japan.


I hit up the night market and even made a video!

From there I went to a couch surfers event where no one greeted us and the drinks were super expensive. Earlier today I was invited to a club called Hive in Taipei, Thursday nights is ladies night and girls drink for free. As long as you keep your cup with you, you can just stand in the line and get a refill. Over and Over again. Either way, I have quite a bit of sight seeing tomorrow so we wandered home and grabbed more street food before the night was over. Until tomorrow. Have a wonderful evening everyone. It is time for this kitty to get some rest. If you want to see more food pictures you can find it on facebook, click here!

Arrival in Taipei

I can't believe I was even worried about coming into the country, after my 3 hour flight I was able to just stroll up to immigration. The man at the counter didn't ask me a single question let alone speak to me. Maybe because it was my first time in Taiwan but hey I have my a 90 day tourist visa!

I managed to decipher the convoluted instructions to the hostel, I don't usually stay in hostels but I have been feeling a little lonely. Of course this is a wonderful way to meet some new faces. I was instantly greeted by a Taiwanese girl named 'Rice' with lots of energy and knowledge about Taipei. She was so welcoming from the instant I stepped in the door that I didn't feel like a foreigner at all. I am really happy she was the one who greeted me at the door, had it been anyone else I would have thought maybe a hostel would have been a bad idea.

She literally overloaded my brain with places to visit, things to eat and stuff to buy and look at. I cannot imagine having enough time to see and do everything she has told me about today. Now that I think about it, I must make sure that I return and get the full effect of Taiwan. Maybe I have found my new little food haven, the weather is nice, the people are too...what am I missing? Maybe a job.  

Not only do I live in the midst of the night market, everything is reasonably priced as well. I already know that I love the food and the streets are clean but not in that sterile kind of way. It reminds me of all the good times I had in China but with a Japanese twist to it.

I instantly made some friends here (the two girls from Chicago) whom invited me out for dinner, a place recommended by Anthony Bordain. I am very thankful that I met these ladies, it was a wonderful start to my time in Taipei. Sad that they are leaving for Bangkok tomorrow, we had one epic talk about taking advantage of the time we have been given and not wasting what is most important to us life. This conversation is definitely going to spore another post. I found an episode about Taipei if anyone is interested in watching. I know I'm going to watch it a couple of times to make sure I try lots of food! (not saying I wasn't going to anyways)

Made it out of Japan Alive

For all those that didn't already read my little blurb from the airport on Instagram I share more of the details here.

I was fretting for the past two days due to speaking to many people about visa requirements needed to go to Taiwan and make a return to Japan. There were so many possibilities and variables that I had to consider  from the moment that arrived at the airport.

Since I had so much on my mind, I thought to myself that I should leave a little early from my house tidy up the loose ends and make sure that I was ready to leave first thing in the morning. I got very little sleep, I think I tossed and turned for about an hour and a half but this is better for me since that means when I finally make it to my destination I will be so tired I can catch up on sleep and make use of my first real day exploring with lots of rest backing me up.

As soon as I arrived at the airport I was greeted by the lady at the counter with a frown about my passport, she ran off not telling me what it was about. 5 minutes passes…she returns and starts to check me in without a word in regards to why she ran off in the first place. (I am pretty sure that it had something to do with my working holiday visa) Next she insisted that my travel guitar needed to be checked with a fee of 3600yen because I didn't buy the extra baggage from the airline. [Singapore air] 

I confess I made a little more than a fuss about it, I haggled with her about checking in my backpack and I would gladly carry-on my guitar and pay the fee. Then the supervisor came over and I told her the situation and she gladly waved the fee and said that I could carry on both pieces. Bless her.
Next stop was through security and onto immigration, I didn’t think I would have any issues leaving the country. As soon as I stepped up to the counter the lady there said that I must go to another counter because she could not process me.  Reason? Unknown. So I make it over to the counter where this old Japanese man very irately asked me questions.

• Do you know that your working holiday visa is finished? Yes.
• Do you know that your visa expires tomorrow? Yes.
• How long are you going to be in Taiwan for? 3 weeks.
• Are you planning on returning to Japan? Yes.
• How long do you plan to stay in Japan? 3 months
• Why? Visiting friends and traveling.

The strange thing about all of this was the fact that he was asking me all these questions in such an angry manner that I seriously thought that he was going to ban me from the country. Then he just said have a good time when you return to Japan with a scowl on his face. What was wrong with him? Who knows. :/ I am more confused than worried after that conversation.

I picked up a quick lunch, exchanged my money into Taiwanese Dollar and boarded the plane with ease. Now I am ready to face immigration on the other side to see if I can make it through!