Back From Haitus!

It has been a helluva long time since I got guts to get back onto the blog, I wanted to do it many times over and never got around to it. I will have to take a little bit of your time to explain what I have been up to or you have the option to skip ahead.

Excuses are just procrastination revved up to the max, as time goes on I always seem to eventually end up back at the computer thinking to myself how much I wish I was writing....so here I am. 

TADA!

Life became 'hectic' after the move to Vancouver after decided again Edmonton wasn't for me, that is right folks I moved out west again. lol A place called Burnaby for a little while. That lead us straight into April 2017 where I got another opportunity to travel again with my now husband Adam ( I am going to be name dropping him from time to time, like I said a lot has happened this year thus far.)

We packed up our bags, hopped on a plane from Kelowna -> Vancouver -> Taipei, Taiwan -> Tokyo, Japan. I thought that it would be different with a partner and it was, it was tougher than I had imagined at times and easier too. I had someone to react to and sometimes that is just more fun, to have someone to bounce ideas off of and relive experiences with in the future. 

I will make and attempt to keep the recap short, we traveled throughout Japan on the infamous JR rail pass and I finally got to see parts of Japan that I had been dying to during all these months gone by. I was really home sick for JapanLand for those who know me well enough. Unable to shake the Asian homesickness I was back and in full force where I was able to ride the rails just the way I like it, on a bullet train. 

After the two weeks of unlimited travel which is now about mid May 2017, I was ready to attempt another workaway after a bad experience in the past with Wwoofing. We found a place called Nozawaonsen home to a whopping 3400 people, a quaint ski mountain town about an hour out of Nagano. (If anyone remembers it was where the winter Olympics were once.)

Using the last day of our pass we were able to make it to Nozawa shaving off an extortionate rail prices if we weren't on the pass. I will skip the finer details and just say that we made ourselves a contact here and worked for room and board. I ended up staying here for 5 weeks total doing interior painting, sanding, oiling trim and general cleaning. 

During this time here we were able to hitch a ride to the top of the mountain and to train stations into Iiyama and Nagano city. Including discovering a free croquet course on the side of a ski hill where we eventually decided to get married. *insert awesome sound effect*

Before getting hitched in Japan, some family emergencies took us by surprise and eventually we both returned to Canada cutting our trip short. I traveled onward to Hong Kong to visit my grandmother in the hospital for 4 days before returning home. 

Back in Canada we did some camping to help us regroup near Gibsons, BC after touching down in Vancouver. The weather kissed us with the perfect camping spot at Smugglers Cove, which is still one of my favorite camping memories to date.

Of course I headed home to Edmonton, AB to visit with friends and family. Don't forget Jamtron, a music festival worth going to if you are ever in the area at the right time.

With a minor detour mini road trip to Drum Heller to learn about the underwater river which is now a dinosaur rich lands. We very quickly learned that the prairies are not ideal for camping since they home some of the strongest winds I have faced in a tent. So much so we had to tear down and to sleep in the tent before finally making our way back to the Shuswap, BC. 

This leads us to WEDDING IN 30 DAYS.

So long Taiwan

Here I am again off to the airport, I've been at this bus stop so many times now. Sending people off and going back to Taoyuan airport time and time again. 

My return to Taichung and the back to Taipei....

I've been here for a total of almost half a year and now it is time to move onwards to Europe. If it wasn't for Taiwan I wouldn't have been able to meet an abundance of lovely people. 

There are moments when you know you're in the right place at the right time and I am sure that Taipei was one of those places. Friendly people riding around with CD on their baskets, drumming parades on the street, night markets galore and a familia that came to warm my heart faster than I could have ever imagined. 

I made a group of friends that took me in and most of all showed me that there was always going to be a place that I would be welcomed back. Although I don't know when I will be back in Asia, I am sure that I am going to return to this side of the country. There are just too many countries left on this side of the world that I need to visit. 

I'm going to miss you Taiwan, you've been nothing but good to me. I'm sure that I'll be seeing a lot of the wonderful travellers I've meet here in the upcoming days. :) Until then, I'll see everyone on the other side. 

Esoteric Tao Experience in Taiwan

JI opened google map and hit the explore nearby for a vegetarian restaurant, I found one about two and a half blocks away. I started going there because they served a full platter of my favourite veggies. After a couple of visits the owner spoke to me about visiting a temple with him and his wife. I will be the first to admit that I love temples, in broken Chinese I arranged to meet them the next day and accompany them to this said temple to pray. 


I arrived the next day for dinner at 6pm, also asking my roommate to come accompany me to this 'cultural experience'. We were given a good serving of food where the owner's wife told us that it was free so as long as gave 100NT when we arrived at the temple. I wasn't opposed since the amount of food that they gave us was worth more than that. 

After we finished our meal we were escorted into a vehicle, now I know what you maybe thinking, 'stranger danger' but if you knew how friendly people are in Taiwan you wouldn't have second guessed the siutation to be a bad one. Of course i wouldn't have gone if it was just me. 

'' Our tickets to heaven''

A short car ride later we arrive at a building and ushered into a room with a shrine on the side with 5 kneeling placements. They didn't force us to do anything but to watch the first prayers and gave us some reading material 'The testimony of the American Pastor' a story of an Angel that tells the man in the story how to receive Tao through a folding paper analogy.

This is when it started to become a little transmundane, we watched the ceremony. As it continued on with multiple sessions of bowing, offerings and lighting of incenses, there was a parchment with our names written on it ( we 'registered' upon arrival). I didn't think that it would be written on anything but here it was being said in a chant in a language I didn't understand. I thought to myself that I didn't feel threatened but like a cryptic puzzle that I couldn't solve. More entertaining the thoughts that were going through my head and theirs.

• How does bringing/inviting foreigners to join/receive Tao as their god so they can go to heaven help them?

Talk about a random experience, maybe if I understood the language and they were so charming I wouldn't have gone. Next was a laminated card with our names on it and a short explanation of the three things we needed to know. The hole on head where the horizontal and lateral axis meet, this will shine the light in and out of our bodies to help us ascend into the heavens. Five words to me memorized and a hand gesture used for when we kneel then bow on the ground. I assume there are years of teaching that follows this but....not today.

At the end of the evening we were given a booklet that shared more information about The First Step To Chong-De Tao Cultivation. Alongside with apples, radish cake, a melon and an alcohol free beverage and this was all after thet served us fruit and water during our short teaching.

Why am I always getting myself into these interesting predicaments? Oh right...I remember now. :P

One piece cafe in Taipei

I haven't been treating myself to a lot of coffee recently that wasn't from a conbini. I googled the nearest places to me and BAM, I find the smallest little cafe that is all One Piece themed. I'm not an avid watcher of the show but I have seen enough to appreciate it. 

Also living in Japan really boosts your knowledge of popular anime and manga. 

When I arrived there was a small party, so I had to wait but there is more than enough stuff to look at :) 

I was seated in the cozy corner with lots of puzzles and figurines. 

The bar was covered with figures and nick knacks, almost no room for anything else. I was just thinking of how much time that I would need to collect this much stuff. 

The soft jazz played in the background making a very soft reading ambiance. Instead of blasting j-pop or the one piece sound track as they might do in a Japanese/korean style themed cafe. 

Oh and did I forget that they have all the manga. I don't need to mention a nice collection of other books as well. 

A cute little place just around the corner. 

I didn't end up staying for a coffee because the party had the guy running around. He seemed super busy but I will def try to go back another day. Maybe if you're in the area you can stop by. 

It is literally around the corner of 

liuzhangli station. 

Taichung, Taiwan

Wait did I even write a post about my arrival? I guess should catch everyone up!  After my stint in Taipei I became tired but not because of the city, it was due to my stubbornness to chase money and other factors. I needed a break. What's a better reason than to explore another city!Next thing I knew it was decided and I was moving to Taichung. 

Two of my lovely friends which I met in the hostel were kind enough to pick me up. An impromptu arrival lead me to want to relax briefly, going out clubbing and just spending time catching up on my neglected to do list. 

Next thing I knew I was back to Taipei for work Monday evening, after only one short week I had returned. It was brisk and rainy the whole time but as I wandered around the city running errands, the best part was that it had the essence of home. Maybe it was the refreshing rain, the mini 'reunions'. It was easier this time for me to approach people and use my Chinese, find unique foods, travel around and visit with my group of friends I had built there... I didn't realize that it was going to be a place that I would become so comfortable with. Maybe one day I will come back and live in Taiwan and improve my Mandarin. 

I returned the following Friday to Taichung to mainly see the lantern festival but the whole thing wasn't like the one in Pingxi. Which had a Mecca of people setting off sky lanterns, this was an arty array to of lights which decorated everything from animals to giant boats. The celebrations runs March 5-March 15 in three different locations within the city presumably with the same effect. 

This was literally the first time I had gone out, wandered around, sat on the grass, soaked in the differences of Taichung compared to Taipei. There was an area near the main station which the Vietnamese and Thai people were more predominate. Taichung was a more widely diverse than I had imagined. I'm going to be happy to explore more of this wonderful Taiwanese city when I make my way back around. (That's right I'm coming back, no country can get rid of me) 

Pingxi lantern festival

It's that time to witness the lantern festival first hand. I had been looking forward to it for ages! 

After Chinese New Years there is a week where the sky lanterns in taiwan become a full fledge event. Of course you can send off your own lantern all year round in 十分 (shifen). 

From Taipei on the actual day they had shuttle buses running from Taipei zoo station to Pingxi for $50NT and a free return trip. They separated the lines into standing and sitting, neither one was shorter than the other.

The local Taiwanese people go there very early, all in all the rush of crowd never really ceases throughout the day. We waited just over an hour to get on the bus and the ride out there was about 90 minutes. You could take the train out to Raifung and then catch the Pingxi line out to the last stop but it would cost more and take just as long if not a bit longer. (That would have been a standing line for sure) 

I actually got sick from the swarms of people! There were so many people! Upon arrival there was a band playing, I was told that on the first day of the event djs made their appearances at about 1pm-7pm.

Between 6-9pm in 15 minute intervals masses of sky lanterns were released. If you were close enough they were astonishing. From afar they looked like a swarm of fireflies. 

Out return trip was intense, the line up was the longest/largest one I have been in. I've lived in some crowded places but this overshot any of my past experiences. The line took about two hours and when we got on the bus a lady got sick and we had to stop in the middle of nowhere to wait for an ambulance. It took about 4 hours to return. I can safely say I slept for a long long time after this evening. 

Suggestion, hitchhike. Walk down to the road and skip the line. You can't take a taxi because their banned from coming into the area but it doesn't mean that locals can't drive you to another destination nearby. :P

Youth Hostels (Insider Story)

Most long term travelers know or at least have heard working for accommodations, if not...now you do. This post isn't dedicated to any place in particular but as an overall compilation of thoughts with an undertone of the title.

My time spent traveling has always been in and out of hostels, meeting people in the bunks that surround me and most of all making life long friends in places we all called home temporarily. Moving around has given me the opportunities that many people would just out right say 'fortunate'. I worked hard and played my cards right or better yet 'carefully', I don't think it was chalked up to luck in any way. Like a game of chess it is necessary to think ahead from time to time, not everything can just be 'winged'.  

As I sit back and think to myself om one of my walks in the empty streets of the dawn or climbing to hostel rooftops to watch the stars... (btw the ones in Korea are the most accessible) I just ponder life and what I shall do in the upcoming days, most of all my whole outlook of life gets reanalyzed on a quarterly basis. (actually more) 

Now that I have started working for accommodations at a hostel (this is my second time), I meet people faster than ever and in an abundance. I had forgotten that every Hello is a Goodbye and to make life long friends in a short amount of time isn't impossible but takes a toll on your heart.

I have met so many wonderful people these past months and I can't imagine doing anything else with my life right now. Maybe I will jump back and forth from Taiwan and other countries until I can finally find another place that has won my heart like Taipei has.

The Four Beasts (Mostly Photos)

The sunset is amazing up here I always recommend it to everyone! This Monday's sunset was exceptional. 

I am a huge fan of crossing the yellow 'Do not Cross Tape' Strangely enough it was only crossed off on the one side and not the other. 

Quite a ways up we found these giant kanjis carved into the huge rocks. If you are on the stairs going up you won't see these. Off the beaten tracks my dear friend. 

Panoramas here will be the new screen saver I think...(all my screen savers recently have all been from the top of really high places)

OMG love the mountains, stop looking at Taipei 101 for a second and just turn around will ya?

Love climbing up a side of a mountain via ropes anything beats walking up stairs or a steep incline for what feels like hours.

I wish you could be there standing on the victory rock with me :)

Well here is the view! 

This sunset really impressed me.

Don't look back for camera shots, keep climbing :P

Return to Taipei & Christmas!

As I landed in Taipei I was overwhelmed with how clam everything felt. I realize that this is my 5th Christmas away from home. My friends know that one day I will return but in the winter (seems unlikely) but one day I will come back. The weather here is perfect just about 13C and not too hot or cold, which is really what I was looking forward to strangely enough. Super comfortable weather for me right now. :P

Soon I was off working into my routine going to the gym and getting settled into my little room hidden behind the wooden door. :)

I was surprised that I got a gift from my boss and a full vegan meal with Rice! Thank you Christmas wasn't all that lonely. 

Even watching old Doctor who Christmas specials with some vegetarian Chinese street while working feels like a great way to spend the day. 

Skipping through Taipei

As I stepped onto the Tarmac away from the bus I was slammed with waves of emotions. [here I snapped this photo of my last rising sun, fitting no?] The waves were probably due to my all nighter at the airport and having far to much time to think about the recent events in Japan. Where I have to add was one of the most socially packed months I've cared to experience in ages. 

I tried my best to sleep on the plane but my thoughts were being really dramatic. As you might have already noticed that I'm dealing with my departure in a very vocal way. (We all have our outlets) You know how it is, make 'everlasting' friendships that changes you as a person...then parting ways seems like one of those unrealistic movie moments where the audenice would say, 'turn back, you do have a choice!' 

I could see Fuji-san as we took off giving me another wave. Though I knew that in 4 hours I'll be arriving in Taiwan. 

Upon my arrival I was greeted several times in japanese (more than 5) where I spoke English to the clerk. 

Jenny get out of the mentality! 

I hopped on the airport bus to the Hyatt hotel where I walked my things to my hostel. Taking a break along the way to soak in the reality of what was taking place. 

Instantly greeted at the bottom of the elevator by a coworker on his way out to pick up lunch. Key obtained, followed by   shower and a wonderfully indepth conversation about where him and his lady should visit in Thailand. 

This was my key reminder where I got all my recent stamina from, all these conversations that plant, water and feed travelers. 

I popped over to the other hostel where I worked for two hours, had another extensive talk about obtaining accommodations and finding english teaching jobs in Taipei. The amount of knowledge, I feel like I'm back to being a spongee. 

Last stop home, a lovely vegetarian meal with a sugar free bubble tea, topped with the latest episode of New girl. 

Next Singapore!