Monday, March 22, 2010

Today I will go...

well, I'm not sure. I made a list of places I want to go. It includes:
  1. Shilin Night Market
  2. Taipei 101 (worlds biggest building)
  3. Yangmingshan National Park (lots of mountains and hiking trails)
  4. Wulai (city to South of Taipei with hiking trail)
  5. Caoling Historic Trail (to the East of Taipei)
  6. Maokong (SE district of Taipei known for tea houses and hiking trails)
  7. Hot Springs
  8. Pinglin (has tea museum where they teach you how to make and drink tea, tea fields you can bike through)
  9. Cycling around Taipei's riverside
  10. North Cross Island Highway (I would have to take a bus down to where this starts, then rent a vehicle. Then stop randomly along the Hwy to check out the waterfalls and trails.)
Today I'm heading to Taipei 101 with my sister and her friend Esther once they're done with work. Until then, I'm not doing anything outside the apartment. That wasn't my plan for today. I did want to go rent a bicycle and cruise up and down the riverfront (there is an awesome bike/walk path set up along the entire river), but that didn't happen.
Why is that? I believe because yesterday I went to Yangmingshan National Park and attempted to climb a mountain. I made it to the park located about 2/3 of the way to the top, at which point the climb seems to get even steeper and I decided to head back while I still had water and functioning legs.

The path up is all steps.
Some areas steeper than others. I appreciated the challenge, but knew I wasn't going to make it to the top. So today is recovery. :)


What to Visit in Taiwan

Here are some interesting places to visit around Taipei that I found on my map of Taipei.
I think they're funny.
  1. Museum of Drinking Water
  2. Puppet Drama Memorial Museum
  3. Miniature Museum of Taiwan
  4. Taiwan New Cultural Movement Memorial Hall
  5. Customs Museum
(they sure like their museums and memorials)
  1. National Museum of History (to cover everything not mentioned in every other museum)
  2. Taipei Youth Party (mind you, this is a place to visit; do they really party 24/7?)
  3. Taipei Guest House
  4. Taipei Eye
  5. Porridge and Appetizer Snack Area

There are other museums, but they don't sound as interesting, just your run of the mill museums: cultural, art, etc.

More of what I'm doing to come tomorrow - when I'm not so tired. (I climbed a mountain today. kinda.)

Friday, March 19, 2010

I'm in Taiwan

But not as a missionary, I'm visiting my sister, Tanya, who has been here for 2 years now teaching English as a second language. Since so many people wanted to know what I would be doing, I'll record it here on my blog. And I like writing about my experiences, so this is great for me!

I have to admit, I never had a desire to visit any country in the Orient, but when your sister lives in one of those countries, it's too great an opportunity to pass up. And now I am here.
Even before I finally flew into Taipei, I wanted to sleep. I just can't sleep for more than 20 consecutive minutes on planes. Once the sleep had been remedied, at Tanya's lovely 9th story apartment with an amazing view of the sunrise through a wall of slightly dirty ceiling to knee high level windows (I watched the sunrise over the mountains today since jet lag had me up at 4 am), I devoured the Lonely Planet guide to Taiwan. All the stops I want to take I have mapped out on my metro map of Taipei and today I went to the beautiful suburb of Danshui. (Tanya's apartment is in Zhuwei, which is the 3rd stop from the top of the red line. The very top of the red line is Danshui. I know, metro map isn't readable, but now you know where we are in relation to the city.)
Because Tanya still has to work while I am here, I will be exploring on my own during the day and then meeting up with her at night. Last night we went out for Indian food with her friend Tanya. I thought it was funny too that she is friends with another Tanya. :)

Anywho, I spent many good hours in Danshui. Walked the riverside walk, visited historic Fort San Domingo, saw the Longshan Temple and the Fuyou Temple, and now that I'm reading the guide, realized I wanted to see the Yinshan Temple too, but missed it. Ah well, I can always go back. Even had lunch at a riverside restaurant- a lovely pumpkin cream soup with a latte. :) The waiters were so cute about serving me and using their English. (Thankfully the menu had English translations. In fact, most everything in Taipei has an English translation :)

The "morning" market was still in full swing after my lunch, so I walked all over that and just absorbed the atmosphere, and made a few purchases. I forgot how much I love open markets like that! I didn't barter though. All the items have clearly marked prices and in El Salvador, when there are no prices indicated, this means bartering is okay, but when there is a price on the item, that's the price, no bartering allowed. And I couldn't take my cue from other conversations because I have no idea what is being said. Very bothersome. I'll ask Tanya to show me the ropes of bartering here. I did come across some Spanish speakers, didn't speak to them, but it was cool to understand something being said around me. :)

Yea, I love this city so far.