“Travel makes one modest, you see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” – Gustave Flaubert
I think I’ve started a new tradition where I travel during my birthday, same time last year I went to South Korea with Roxy and this year I went with Mama to Taipei. Never been here before but friends who have raved how good the food is, I managed to try a few but 3 days in Taiwan seems to be not enough.
Day 1 was spent on a tea culture tour, I’m not a tea drinker but Mama is while I particularly enjoyed the views.
There’s a nice little nook at the back.
Tea farm that reminds me of pineapple farms in Tagaytay
And a dam that’s man-made!
And then lunch with a view.
It gave a good-enough view of the city although a bit obstructed but I wasn’t complaining.
If there’s one thing that truly scares me it’s heights. I don’t know if it’s normal to feel this but I feel like toppling over whenever I’m at high places.
Taipei 101 gives a good view of the city, the observatory has sort of slanted windows? I don’t know how to describe but it made it harder for me to get near it LOL. I think I had my arm outstretched when I took this photo.
I was on my way out but couldn’t figure out the exit and ended up outside!
Anyhoot, took a photo of the top of the tower, I think it changed colors or something, nothing extraordinary. The view, however, was spectacular…
It reminded me of Arc de Triomphe where I also had a hard time going up (first I had to figure out how to get to the arc because it was in the middle of the road, underpass, second there were tons of stairs after figuring out how and where the elevator was) and seeing main streets converge towards it. Mama was supposed to be with me but she felt sick after eating too many veggies from lunch so she stayed at the hotel.
Next day we went to Jiufen (where inspiration for Spirited Away was taken, specifically the tea house) (insert other places here). The thing with tour groups is that everything is timed, such is the case in Jiufen where we didn’t have enough time to go to the actual tea house and spend time to do nothing. That said it was chock-full of tourists! That was a bit of a downer but Mama and I found quiet spots here and there.
So many people!
Lanterns away!
We flew our lanterns on an actual railroad track and at first I thought it was no longer in use, it is.
Next we went to Yehliu known for honeycomb and mushroom rocks eroded by the sea, I should say they were sculpted by the sea. Mama and I had a good walk but the place was quite huge and didn’t do much strolling.
And last stop was a visit to a pastry shop, they made us mould our own pineapple cakes but they were really just 2 small hopia-sized treats. Because it was a factory they conveniently have a shop set up with free-tasting! Naturally we had to buy pasalubong…hook, line, sinker.
Friends who have been to Taiwan raved about their food and most notably their night market and our 2nd night was our only chance to go because we were leaving the next day. So tired as we were we set out to have dinner at Ningxia Night Market. Their buses were very efficient and though it took me a while to figure out where to load, we eventually pulled through LOL. The wagyu beef cubes were amazing, close second was their grilled lobster, I would’ve stayed and eaten more but we were just too tired.
Our last day was spent at the hotel, walking around and having lunch in one of their malls, before heading for the airport. All in all a good birthday trip and bonding time with Mama.
I was thinking just now how social media and internet has changed how we treasure memories, when I was younger we had albums upon albums of photos, cameras were “analog” and people used film negatives. Now we have Facebook (which I hardly use), Instagram (I actively use), and blog sites to hold our memories.
it begins with a step 