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Ilha Formosa

Taiwan

By Nos Étapes

January 11^th, 2018

01.11.18.

We landed in Taipei around 7AM, but ended up leaving the airport at 9AM. The irrigation line was pretty fast, and took no longer than 10 minutes! Jared and I had not actually created a game plan for the trip because it came so fast. Once again, we only got airplane tickets two weeks before, and had both been busy with our families throughout the holidays. When we came back from the holidays, we both had work nonstop and did not have the time to plan anything. We literally only booked places to stay two days before our flight!

So anyways, we didn’t plan ANYTHING. After coming out of immigration, we found somewhere to sit to try and take an hour to plan. That did not happen, at all. Instead, Jared instantly mentioned the original Din Tai Fung, and our minds were pretty much set. Just when we were about to take the MRT (metro), Jared mentioned that his co-workers suggested to get a wireless router or sim card. We exchanged a bit of cash to do just that, and journeyed through the different terminals in TPE using their skyrail. If we were to borrow anything, we’d have to make sure to return it to the exact same kiosk in that specific terminal. So we made sure to find a kiosk in the terminal where we’d check-in for our flight to Hong Kong. Jared ended up getting a sim card with unlimited data for 5 days for only about $10… Good deal! We then took MRT to the Taipei Main Station.

We headed toward our very first hostel experience from the Taipei Main Station, which was a short 15 minute walk. We got to station around 9ish and the city was still pretty empty. We dropped our things off at the hostel’s lockers, since we wouldn’t be able to check-in until 4PM. Since Jared had a local sim card, we attempted to see if Uber worked, and it did! We took that straight to Din Tai!

Oh man, Din Tai Fung...we made it! Jared first showed me Din Tai Fung around southern California when we started dating. Him and his family made it a tradition to go every visit since forever! They are known for their xiaolongbaos, which I had never had since Din Tai. It was love at first bite! I’ve never had anything so unique. So it’s a kind of dim sum filled with meat and soup, and tastes best with ginger and vinegar. Since XLB’s exposure via Din Tai, it’s been hard to find any XLBs as good in other restaurants. So on our trip, we made it a priority to try the very first Din Tai Fung, which originated in Taipei, Taiwan. It opened at around 10AM and we got there just in time. In the two locations we went to in Southern California, we always went an hour ahead before opening because the lines get so long, but in Taipei...we only waited about five minutes, even after they had just opened! It was just as amazing as we expected! Compared to the SoCal locations, the skin was much firmer and chewier compared to being just a bit soggy feeling. The meat was also juicier and just a bit more flavorful, while the soup seemed more mellow and balanced. The ‘tops’ were also much better and chewier (the little knot at the top of the XLB). We ordered 15 XLBs, pork cutlet, string beans and beef broth! The meal reached our expectations, and was a satisfying first thing to do on our first day.

The restaurant started filling up around 11AM, and there was a huge line outside when we left. We figured the day started for everyone around 11ish. We saw Taipei 101 from where we stood, and decided to walk off the food since it looked so close. Lucky us, right? Wrong, it was much further than it seemed. Haha. If we went straight there, it would have been 3.5 km (about 45 minutes - according to GoogleMaps). We did not use maps, and kept walking towards it and got distracted along the way with food and other city amenities. We saw a park along the way, which was called Daan Park, and Jared suggested we go through it towards our destination. It was so beautiful and peaceful! It was pretty active for a mid-morning weekday. It was interesting because before entering the park, which was still within the gradually bustling city, it was almost sound-proof from the adjacent traffic when we entered. There were not trees surrounding the park, so we found that a bit odd. However, there were beautiful tree, gardens, and playground arrangements throughout the park. When we exited through the other side, Jared saw a McDonalds. His food ventures includes trying a MacDonald Cheeseburger and its respective specialty served in every country we visit. I think he still thinks Spain’s McDonald's is the best, and I agree. I’m not much of a MacDonald fan, so my judgement wouldn't be as valid. Jared claims the cheeseburger was much juicier and more fresh. He also got a pork burger, which he did not like. Haha.

We eventually reached Taipei 101, and checked out the mall next to it because I wanted to get a coat since it got very windy, my jacket was not enough, and it seemed coats were the trend in the city. Hah. I found a very lovely one, at that. Jared wanted one too, but did not find one in the mall, so we are adding that on our must-list while in Taiwan. We went up to the top of the Taipei 101 tower, and it was amazing because we could see all of Taipei, with its hilltop towns along with the city! I think we stayed there for about two hours: the first going around the diameter of the viewing floor, and the other hour chilling and enjoying its specialty mango and coffee ice cream while graced with the beautiful view.

This keeps Taipei 101 balanced from the strong winds

We then decided to check-out the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial, which we saw on the in the Uber ride from our hostel to Din Tai. We took a taxi, which there many lined outside of Taipei 101, and it wasn’t bad! I think we’d just prefer Uber since the rate is more fixed and identifying the location was more convenient. Our taxi driver was very friendly, and he asked if we knew the history behind the memorial. Honestly, we didn’t. We only saw the beautiful gates as we passed by. I’m not exactly sure how accurate his story was, but I’ll take his word since he was a local (and I’m also a bit lazy to check lol). He said it was a very funny story. If I remember correctly, Chiang Kai-Shek lost a major battle in China and had a memorial built for him when he came back. Lol. He also said there were soldiers walking at 5PM, and recommended we see it since it was almost 5. We were very lucky to be at the right place in the right time! That was very nice of him to let us know! I think we entered through the back entrance, because we ran through a garden, and up a long flight of stairs to get behind a cool fort-like building. Then we realized, that it was actually covered because of a renovation. Lol But there it was, looking down from the top of the building being renovated, were soldier going down a flight of steps the other side! COOL! We watched the procession and Jared chased them to get some good shots in. They were actually doing a march towards the flag in the center of the memorial, to take it down. Looking down at the soldiers going down the flight of stairs from where we were at, gave us the magnificent view of the entire memorial. We did not expect what we were in for. We stayed at the memorial for maybe an hour, watching the procession and appreciated the beautiful landmark. Then I wanted to try the original place that invented boba, which was coincidently within the memorial! I wasn’t really expecting much, because the first of things aren’t usually the best because following stores, would always have a different style. I think it was actually the best boba I’ve ever had! Jared also doesn’t like boba, but he loved it!

We then went back to our hostel to check-in and freshen up. The room was pretty cool! We didn’t know what to expect. But lucky us, we had a shower in ours! The hostel had community restrooms, showers, kitchen, and family room. Pretty neat. Afterwards, we went to Raohe Night Market for dinner. It was a great experience! We got there around 10PM and stayed till for almost two hours, eating at as much stalls as we could. Everything ranged within a few cents to no more than five dollars! Just a heads-up, I don’t think I’ll go into detail about each item we ate cause there were so much. We knocked-out with the help of food comas and melatonin, but it was a filled first day.

01.12.18.

We kind of slept in, and I think we were pretty adjusted to the time because we woke up around 10ish and headed out to try a Taiwanese breakfast at Fu Hang Soy Milk. We were starving in the morning so we were pretty quick to get ready and head out. Uber is pretty JOOG in Taipei, we got there in about 7 minutes from our place. When we got there, we were a bit confused because it we didn’t realize that it would be in a indoor market place within its food court. We walked within the marketplace looking for it, and was curious to what the line outside the marketplace was for. It was for just Fu Hang Soy Milk! Wow, it seemed like a local go-to breakfast place. It really helped how they had signs every few feet of the line AND it really helped that Jared had Google Translate! The line was super long, but it wasn’t a long wait. It wrapped around outside the marketplace, and went up one flight of steps to the next floor. I would say it was about a 30 minute wait and was very efficient. But we found it crazy that this one restaurant in the entire food court would have this line. We got to the front, and struggled. All we said was “sweet” and “salty”. We had our food orders in mind, but didn’t know how to speak the language. Luckily, it worked out just fine, we got exactly what we wanted, and we did not hold up the line! The food was very different and we did not know what to expect. So we wanted Dao Jiang, which is kind of like a soy milk dish. There are two kinds that we wanted to try: sweet and salty. Both came with another complimentary food item: Shaoubing and Youtiao, respectively. It was delicious! Dao Jiang, specifically the Salty Dao Jiang, was very similar to the Filipino dish, Taho. The Taho I drink includes brown sugar in a hot water, served with very soft tofu. Salty Dao Jiang seemed to be the liquid form of tofu (hence, soy milk) with a little bit of a brown sugar taste. This was accompanied with Youtiao, which seemed like a lighter, more airy-er form of funnel cake. The Sweet Dao Jiang was actually not sweeter than the salty Dao Jiange and was more rich with some kind of meat broth. The Shaobing was basically Youtiao in a pita-like bread sandwich and scrabbled egg. Both were so delicious!!! But as I mentioned earlier, I preferred the salty, while Jared liked both and had a hard time choosing. lol.

After breakfast, we walked around the food court, bought some pineapple cake, and checked-out a cool store filled with capsule vending machines. We got Luffy and two odd animal-looking things dressed up in food (all were all very cute though). We exited, the market place and Jared suggested we walk around a bit because he saw some other food vendors along the street. Each vendor seemed to be poppin’ and had lines of people! A majority of the customers looked like high school students so it must have been lunch for them. We stopped by a drink chain called Coco, which was as abundant in America with its Starbucks cafes, and tried their pearl milk tea. Omigosh, it was yummy! Not as great as the day before’s, but still better than all the boba places I’ve tried in SF. It also must be good if Jared loved it, and was kinda sad when I finished it..lol.

We then took an Uber to the National Palace Museum. The gates and courtyard to the museum were magnificent! I could imagine it coming straight from a movie. I’m so happy Jared enjoys museums as much as me. At least one museum in every country we visit is a must. The museum was the smallest international museum I had visited, but the content was perfect for its size. I may also be biased because there were two exhibit halls, where we only went to one because it was the main museum. The other exhibit hall said it was a library, which, sadly, we had no time for. The items were pretty amazing, and included historical records of Taiwan, different styles of calligraphy, crazy art pieces (including a very popular meat-shaped stone and jadeite bokchoy lol), and the special exhibit of Emperor Qianlong.

We wanted to try out the boba at their cafe, but it was a bit disappointing. The boba consistency was too hard, but Jared chugged the drink cause it was a much needed Cafe Latte. Jared also ordered a rice cake pork and onion burger and pasta with white sauce. Both were just usual museum par items that was over priced, but we would not have known unless we tried, right? There was a beautiful garden outside the museum and Jared and I spent some time strolling through it and feeding the koi. There was a nice building in the middle of the pond, and it had live-edge tables and stools, and there were fish food dispensers that gave food in quality looking containers for only $10 TWD (~ 30 cents USD)! It was a relaxing and neat garden. We also saw a black swan, where both of us had not seen before!

Jared’s phone was not picking up any signal where the museum was so we went with the already waiting taxis outside the gates. Since there was still just a bit more sun, we wanted to check-out the Grand Hotel. Apparently, this hotel is/was the biggist hotel in the world. And from what I’ve seen in pictures, it lived up to its name. We got there, and did not expect how huge it was! The lobby was also something, it was luxurious and had a sense of imperiality (if that’s a word). We walked around the sections we were allowed to, and waited to see what their buffet had to offer. I’d say, it’s worth visiting the hotel once to see, and skipping the buffet lol. Good thing Jared suggested we looked inside before deciding. We saved our money, and went straight to Shinlin Night Market.

Compared to the previous night in Rahoe market, we were better prepared and rested. We ate in much more stalls, and was much more content with our indulges. We were prepping to go clubbing afterwards, and wanted to stop by the hostel to freshen it. It was only around 9:30ish, the club opened at 10:30, but starts poppin’ at midnight. We were thinking of taking a quick nap before going...you guessed it, it never happened lol. So we lost our chance of going to a club in Taipei, so we definitely planned to go in Kaohsing, it’s baby sister.

01.13.18.

Jared and I got ready about 8 and were just chillin’ in bed when the hunger suddenly hit us. The instant it hit, we instantly got dressed and ran across the street to 7/11. The 7/11 was crazy because they have so much neat convenient microwavable food including: whole rice bowls, crazy instant ramen, warm togo snacks (onigiri, gourmet sandwiches, branded breads, huge hot dogs), and noodle bowls. Jared got chicken karaage and congee; I got a breakfast sandwich and a cool liquid form of oatmeal. They still had the soggy, soft feel of grocery store frozen foods or gas station stores, but the quality, in my opinion, would be just above two tiers. We quickly got ready and headed out to the Taipei main station, which was about a 20 minute walk. Our next city was Kaohsing, and it would be quickest to take the High Speed Rail (HSR) over there. It’s a bit pricey, but it was either saving twice as much money for a 4 hour trip or paying for just 2 hours. We had a long day ahead of us, and had already planned to go with HSR.

So, we got to Kouhsing around 1230ish, and transferred to the metro to go to Formosa Boulevard. It was about a 15 minute ride, so not bad. I am so glad our main stop was Formosa Boulevard, because I think it was known to be one of the most beautiful metro stations in Taiwan...it was! At least, the lobby was. Jared and I were starving, but had our huge backpacks with us. In previous trips, we would plan to instantly check-in and drop-off our things before finding places to eat. However, we learned in those experiences that we were usually tired, cranky, and seemed to be less efficient with finding our place— not only because of our mood, but because we’d get lost because of the unfamiliar signs (especially being in a country with a majority of chinese signs…). Getting lost with my 20 lbs backpack and Jared’s 30-40 lbs backpack was not going to get us anywhere on an empty stomach.

Man, were we having a tough time. Leaving the station into the city, it was much emptier in the district we were in compared to the bustling Taipei. However, the weather was much warmer with a light breeze, compared to Taipei’s cloudiness with chilly breezes. There were no Uber drivers, and the Airbnb directions were in chinese….lol. Not only that, but somehow, the address on the host’s Airbnb page was totally different from the address the host gave us in his message...IN CHINESE! Google translate helped a bit, but a majority of the successful find was due to many friendly and helpful locals. From reviews, translated by google, the Airbnb was just about a 5-7 minute walk. But the directions given to us were in chinese…We found a taxi driver who nicely offered to drive us to the area, which he read from the directions. (No specific address included, just pictures…) Once we got to the area, we walked for a bit looking for food before continuing. At first, we saw a steakhouse, but the hostess said it might be awhile so he pointed out their other location. NOPE, we weren’t leaving the area we were dropped-off. lol. We, however, asked him if he knew the general direction our place was. Thankfully his English was pretty good, and he gladly pointed out the way and even walked us there for a bit. After parting ways from him, we saw a quaint noodle shop with delicious looking pictures, and decided to eat there. I had been craving beef noodles and ordered an item that looked like it and Jared got wonton soup. They were both really rich and refreshing!

We continued walking the direction the steakhouse hostess directed us, and noticed one of the pictures the Airbnb host sent us of a food vendor near his place! We had to be close! Jared asked the vendor and showed the directions and pictures provided, and we were pointed to the general direction. Just a few minutes later, we found it and the host was luckily there to help check us in (it was about 2PMish and check-in was supposed to be after 4PM). We had just one more obstacle before enjoying our visit in Kaohsiong, five steep flights of stairs to our room with our packs...lol. We rested for a just a few minutes, and had to make use of our day before it was gone. It was harder getting around in Kaohsuing because everything was about a 30-minute drive, and there were less ubers, and less metro stations everywhere else. We were able to get an Uber to our first location, Lotus Pond.

Lotus Pond was so beautiful and the colors around the ponds surrounding structures were so vivid and bright! We strolled along the pond to appreciate each sculpture, and spent about an hour. The weather was perfect and seemed to compliment the scene. The sun’s heat felt like a heated blanket, or the slight heat from cozy fire. There was a very slight breeze, with the cool temperature of a tree’s shade. For those who know how early Merced summer mornings are, or early Honolulu winter mornings are...it was exactly that. However, unlike the coolness of the summer mornings, this was a nice Kaohsiung winter day.

We were also able to catch a street parade while we were at the Lotus Pond. I’m not quite sure what the celebration was for, but we were at the right place at the right time again — just like the march at Chai Kai-Shek Memorial.

We caught an Uber to try and catch the Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum before closing rather than a taxi since it was about 40ish minutes away and we didn’t know how bad the meter would rake up. It was a surprisingly nice drive through the countryside, and the sun was setting behind the crop fields and hills. We arrived an hour before closing and didn’t know what to expect. We didn’t realize Fo Guang Shan had several buildings and areas. It was almost its own town, included a school, monastery, and shopping center. It was actually more modern than we thought. When going through the shopping center, it was as if we stepped into another realm. There was a wide path aligned with about eight pagodas leading to a giant Buddha at the end of the path. The scene was enchanting because the sky was a bit hazy with orange, yellow, and orange skies decorating the mountainous backdrop of the Buddha. It was so peaceful that we wanted to take our time through the area to try and grasp everything. The Buddha sat on a memorial, and it had beautiful prayer rooms and a museum of its history. We didn’t have much time to stay, but the amount we were given was perfect.

We were starving and there were no Ubers available in the countryside that we were in, but luckily, there were just a few taxis left. Man, that sucks, but better than being stranded. We wanted to hit up another night market, and I read Taiwan’s largest street market included two that were put together. That was a big mistake. When we got there, there was only a flea market and the stalls were all closed. Like a ghost town. The hours online said it would open around 630-7PM, and we made it to during the given time. It was a huge disappointment, and I had kind of given up on any successful night markets in Kaohsiung. Since we didn’t know where else to go, we caught a taxi and tried another, hoping the night would get better with it.

Thankfully, the Ruifeng Night market was a success. Compared to the previous night markets we went to in Taipei, Ruifeng seemed much busier, bigger, and had more stalls. There were also more carnival games here. Jared eyed a bottle toss game, and got addicted enough to get a whole bucket (gallon) of rings. He won a bottle of beer! haha. We ended up having a nice successful night. We decided to head back to our Airbnb and was too tired to head back out for dancing, so we knocked out.

01.14.18.

Man, we anticipated this day was going to be exhausting and planned not to rush to Jiufen. We had not planned to rush to Jiufen because it was more of an evening visit, and we were staying the night there anyways. Jiufen was actually the site that gave the inspiration to Spirited Away’s Bathhouse, and an old mining town! If you did not know already, Jared and I are huge Ghibli fans! It was way more stressful getting there than planned...lol. We at least had the best breakfast in Taiwan, EVER! I wouldn’t mind going back to Kaohsiung just get it. Our Airbnb gave us a ticket for a complimentary meal in a neighboring quaint breakfast shop, and it was the best! Very simple, but the items we chose were so flavorful. Jared got an egg and pork sandwich and I got a Chinese-style egg pancake. Both were served with warm milk tea. <3 Jared ordered two more sandwiches to go for our trip, but finished both by the time we got to the train station, which was only a 5-7 minute walk...lol. We rode to Taipei Main Station with HSR, which was another two hour train ride, got lost in the station because it also had a huge mall connected to it, and found out we actually needed to catch another train (but just a normal train rather than high-speed). The ride wasn’t bad, at all. It was about a 30 minute train ride to Ruifang Train Station, then took a 30-minute bus ride to Jiufen.

The bus stop welcomed us with a beautiful view of Taiwan. Finding our next Airbnb was much more simple than the previous stay’s. Our host had better English, and provided very through pictures of the places we’d see to find her place. It was an easier treasure hunt, and found it within ten minutes of arriving (vs. an hour. haha). When we got to Juifen, it was so crowded with tourists in one small place! Us staying the night really helped because most were tour groups that would leave around 6-7ish. We went straight to our Airbnb at around 5PM, which was perfect timing! Our host had an amazing view of Juifen from her rooftop patio! We rushed out to see if we could get a quick bite of Juifen’s famous beef noodle soup, found the shop, but ran back once we found it because we didn’t want to miss the sunset! It was AMAZING! I haven’t seen a sunset that had so many colors! It transitioned from purple, orange, and yellow to dark blues, light blues, purples, and pinks. We stayed on the rooftop until the town lights started turning on.

After the sunset, we hunted down Juifen’s famous eats, that were accomodating to Jared’s allergies. This included the famous beef noodle soup (招牌牛肉麵) at Juifen Old Noodle Shop (九份老麵店), Jin Zhi Red Yeast Vegetarian Dumpling (紅槽肉圓), Glutinous Rice Cake (草仔粿) at the Ah Lan Hakka (阿蘭草仔粿) stall, taiwanese taro balls (but we also tried sweet potato, sesame, and matcha in this dessert broth), and finished with tea in the famous A-Mei Tea House! The beef noodles were perfect after a long day, the beef was tender, noodles were al dente, and the broth was rich and spicy.

The small streets decorated by beautiful lanterns, food stalls, and shops were very charming. It was a very old town that was still so lively. Juifen reminded me of Venice’s eerie, yet beautiful charm. If you watched Spirited Away, it really did look like the lively town with spirits everywhere. We explored Juifen while accomplishing the food hunt, and reached the tea house around 7:30ish. Though it was so lively, it was a sleepy town and shops closed by 8PM, while the tea house closed at 11PM. The experience was so unexpected and interesting! We ordered oolong tea, which came with yummy tea cakes. There’s actually a whole process of drinking oolong that we learned! One does not simply pour tea from a pot into a teacup. The server prepared the tea pot and tea cups before even pouring the tea! It was pretty cool. Something I’d highly recommend. It was nice romantic finishing the hectic day: tea on the tea house patio, overlooking Juifen and the ocean on a warm night, under the stars. We just relaxed until around 10 and head to our place. Now this part was kinda creepy, since shops closed at 8PM, the streets were only lit by flood lights because the stalls and lanterns had provided the light. Luckily it was about a ten minute walk. We decided to sleep early because there was a nearby mountain trail we wanted to hike in the morning to watch the sunrise.

Teahouse that inspired Spirited Away's Bathhouse

01.15.18.

Jared and I woke up around 5:30 to hike Mt. Keelung 基隆山, which is about 588 meters tall with a vertical climb of 265 meters high from the entrance. The whole trail was thankfully lined with steps; however, the higher to the summit we got, the steeper the steps got. On average, it takes an hour to get to the top… we got there within 30 minutes. It was such a struggle! We ran up as fast as we could cause we saw the light of the sun when we reached the trailhead. Stairs alllllll the way!!!! Man, that was a wake up call. Hah. We took short breathers at the three pavilions along the trail, but we were racing the sun. We thankfully caught it, and it was a nice reward. It was beautiful up there! Juifen is about 50 miles away from Taipei, but we were able to see Taipei 101! Again like the sunset the night before, the sky was painted beautifully. It was a bit cloudy, but because of that, we got what Jared calls: God rays. As the sun rose higher, it hid behind the clouds, and this dispersed its rays. The rays also fell elegantly towards the ocean. Here’s an excerpt of what can be seen from up there: Towards the northeast is the Bitoujiao Lighthouse and Yinyan Sea. To the north is the vast Eastern Sea. To the north west are sights such as Keelung Islet, XIehe Power Plant, and Heping Island. To the west, Shenao Mountain and Ruifang are visible, along with the Taipei 101 building and Taipei City extending behind these mountain ranges. A clear view of the mountainous town of Jiufen is also possible as you look from south to east. We took our time descending down the mountain to embrace our surroundings, but our joints were also in shambles from the previous day’s whole-day meandering with our huge bags. Otherwise, it was a beautiful and calming hike down that helped ease the pain.

We had to check-out by 11AM, but shops only started opening by then and we had gotten back around 8AM. We walked around town and checked out a few historical, iconic spots. Along the way, a town dog joined us and followed us around. Afterwards, we napped for a bit and packed, and head out by 10AM. Omigosh, our host was so sweet and adorable. She gave us farewell presents that her mother made, and they were cute beaded necklaces. Then went to get breakfast. So Jared spotted a charming, old bao place, that not only had the most succulent buns I had, but the best braised pork he had ever had the night before. We returned there for breakfast, ordered two braised pork over rice bowls, red bean bao, and sesame bao. I’m gonna miss those! We would also go back to Juifen just for those lol. He loved the braised pork so much that after his initial breakfast one, he ordered three more… two to eat there, and one for later. For dessert, we got one last food item on our must-eats list in Juifen: Misty Cake 米詩堤甜點王國, which were cream-filled puff pastries. The flavor we got was sweet potato! Interesting, yet yummy.

After breakfast, we decided to explore what we could around the area. The only thing that sucked was we had to carry everything with us again. Ugh, our legs! Having backpacking bags were very helpful because it prevented us from lugging around roller bags, which would have been a huge inconvenience, especially on this day. We got unto a shuttle, and decided to get off in the stops that looked interesting. We had intended to get off the golden waterfalls first, but the bus never stopped...so we just got off the stop after (where it actually stopped…). It was pretty cool. The stop had the Shuinandong Smelter, which was used to treat gold and copper ores. It looked like the ruins of a fortress hidden within the hills because moss had overgrown on it when it was abandoned. Afterwards, we walked about 15 minutes back to the first bus stop towards the Golden Waterfalls (Xinbei, 金瓜石). It was the longest 15 minute walk up the mountain roads ever, but it was worth it! The falls were beautiful, and got its name from the metal that gave it its color, including gold and copper. We then caught a bus, and tried to get to the Nyanya Rock Formations, but again, the bus skipped the stop! By this time, I think we realized the bus worked like the buses back home, where we had to press/tug the signal to stop, and that it only stopped where people were waiting...lol. We ended up at Bitou Cape, where there was a trailhead, which we were definitely not ready for. Maybe next time...lol. There was an fishing town close by and we went over there to try and break our larger bills for the next bus ride, which we hoped we would catch… we were stuck in a town on the oceanside (still cute, and it was a nice day so not bad…). Every taxi driver we met didn’t want to take us cause we couldn’t communicate with each other. We hadn’t considered an Uber cause we were way out in the countryside, but we tried. There was one! We called it, and risked having him take us to the Nyanya rock formations (which was a 4 minute drive, but a 45 minute walk...lol), with no plan how to get to the train station from there. He also couldn’t speak English, so I tried using Siri to translate,” can you wait for us?”. Omigosh, it worked! We played the translation once we got to the formations, and translated if he could take us to the train station afterwards. SUCCESS!!! We didn’t stay at the formations for long, but it was really rewarding to see. The journey getting there was something, but we didn’t want our Uber driver waiting. We got to the station around 3 PMish, and barely caught the train heading back to Taipei. It would be getting to Taipai just in time for our 4PM check-in.

Our last hostel was so cool, it was designed as space capsules! We rested a bit before going out, and planned dinner around 6 PM.

We HAD to try the infamous beef noodles Taipei was known for. The restaurant was hidden in a small street, but there was a super long line! It wasn’t too long, I think it took about 30 minutes for us to get it before it grew longer. Perfect timing again! OMIGOSH!!!! BEST.BEEF.NOODLES.EVER! The beef was SO TENDER and melted in your mouth, the BROTH was PERFECTLY SPICED, and the NOODLES were firm enough to hold its texture, but so soft when chewing. I noticed a pot going around tables that carried, I think, was some sort of pickled or fermented vegetable and customers were grabbing it from table to table to add to the broth. I had to check-it out. ENHANCED! Once I had it with the broth, I could not have the broth alone anymore. We were really good customers and scarfed down the food, so we could help the customer turnover. Afterwards, we walked around the area and found the only street food we weren’t able to find on our Taiwan trip, Scallion Pancake! It’s similar to platha, where its thin, the outside was crispy, and the inside was soft and chewy. We picked up some boba to pair with it, and it was perfect. We also wanted to try another well-known boba place to the locals, so we went there, then head back to the hostel. We needed to pack and get ready for our flight to Hong Kong the following morning.

Take-Away & Insights

"Ilha Formosa" is Portuguese for "Beautiful Island", which was dubbed Taiwan's nickname. It was full of pleasant surprises, and we didn't know what we'd get ourselves into. The food was amazing, Boba ALL DAY EVERY DAY, and the buildings were stunning and colorful. Everyone spoke Chinese, but we prepared enough to be able to interact with them. Though there were language barriers, the citizens were all really friendly and willing to help us out. Google Translate really helped; it's definitely an essential when traveling.

We were only able to go around North and South Taiwan, but we'll definitely be back for inland Taiwan (and the food). Unfortunately, Jared and I arrived back and had lots of LIFE to catch-up with so we couldn't really be as detailed with our Hong Kong trip, as we'd like.

To sum-up Hong Kong, it reminded of a more cleanlier and modern San Francisco. They had many Michelin Star Restaurants that were affordable! Best pork buns ever in the airport! If we ever have a layover in Hong Kong, that's the first place I'd go. Jared had family there, so they took great care of us, and gave us very handy local insights.