Traveling in Taiwan: What to Do

Finally categorized my 60 posts on Taiwan into a useful list! I didn't put all 60 in here because some are frankly not about anything traveling related. Most of the posts are journal-style since I was keeping a log of my day to day activities in Taiwan but the trip itinerary posts are more structured. There is information about pricing and directions in the journal-style posts as well. Enjoy!

Trip Itineraries
About the TR Pass

Day Trips from Taipei
Taraoko Gorge and Hualien trip
Jiaoxi and Toucheng trip
Jioufen and Keelung trip

Wulai and Bitan trip
Taoyuan and Dasi Old Street trip

2-3 Day Trips
Taichung, Sun Moon Lake, Fengchia Night Market trip
Tainan, Anping, Kaohsiung trip
Seafood and beach in Kenting
Hsinchu trip and here

Entertainment and Activities
Red Pocket Singing
Taipei Zoo
Bihu Park, Miramar
Karaoke
Shrimp Fishing, Up Taipei 101 free

Buildings and Sites
Fort San Domingo, Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall
National Palace Museum
Sun Yat Sen Memorial, Red House
Presidential Building

Cultural and History
Bopiliao
Tea shop

Nature and Scenary
Taipei night view
Huajiang Wetlands
Yangmingshan and New Taipei City Hall

Shopping
Wu Fen Pu wholesale market

Night Markets
Shida Night Market
Gongguan Night Market
Shilin Night Market (bottom of post)
Guang Zhou Street (bottom of post)

Food
Taipei 101 Din Tai Fung
Ximending Modern Toilet Cafe
Dongmen Du Xiao Yue

Toronto & Waterloo: 6 Days

It has been exactly one month since I've blogged here! I guess I just needed a small break after blogging for 60 days straight but I'm back now and aiming to post regularly. 

About a week after I returned from Taiwan, I went to Toronto July 19th to 24th for a conference. I took a red eye flight which was a bad idea since I am the type of person who can't fall asleep on planes (not even long haul flights), so I was extremely tired when I arrived in Toronto.

Beautiful view from flight. Photo credit: Best U.

Let's Go!

Fortunately the transport system from Toronto Pearson International Airport to downtown was inexpensive and convenient. It only cost CAD$3 to take a bus then the subway to the city.

Queen's Park subway station. Photo credit: Best U.

Right after we dropped off our luggage, I took a much needed hour nap and then I was energized to explore the city before the conference began in the evening! We went to eat brunch at Over Easy which was delicious then to St. Lawrence Market where I wished I didn't have such a large breakfast at Over Easy so that I could eat more at the market. The weather was absolutely gorgeous as you can see in my unedited photo below.

St. Lawrence Market

I really enjoyed how there is a mix of well preserved old buildings in between modern buildings all around Toronto. We stopped for gelato at The Distillery and walked through small boutiques in the area.

The Distillery

I think I enjoyed the walk along Lake Shore Blvd most because I love the water and it was breezier there on the hot summer day. It is also a great place to see the famous CN Tower, although with its height you can pretty much see it from anywhere in the city.

Lake Shore Blvd

The Union Station was quite pretty but there was a large portion boarded up for renovation. That is the trouble with travelling in the summer: construction! When I was in Quebec last year, half the parliament building was undergoing renovations which certainly didn't make for nice photos.

Union Station

Day 1 to 3

Friday evening to Sunday evening was spent at the conference where I met many new people, especially the ones I will be working virtually with over the next half a year! I love Canada but sometimes I do think that our country is too wide. My teammates are from all over the country and I don't know when will be the next time I get to see them in person due to distance.

Cool teammates :)

Day 4

After the conference ended I decided to stay behind for three more days. Monday afternoon I took the Greyhound to Waterloo to visit high school friends. I don't remember when was the last time I took a Greyhound but I'm glad to say that my ride went smoothly.

There wasn't much to do around the city so they just took me to the downtown area to eat then walk around the city hall and to the University of Waterloo. I visited more than a handful of university campuses this summer and it really changed what I used to imagine universities to be like.

Waterloo City Hall

On University of Waterloo campus

Day 5

In the morning I took the Greyhound back to Toronto for another day of city touring. We went to Centre Island which required a short ferry ride to get to. As a tourist, the ferry ride is worth taking because it offers a great view of the city.

Centre Island Ferry

There were lots of activities suitable for younger children on the island including small amusement park rides, large park areas, paddle boats, beaches and a petting zoo. I heard there's also a nude beach which isn't necessarily child friendly.

This pig at the zoo area is definitely the largest pig I've ever seen. It is probably the size of a small pony!

Pig at Centre Island

Back in the city we lined up for 15 minutes at the Magnum pop up shop for the famous luxury ice cream bars. I'm glad that I came to Toronto when they had the store open because it was really delicious! Of course, I got the macaron topping because I love macarons.

Magnum

After this photo a small story happened to my ice cream bar (my bar is the one on the bottom). The ice cream bar is dipped in chocolate so naturally the chocolate would stick to the cardboard box holding the bar. My macaron piece was sitting delicately on top of my bar and I used a little too much force to peal the bar off the box to eat, resulting in my macaron piece catapulting across the table onto the floor before I even had a bite! That was a little sad but oh well, the rest of the bar still tasted good :)

Magnum bars

In the evening, we went to Korea Town on Bloor Street for dinner then to a cafe called Snakes and Lattes to play board games. For $5 we could play the shelves and shelves of board games all night, pretty good deal.

Day 6

My last day in Toronto, I visited the downtown University of Toronto campus. It is so integrated into downtown that sometimes it is confusing which part is downtown and which part is the university. Regardless, it is a beautiful campus.

U of T

U of T Library

By early evening I was back at the airport for my flight home. This trip was short but sweet. In years to come I may not remember the names of the landmarks I went to but I certainly will remember how I felt while here: happy :)

Take care,

Taiwan Day 60: Last Day

Day Sixty

July 10 - Finally the last day in Taiwan and the end of an 8 week adventure. Looking back, the very first week of being in Taiwan I didn't think that I would miss the place that much when I left. Now that has changed 360 degrees and I miss Taiwan very much because of the people I met there and the memories we created together.

Hui Chee and I had flights within half hour of each other in the afternoon so a lot of our friends came to where we lived at 9am to have farewell breakfast with us! Throughout the meal I was happy to get another chance to see them but also a little down because I knew the goodbye was coming soon.

Last breakfast together

Back at our homestay family's house we took photos and left the house 40 minutes later than the planned time. Five minutes before getting into the car, we all hugged each other goodbye and that was when I cried. I've never cried that quickly before but the surge of emotion looking around at these people that I might not see again (or at least soon) made me sad.

Friends <3

For Hui Chee and I, we had similar experiences in Taiwan because we were always together. In the beginning there were three of us (HC, Olivia and I) then came a fun fourth person, Darm to join our project. Although the project didn't go smoothly, we thought that we at least had each other. Then due to different circumstances both Olivia and Darm had to leave Taiwan, leaving HC and I. 

It was a little bit lonely those 2-3 weeks where it was mostly just us two but boy was I glad to have her around. We made the most of it and had a fabulous trip around the island. Thanks roomie!

Our experience in Taiwan went up bit by bit when week 5-6 came starting with the arrival of Elvira, then an entire group of new friends from all over Asia (Angeline, Tommy, Leanne, Suvda, Jin Yee, Jackie). We started off mediocre, fell to a low and reached a peak up till the day we left on July 10th. What awesome people to have met before we left Taiwan!

The local Taiwanese friends Derek, Sonia, June, William and Lut who came to say farewell also made us feel welcomed in Taiwan.

Waving goodbye to our car

Our homestay auntie and uncle drove us to the airport. Thank you for letting us live with you for 60 days, giving us good food and taking us around Taipei! 

Homestay auntie and uncle

The plane ride home was very long and a little stressful because I only had 15 minutes to transfer flights and pass through security! But with some running and the help of a Cathay staff, I made it :)

Aerial view of Hong Kong

Gratitude and appreciation for everything I learned, experienced and felt in Taiwan. This has been the longest I've stayed in Asia and I'm glad it was here.

Take care,

Taiwan Day 58-59: Camp #2 and Farewells

Day Fifty Eight to Fifty Nine

July 8 - I went right back to work at the second summer camp after Summer National Conference 2013 ended. Having missed the first day of camp due to the conference I was a little bit lost but my teammates quickly filled in the information gap for me. 

This time, the student age was older from 12-16 years old and with direct comparison to the elementary aged kids their English was significantly better. Therefore, we were actually able to run the camp in English and only translate in between when necessary.

Evening of July 8, our friends wanted to have a farewell dinner for Hui Chee and I because we are both leaving Taiwan that day. The group size was big with almost 20 people and as I ate with them I felt so glad to have met so many wonderful people in Taiwan. After dinner, some people left and a smaller group of us went to McDonalds to eat dessert and chat some more. We laughed so much that it hurt and I remember thinking that I am going to miss moments like these a lot when I depart.

July 9 - The third and last day of camp was July 9. The 5 teams of children all worked hard to create a presentation in English about what they have learnt in the camp and present it to family and friends during the showtime later on in the day.

I watched in surprise as the group I was helping to facilitate coordinated so well on creating a presentation together and practised on their own accord. I didn�t have to guide them much and helped mostly by giving English vocabulary and fixing some grammar. Otherwise their work efficiency made me proud and the fact that they presented in a language that they were uncomfortable with made me realize that a little encouragement goes a long way.

Presentation

Presentation

Completion of camp

At the end of our camp, another large group of us went to eat dinner together. At the end of dinner, I thought that it would be the last time that I would see them since our flights the next day were in the afternoon and travelling to the airport takes an hour. We all exchanged hugs goodbye and looking into the faces of those that I have shared such fond memories with made me very sad. Of the good friends I made in Taiwan, about half are Taiwanese, half are from other parts of the world and a few left Taiwan weeks ago. Wherever they are in the world, they all left such an impact on my experience in Taiwan. I felt sad because this same group of people will probably never meet all at once in the same place again. Even if I visit Taiwan again, the friends from outside Taiwan won�t be there.

Goodbye hugs

Then to my pleasant surprise, many of them said that they will come to where we live at 9am in the morning so that they can eat breakfast with us and see us one last time before we had to leave. That made me happy that I could still say, �See you tomorrow!�

We had dinner round two that evening at 9pm with our homestay family. They really were very kind during our 2 month stay in their home. The food was delicious and we shared about what we had learned and done during our time in Taiwan.

Photo with homestay family

Cheers!

Take care,

Taiwan Day 53-57: Summer National Conference

Day Fifty Three to Fifty Seven

July 3 to 7 - For five days I attended my first conference outside of Canada. It was different to be an international delegate and I met so many new people everyday.

Delegates from Canada: Win Shi and I with MC Fieja

The days were filled with sessions, training and activities from 9am to 10pm of which my favourite was the 400 people flashmob we did in the middle of Ximending. I never would have imagined participating in a flashmob, let alone one so big but it felt right that it happened while I was in Taiwan.

"Post your dream" activity after flashmob

On another note, it is interesting being Chinese and Canadian at the same time while attending a conference as a Canadian delegate in Taiwan. I say this because when international delegates introduce themselves it is always, �Hi I am (name) from (country).� Every time I say that I am Vivien from Canada, there is a follow up question questioning where I�m really from because in their eyes I should be from a Chinese speaking place since I look like one.

Delegates from Canada and USA

Each time I felt like I had to explain my life story about growing up in Canada and not having memories of a home anywhere else but there. Often I get asked another question about how come I can speak Chinese if I grew up in an English speaking country. I would explain that I took Chinese lessons every Saturday as a child. To them I have to fit in one of two categories: originating from a Chinese speaking country or completely white-washed since I�m Canadian.

I suppose the concept of Chinese-Canadian is more difficult for them to grasp and hard for me to explain. Especially in bigger cities like Vancouver and Toronto, it is increasingly common that people can speak two or more languages fluently because they grew up using English and their nationalities� language. Participating as an international delegate, I not only acquired knowledge from the sessions but also gained insight on how I am viewed, how Canada is viewed and do my part in explaining some of those stereotypes.

Take care,

Taiwan Day 52: Second Day of Camp

Day Fifty Two

July 2- The second day of camp went by faster than the first, probably because we anticipated the high energy of the kids. In the morning we went to play dodgeball like we promised them yesterday. It was quite entertaining watching them split teams because the boys and girls refused to have co-gender teams even though the boys were outnumbered. So in the end it was boy versus girl on the field.

Splitting teams to play dodgeball

After sports, we went back indoors for some lessons about different ways to think about things. Each of us introduced a theme and compared Taiwan with our home country. For me, I talked about the environment and recycling practises in Taiwan compared to Canada.

The elementary school

Although the kids tired me out a lot, I knew that I would miss them. They would call us "teacher teacher" and ask us silly questions. I think the part I enjoyed most today was playing hangman with them to get them to practise their English vocabulary. Surprisingly they were very into the game and soon asked to give the word themselves so that they could challenge other students.

Kids and coordinators of the camp

Learning how to communicate with your peers can already be a challenge sometimes but with kids it is a whole different language.

Take care,

Taiwan Day 51: First Day of Camp

Day Fifty One

Today is probably the most tiring day I've experienced in Taiwan so far. Even more tiring than hiking Yanmingshan or the Wufenqi waterfall! We woke up early at 7am and had our first day of camp from 9am-4:30pm.

Our 22 students were aged 7-12 and very very energetic. However, our camp was held in English and they were reluctant to participate when we didn't translate in Chinese.

Our team

We held many sessions around our camp's theme: Think Out of the Box. Then the three exchange participants including myself presented on our countries: Singapore, Malaysia and Canada.

The teacher who liased us with the school came to watch for the first half. At one point there were two boys who got into a fight and I was so glad he was there to settle the situation.

Teacher Peng

At lunch time we handed out the bento boxes and let them play around. The kids never stopped moving or finding something fun throughout the day! I wonder how they had so much energy because by lunchtime I was already exhausted.

Handing out lunch

Bento lunch

The kids are pretty reluctant to speak English, even if it is "repeat after me" style. But at one point of the camp, two little girls came up to me and said, "Teacher you are pretty." after they learned it from someone else in our team. That was so cute and made me blush!

I have much more respect for elementary teachers after today because they handle the classroom so well and come back year after year to do the same thing.

Take care,