Kristi, Cata, and I are coming up on the completion of our first year in our most recent country - Taiwan! Here are some photos and comments on our experience with a new city, culture, cuisine, and landscape.
We had assumed Taipei might be quite similar to Singapore; a beautiful modern city that felt generally clean, organized, and new. Taipei, however feels a bit more organic. Taipei neighborhoods are soulful; they show their
age. They are less dominated by skyrise buildings and often consist of shophouses with businesses on the bottom and living space above.
Taiwan, as it turns out, is a great place to get out of the city and into the outdoors. Going to the beach or hiking in the mountains are great weekend activities (Cata prefers going to the beach). We enjoyed the much cooler Winter months and took advantage of them to get outside as much as we could. We purchased a car early on and have spent many weekends exploring the areas around Northern Taiwan.
Taiwan is also a great place to be a passionate eater. Like Singapore, Chinese food is prevalent. Taiwan has its own unique dishes; stinky tofu and bubble tea originate here. We've tried both and for Kristi, once was enough. We eat a lot of soups and dumplings, as well as simple dishes of braised meats or veggies and rice. Elements of Korean and Japanese food are also part of the food scene.
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| One of Cata's favorite spots in Taipei - the science museum. |
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| Suspension bridges are a common way to cross river gorges in rural areas. |
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| Trains are a traditional mode of transport in Taiwan, with the railways mostly built by the Japanese during occupation. This one in Alishan National Park originated during the Japanese colonial period for logging purposes and is maintained as a tourist activity. |
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| Conifer forest scene in Alishan National Park |
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| Taiwan is geothermically active, and hot springs are a popular activity across the country. This is a thermal valley in Taipei; it is a historical sulfur mining area and the spring water is pumped into a number of hot spring hotels. We're lucky enough to live close to an area of major activity. |
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| We adopted a shelter kitten. Cata named her Ginger. She just turned a year old. |
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| Kristi enjoying a solitary moment by the river in Taroko National Park. We visited the East coast and this incredible National Park during our Lunar New Year break. Unfortunately, a large earthquake followed by flooding has kept some of the best parts closed for the foreseeable future, but we got to see some beautiful scenery anyway. |
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| East coast beach scene |
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| Fog lifting off the mausoleums in a rural area outside of Taipei. |
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| Sunset from a campground above Fei-ts' ui Reservoir. |
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| The Dihua Neighborhood during Lunar New Year. |
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| We took a car ferry to the Penghu Islands over Spring Break. It was a bit unnerving when they strapped everyone's car to the deck of the boat, but it turned out to be a smooth and pleasant ride. |
