Food

Food pictures. Just a small sample of what I've been eating.

Thai Curry.

Shrimp pancakes.

Beef.

I sucked the bone marrow out of the bones in the soup...with a straw. Yum =)

Sashimi.

Famous spicy hot pot.

Sticky rice.

"Italian" "Pasta" Rice.

Special bread with mochi and taro inside.

Life

Weather has been quite rainy the past few days.  Reminds me of Seattle, but when it rains here, it rains very hard.  The past few days have been fairly low key.  A lot of eating, shopping and walking to different areas within Taipei.  

I haven't been taking many pictures, but rather been experiencing the everyday life of a young person in Taiwan.  Bowling, dancing, singing, eating, you name it.  People here enjoy doing everything.

  

View of Taipei from the freeway.  Can you guess which building is Taipei 101??

Taipei 101, for now the tallest building in the world (officially).  Also has the fastest elevator in the world.  At 55 ft/second, your ears will definitely pop on the way up.

Dinner in the mountains at a Tea House.  Outside of the city, life is very quiet and relaxing.

Making dumplings at a shopping center cafeteria.  Cafeteria food here is AMAZING.  In fact, everywhere you go the food is delicious.

One of many plates from yet another buffet.  They had testicles at this place, but I wasn't brave enough to try it.

Blending in

Things feel distinctly different the second time around.  I'm no longer surprised by the noise, smells or lifestyle.  I've been able to blend in and hang with many locals around my age.  They definitely know how to enjoy life here. 

Some interesting things:

1) Shopping here is equivalent to our last minute Christmas rush.  Except it happens here everyday, even on weekdays.

2) Not many wear sunglass when it's sunny.  Although umbrellas are a popular protection against the sun.

3) Scooters outnumber cars and drive in between traffic.  Imagine water flowing between sand.  Add pedestrians and city traffic becomes a nightmare.

4) Advertisements take up entire buildings.

5) Getting from point A to B is an adventure.  You use the metro/bus system, walk by and through countless stores and cross the path of thousands of people.  Compared to America's individual, car based culture, Taipei feels so much more alive.

Day 1 -2 Safe Arrival

Hi friends!  I'm glad to say I made it to Taiwan safely and have adjusted to the time zone quickly.  My flight was about 11 hours, arriving 40 minutes earlier than expected.  During the flight, I had two meals, my own personal TV screen, on demand TV and movies.  Pretty impressive for flying economy class.  

I arrived at 5:00am (Taiwan time) and went straight to Michelle's (my host) college.  I got a grand tour and also attended a class that was learning English.  It was sunny and hot, without the high humidity I experienced before.  

The second day involved an all you can eat buffet with some of Michelle's classmates.  A particular guest left a huge impression on me.  I seriously have not seen someone eat so much.  And the interesting part is she's a thin girl.  And I mean she ate ALOT.  As always, it was fun to meet people and communicate through a mix of broken English and Mandarin.  It's amazing how much we have in common despite having different histories.  

So far, it seems like my trip will be very personal involving locals and friends.  I look forward to sharing these moments with you!  

Airport: wasn't expecting things to be that different here...

Furniture store

Damaged scooter outside of Fu Jen campus

All you can eat...including beer/wine/champagne

Eric (my brother) and Michelle heading towards a market in Wulai

New website!!!

Please check out my pictures on the Taiwan based wretch.cc website:

http://www.wretch.cc/mypage/johnlu83

I will be moving to this new site, so all new items will posted there. I hope you enjoy it!!

Taiwan and Hong Kong: some pictures

I have too many pictures to play with right now, so here are a few from the past few weeks.  I'll let the pictures do the talking.  Let me know if you have any questions!  I'll be happy to entertain them.

TAIWAN

Kenting: southern Taiwan.  We went on an off roading expedition.  

Kenting at night.

Hualien: we were on a paddle boat with a penguin as our captain.

Temple: Chijing Island, Kaohsiung.  Saw this on our bike ride around the island.

Kaohsiung.

View from the Love River, Kaohsiung.

Love River, Kaohsiung.  

Chijing Island, Kaohsiung.

"85" - tallest building in Kaohsiung.

Night show at Hualien.

Beach side at Hualien.

The mountain side of Hualien.

HONG KONG

Water side of Kowloon.  Olympic decorations were up.

Hong Kong Island.

Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong Island

View of Hong Kong Island from Kowloon, HK.

The Peak, Hong Kong Island.

Taiwan: Day 6 - 9

It's been a little while since I posted, so let me try and remember what I have been up to.  We departed on a trip to visit the southern part of Taiwan.  I forgot to bring my camera memory card adapter, so I won't be able to post any new pictures from our tour of Taiwan.  I had my first experience on a high speed train, something America desperately needs.  The train traveled up to 300 km/h (186 mph), which isn't the fastest but was very impressive.  It wasn't loud and it effortlessly brought us to our destination: Kaohsiung.  However, our final destination was Kenting at the southern most part of Taiwan.

Kenting is a very small town and is more of a tourist area.  We went on a crazy off roading trip in a beefed up Jeep Wrangler.  We stood most of the time (the top was chopped off) and held on for dear life as we navigated the steepest paths I have ever seen.  It was easily 45 degree angles on turns.  During the tour we saw a lot of the beautiful scenery that is Taiwan.  During the evening, the main road transforms into a city alive with small vendors and lots of people.  It's beautiful to see empty streets become filled with so much activity as the sun sets.

The following morning we went to the Kenting aquarium before we went back to Kaohsiung, where we stayed in a hotel for 2 nights located next to the Love River.  We walked a lot in order to find the night market, only to find out we walked in a big circle.  It was worth it though.  The foods, smells and massive amounts of people and excitement should never be passed up, even if we are tired.

The last day we spent in Kaohsiung was incredible.  We rode bicycles on Chijing Island for 3 hours (Eric is super red now, like a rojo lobster), saw many beautiful views of Kaohsiung, visited Kaohsiung Sky Tower (85 floors, looks like what Emperor Palpatine's building would look like) and had dinner at the Dream Mall.  On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by Sanfongjhong street, an old and traditional night market that specializes in dried food.

If you read all that I just wrote, I'm quite impressed.  I apologize again for the lack of pictures.  I will work on a publishing them when I have time, which unfortunately will be a while.  Enjoy!