CNY Holiday Celebration in Taipei

I feel that Taiwan has been my second home and I am gonna spend more time to visit this country more and more in the future, probably. And finally I went back to Taipei to spend the Chinese New Year holiday there.

No kidding. I really smelled that familiar scent when the first time I arrived to Taoyuan Airport. I guess because lots of memory happened in this place, in this country. So, I guess that was the reason why I really love going back to this country again and again. But this time, I was not able to spare my time more with my old friends there, since the real purpose of going there was to join the Chinese New Year with my boyfriend’s family.

Experiencing new cultures always being a fun adventure for me. I really love to experience new cultures, meet new people, and make a new family. And that good feeling of being welcomed in another place is irreplaceable. In modern day Taiwan, celebrate Chinese New Year means the time to gather with your big family, your parents, uncles, aunties, cousins, and grandparents … and eat lots of food together. I didn’t find any of the family members of my boyfriend wearing any red clothes and my boyfriend said, “We are living in the present, not in the past”. Ha.

Filling the week I stayed in Taipei, I spent some other days to walk around and shop in Ximending. I have always love this Harajuku of Taipei, and I guess the next time I would go to Taiwan again I would visit this place again. The last time I went there, the restaurant I wanted to visit was closed. This time, I finally made to have a lunch in Toilet Modern Restaurant and it opens in CNY holidays. Taiwan is also famous with themed restaurants and there are a lot of themed restaurants all around Taipei. Toilet Modern Restaurant is one of them and this place is quite famous. I had such a weird toilet experience there, but I applaud the one who made the place for their toilet themed consistency.

I think the week I spent in Taipei is the parks week. Because the other places I visited during my stay were the parks. They are all beautiful places to enjoy the day though, no wonder. I bicycled with my boyfriend and some of his family strolling around Yanping Riverside Park, enjoying the wind and the beautiful scenery. Heading towards the direction of the Tamsui River estuary, we can enjoy cultural heritage attractions of the entire Dadaocheng Area along the way. It is a place for leisure where modernity and traditions merge to form the unique riverside style that defines Taipei’s city scape. The sunset we were waiting for that day has made my day.

The next day, we went to another park called Huashan 1914 Creative Park. It used to be a famous winery in Taipei and has a long history until the end of 2005 when it opened and offered artists a place to develop their creations and non-profit organizations a venue to hold activities. Sometimes you might be able to see some very cool exhibitions. Like the last time I went there, there was Meitantei Conan, The Minions, theater movies, and up sided House. Too bad it was in winter, if it were spring we might able to see a thick carpet of ivy covering the old walls. I was not expecting this place to be so much fun to visit and those street performances I stumbled upon were really entertaining.

I closed the walk-around-Taipei day by visiting my most favorite place in Taipei, guess what, it is Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. For a fan of historical buildings, this place gave me so much feels. And I finished the week by meeting my old friends, finally.

Well, I got to admit that time flies so fast. I had so much time in Taiwan and did not realize that we finally had to go for another fun week in Japan. But, it was a blast week. Experiencing new cultures, visiting new places, meeting new families and old friends, and shopping new stuffs. I love going back.

If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home. – James Michener

*All photos photographed using Fujifilm XA2

A Trip Back to Taiwan

After several times I canceled my plan to go back to Taiwan, I finally had a chance to visit Taiwan last summer. I was thinking to have such a good trip down memory lane, seeing my professor to talk about my future study and other department professors, my old friends, my boyfriend and his family were my special mission to accomplish during that trip. The other one was visiting places I had not visited during the time I lived there.

That place I have always wanted to visit is Taroko Gorge. It is a national park with an impressive long canyon. The view of metamorphic rocks with such an amazing relief was magnificent to see. Other than the canyon itself, there are several things to see and could not be missed.

First, the Shakadang Trail, this trail is built along the river cliff so travelers can easily observe both the folded rocks and ecosystem beside the river shore. Swallow Grotto (Yanzikou), it provides a great view of the river deep below which has carved out a narrow gorge. Tunnel of Nine Turns (Jiuqudong), it is the path of the highway that has been carved out of the cliff face. This is the most visited area where during the walk through the tunnel you could see the magnificent scenes of the gorge, the river, stone strata, and of course, the tunnel itself. The last spot is The Eternal Spring Shrine, which built to recognize the personnel died during the construction of Central Cross-Island Highway.

Taroko Gorge has been a pride of Taiwan to attract tourism, especially foreigner. Now I can see why, It is indeed a marvelous destination that worth a visit.

When I was living in Taiwan, I tended to enjoy the heritage buildings and the city life. Besides the beach on the south of Taiwan, I barely visit some natural places in Taiwan. That was the reason why I chose to visit Mr. Brown Avenue and Chulu Ranch in Taitung while I was around the south east area of Taiwan.

Mr. Brown Avenue is an avenue in a small township in Taitung that becomes famous due to a commercial of Mr. Brown Coffee and Eva Air Airlines “I See You” featuring Takeshi Kaneshiro. It has vast green rice fields without a wire pole along the roadside. I came on the good time because the rice fields were already green, though the heat of summer was totally unbearable. My mind felt so borderless and free. At night, I was back to that avenue again to see the night sky full of stars. Beautiful.

While I was in Taitung, I visited Chulu Ranch to experience the European-styled pastoral life with various facilities such as the maple trail, open range, forest bath area, grass surfing area, and the cow eco farm. I had never been seeing so many black and white Holstein cows in my life. They looked so cute I could see them until very late afternoon when it was about to time of them getting back into the barn.

Back to Taipei, I spent the days to go back to my school alma mater, NCU, almost an-hour by local train from Taipei and visit Ximending. It has been called as Harajuku of Taipei or Shibuya of Taipei, since it is a famous shopping district with the first pedestrian area built in Taipei and is the largest in Taiwan. I used to visit here back then, almost every weekend, just to window shop. While I was there, I used the chance to buy cute accessories you could not find in other places.

It always feels good to go back to the place where you belong. To go back to the place where you have such good friends and another family besides your own family. To the places where you used to go and eat food you used to love to eat. I love going back.

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. – Marcel Proust

*All photographed using Nikon D3100