Taiwan Day 5: Taroko Gorge

today we awoke early to have complimentary breakfast at the hotel, and to get onto our tour bus at 8am. we were the first to board so we got front seats!

the bus left promptly and we went to the train station to logo up more people and exchange our return ticket back to Taipei to an earlier one as we plan to eat at a popular Japanese place tonight.

the bus left the station and headed towards the gorge. the cliffs around us started getting steeper and steeper and soon we were surrounded by steep cliffs of marble! the views of the cliffs and river below were stunning and we got lots of pics.

for lunch we ate at a Chinese restaurant in the gorge. it gave us a nice chance to chat with the other people on the bus. we met 3 coworkers who work for Corel as interface engineers so we had something in common.

after lunch we continued walking and touring around on the bus. it was sunny out but there was a nice breeze and plenty of shade, making the temperature perfect.

towards the end of the tour we were taken to a hualien food selling building where we got to try all sorts of mooncakes and mochi for free!

then as our last stop we went to the beach to relax and run around in the surf. the coarse smooth sand felt good on the feet and the water of the pacific ocean was surprisingly warm. a few bit waves got me and my dad a bit wet but our pants dried within the hour.

then the tour dropped us off at the train station and here I am writting this blog entry.

UPDATE:
just got back from the Japanese restaurant. yum! we each had bbq eel on rice and shared bbq squid, tempura, egg roles, seaweed salad, and pork skewers. my parents were happy with the meal so I was happy :)

Taiwan Day 4: Hualien

Today we took the morning train to hualien. the ride took about 2 hours and the time passed quickly with the nice views along the coast line.

we arrived in hualien around lunch and the hotel picked us up from the station.

when we arrived at the hotel we had to wait 3 hours to check in so we used the free bikes available and rode up and down the beach. it was very scenic and it was cloudy so it was not too hot out (but still hot)

once we got back and checked in we headed to hualien city for food. I thought the place would be a bit more tourist friendly but the place was actually quite run down and there wasn't much to see. we ate at a nice Chinese food place and had bubble tea and then headed home because we have to wake up early for the taroko gorge tour.

Taiwan Day 1-3: Parents in Taiwan!

Wow!  It's been a busy last 3 days with my parents!  I think we didn't waste any time breaking them in to the culture shock.

I'll write here a brief summary of what we've done :)

Day 1:

We started the trip off with a trip to Xinbeitou hotspring area.  We checked out the thermal park with steaming 90 degree green hotspring water.  The water drained into a creek and the water was cool enough (but still hot) to stick our feet in and relax.  It was very nice.

Then it was off to the coastal city of Danshuei.  We checked out the place and bought lots of yummy drinks such as mango and honey green tea.  I bought my parents some bbq stinky tofu.  It's still an aquired taste for them :P

After Danshuei it started to get dark so we went to Longhshan Temple in Taipei city and awalked around the place with incense.  After the temple we went through the tourist Night Market.  Lots of weird things for sale and we even saw a cockroach on the end of a string (it was alive)  weeeird.

It had been a long day so we headed back to the hotel to meet with Ali's family the next day.


Day2:
We took the 9:30 HSR train to Taoyuan and Ali & Niki picked us up.  I showed my parents my house and then we left for Yingee.  We walked around the old ceramics district and finally found some glass painted snuff bottles for my mom.  We also found these neat little bottles carved from Cow bone.

After Yingee we went to Sanxia which has a really old traditional street and a super old temple.  THe street was cool and we had a buritto filled with icecream and cilantro and peanut powder.  It was yummy and a bit confusing to eat.

After Sanxia we went back to Toayuan City to meet with Ali's parents at their house.  THey gave us tea and some gifts such as persimmons and pineapple moon cake.  We then left for a fancy restaurant.

The meal must have been 10 courses and most of the stuff was traditional non-western style chinese food.  So much good stuff and my parents were overwhelmed at simply how much food there was!  Everything tasted great :D :D  Thank you Ali's family for the wonderful visit!

We then went back to the house and ran to catch the HSR back to Taipei.

Day 3:
We woke early and met Ali and Niki at Taipei Main station.  We then took a bus to Jiufen which is on the northern part of Taiwan.  The bus ride was about 1.5 hours long.

When we arrived in Jiufen, we took the bus a bit further to see an old gold museum park area.  It had a really cool historic Japanese presence and we walked up some really old stone steps into the mountains to check out this open air temple thing.  It was really cool.

We then took another bus down to check out the "golden waterfall" which is named that because it's rich in iron deposits.

I had a taro icecream and then we took the bus back to Jiufen.  Jiufen is where Miyazaki got inspiration for the movie Spirited Away.  The place was awesome!  Many small narrow streets packed full of people shopping for different food and gift stuff.  We stopped for lunch at a tofu and fish ball soup place.  Yum!

Then we walked to the top of the city and had a famous QQ shaved ice desert and sat inside a restaurant that overlooked the valley and coastline.  Absolutely beautiful view!

We left Jiufen as the sun was setting and took the train back to Taipei (the train was full so we had to sit on the floor for 40 min or so).

In Taipei we took the MRT to Jiantao station and went to Shilin Night Market, the most famous night market in Taiwan.  We wandered the packed streets and my parents I think were probably a bit overwhelmed from all the people.  We tried some different foods including asparagus wrapped in bacon and bbq'd, and a taiwanese sausage hotdog, where instead of a bun made of bread, it was a bun made of rice :)

We had a great time but it was getting late so we headed back to the hotel, but not before saying goodbye to our Taiwan buddies Ali and Niki.  They were such gracious hosts for us for the past 2 days and they will be much missed!  Hopefully they come to canada so that we can show them our hospitality in return :P  (yes niki I know you read this blog ;P)

And now I'm writing this email in the basement of the hotel, where most of the lights are out, and theres a whole table of japanese people speaking japanese loudly smoking cigarettes.  I feel like i'm intruding on some sort of secret meeting. lol.  So i think I'll sign off :P  Off to Hualien and Taroko Gorge tomorrow!  Ciao! :D