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Month: February 2018

Breakfast is a feast in Taiwan (and it’s free)

Breakfast is a feast in Taiwan (and it’s free)

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Both hotels in Kaohsiung and Taipei provided free daily breakfast buffet. Our expectation was a continental breakfast similar to Holiday Inn Express or Hilton Garden Inn. Boy, we ate and ate, often ended up not having lunch; instead we had an afternoon snack, followed by early dinner and a walk after. Our breakfast buffet in Kaohsiung (Chateau de Chine) would probably cost $30CAD back home.  There were so many food counters (Western, Chinese, Japanese): one for rice, congee, soup; one…

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Chinese New Year Eve evening walk

Chinese New Year Eve evening walk

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After our Chinese New Year Eve dinner at Irodori (Grand Hyatt Hotel), we explored the surrounding areas since it was close to Taipei 101 (the world tallest from 2004 to 2010), now the tallest and biggest green building in the world. Here are some photos taken during our walk:    

What we did on Chinese New Year Eve morning?

What we did on Chinese New Year Eve morning?

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The hottest day so far in Taiwan; temperature reached 29’C. We had a leisurely day on Chinese New Year Eve, spending time at park around the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (Taiwan national monument, landmark, and tourist attraction erected in memory of Chiang Kai-shek, former President of the Republic of China). The grounds are well-maintained and clean. Lots of green spaces with many types of gardens, walking trails, and secluded seating areas. Many benches, some shaded, others in the open….

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Go local in Taipei — Dongmen Market and Dihua Street

Go local in Taipei — Dongmen Market and Dihua Street

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One has to be here to appreciate  the atmosphere—sounds, sights, crowds, smells—and hundreds of mom-and-pop stalls. Today we visited two places. The first one, Dongmen Market, is just a few steps from our hotel. A labyrinth of passageways sometimes inside a building and sometimes between buildings. Once in awhile a scooter or a bike would come by. A traditional morning market where the locals go to have breakfast or buy their daily groceries and cooked food. Look like we were…

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Did our first week in Taiwan go that fast?

Did our first week in Taiwan go that fast?

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One week after touching down in Asia, in Taiwan, and we are already moving to the final week of our visit here. We leave Kaohsiung with memory imprints of this highly-sensory port city. It’s no-nonsense working class,  yet they are smoothing out the rough edges with ambitious development, shiny facilities and increasing attractions. More . . .      

Flight to Taipei

Flight to Taipei

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February 5, 2018 (Monday) We got an upgrade from Economy to Business at Calgary after a bit of holdup at the automatic check-in counter. All smiles after a bit of stress.  Quick hop to Vancouver and the bags were tagged directly to Taipei from Calgary, so we could stay inside at the terminal for flight transfer at Vancouver without having to pick up luggage and check-in at security again. Everything went quickly, little to no line-up everywhere. February 6, 2018…

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