Taiwan: part 2

I knew blogging was something I couldn't always be committed to, like uni work, I procrastinate and with procrastination comes a shitty feeling afterwards and thereafter self-loath. The constant rhetorical questions of why I torment myself to rush things in the last hours really doesn't help but furthers the misery and hate of how the mind, well how my mind works. Though now, probably after some airy-fairy cheesy thinking, there is really no excuse to procrastinate to the extent that I do (many who know me know how bad it is).

Now you're probably here wondering what the heck has this gotta do with the blog title, well simply I just wanted to justify my reasons for my lagging blog posts through the inevitable habit of procrastination. I'm not here to ramble on like a 13 year-old brat complaining about the "difficulties" of life, but hopefully after writing that mumble jumble paragraph I will end up blogging a bit more frequently and timely (excuse the huge delays).

Bueno. To the point, Taiwan! Here are some of my fav shots of Taiwan.

I love the countdown at traffic crossings. Has Australia ever thought of doing that?



Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial. Inside, you could watch a phenomenal performance of the changing of guards if you hit the hour. Amazingly in-sync and robotic-like.



Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial entrance. Stunning architecture of the whole place.



Lanterns at Longshan temple. It had been so long since I've been to a temple so I did some praying here for my family and also since Chinese New Years was coming up.



Intricate details of the temple's roof and amazingly vibrant colours. This really help set a festive and busy mood for everyone coming in the upcoming days before the lunar new year to pray.



Metro. Like most Asian countries, the subway is always packed like crazy. Yet their subways are soo efficient and frequent, they come almost every 3 minutes if not 5. Boy, Cityrail should hold their heads in shame.



Taiwan's nightlife. So much better than Australia. Sorry, but we suck.



Lanterns for Chinese New Year.



We passed this dog on the pathway. I'm not sure what his exact purpose but I think he's collecting donations for some mean douche who doesn't want to use their own hands and legs. He's a smart dog.



Brekky in the streets of Taiwan. I love it. That's a deep-fried bread that you eat by itself or dip it in congee.



Or you can dip that fried bread in this warm soy milk, which I found oddly tasty. I have never loved soy milk more.



Century-old egg and tofu. Both of my favourite food in Taiwan. The century-old egg is, I don't think, literally a century old egg though I have no idea how it's made. It is a real egg and it's the creamiest, most flavoursome century-old egg I've had in my life (I've had these in Aus before). And you know, tofu, just good ol' tofu.



An old-ish street we walked by. I don't know what period (1950s?) these buildings were built in, but I'm sure those who know their history can tell by looking.


That's probably all the photos I'm gonna upload for Taiwan since I don't want to bombard the blog with repetitive stuff. But Taiwan, oh god, Taiwan was just amazing. I want to take everyone who hasn't been and show them all the great nicks of this wonderful place. People are nice or really a bit indifferent but I didn't come across anyone rude. Food is nom nom nom, and cheap! Places are just beautiful. I recently talked to a friend (whom I hadn't seen in a few months) and he also went to Taiwan this year, and he loved it just as much as I did. Just saying, it wasn't just my experience that was awesome; I'm sure everyone would LOVE this place.

Next stop: Korea.

Taiwan: my new love

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This blog has been long since updated because I've been sooo lazy to do anything after returning to Australia. Well I'd like to get started on my unexpectedly awesome trip to Taiwan with my good Japanese friend, Mishan. With the connections and all we stayed here for 5 nights at our Taiwanese friend, Andrew's apartment. He was an awesome host to take us around all these places (by car!). Honestly, I didn't expect much from this place, but everything was so fun! I pronounce Taiwan my new love.

Siaoyoukeng. It's a geyser and if you haven't been to one before, these big bad boys smell like a hundred people farting in an enclosed room.

Uphill. In HEELS. Dammit. I had no idea we were gonna hike.

After a good half an hour walking uphill, we found ourselves at this lovely lake in the middle on the mountain.

A good hike deserves a foot bath! A natural and free foot bath just a short drive from the trail.

Dairyland/Farmland? Cows and poop. The grass looked so soft and green that you could roll around in it. This was our last destination in these mountains.

A one hour descent down from the mountains to the markets. These pan-fried steamed buns filled with leek (or cabbage or pork) were one of my favourites!

Stinky tofu. I knew I'd like this. A specialty of Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Night markets. A place full of crunchy seasoned veges sold as snacks and a million more other snacks. I love these markets, they're festive and very cultural and heaps intriguing once you get used to pushing your way through the crowd.

To be continued...