Taiwan - Buildings, Barbie & Bogus

On Sunday Chris and I ventured to find coffee in the morning with no luck. Unlike Korea, there was not a coffee shop every second storefront. Everything was so empty! We eventually realized that we had left an hour earlier than planned because our phones were still set to Korea time. So when we left at what we thought was 9am, it was only 8am. We did find McDonalds though! Leave it to me to find and eat McDonalds.

Our first stop was Taipei 101 which is a famous landmark building used as a financial centre. It goes without saying that there are 101 floors. We went up to floor 98 to the viewing area. They have this special elevator in the building that is crazy fast. We went up 98 floors in 37 seconds. I did not count, there is a screen that times each trip. Amazing, and you don't even feel like, so smooth. We took some pictures, took in the view, ate ice cream, did some photobooth pictures and sent postcards (Dad, Bruno and Claudia, I hope you received them!!) 

Taipei 101 from outside at the base

The view - Taipei!

Below is the damper, this helps stabilize the building and keep it from swaying so much

Outside! Unfortunately they had these awful metal beams that blocked the view ... I'm sure put up to prevent other things

Blurry picture of me posing with the "damper baby", basically the building's mascot. 

From Taipei 101 we decided to check out the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. We didn't stay here long as it was extremely hot out but we snapped a few pictures. 

Children's drawings in the subway station 

Concert Hall next to the Memorial Hall - there were wedding photos being taken at this one

The arches as you enter into the area of the Memorial Hall

Another concert hall

The Memorial Hall

Looking from the Memorial Hall

The landscaping was gorgeous

Next up was the Barbie Cafe! The best part about this was that the lady at the subway station whom we asked directions from knew them without hesitation. Clearly this is an often visited spot! I was excited. We had coffee and cake (that was way too sweet!) The workers didn't look totally thrilled to be working there, but it was a fun place to check out! 

The "Slim Package" 

So fun though, let's be honest! 

We decided to spend a bit of time in nature after this so we headed to Dahu Park after I saw this gorgeous picture of the park on Pinterest. 

Their photography skills are obviously better than mine, but here are some photos I took. This is a spot I would frequent if I lived in Taipei. 

To finish off the day, we went to the Longshan Temple:

On our way back, we decided to get our fortunes read as there is a famous fortune telling road close to the temple. It was a funny experience, as these things always are. What made it even more interesting was the fact that they used live birds who picked cards for your reading. 

Highlights from my reading:

- I will find Mr.Right and he will be born in 1986, 1989 or 1990.

- I need to forgive people

- Lucky colours: pink, white & orange

- I need to be mindful of my digestion and not have too many sweets or drink too much coffee

- I will be popular in the Winter and next Spring

- I should not invest with other people

- My career will be focussed on me talking

So there's that. 

That night we walked into a random side vendor food stop and we had our first Taiwanese bubble tea that night! 

I will be blogging about my last day in Taipei and the rest of what I was up to in September soon I promise!! <3

Taiwan & Dragon fruit

Chuseok, the equivalent to Thanksgiving in Korea, was the first weekend of September. This meant a long weekend, which meant an opportunity to set off once again. Chris and I decided to spend our time in Taiwan! Unfortunately we were not able to get the same flights, nor were we able to find one that left Friday night, so we headed to the airport Saturday afternoon instead.

Beside the check in counters for Thai Airways (my check in counter), was the check in counters for an Air Canada flight going to Vancouver. I must admit that this has been the first time, probably in my life that I have been at the airport where a part of me wished I was actually going back to Vancouver. It was a strange feeling knowing that I could have been on that flight (if I hadn't extended my contract etc.) and that I would have been perfectly happy going to Vancouver instead of Taiwan. It made me feel a bit sad and I was feeling emotional for the rest of my flight to Taiwan - luckily the excitement of a new country cleared that up ;)

After we both checked in, we grabbed a bite to eat and then Chris rushed off to catch her flight. I still had about an hour to kill so I wandered around before settling in by the gate to read my book. Soon after I received an e-mail from Kayak (the site I booked my flight through) informing me that the flight would be delayed by a half hour. I found it humorous that I was informed of this through an e-mail, before they even announced it in the airport. Unfortunately for Chris, who was landing in Taiwan an hour before me, she would now have to wait a bit longer. But once I did get on the plane, my flight was yet again, amazing - blankets, pillows, window seat, movies, dinner, WINE!! What a great way to spend a few hours.

Chris met me as I came out of arrivals and we found our way to the bus depot. We took a bus from the airport to a subway station (as the airport isn't connected to the subway), then took the subway to Main Station. Main Station was huge but we found the underground shopping mall that led us to the exit near our hostel, Apartment 10F. While I printed out the directions to find Apartment 10F, I did not print the pictures of the outside of the building that they sent me. So when we got out of the station, we looked a little lost until we walked by a building and the security gaurd said "Come in, 10th floor". Something tells me we aren't the only people who have looked a little lost outside of the building. 

The entrance to the building

Our cute room! I loved the wallpaper.

An American style bathroom!! (You don't know how exciting it was to have a separate shower stall.)

Apartment 10F was super cute and the staff was really friendly. We had our own private room, but we also had access to a shared kitchen and common room with this view:

Since the night was still young, we decided to check out the Shilin Night Market. We spent a few hours walking up and down the different alleys and streets, taking it all in. Honestly, one of my favourite moments from this trip was the discovery of the pink dragon fruit! 

Let's take a moment here to backtrack. A few years back I decided to start buying one new fruit or vegetable that I had never tried before every time I went grocery shopping. One day, I bought a dragon fruit. While dragon fruit looks really cool, I was a bit underwhelmed by its taste as it didn't really have much of a taste. Upon more research (cause apparently I research fruit) I found out that there is a type of dragon fruit that is pink/magenta inside instead of white like the one I had. I read that it would taste of a combination of kiwi and raspberries. Since that day I always kept my eye out for this magical sounding dragon fruit but never had much luck actually finding one and began to give up on my search assuming that this delicious sounding dragon fruit was a myth. 

So, to my surprise when I walked into the Shilin Market I found it!! I was incredibly excited to try it and so happy to have actually found it. Chris probably thought I was a bit insane. And I did send pictures to those who know of this funny dragon fruit obsession of mine.

I asked for a piece to try at almost every fruit stand we walked by! 

Shilin Night Market

There were spots to play games ... 

... spots for fishing for shrimp ...

... and tons of people going from stall to stall shopping and eating street food.

When we got in that night, we made a rough plan for the next day and called it a night. Day two would bring a lot of walking and a lot of pictures! Stay posted.

<3

Hong Kong - Buildings, Nature & Food!

We continued our adventure after leaving Disneyland Saturday evening. Mel had visited Hong Kong a few years ago and really wanted to go back to the Bubba Gump restaurant as she didn't get to eat there last time or take an iconic picture. If you are not familiar, Bubba Gump is the restaurant Tom Hanks opens in Forrest Gump, it is a chain with locations all over the world. Mel loves Forrest Gump. Conveniently the restaurant is located at "The Peak" or Victoria Peak which is home to a huge tower with a great view of Hong Kong. Being that it was a Saturday, the line for the tram up was HUGE but worth the wait. Except it was a bit scary because people almost got trampled getting on cause everyone was in a rush and pushed. When we got to the top, there was already an hour wait to eat at the restaurant but we put our name on the list and headed to the outside deck for some pictures of the city from above.

Lost and tired in the sea of people 

So pretty! It looked like I'm standing in front of a photoshopped picture 

After this we went back down and took some pictures outside of the restaurant. We only had to wait about 30 minutes to get a table after all. This place was decked out in Forrest Gump stuff, it was really well done. Bubba Gump is known for its shrimp, but I opted for a chicken sandwich. Fish are friends!!

Sitting at the Forrest Gump bench wearing his shoes

Forrest Gump's outfits

Part of the menu was on the other side of the racket. As for the "Run Forrest Run" sign, this was a neat part of the restaurant and a cool way to communicate with the staff. You kept the sign flipped this way if you did not need anything from the staff ....

... And you would flip it over to "Stop Forrest Stop" if you wanted anything from the staff. It was nice to not be interrupted for no reason and just a cute addition using the classic phrase. 

By the time we left here and took the tram down it was after midnight so we called it a day, grabbed a taxi back to the hostel and got totally ripped off by him - but hey it happens.

Sunday

Our flight was later in the afternoon so we wanted to make the most of the day. We were up early and found our way to Man Mo Temple. Unfortunately it was under construction but we were still able to go inside. We did not spend very long here as it was small, and although well known, more of a local temple. This temple pays tribute to the God of Literature (Man) and the God of War (Mo). 

Some streets we walked down

Graffiti

Man Mo Temple

Man Mo Temple was on Hollywood Road so we decided to wander to see if we found anything of interest. We ended up finding a French Cafe called Agnes B where we had breakfast as it was the only busy/open place around. It seems as if this was a foreigner area in Hong Kong though.

After eating a delicious grapefruit, avocado salad we took off to find the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens. We only had Google Maps to guide us, and after only one wrong turn, and asking a Police officer for confirmation of directions we found it! It was a relaxing spot to spend the rest of the afternoon before heading to the airport. 

The entrance

We saw flamingos and other birds

.. and turtles

... And an orangutan. Seeing this Orangutan was heartbreaking for Mel and I, especially since we had just been in the Malaysian jungle weeks prior seeing orangutans living free and naturally. This cage was small, and did not have any structures made of anything other than metal - despite having a sign stating that they "rarely leave the trees for the ground, swinging from branch to branch." Yet this poor animal is deprived of trees and the ability to swing from branch to branch or anything for that matter, and is stuck in a small metal cage. It made me really sad. 

Not in the park, but this is the Bank of China Tower which is lit up and part of a light show at night. This is Hong Kong's fourth tallest skyscraper.

Funny story about our flight home. We arrived at our departure gate an hour early. Finally we hear over the PA "Final call for immediate departure flight ..." - OUR FLIGHT! Somehow, despite sitting right next to our departure gate an hour early, we missed all of our boarding calls and didn't board until this announcement, potentially almost missing our flight! We still have no idea how we managed to not see or hear an entire flight of people boarding around us!! Unfortunately we still waited on the plane for an hour and a half before it actually left the airport. They said there was a document issue and they seemed to have kept counting the passengers. But we left eventually. 

The not so funny part. Due to the recent Ebola outbreak, before we landed we had to fill out a health questionnaire so the quarantine officers in Korea could see if we had symptoms or not. When we landed we were still stuck on the plane for an extra thirty minutes while they did quarantine procedures. I had a lot of empathy for all of the Nigerians who were called to the front of the plane over the PA during this time. When we finally were allowed to get off the plane, we were questioned individually by quarantine officers before being able to proceed to immigration and baggage claim. 

I really enjoyed my time in Hong Kong and of course, loved Disneyland. I feel completely satisfied with the amount of time I spent there and the things I was able to do and see! 

<3