Written August 15, 2012
Fresh soy milk
Dumplings oozing with soupy goodness
Some sort of omelette type thing
In Taipei Main Station. To make it weirder... this is a fountain.
Today we took a day trip to Yilan County. The train to Yilan was pleasant, nicer than the Septa from Philadelphia to the suburbs back home, and with gorgeous views.
On the train
View from the train
Tim and I wandered around Yilan for quite sometime, snacking our way around the city. We stopped in some temples and a distillery. Yilan does not seem to get many foreigners (it's not even in Lonely Planet!), especially ones that speak Mandarin as well as Tim, so people were naturally very interested in us - much more so than in Taipei.
Before our train from Yilan to Wai-ao, we went into a Buddhist buffet. The owner, Mr. Sogo was super friendly and chatty. He tried teaching Tim some Taiwanese the entire time we were there.
Once in Wai-ao, we went directly to the black sand beach. Apparently there is iron in the sand, and if you hold up a magnet to the beach, you'll be able to pick up some sand. Wai-ao was absolutely stunning - the water was perfect and I've never seen a beach like this one. Definitely a good choice for a day trip.
We left Wai-ao soaking wet and rode the freezing cold train back to Taipei, listening to Chinese music on Tim's iPod.
Back in Taipei, we had dinner and rushed to Tim's to change before heading out.
Next, we were off to Ximen to meet Dylan and his friends. We first met Dylan's friend Oscar, whose loud clothing choices don't match his shy personality. Oscar spoke a little more English than he let on, but he mostly knew only light conversation, popular slang, and curse words. As we got to bar by the Red House (the LGBT area), we were joined by two more friends - a girl who goes by Seven and a guy who goes by Hannah... yea. Seven had an adorable poodle type dog whose name translated to Sesame. She was constantly trying to drink my Vodka Red Bull. Lastly, one of Dylan's over-the-top flamboyant friends joined us, adding a bit of humor to the conversation. The last three spoke very little English and a few words in Japanese, while I only know a couple of words in Mandarin. While I had no idea what was going on half the time, sitting back and taking in the show was certainly entertaining.
From the bar, Tim, Dylan, Oscar, and I headed to meet with Christina Walters, a recent GW alum studying in Taiwan, for her birthday. We were set to meet her in the super Westernized area right around City Hall and Taipei 101, and randomly found her chatting with a friend by a club with a 50-100 person line out the door. Tim was wearing flip flops, so we weren't able to make it in the club, but we went to the Family Mart, got some drinks, and sat outside on some benches instead. Dylan's friend Sebastian joined us at this point. We all sat around, chatting for awhile, before eventually splitting up.
Imagine a large sushi roll filled with spiced ground meat
Pig's foot
You take these...
...light them...
... and put them in a furnace as an offering to the gods.
Before our train from Yilan to Wai-ao, we went into a Buddhist buffet. The owner, Mr. Sogo was super friendly and chatty. He tried teaching Tim some Taiwanese the entire time we were there.
Mr. Sogo
Look very closely in the lower left-hand corner and you'll see an awesomely camouflaged sand crab.
We left Wai-ao soaking wet and rode the freezing cold train back to Taipei, listening to Chinese music on Tim's iPod.
Back in Taipei, we had dinner and rushed to Tim's to change before heading out.
Next, we were off to Ximen to meet Dylan and his friends. We first met Dylan's friend Oscar, whose loud clothing choices don't match his shy personality. Oscar spoke a little more English than he let on, but he mostly knew only light conversation, popular slang, and curse words. As we got to bar by the Red House (the LGBT area), we were joined by two more friends - a girl who goes by Seven and a guy who goes by Hannah... yea. Seven had an adorable poodle type dog whose name translated to Sesame. She was constantly trying to drink my Vodka Red Bull. Lastly, one of Dylan's over-the-top flamboyant friends joined us, adding a bit of humor to the conversation. The last three spoke very little English and a few words in Japanese, while I only know a couple of words in Mandarin. While I had no idea what was going on half the time, sitting back and taking in the show was certainly entertaining.
From the bar, Tim, Dylan, Oscar, and I headed to meet with Christina Walters, a recent GW alum studying in Taiwan, for her birthday. We were set to meet her in the super Westernized area right around City Hall and Taipei 101, and randomly found her chatting with a friend by a club with a 50-100 person line out the door. Tim was wearing flip flops, so we weren't able to make it in the club, but we went to the Family Mart, got some drinks, and sat outside on some benches instead. Dylan's friend Sebastian joined us at this point. We all sat around, chatting for awhile, before eventually splitting up.
Ah! Talent drips from your photos! Regarding the fountain, I need that in my goddamn foyer.
ReplyDelete