Taiwan

And so grad trip has come and gone. I would love to return to Taiwan again. I think to fulfil my shopping plus mask desires, I should return to Taiwan, Korea or Hong Kong every year. Down with overpriced online shopping and yes to more shopping trips abroad.

11 days in Taiwan. 2 days in Gao Xiong, 2 days in Ken Ting, 2 days in Hua Lien and 5 days in Taipei.

Gao Xiong will be remembered for my first foray into Taiwan's famous night markets. It was just one big constant pasar malam again and again in Taiwan. Liuhe would be well-remembered for our first taste of fried chicken, fried sotong and all sorts of oily, fried, sweet goodness. Although, if you are in Gao Xiong and you only have time for one night market, go to Ruifeng, Liuhe was so much more ex than Ruifeng. Visiting Cijin District and buying a 1,000 cc red tea left me wanting more, especially since we had trekked for over an hour to a fort with a great view and a wind that made me think of the term "nature's aircon".

I will remember Ken Ting for their people's hospitality and the quaint holiday homes. The endless Pacific Ocean (I think) left my friends taking photo after photo. We tried go-karting there and watched the sun set while sipping on scented tea at a quaint al fresco cafe.

Hua Lien will be remembered for its zha dan cong you bing. It's da bomb. And of course the place we stayed, The Stone House, that was a very homely and wonderful accomodation with a wonderful host, Liu Ma Ma. Hua Lien had the best food. Apart from the cong you bing, we had fen yuan, mochi, xlb (their xlbs had thicker skins and more meat filling, they literally look like little baos). Hua Lien was more about mountain scenery while Ken Ting was more about the ocean and the beaches. We also got to set our own fireworks, lit up our own kungming lanterns (should have wished for better fyp grades) and tried white water river rafting (though I'm sure it would be so much more fun in New Zealand cuz the water levels weren't high enough here due to the lack of rain).

I only remember Taipei for the shopping and the steamboat restaurant dinner we had on the first night, of which we had to make a booking a month back. Damn good steamboat and liao and service. Puts Singapore's steamboat restaurants to shame. Every night I trooped the night markets, wufenpu, shihlin, liuzhangli, ximending. We went for the hot springs at Xin Beitou, but that was nothing much to shout about.

8 things that I would fondly remember about Taiwan.

1. The hospitality and friendliness of the residents. :D
2. The endless night markets.
3. Shoes, high heels and sandals are freaking cheap in Taiwan! I bought 3 pairs.
4. Lu Rou Fan. That was totally my staple when I wanted to save money.
5. The fact that a lot of toilets in Taiwan did not allow paper to be thrown into the toilet bowls. The state of their public toilets left much to be desired.
6. The scenery and landforms that we saw were indeed breath-taking and I felt that Taiwan would be a great place to host a geog trip. Almost felt like taking pictures of every landform (of which some of the names I have forgotten already) and sending them to Ms. Lien or Mr. Pang. Haha.
7. The food and drinks were fantastic. Bet I gained weight.
8. The endless amount of convenience stores with great offers and the fact that their instant noodles have real meat inside. :) Although, my heart would forever lie with Korea's instant noodles.

It was a great trip and I couldn't ask for anything more except perhaps more time in Taiwan. I'm so glad that I got to share my grad trip with my best friend (whose a regular in Taipei and could bring me around all the best shopping sites, thankfully) and my hall mates.So thankful that the weather stayed fantastic and it only rained one day the whole time we were there. Talked about lucky. As for transportation, we didn't take any cabs really, just shuttle buses and the trains and rental cars, so no stories of being cheated.

I can't wait for Hong Kong (if it's even happening)!!! :D