Fireflies in Neiwan
Some classamtes went to Neiwan today, and asked if i wanted to join...
They took scooter, I planned to go by bike, but it was far they said...we stoped at a gas staion to refuel...
AT neiwan where we went they also have a train going...I think I have been here atleast times before, but never knew they had a fire fly festival...
We also passed by the night market...
Here is info about how the fire fly works...
And here is info about the fire fly area...there are other areas with more flies I was told but this was more accessable...
We had some duck...or chicken...at a local restaurant...
And some noodles...
Then we walked to the road where its easy to see the flies...they ahd guards to prevent people to drive scooters there (taiwanese people drives scooter everywhere), since it will harm the fire fly ecosystem...with lights and fumes...
The sun was just setting when we arrived to the place...
This is how a fire fly looks like in daylight...
And this is how it looks like, when trying to take a picture of one with my camera...
search on google or youtube if you want to see how a firefly looks like, when its glowing.
It was an interesting trip...it was a pity that I was the only foreinger...since i have some classmates that dont like to speak english, and always continues dialouges with others in chinese...its isolating :(
Swimming competition in Kenting
I joined a swimming competition in Kenting last Sunday...
It was cheaper, since we went there, me and 4 friends...compare to alternative transportation means...
They swapped my debit card, incase we could get a scratch or speed ticket on the trip...
They had a detailed map over the lakes in taiwan...so cool...
We got a car with GPS, they said we had a USB connection, but they means a external cable for walkman etc...
We stopped in Tainan to have lunch...
In taiwan, it is normal to have food blogs, we used some blogs to find famous places to eat...this place was one...
There we ate this...some rice dish...
This is another "famous" dish...
Here is a part of the swimming team...
...at a restaurant where they served this...some rice starch...
After drinving for some hours, my classmate alison took over...so cute and funny, she drove the car as if it was a scooter...(short distance to the vehicle in front...)
We also passed by this bar, where i have been many times...apparently very famous...
Posing at the famous restaurant, at the very central of tainan near ducth old houses and fortress...
This is what I ate...soybean pudding with milk...
Enrique was more brave and had red beans with some white ice...
Its very nice to have a GPS showing the way, but it goes slow to drive in cities, where a trafiic light waits every 100 meter...Alison didnt always follow the GPS, it was exciting to see where we will show up...
We made a stop at a family mart where I also stopped at when I cycled around taiwan...
We also stopped at a steam bun place that was famous...
They made their own buns and one kind was with cheese, it tasted very good...
Finally in Kenting we concluded that it looks the same..people walking on the small road back and forth...
We stayed at a Raggea bar, I have a malibu pineapple drink...it was ok...
I also found a Myanmar restaurant...so cool...and rare...
There were many people at the spot on the swimming day...
We lived not that far from this spot...but it was convenient to bring a car...
We got water and a swimming cap...
The sun was really strong this morning...
They never offer places to store things when there are swimming competitions, according to my experiecne in taiwan...just a few lockers, that was here from the beginning...so we put things in the car, and hide the key...
Alot of sun block...the girls used more clothes that the guys, but many other swimmers used a wet suit...and asians dont want to get tanned, in contrast to europeans, who usually do...
This was the beach from where we swam...
And this is how people swam, straight out (about 1,5 km, maybe a little shorter), and back...
A balloon was placed out on the other end...
and boats were at every 100 meter, observing people...
they even had divers under tha water...to endure safety (plus the floating equipment), maybe taiwan should implement mandatory swimming classes in school!?!...
Alot of people were at the beach ready to people swimmers up...
There were no timing, not boundary to cheat...people were aloud to turn whenever they wanted...
Afterwards there were buckets of water, for people to clean themselves...just like when i ran my 12 hour marathon...
We also got a lunch box...I was hungry, did not sleep much the night before due to high amount of caffein drinking the lunch yesterday and of 3 km swimming, however I was more thirsty, since I been swollowing alot of salty ocean water and been swiming in the ot sun for more than 1 hour...
We also got this diploma...it was a nice memory...
We lived in a 6 bed room, it was very cosy...
On the way home we stayed in Kaphiung to eat and to drop of alison...
We did not have much time to stay in kenting nor mingle around in the city...since people were catching the train on the way back...
We went to another "by a blog recommended" restaurant...
And it was pretty nice...I concluded that there is no mayonnaise in taiwanese fish dishes...
We passed by the second highest building in Taiwan on the way home...after droping alison...
It was a nice sunset but rain in the hirison on the way back...
Finally at Hsinchu, we ate at burgerking near the trainstation, i ordered a whopper with cheese without mayonnaise..."have it your way", sometimes I feel that thesauce taste wierd on the whooper here...
When returning the car I took a better picture of the map with the lakes...and the lady there also gave me my own map, in pinyin...so professional...
Alison told me that binglang girls do not only sell binglang, but also tea...
Near the car rental place they also had a binglang store, so I tried to by a tea...supporting the binglang industry...maybe the maffia...
Now its back to school...I soon have a quiz in chinese...
Taitra fair in Taipei
I was invited to a job fair in taipei with the topic "emerging markets"...
Unfortunetely it was not a normal fiar, but a plave where you waited for interviews...i sent my CV in advance, but did not bring one there...
It was a little strange, since the company that was looking for swedish people changed their requirements to suise people, but it turned out to be a mistake...it was pure luck that I didnt leave the place...usually these companies wants people who speaks spanish since taiwan attracts many catnral and sounth american countries...and this fiar was about emerging markets...
I had lunch at "Friday´s", it is nearby...and my friend Pablo wanted burger...which I have every day...its was ok...
The waitress there was fun...
She had the same name as my advisor "Kevin Huang"...
We returned to the "fair" watching people interview people...
Before returning back, we picked up floating equipment for a swimming competition that will be held at the end of the week in kenting...
Spirit has opened in Hsinchu
The new nightclub Spirit (Old savage) opened last week...
Its smaller than before...but they still dont have elevators...so it might be alot of maffia fights in there (easy for the taiwanese maffia to run out).
People got very drunk, and the night ended with a conflict, when I tried to help a friend from not being draged home by a guy...
However I joined some people for an after party...and have a nice chat with the family where the party was...
Tomorrow I will go to taipei to visit a fair...
A quick visit to the burgerbar...
It is still raining in Taiwan...
And the roads are not top notch...so its like driving on a creek partly...
It seemed to be a chain store...(Table Joe in Hsinchu)
The menu had a font that looked like Volvos font...
I had a brocooli and cheese burger...thought it would be alot of cheese but it was more other sauces...but the burgers were still very good...
TThey has alot of decorations...
And swedish vodka bottles...
Big puddles in the lab
Yes, it is still raining, and the lab is full of water...that is still normal...
I guess it is a part of the lab...since when i spoke to people (janitor, secretary) about it, nothing happend...
Late night activity in Hsinchu
Today (or tonight) a new night club opened in Hsinchu, it was the old Savage, that opened with a new name at a new location...So some ppl went there...
I was in my lab, when people down town called me and asked to join up...i rejected, but they insited at meet at 7-11...
Then i visited some other friends...at another 7-11 when heavy rain started...
I also got a new sticker...snoopy, I hope II will get a gift before it expires...
It was really raining as a typhoon...we tried to wait out the rain...
And I had to cycle home, its a 10 minute ride in normal weather...lucky me, my classmate lended me her poncho...
Its ok...I had white pants, that would go transparent in the rain...
As usual the rain is leaking...and a big puddle was on the floor...thats why i always poor out drinks on the floor...its no difference...
My friends were watching a footballgame...it was 5.15 and the footbalgame was going for penalties...
As last time I drank wine...when watching the game...and some beer...
Ot was a south american wine...kind of descrete flavor...it was not bad...
I planned to buy food at mcdonalds, but due to the rain I skipped it...and ate chips instead...with the wine...
Another garlic bread in the lab
I still hade some dough left in the fridge...
So I mashed garlic (alot) and some parmesan (18 month), and mixed it...I also added some medeteranian herbs...
I let is raise in the oven...it goes faster...
IT smelled good...
Alot of strong cheese...not every day you get that in eastern asia...
Trying a nice parmesan cheese
I opened my new parmesan (aged 18 month) today...
It was a strong and ointense taste...
It was good with my red wine...and with pizza...
A new burger bar near school
I ate dinner at a burger bar near school.
It was the one i visited yesterday, but it closes at 21...
They give you the burger in a wrap of paper...and show you how to eat it, so that it wont be a mess...and free refill if u add 10nt...(2 SEK)
The burger was good, i liked the cheese, probably one of my new favourites in Hsinchu...
I went there with Johnny, my Taidong friend...
Quick visit to the NCTU swimming pool
I was with a short notice invited to NCTU swimming pool today...
Its an interesting place...so inconsistent rules here, which not even the people who decidede the rules can explain...
This girl is a good expamle of the inconsitency...she wears a pyjamas
If a guy is wearing similar clothes, they will be kicked out...they must have speedos...so stupid...many students from democrati countries, react about this discrimination...
Bread in the lab
Im baking bread in the lab...from some pizza dough that was over from last week...
I had alot of garlic inside, and parmesan cheese on the top...
I increased the raising time, to get them bigger...
It was good with wine...
Mcdonalds lunch
Where to eat lunch today?
Mcdonalds today again...my burger diet is easy to have...
Night ice cream
Its warm in taiwane in these days around 25-30 degrees...
Alot of mosquitos...
I went for icecream in the hot night...it was good...was hanging out with a new friend...who comes from my favorite city Taidong...so cool!
Burgerbar attempt
I wanted to go to a new burger bar tonite...
The burger bar closet 10 minutes before we arrived...its a new bar near school...we went to some other burger bar, but that one closed some minutes before we arrived there to...
So this steak house was at a nightmarket, and fortunetely still open...
Standard corn soup and tea...but also garlic bread...
The steak was big...I asked for rare...but they recommended me not to take that, it could have alot of bacteria (this is not europe, i was told by my friend)
It was red in the middle...we will c if i can stand it...sick or not sick tomorrow...so exciting...
We saw some ppl drinking strawberry milk...so we took a walk at the night market...
I ended up with a banana milk...I use to drink it alot in sweden...it was good...
Taiwanese thesis writing
I just checked many master thesis at nctu.
Its so cute, people has a very interesting attitude to referencing...
And its more like a school project we do when we are 15 years old in sweden (gymnasieskolans specialarbete)
No primary data, no method, its very interesting...
Pizza for lunch
An afternoon in Taipei
I went to taipei again this afternoon...
I had some påskmust from my ikea visit yesterday that I brought on my trip...
I visited enrique my friend from el salvador..., he had swedish postcards on his wall...so cool...
His room mate had a cool map ver taiwan, with many places that I always wondered where they were...but i could not even find on google map...like Bi lake...
Then we were fixing a shirt for him...since he knew that i use to sew...
We went to ximen, to my favorite burger bar...they had some night market today...
We went to interesting stores, with cool design of underwear...
This is my favouite burger in taiwan...
We also went to a cafe called Cafe Dalida, like the french singer...
I had a super good marocan tea with milk...
At 23 something i went home to hsinchu again...it was a nice day in taipei...
My 7-11 earphones are broken
The earphones that i bought at 7-11 is a little broken...
So i changed from one character to another...still not 100% good, maybe its my mp3player thats broken...
Boris first party...
I went to a party at the lake yesterday...it was fun...Boris, a guy form polands "first party" according to some people.
We were outside, near the NCTU lake...
Many people showed up...
I guess many foreigners are tired of taiwans night life...and this week its expensive at hsinchus nightclubs...
We ended in the DJ club...where the equipment still is broken...so its not super good conditions...
Gift and souvenir fair in Taipei
I went to taipei yesterday to visit a gift fair and a souvenir fair...it was fun...
It was interesting, and it was free entrance...
I think the souvenir part was more fun, cuz it was more freebees...
Alot of people were at this exibition place near taipei 101...
And people were preparing food mostly...
And people were tasting alot of strange dished...
The exibition center had two separate rooms for the two fairs...
What if a "gift", well they had bags and usb sticks and baloons etc...
Someone was promoting an astronaut outfit...
This place was promoting a product made in sweden, it seems like swedish and scandinavian design is "top of the line", in the world...
And many places were selling chop sticks...it was mainly a B2B fair, so not many bought things are the spot.
They had many kinds of USBs...
And postcards with my name on... (family name)
The original way to write my family name...
And Bhutan had a stand...so cool, they also were here during Taipei flora expo...I didnt remember many phrases in bhutanese though :(
And I met my classmate Louises mother...I met her uncle before...
Her mom works in a balloon company in Taizhong...
Then I got to meet her sister to...so cute family...
Louise was the one who invited us here...me and some classmates...
Their english was not as good as louises, but i could practice my chinese for a while...
Then we picked up some late comers...an other classmate and his friend...
They were not as fast to move as we...and they liked to stop at every stand...
And a danish company were selling a corkscrew that was using a gas cartridge to open the bottle...
And another swedish company made furnitures from paper...
We passed by the balloon stand again before we left...
It was alot of traffic, and in taiwan there are usually some traffic assistant while there is a rush hour, to prevent cars from driving even if it is red or soemthing, but it is usually more confusing than without...this lady gave me strange orders...
inconsistency in taiwan...again...here they spell the blue lines destination Danshui, but the plave name is Tamsui...so confusing...
I was anyway heading to ikea to meet my friend kai...it was a long queue at the restaurant...
And only one cashier was open...so inprofessional...
I had meatballs as usual...
I met my classmate again at the MRT, such a coincidence...
Pics will b uploaded soon
Trying new interesting wine bottle...
I bought wine at costco that had a new interesting bottle...
I was a soft wine...
The top was easy to open...but hard to pour from...
A visit to costco...
Me and the program secretary and some other NCTU staff went to costco...
I went by bike, they took scooter...it went faster for me during this rush hour...
I bought jsut a few items, didnt have that my cash with me...
Some new wine bottles to my wine cellar...(locker), where i returned after the first costco visit...
1 hour later I went back to costco with my classmate...
I observed alot of milk products from Arla, a swedish company, some products were from denmark.
I bouhgt a cheap wine and some even more exclusive cheese than last time...aged 18 month...
Afterwards we went to eat...
I wanted to try the hotdog cuz my swedish friend said it was big here...
I also had a pizza...
Lotus, prbably one of my most funny classmates...she drove me to costco.
Her scooter is unique...I have to give it a kick start...
She often wear boots to school so it will b easier to start the scooter...
A visit at the pool
Me and some people will participate in a swimming competition in a couple of weeks...
So me ans some classamtes went to the pool today...
So ANNOYING! The NCTU is forcing boys to wear speedos, no surder shorts, I confronted some adminsitration ppl, they could not motivate the rule...so stupid! And girls can apparently wear whatever they want, this girl was wearing a pyjamas...and the guards said nothing...so inconsistent...
My cute classmates...
They still repair the ourdoor pool...
Afterwards we ate some pizza in the lab...
I also made a pizza myself, finished my cheese and tomatoe sauce...
Dinner with the swedes...
Soime swedes that work in hsinchu, robert, who was an exchange student the same year as me, and Fredrik, who came to taiwan 2 years before me asked if we wanted to join for dinner in hsinchu...
It was nice...its a typicla taiwanese style restaurant...
Every dish was 99 nt...
Wow, long time ago I was on my blog, I saved some mini beard, since i cycled around taiwan...I will cut it later...
Later on I went to my school mates birthday gathering...
There were alot of latinos there (me majority of students in taiwan are latinos, it feels...taiwan has alot of cooperation with small developing countries)...
It was fun, ppl sang happy birthday in different languages...when they asked me a forced my swedish speaking finish friends to join, and we sang "bäbä vita lamm" togetter...
I met many classmates and people I know at campus later that night...thursday is the ne friday this semester...
Applying for permit to Xueshan (snow mountain)
I tried to apply for a permit to Xueshan for a week, but the national park askes for so much info, we need to plan every day...its strange, they treat the visitors as kids...
They say the give priority to foreigners, however, a foreigner cannot apply by him/herself, we need a taiwanese person to apply, plus to translate the chinese website...
Me ans some swedes plan to go...
Here is the site that demands taiwnaese citizens to sign up...we tried different browsers and computers...nope, not until we used a taiwanese persons name and passport number we could fulfill the application.
Brunch in the lab...
I ate brunch in the lab today...
I opened my other indonesian coffee...not sure about the difference yet...
I drank it with pizza, and also soup from costco...
A quick snack before dragon boat...
I had dragon boat traning today...
I have a german sausage and some fish burger right before traning...
I made another pizza...
And finished my italian Pinot Gris...
Tea time...or coffee
Recently I have been drinking alot of drinks containing caffein...
Coffee every morning, and then tea for the rest of the day...
I have alot of tea from different countries that I have bought on my trips...
Yesterday I bought tea at the tea shop...
It was a coconut milk tea, but it does never taste like cocnut, its more like baileyswithout alcohole...
I have alot of tea to finish...
Burger before chinese quiz
I have a minor quiz in chinese yesterday...
Its fun that I really eat burger everyday...or pizza...
Student ID pickup
I borroed my classmate Esthers student ID today...i coldnt find mine when i needed to open the lab...
She is so nice...
She waited for me at her lobby, while i unloicked the door...i felt so flattered...
Cellphone delivery
I acted cellphone deliverer today...
My friend pablo had an extra cellphone he lended to a friend, until now, when his fake Iphone broke...
Pizza in da lab
I baked pizza in the lab yesterday...
I had most of the tools, i only needed to buy cheese and tomatoe sauce...
My oven was ok...and I used a wine bollte and paper as a rolling pin...
And then i started to make the sauce...with alot of garlic...
The first one...
Its was really nice...alot of cheese and nice sauce...
Rendez-vous with a finish friend
I met up my finish friend today at dinner, he is very nice. We went to eat pasta.
We discussed diffferent competitions in taiwan, and that it is so cheap here...espcially to sign up for competitions. You jsut need a local to fix everything for you, since everything is most often in chinese...
Now I will go to dragon boat training.
Profit model midterm
I got a midterm in the course Special topics of profit model, my only MBA course I take this semester, this I got sick and tired of getting disapointed about the education system here in Taiwan (or asia), and the attitude among some teachers
It took me about 20 minutes to finish...
Now, what remains, is to compare with my group members (discuss), to see if its reasonable, so that I learn something...
Continuing exploring my wine cellar
I coninued to explore my wine cellar...
I tried a Pinot Grigio from Italy...(pinot gris)
Not supre fruity...but still ok, I guess it goes well with fat fish, like salmon, cuz it was kind of dry...
Social even in taipei
There were alot of events in taipei last night...
My classmate pablo invited me to his new classmates place, to eat pizza...
It was summer temp when the bus took of to Taipei.
Its fun, when they change a name of a place in Taiwan, there are often alot of signs that needs to be changed...Like this "Tamsui" use to be "danshui" which is pinyin...dont know why they changed, some people said it is politicat reasons, however, i feel sorry for taiwanese people try to interpret when a foreigner says "tamsui and understand what he/she means, cus it does really not sound like the original name...
I passed by ikea first..and bought beer and candies...
His friend is very nice...they served pizza...it was teppanyaki pizza...
He is a good story teller...and kind of entertaining...
Job fair and 100 year anniversary of NCTU
Today there is a job fair at school...
They have been preparing tents etc for some days...
I was there around 11...but not everyone showed up this early...
So I joined some more reliable first year GMBA students...
It was crowded, mostly companies had info in chinese...
Some company promoted their CSR policy...
Many people brought CVs and some wrote information on some application forms...
They had cables in the ceiling, with water, preventing overheating in the crowded building...
We continued visting another part of the fair, where they served food...
The chalmers students of course had a swedish stand...one could paint eggs and get candies...
I bought some indonesian chicken...
Many countries were selling food...
I also tried an arabic pizza...from Jordan...
It was alot of performance as well on the stage...
After my mingeling, I found my friends in the lab...ready for checking the job opportunities...
My classmate Louse was about to meet her uncle at school, and I joined her, to look how he looked like...maybe they looked the same...
He was a little bit similar to her...
They gave her food and stuff from her parents (they live in Pingtung in sout of taiwan, but are going to keelung, in the north of taiwan to visit their daughter)
We ate some of the food later on in the lab...
LMFAO in Taipei (but only Redfoo)
Yesterday I went to Taipei to see LMFAO at Luxy...
Its very warm these days...around 30 degrees....or 28 last night...
and if one goes clubbing they demand pants...
Many people bought ticketm but later on wanted to sell theirs...it was not a problem, since prepurchase was cheaper...I helped my friends Nicole to sell hers, i met her up at tpe main station for delivery...
After that I met the party crew...my taiwanese friends...with Allen and Ian in the lead...
It was a long queue at 22, when all the taiwanese people wants to enter...however I know from experience that the singer wont come before 1, and the queue will disapear around 12...so we went to eat...
We went to forkers...so professional, they had both englich and chinese menu...maybe due to that the boss is a foreigner...
I had some passion fruit belgian beer and got hawaii pasta sallad as an apetizer...
And I got European burger as main dish (meaning it had 4 different kinds of cheese)
They had alot of books at forkers...even a book from Henning Mankell...
After this we went to luxy...where it was super warm and super crowded...almost like when snoop dogg was there...
And they had some perfomers before Redfoo entered the stage...
People were everywhere...to bad for these people here, they could not see anything, cuz some people were standing on tables in front of them...
Finally he came...he sang alot of songs, but most of them were remixes that LMFAO done of other songs...
They had a big blown up zebra that was tossed around in the crowd...
And outside were alot of people, some police also, but mostly taxi drivers picking up people...
We took of to Mcdonalds...with the party crew...
Tomorrow there is a job fair at school, gotta go up 11...so no time to waste...
Burger and pizza in da lab...
I still eat pizza or burger everyday...
Yesterday I had pizza for lunch and burger for dinner...
An evening in Hsinchu
Last thursday I went to 7-11 with some friends...
But before that I passed by Mcdonalds...
Many people, mostly exchange students met up...
I bought a yellow tail, from australia...instead of drinking beer...
But we went to red bar afterwards, and the I had a beer...
We mingeled there for a while...people played dart, it was fun to watch...
Christmas songs in the lab...
It often feels like its christmas here in taiwan...since it gets dark so early every day...around 18...
I played "julen är här" and "ohelga natt"...among others...
Another brownie in da lab...
I promised a classmate that I will make brownie some time this semester...
EVentually that day was today...
I made it very creamy...it was very appreciated...
Evening hang out in the lab...
I had a nice hang out in the lab...
I shared some wine...and practices some chinese...
More people joined later...they ate some duck etc...
It is nice in the lab when people hang out here...
An italian restaurant visit
My italian resturant visit theme continues...
The restaurants place was vanessa...like the program secretary...
I ordered a set...so I got this bread covered soup first...
Typical taiwanese bread basket...looks deep but is not...so that a few slizes will fill it...
And some chicken I could dip in a good sauce...
The pizza was already slized...they did not have HAwaii nor lasanga...but it was ok... a little salty...it ended on 528NT for 1 person...
I got my drink the last...its common here...
Spending the afternoon in the lab...
I visited another italian restaurant today...
I ordered a hawaii pizza...first i thought to also take a lasanga....but i might do it next time...I also ordered a kiwi juice...it was about 500nt...not super cheap...but it was good...
I finished my californian wine...and opened the next bottle...a french wine...with a mix of Syrah, Braucol, Duras and Merlot...its far better the the former one...and goes good with my cheese as well...
I really feel like exersicing as well...spending 4-5 days cycling, and then just stop makes my body go strange...I will go to dragon boat traning tomorrow...if it is any traning...
Family mart cup pick up...
I went to family mart today, to pick up the mug that I collected stickers for last semester...
It took a while for the guy to find my mug reservation among allhis papers...
I saw care bear cups there to...it reminded me of when I was young,, and had that care bear with the falling star on his stomach...
I asked for a pink one...but they gave me a blue, so now I have 2 blue cups...
Opened california wine...
I opened an california wine today...it was a little more sour than the french wine I finished last time...
So my italian salty cheese was perhaps to intense...even though it was a Cabernet Sauvignon...
No return of my stickers...
I got a full 7-11 sticker voucher...
They kept giving me new stickers until some day ago (on the east coast), but here on the west coast they refuse to give me any gift for my effort of collecting them...
I got beer tickets at avicii concert...
I got some tickets from some guys at the avicii concert last week...
Now it turns out to be "free beer tickets", to bad they didnt tell me...
Coffee and bakelse in da lab
This morning I ate my ikea bakelse to breakfast...
It was nice...they were not perfect, since they had been deep frozen (the fell apart partly when they melted)...but still the flavour was the same...
New 7-11 receipts sux...
7-11 recently changed their receipts to some more plastic ones...
When they get wet they get like glue...and its hard to see the reciepts lottery number...I prefered theold ones...
Taipei hang-out with Enrique
I went to taipei yesterday (third day in a row)...this time to hang out with my el salvadorian friend Enrique...
He have me chocolate covered coffee beans...super good...from his home country...
We went to shilin...to a sports center...taipei has atleast one sports center in each district...(not much compare to sweden, but I think it might be government subsidised).
Taiwanese people are so funny...they have hot tubs beside each other...one for men...
And one for women...many ppl gor confused and went to the wront one...
The other spa pools were unisex...I guess the tais would say "no why" if i ask, why they have separated hot tubs...
This day they had mixed steam sauna...but the "oven", what the hell is that?!?!...was separated...
People inside looked very warm...just like in an oven...
After that we went to the Shilin nightmarket...that is one of the biggest in taipei...
We went to this "biggest burger" restaurant...
But it was more like a big bread, covering some meat...and one could order different flavours...
So i had different meat peices between the bread...
We took Enriques scooter everywhere....it was more convenient that mrt...
I ordered a coconut milk tea as usual at the bear bar at ximen...and we also got free beers from a guy who recognized me from burgerking in hsinchu...so flattering...
We got separated bills, so rofessional...and no service charge...thats when the service is the best in taiwan...strangely enough...
When I took the bus back there were alot of police at the bus station...
I wonder what they were looking for...
A funny story I heard about maffia in taiwan, was that they were cheating and bribing players so much in the national baseball league that it lost all its popularity...
Bring hooters to hooters...
We have some classamtes who only have chinese names...and its really confusing, since they spell it in one way but pronunce it in another name...I like to learn chinese names since its more interesting, but its hard to rememeber...
So we called one chinese guy "hooters" due to his nice and tight shirts (and swedish shirt)...
It was nice...my friend pablo brought his classmates from Taipei to...
As usual there was entertainment...'
And hooters got a nice pic with hooter girls...
Afterwards we went to ikea...
I bought icecream, beer and prinsessbakelser...
We continued to Gorden Biersch that is a "local famous" beer bar...that my classmates talks about alot...
Here is the room where they brew their beer or something...
It was nice...I ordered another pizza here...this was the second time I went here...but last time I only drank beer...
Omg, energy waste...I give up...
When I came to the lab this morning...
The AC was on and the window was open...I give up...no one seems to care in the world about environment and energy waste :)
Avicii in Taipei
I went to see Avicii last night...
it was fun, I had some taiwanese friends who has been to sweden, who joined me...plus some other europeans...
I started up in the lab with my italian parmesan taste-a-like cheese and some wine...
Walking to the bus station I saw cherry blossom, or something...
My friend Ian went all in with his equipment and had a cool shirt with audio sensors...
We met up at a german restaurant at taipei bus station...
Its the one I went to before tiesto as well with nice beer, I ordered 2 big bottles...with honey flavours...it was nice...and some mozarella sticks...
After the bar, we went to the concert...
It took a while before Avicci entered the satade...and DJ Shogun was playing for a long while...
I saw many swedish flags in the crowd...
I also pasted a small "when u eat at Ikea flag" on my professor Wu necklace...
Finally Avicii entered the stage...
Boom, alot of fireworks...
He played his 5 famous songs (and also some cool remixes) like:
And also some songs from Guetta...it was nice...
I missed some parts in the end, since some friend wanted to go out...but it was ok...
Tomorrow im going back to taipei again...with classmates...
Cycling around Taiwan
I started to pack...on saturday evening...
I really wanted to bring my pump...
But it was to hard to get on the bike...
I didnt have any carrier on my bike...so everything had to be on my back or attached to the frame...
I broke my light last year...so I passed by a bike store and bought front and rear light...
I found the road that would take me south...number 1...it passed by Hsinchu...it was 18-19 something on saturday...when I took off...
There are alot of convienient stores everywhere on this road...
And even some "asian style"...copy logos...(looks like 7-elevens logo)
I ate dinner at Mcdonalds...north of Taizhong...
This is how it works...every 1km there is a distance sign from Taipei...most roads in taiwan has this system...some even has every 500m...
Taiwans traffic light system is so stupid...it switches based on time...meaning that even in the night when there is no corssing cars...u still ahve to wait for red light...
Meanwhile...cycling in the night, there are only some crazy scooter drivers out...else im the only one on the road...
At midnight I thought it was time for a rest...some motels were really expensive...I found one for 1300nt...it was ok...I cyceled about 150km or something....its a good head start...
This was the motels name...at 11 the day after I continued towards Kaohsiung...
Fuck! suddenly the road was blocked...no signs at so all for alternatives...I even asked ppl but they didnt speak any understandable language...and for them...neither did I...
After a while I managed to find road 1 again...
The road was really flat...and there´s alot of rice fields etc...
I saw other people cycle aswell...but they often has a more robust bike and alot of luggage on their carrier...
I also saw a container house in Jiayi...
They even used a Maersk container...which has as a policy not to give away containers...they probably stole it...
Some times the road just disapeared (I had to turn left or right at some intersection)...it was tricky...and I had to cycle around for a while to find the road, taking me south...I needed to stay focused...
I ate at Mcdonalds for lunch everyday...more or less...
The first sign of sundays destination...here spelled in a strange way (as usual here in taiwan)...
I cyceled until sutset...and passed tainan...here is another useless trafficlight...but i seldom stopped at the lights...bikes are considered more as pedestriants here than vehicles...
I made frequent stops at 7-11...
I also found some giant stores on the way...to bad they were all closed at this time of the day...
There were also super long queues at every gas station...no wonder in a country where everyone is useing gasoline for transportation...
Im in kaohsiung, visiting an old friend...stan. he is so funny. really helping me...
We decided to meet at this 85 building...its the only place i know, and that can be seen from far away...
I drank alot of milk during the trip...
I asked the staff at the 85 building hotel lobby about shorter routes south...and they recommended me to go on road no 17 until it meets number 1, since number one never entered kaohsiung, where I was...so number 17 would be a shortcut...
This is stan...anonymous...
Love river...another famous site in Kaohsiung...
I left my bike at stans place...
And handwashed some clothes...
Then we went to a cosy restaurant at the harbour...
I ate rise...since pasta place is hard to find in taiwan...but both contains carbs...
Kaohsiung has the bigest harbour in taiwan...i think...so theres alot of ships at the anchor place outside the city...
We went to a moutain near a university to see the cool skyline...
And there were some cool monuments...
From stans house we could see the love river...
Stan had an extra computer...that I could use...
The day after I was heading for road 17, on the way to there I passed by ikea...
Of course I had to buy some swedish stuff...påskmust and some chocolate...to bad that they dont have marabou mjölkchoklad anymore...thats my totally favourite...
I found road 17...now I just need to look for road 1 that will connect later south...
Wow, sign of progress...kenting is on of the goals of the day... I also planned to continue to Taidong later on...
The south coast is very nice...here is a nice hang out for people...near a family mart...
The moutain near kenting looks like Stenshuvud in skåne...(can b seen in the horizon)
I tried to pump my tire at some gas station, but they didnt know how the pum worked...and didnt have the equipment to pump bike wheels...
Then finally I came to kenting...I went to Mcdonalds...
And texted my friend Allen that I was there...and he passed by...so nice...
He and his girl friend taled to me for a while, concolidated which route I should take...
And convinced me not to go in the moutain area when it is dark, instead I should take the bigger road number 9, that acctually goes all the way up north near taipei, but near the east coast...
I passed by the so popular Kenting night market...next weekend it will be a wild party here...with the Spring scream festival...
I made it to the southern most point of taiwan, and then I headed back...(the road 26 I was cycling on, that goes around the south coast is not connected...so its impossible to cycle around here, instead people have to take alternative roads in the moutains...
But after cycleing back about 30-40km to the road 26 and road 9 connection, some girl at a local 7-11 strongy recommended my not to take road 9 in the night (even though I was focused to finish my day at Taidong, a city at the east coast), since it is small and alot of heavy trucks are driving there like crazy...so I made some phone calls, asking people what they thought (if it was in sweden I would ofcourse go anyway...its always dark some part of the day and i have reflector jacken and lights...)...I decided in the end to sleep in the small tiwn that I was in...Fenggang...or something...the girl said I could sleep for free in a kindergarden, or in an elementary school or at the police station...
I picked the elementary school...I slept outside...and was dsturbed by buzzing mosquitos the whole night...I reay learned to appriciate a good nights sleep...
This was the schools name...
As sunrise came I took of on the mountina road number 9, to cross the island to the east coast...
And fuck!, my firs flat tire...the front wheel...I changed the tire and continued...
Its a nice road...but uphill very long...
Here is the top of the road I think...and road 199 meets up...it is also a moutain road that I could have taken...
I love taiwans moutains...its a very nice contrast to in Hsinchu...and the west coast where it is very flat...
Another nice view...however, there was alo tof reconscrution work on the road...
Ayio...secod flat tire...and I dont have any more spare tires after this...I could recognize some sharp thing in the wheel that I cannot get out...I text a friend who gave me the address to a Giant bike store in Taidong...I hoped I could repump my tire over and over to save some time, instead of walking or runing to there...its more than 50km...in burning sun...
After a while I could see the ocean on the east coast, and I also found a 7-11...time to buy milk and juice...
Got like 400km or more with east coast to my right and moutains to my left...
Its very tiring to repump my tire...
I had a small hand pump...so it took 1 minute to pump it up...
Suddenly south of taidong, it bacame storm and I could sense the rain in the sky...
I catched up with alot of people onm y ride...this guy was from main land china...also struggeling in the head wind...
More than 5 hours of struggeling...I found my store...
The guy fixed my bike...I was happy, and thought about continue to hualien...another big city 160km north of where I was...
I ate at Mcdonalds...
I always get very dirty in my face when cycling...touching greasy parts of the bike, and using sunblock....etc th oil goes everywhere...
I found a nice hotel in Taidong, I think i slept here like 3 years ago on a road trip i made in Taiwan...I slept like 1-2 ours last night...so i thought I could recover here and then try to reach yilan the day after...in the north east coast of taiwan...
The hotel was said to be cheap...I payed 780nt or something, they said it was discount...
The towels were of paper...so interesting...
And someone left a jacket in the closet...
In the morning I tried to take off as easrly as possible. breakfast was at 6.30...
It was a typical taiwanese breakfast with rise, omelette, peanuts and these sandwish with some jam, chocolate and peanut butter...
In the morning I passed by the lake where I did my iron man swimming...
Its nice moutains in the background...I really love the east coast and the moutains...so mystic and probably has alot of aboriginals living there...pure taiwanese people :)
t today i will try to make it to Yilan...hopefully im in Hualien before 13 or 14...which means I can cycle on the dangerous road before sun sets...that is a road north or Hualien that everyone talks about...
I bought alot of rise dumplings...and drinks...its alot of hills on this road...(number 11 that goes alon the east coast)
Alot of moutains...not super much traffic...
Also road 11 had count down...to Hualien...where it meaets number 9 again...I want to cycle or travel by road number 9 sometime...its a moutain road, so it might pass by alot of cool places...
Wow, a monument showing the tropic of cancer...
Alot of tourist busses were driving back and forth here on the eat coast...I saw a scania bus with the swedish flag...
I alos passed by alot of cool bridges...
Since there are alot of rivers and valleys here, some briges are very old, showing the "old road" of the east coast...
It was alos tomb sweeping festival...so alos of people were having fires at the graveyards and putting flowers on the graves...
I kept on stipping at almost every conveinient store i saw, buying more drinks...it was very warm this day...
And the last part of road 11 was very hilly...with great views as well...
Awesome, in hualien...I could see where road 9 cnnected again...
I heard that hualien is a big city...
It was hard fo follow the road, as usual in the taiwanese cities...the road signs very were bad...
It was about 14-15 when I came to hualien...and sun sets at 18...so i was considering saying for the night...but doing nothing for 3 hours seems boring...so I continued, here passing Taroko national park...super nice...the road up here crosses the island and is the highest road in taiwan...it goes to Hehuanshan where I was 2 years ago with the moutain climbing club...
The distance signs in taiwan are very confusing, sometimes they show the distance to the township and sometimes to the city...and sometimes it doesn tell which one...so I was very confused, wether it was 34 of 70 km to my next destination...but I used refletor jacket and had my lights prepared in case I would need to cycle in the dark on the dangerour road that everyone were talking about that I had ahead of me...
What the fuck! "no bikes", and i have been cycling 15 km on a single road...and no alternatives...so taiwanese...scooters passed by...I called a taiwanese friend and asked for suggestion, later on I decided to cycle anyway...
It was a very narrow road...
They had some traffic guards in case of accident, he didnt seem to care that I cycled and wished me good luck...so asian...not legislation...just recommendation or decoration...I even saw other people cycle on the road...
And some tunnels even had "no scooter" sign, but still the asians kept on using the road...
After some 15km the road became big again...I asked how far it was to the place I planned to stay but no one knew...not even at 7-11...
After a while it became dark...but I felt safe...it is kind of nice to cycle in the dark...many times t feels like it goes faster...the only think i dont like are these cars and trucks that think they are super silent, and have to blow their horn, as if i didnt hear them, nor see their lights...I always onder that is in such a persons mind..they think to much of their vehicle...
At about 19-20 I reached Nanau...a place in the middle of the dangerous road for people to wait out the light...and an intersection for the train to pass...
It had christmas lights on the barrier...
So interesting, really no one here wereusing helmet when driving scooter...maybe the police is on vacation...
Every time I passed by the trail road, the barriers went down...sucha coincidence...
They had a board displaying the trains direction as well...for ectra information...
This was the first time I used my maps that I brought...there are alot of interesting places I wanted to visit, but I did not have time...
I went to eat...but one meal wasnt enough...
Neither was 2...
I left when they closed...after 3 meals...then I went for dessert at another store...(after all, I have done like 250km today...and tomorrow I will do something like 300 or more...so i need to eat, even though meals are very small here in taiwan)...
Wow, a scooter with helmet...so unique...
Breakfast was not at my hotel...but at a local store downtown...I also met other people cycling from here...but they were heading south...
I kept cycling north...on the dangerous road...where at some parts, a limited amout of cars can drive at the same time...
It was a great view...it is a part of taiwan where surfing is popular...alot of beaches are hiding among the mountains...
Finally at Suao...where the dangerous road ends...I also saw a giant store again and repumped my tires...after all, not I have to take road 2...super far, all the way to taipei but passing keelung and the northest part of taiwan...
Haha, so stupid...yet another tunnel where bikes are forbidden, and at the end of the tunnel, without any other roads connecting...there is a bike lane...
Road no2, makeing alot of extra routes...one to left one going straight forward...
I also met KKK...but some friends later on told me it was a funeral or something...I also know that people in spain also are using this dress for some christian ceremonies....
Wai ao...here I have been many times...surfing...now its cycling distance here...just around the corner from home...
The cliffs at the north east coast are cool, they have strange shapes...
Shit...at fulong it started to rain heavily...
I made some stop to wait the heavy rain out..but it didnt seem to stop...and I was eager to continue...so I cycled in the rain with a försvarsmaktens värmetröja and a poncho...it was bearable...itfelt like home in sweden once in a while...
I stopped by 7-11 and bought hot chocolate...to gain energy...
I try to do the same some hour later...but they they gave me coffee...hmm...hih on caffein...both good and bad...
Finally in Keelung...I planned to just pass, but the road signs were so bad...I asked a traffic guard, but he just pointed south, when I said I wanted to go north...hmm...
I took a short break at a burger king...
Ordering a double whopper junior meal...
Then i contined north...the fishing ships had some strange green lights...I wonder what the purpose of that was...maybe to attract crabs...
Hmm...where is the northest point of taiwan...?!?...I have been here before 3 years ago...it was also hard to find then...there are hundreds of signs showing strange geologicl parks and some cultural vilages, but for the northest point there was not a singe sign from the road...
I took some pictures of some signs that could be it...
After some rush, and seeing the danshui sign...or "Tamsui" as taiwanese people nowadays prefer to pronounce/spell it...I came to the MRT stataion...then it felt like I really was in taipei...even though its a 40-50 minutes ride with mrt from here to the taipei main station...
I tried to find a shortcut to get to road numer 1, that I started on some days ago...but gave up, and decided to follow road number 2 all the way in to taipei...
Even that was hard...since road number to just stopped exist...and I had to ask people how to get to the city center...and from there try to localize myself to raod umber one...I also saw some giant stores...they give me hope nowadays...except that these ones were closed at this time...around 21-22...
Wow...the second highest building in Taipei...its near taipei main station...
Yes!!...I found road number 1 now, after some help from friends...the only thing I need to do is to keep focused to not loose it...and I will get home...
I kept cycling under some long bridge...perhaps railway of freeway going towards hsinchu...
Jippi, the first sign of Hsinchu...only 57km...its like Alingsås-Göteborg...not that far...
And the distance started from taipei...and will end in south of taiwan...here I am 17km from taipei...
A little confusing...where does road 1 go?...it goes to the left...not sure why this sign was here...it confuzed me...as so many other strange signs...
I cycleled 76 km, almost in one big city...it ever seemed to end...now wonder taiwan is the most dense country in the world...they are so many, sharing such a small place...on the west coast...here I am near Taoyuan...
Some hills were very steep....but it will pay back...later I got the best down hill ever for like 10-20km...
Hsinchu MRT station....just saved like 300nt...depending on how I define the purpose of the taipei trip...and recognize the savings...
It was a nice moon this night...not shown to good on this pic...I also noticed that road number 1 passed by my Giants store in hsincu downtown...I was back in Hsinchu at about 2...
Here I am, outside my dorm, where I started 4-5 days ago...it was an intersting ride...to bad that my body never remembers pain...i might do it again some time...
