A quick visit to Hsinchu
I revisited Hsinchu recently...
...I was offered pineapples from Tainan...
...and was introduced to the song El condor pasa:
...I took How Tai bus back...as I usually do...
As on this old revisit from 2019 as well:
...they had Scania seats...
...later I went to Cincin...a pasta place...
..got some bread...and oil...
...and Roobios and milk...(no caffein too late)...
...some pizza making...
...I got to taste som squid and ride...
...and a pizza (rather small)...
...and a tiramisu (4 out of 5)...
...seems like they had some Tipo 00 flour...its by the book :)
...I also saw some european flags on a Morgan Stanley advertisement...thats interesting...
...I also fixed my batman shoes later on...just for fun...
A night in Ximen (April 2022 edition)
I went to ximen recently...
...to once of my favorite burgerbars...
...I had my favorite burger (take away): 4 cheese burger...
I finished it at Ximen honglou with some pineapple and passion fruit smoothie...
Taiwanese hotel breakfast in Jiaoxi
I had a hotel breakfast in jiaoxi today...
...it was interesting...
...peanutbutter...nutella etc...
...but no milk...
...when I asked what I was suppose to eat the cereals with...I was dolk to put milktea in it...(they had tea and milk tea in the barrels)...it was interesting...
A hike at Taroko national park
I did a hike at Taroko national park recently...
..many hikers where there...
...near some kind of farm...
...it was an early morning I started...around 6am...I was told there should be rain around 14...and I dont want to hike in rain...
...first mountain...at 2285meters altitude...
...some raingers blocked the road...maybe due to a land slide...
...after some hour I could spot some high mountains...
...another peak...
...and some irish guy who propsed me to maybe do some north peak...of a high mountain...
...this is the trail I went another time with my friend cory...
...after a while I passed by some random tents..
...and more tents...
...omg...a cabin...
...nice...seems modern...
..I also spotted a geocache...
...and found it...
...and a rural toilet...
...some other sepearate hike...
...and m old favorite mountain...
...sometimes the hike was steep...
...Nanhudashan... (mount Nanhu (south lake)...made by a glacier according to geocaching.com)...
...mount Zhongyangjianshan):
...both mountains are on taiwans top 10 list of highest mountain...
...omg...dabajianshan...I saw it from the west side some day ago...this is from east side...(the square mountain in the middle)...I climbed to it back in 2013:
...some sign to some alternative road...or something...
...another sign...
...it was a sunny day up here...
...with some climate similar to home in sweden...
...omg...some cabin down there...
...and some other hikers...
...a strange monument...
...and where the south lake might have been...
...and some flowers...many bushes like this here...
...I also saw a ranger who was super fast...
...I went almost to the north peak of nanhudashan...when I had to return...to escape the rain...(and also before sunset)...(also: the ranger in the firt cabin didnt have any water to give me...and I used half of my supply)...
...this guy is bunun...
...I wrote JS (my initials) with some local stones...
...I also found some peice of glass...i put it on a tree...
...many locals commented that I was carrying a costco bag while hiking...they never found it as coneineint as me (i used an IKEA bag when I climbed other mountains...or similar handy bags)...
...omg...nettle...
...once back at the first cabin...I got to get some water...
...I also had some 7-11 pasta...
...and met another sherpa (ranger)...who listend to music...pretty cool...
...it became cloudy...
...back at the zhongyangjianshan intersection...
..more clouds...and some rain drops...
...peaceful path...
...and some sun...
...the old path was closed...so I had to follow some other marks...
...so this sign was not valid...
...it was hard to find the marks sometimes...
...and I had to look for a while...and back back to see if i missed the trail...
...I was happy i didnt walk here in the dark...it would take even longer time...
...omg...a red mark...
..and a steep path...
...and no red marks again...
...it seems like there were many trails down..but only 1 up...
...eventually I found the red marks again...
...it seems like I walked a different path down...compare to up...
...but still I was on a larger path now...
...here was the original path I walk up on...
...omg...a maple tree...
...and the police station...
..I ended my route by taking a bite of my swedish cheese which I have carried along all the way...(I also carried costco nuts...which I didnt even eat: "just in case snacks")...
...finally back in the cabin at the trail entrance...
...many cars...
...I left my walking stick at the cabin entrance...
...first time i chilled in thie cabin...with showers, laundry room etc...
...I also had a chat with the rangers at the entrance...they did never check my permit...strange...I was told that they check everyones permit...
...later I headed to jiaoxi...for a hotel with a lot of lego...
...lego ship...
...lego batmobile...
...I also stopped by the bread n cheese store...but they didnt have the cheese bred that I usually buy...
...I went to a hotspring fish massage place...(but not enough water to boil the fish (I asked))...
...to have some yilan maitian...
...some typical yilan dish...
...and chicken...
....the hike day comes to an end...I took more than 52 thousan steps this day...
2022 continues...
A trip to Luona and Omar winery
I was on a roadtrip recently...
...passed by a chocolate farm in Zhushan...
...they had different kind of choclate plants...(3 kind)...
...I bought some cocoa beans...
...and tried some chocolate...
...the beans were cheaper than their cocolate..
...this was the store brand...
...I asked of they also had plants...and the owner gave me a plant..
...he also showed how they make cocolate...
...with the seeds...
...and the process...
...I also got a fruit...
...they also had some other plant with red berries...
...and tea chocolate...that wasnt for sell..but he use to give to people...
...next stop...Nantou winery...
...some big barrel..
...famous or the Omar whisky (which also is found at systembolagets website (or use to before))...
...some other stuff that they were selling...
...they alos promoted the brewery in Zhunan (taiwan beer)...
...many omar products...
...they also had the wine icecream I tried in Changhua backin 2008...
...it was ok...
...some tea egg...didnt tast much tea... :)
...later on...heading south east...to road 21...via road 16...
...google map said I had to take a small mountain road...to get to luona...
some parts poorly maintained...
...passing some other small villages on the way...
...some tribes...
...omg...a big bridge in the middle of nowhere...
...and some reconstruction o the road...
...finally reached Luona...i found out that there are much faster ways to get here...im not sure why google insisted of a 30-40 minutes slower and futher road...
...Luona is famous for the bunun tribe (the biggest in the area)
...some david star...
...and some church and bike route...
..and bunun statue...
...local store (when 7-11 and family mart is not nearby)...
...some Tsao guy (who came from Sun moon lake)...showed the closest way back to road 21...
...the local schools here has bunun, english and chinese language on their signs...like other schools in indigenous areas...
...local kids playing at the school...on a weekend....
...heading back to road 21...
...Luona...
...some locla chicken place...and some foreign biker...seems like some bike event nearby...
...local food...
...omellete...
...soup...
...many bikers passed by...
...the grilled chicken...
...and gloves...
...similar to the yilan chicken...I was told is the original...
...some small rain...
...and sun moon lake...
...some hour later passing by hehuan shan...in the dark..
...thunder...in the sky...but far far away...
...and some reconstruction work of mountain road...
...road 8..passing nantou, hualien and yilan county...
...some tunnel...
...and a super high 7-11...
...the chips bag were pretty big...
...and I bought some food for my planned hike at taroko national park...
...I ended up finding a cabin...near taroko national park...where people could sleep in (unsupervised)...one just put 500nt at the entrance and take a room...pretty interesting...
A visit to Zhushan
I went to Zhushan recently...
passing by Hsinchu...on a light rail...interesting that they say "no crossing" on a rail that is 20 meters above the ground...they should maybe add a fence...
...blue hsinchu sky...
...on local TV they showed some mountain hiking in Taiwan...
...some small lunch in hsinchu...
...some white stuff...
...and honey with a lot of pollen...
...I also passed by Xian brewery...
...it was kind of closed...due to a power failure......
...but siad to be open...(even though it seems to be more like a rule...not to trust opening hours here in taiwan...during these corona times)...(neither google maps nor instagram are frequently updated about this)...
...xien beer is pretty common in taiwan...
...they had many kinds...(by coinsidence some manager was nearby and let me in)...
...but not many were on my untappd app...to bad...
...they use to have a tap room here...when they had electricity he said...
...reminded me a little bit of BarHi in Beitou...if that still exists...
...later on the drive continued south...to Zhunan...
there are very high inconsistency of the corona rules in taiwan...while cinemas are open...all the marathons i signed p for are cancelled due to corona...also exhibitions are open (atleast some of them)...it is a big contrast compare to home where all restrictions are removed...
...omg...I managed to spot DabaJianshan...and maybe XiaobaJianshan...rom road 3 near Zhunan...so cool...nowadays...the only way to get there is from Yilan (wuling farm)...or maybe Taizhong...some the hsinchu trail is broken...I was told...
...more mountains...
...I wonder which mountain this is...
...later on the drive continued to some smaller cities...
...and mountain roads...
...up to a coffee place...
...they had their own coffee farm...
...and own roastery...
...some Coffee taster flavour wheel...
...and some house...far far up the mountain...
...also up there...I spotted some hourses...impressive...
..."Step tea coffee"...was the place name...
...the coffee trees where somewhere behind the beetle nut trees....
..I had some chocolate cake...
...and some black coffee...
...and some coffee with black sugar...
...and milk tea...
...omg...they had a pretty cool low rider...
the owner use to work in Hsinchu as a bariste before he returned to his parents place in Zhushan...
...Zhushan by night...this place is not that famous for things...
...some LAN caffee...
...some dancers at a temple...
....more temple performance...
...and some puppet show...
...else just empty streets...
...some noodle place had a map over nantou country...where zhushan is the southwest part of the country...
...the beef noodles...
...I ended they day by finding costo margarita at 7-11...
...and some local chocolate store...
Helping Mr WSC move from Nankan
I helped Mr WSC recently...(he is eventually leaving Taiwan)...
...observing that there was no clerk at the Taipei MRT...
...but realized that Taipei MRT clerk cheated me last time...by lying, i bought a 30 days card 23.55 in the night..and he included the first 5 minutes as the first day...even if he said he would start from the day after...not sure if it is a part of the "dont lose their face" culture here...why he didnt tell me that I should wait 5 minutes before making the purchase...(atleast I know for next time)...
...and Mr WSC place we prepared for packing...
...putting all the big furnitures in the car...
...lucklily I have packing experience from the military and my fathers carriage...
...later we had some beer n chicken...once we reached Taoyuan, where the stuff were supose to be delivered to...
...wathcing movie about different animals...world wide...
...and had some empanadas...
...some trash card had issues passing by on the small road outside...
...but after some other car moved...the trash car could move along...
...we also spotted some shoes in the stairway...some 4 pairs to the vary right (in the dark) belongs to the man in the household...the other pairs (on the shelf) belongs the the other part of the couple...
...later on I spotted "happy new year" on a sign...thats interesting...chinese new year ended in beginning of february...
...next stop: Old vibe bistro...
...the bartender was said to put alot of efforts into his drinks...
...they had warm colors of the lightning in the bar...
...first drink....(whisky sour?)...
...red butterfly...
...old fashion...
...some other sour drink...
...lemon and champange drink...
...we ended the day with a korean beer...
...I also had a cheesy hamburger before bedtime...
2022 continues...
An evening in Taipei
I spent an evening in Taipei some time ago..
...buying cinamon rolls...in nangang...
...where I also had some chicken...
...and later heading to city center (ner zhongxiao xinsheng)...
...where I had some coffee...with whisky...
...they ha different options...and 2 cup sizes...
...I was recommended another coffee plance...
...it is common that they shape the foam here...
...I later on headed to an other coffee shop...
...they had a lot of books about freedom...
...I was served chicken...
...and a tiramisu...(3/5 I think...a little dry)
...the coffee belt...
...some interesting machine...
...later I haded to some culture park...
...to find a geocache...
Taipei metro hash 20th of April edition
Many cisites has monthly hash events in Taiwan...but in Taipei there are many Kennels...so there is up to 4-5 hash runs some weeks...
...atleast on wednesdays...there are Metro hash run (meaning that the start and end point is availble via the Taipei Metro (which is pretty convenient)...also one does not need to join all the activities...many people join only for the run...some stay for the bash... (whish usually is a dinner)...
...the hairs...
(one of them look like a guy I met at a hash back in 2013...in Fulong at 4th of july)...
...the hairs took of 15 minutes before the hounds...
...some walkers started earlier...
...we were told that there is firefly season...some locals might hide in the woods trying to see the flies...
...some check on a table...
...it was pretty muddy after a while...
...upon return...they played raggea music...it was nice...
A visit to Izmir - a turkish restaurant in Taipei
I went to a turkish restaurant recently...
...they had some evil eye on the wall...(simlar to the one I bought when I was there some decades ago)...
...they were introducing some dishes to some turkish customers...
...not sure how many...but I have been to 3-4 turkish restaurants here before...
...the staff (the woners wife)...recomended some turkish things...
...in the end I got these...
...I also bought some Ayran...(but it wasnt that salt)...
..first dish...it was ok...
...second dish...it was also ok...
...the dessert was good...
they didnthave salep...atleast not today...the witer told me...
An all you can eat visit
I went to some BBQ place in ximen recently...
...I have been here many times before...
...typical Yakiniku...
...starting with the icecream...
...coldstone..
...and häagen dazs...
...a big pile...
...and the meat...
..shrimps...
...oysters...
...more icecream...
..and oysters...
...some local desserts...
...fried icecream...
...japanese icecream...
...I ended the BBQ visit to inspect a local road...a lose tile..splashing water on the one steping on it...
...after some geocache...I saw this pic..interesting shade...
Another day in Tainan
...another day in Tainan...
....having some local breakfast...
...and visiting some coffee place...
...few places has coffee from taiwan though...
...mainly african or south american coffee...
...some out door serving,,.
...I had a chocolate...
...and some ice coffee tasters...
...they also had some indigenous people books...
...omg...later on I spotted road 20...
...and some costco brand in a philippino store...
...and a store called Michelle...
...and some "famous" burger joint...
..I also found that Tainan has very many temples...
...and that some Sanmiguel in asia is not made in Philippines...but in Vietnam...
...I also had a chicken burger...
...and some "famous" food...creating a long queue on a small street...
...the soup looked like this...
...most people wanted to eat there...if you chose "take away" it seems like you did not need to wait for so long...
...later I inspected more temples...
...some preparations...
...and some restaurant called "lucky sheep"...I wonder how lucky the sheep was after all...
...I also found some indigenous bar...
...where they had millet drinks...
...same as they make the wine from...
...some indigenous patterns...
...and the easter island moai...
...a lot of millet and some gele...
...and photos of different tribes of taiwan...
...omg...I also passed by YMCA...
...and some old building that use to be some immigration office...
...with old statues...
...there were also plenty of military air force planes passing by towards the border to china...
...next stop: B.O.B. pizza...
...I had s cheese pizza...
...I added some parmesa cheese and chilli...
...I also ordered a burger...it was ok...
...later I inspectedthe harbor...
...and some coffee place that actually sells taiwanese coffee...
...they also roast the beans semselves...
...coffee from Alishan...
...I was asked to smell the coffee first...but not sure if I could reject the coffee...if it didnt smell as I expected...
...they alsk had funny fishes in the aquarium...
...I got the coffee served with 1 cup and 1 glass...
...this was near the zeelandia fortres...
...tainan sunset...
...and some puppet show...
...and tainan by night (at the HSR station)...
...listening to Paul oakenfold - southern sun (tiesto remix)...
I heard this the first time in 2008 when my parents visited Hsinchu...and since then I associate this song with parts of Taiwan nights (coast of hsinchu and NCTU etc etc)...
...later on when in Taipei...a visit to an indian restaurant was paid...
...some chai tea...
...and other drink....
...some snacks...
...a blu rpic of Johan...
...a pic of the lamb curry...
...and some other dish...2022 keeps continuing...
A trip to Tainan (visiting Cosbys Saloon)
I went to Tainan recently...
Went by HSR...
...taking free shuttle bus to te city...
...observing some funeral...with people dressed up in traditional clothes...
...burning stuff...
...and spotted the ChiMei museum...
...and some happiness factory...
...and found many indonesian and philippino stores in Tainan city...
...but was heading to Cosbys saloon...
...and finally found it...
...high expectations...
...2 menus..
...they also had cigars...3 kinds...
...I had a pineapple juice...
...omg...a t-shirt...
...some intreesting translation...
...and my bacin burder...
...it was ok...pretty thick bread...
...but still stuck together as I ate it...but AK12 in taipei /their 4 cheese burger) is still better...I will come back here to try another burger...
...next stop...a beer place...
...they had many kind of beers...
...inclding trappist and taiwanese styles...
...some guy looking like the mandalorian...
...and some swedish cider...
...and toys...
...too bad that they minimum service charge was 200ntd per person...not counting the beer...since I did not want to waste money of food...just to try some beer...I took away some new zeeland beer...
...and inspected some free outdoor cinema later on...
...and some full moon...
...next stop: some other brewery outlet...
...with some wierd door...
...they had many kind of beer...brewed in Nantou..
...4 beers on tap...
...some 4 bottles for 350 ntd...
...he clerk claimed that it is easier to copy the 20ntd than any other coin...so she didnt accept it...
...I took away 2 beers...they were only 150ntd each...
...still watching the full moon..
...and listened to some out door disco...
...and some posters...
...there are many decoration stores here...
...and some cool street art..
..and out door chill places...
...a quick visit to some mexican street food was paid...
...for some drink and snacks...
...I had a Horchata...
...not that much cinnamon...
...I also got friend with some american here (TSMC sends 3000 foreingers here to be trained...before shending them to Arizona for a new factory)...
...as I was recommended some trail north of Taizhong...
...while eating snacks...
...Taiwanese sidewalks are troublesome...instead of having them flat like in europe...they often prefer having each store on a unique level
...hard to drive a wheel chair here..or phubbering...
...interesting...
...Easter island Moai miniature...
...some geocache hunt...
...and more walking around...
...until a new visit to Cosbys saloon was paid...
...inspecting the decoration...
...and trying another burger...
...similar taste but less bacon...
...AK12 might e the best burger place nowadays...
....the 4th floor is named floor 5...
..another walk was made to reach 20k steps...
...passing the south gate in Tainan...
the trip continues...
A "farwell event" for Jean?
I went to Linkou recently...
...to this place...
...it was a brunch joint...
...with burgers and friensh fries...and other stuff ..
...such as syrup etc...
...and some local version of lonely plante magazine...
...nearby they had some Kavalan store...
...some rare ones that I seldom see anywhere...
...next stop...to the parents of the wife of Mr WSC...
...for some painting exersice...
...and also tried some blue label...(jonnie walker)...
...they had different kind of drinks...
...me and Mr WSC had a glass...
...and also prepared to paint a room...
...putting plastic all ofer the place...
...trying to use some paint thrower...
...later we headed to Taipei...
...to Texas roadhouse...
...eating peanuts...
...and some chili sauce...with cheese...
...and some Dallas stake...
...Mr S and Elena didnt get what they ordered...so they got a dish for free...
...next stop...heading to Mr S and Elenas place...(we planned to first go to a lesbian club...but due to that Taiwan has some heavy covid outbreak...most clubs etc are closed)...
This was also the last weekend when our Friench friend Jean is in the country...but he was hangover and never showed up...
...Mr S bought some things to make cocktails...
...also some snacks were served..I also brought chocolate...
...we played some games...
...it was fun...
...playing until late night...2022 continues...
A visit to a Colombian restaurant in Linkou
I went to Linkou recently...
...to visit one of the few Colombian restaurants in Taiwan (as I know)..
...a cheif from Medelin (who also livedin Gemrany for like 11 years or so)...
...the place as in memory of the chiefs ancestor I think...
...they didnt have colombian beer..
...but some nice colombian cheese balls...(they were a littlebit sour)...
...the chief might even have made the cheese himself...
..and some nice wheat drink with cinnamon...(reminded me of Horchata):
https://johansvennung.blogg.se/2019/august/horchata-and-stump-castle-builtment.html
...we also had some colombian dish with pork and salad...avocado etc...
...and beans and rice...
...thick shin crust on the pork..
...it was nice..
...they also ahd some colombiand - taiwan map...
...and some memorial table...
...and other books...
..."el Beso de la Rana" was the name of the place...
...they also had some frog decoration...
...next stop: a local 7-11...
...they also had some draft beer on tap here...
...Buckskin...
...I brought some beer from taipei (lituanian beer)...
...Mr WSC also got some colombian coffee at the colombian restaurant...
...they were also selling 2 kind of colombian coffee at 7-11...
...I also instructed how to paint nails in a cool way...
...and also bought le ble d'or beer in a local Family mart...which we dran at 7-11 (since the family mart kind of temporarily closed for cleaning)...
...I also pimped my new shoes a littlebit..with some old batman logos...
...I might pimp them more...(maybe make them look more professional)...
2022 continues...
An all you can eat evening in Taipei
I headed to an all you can eat recently in Taipei
...finding a lion logo in a local bus...
...and a funny handle on a door...
...omg...taiwan progressing...the safe zone is not only designated for girls anymore...but also non-binear, others and male...atleast on the MRT...
...I also bought some coffee...they had many kinds...I focused on burusta beans this time...
...this on was containing most burustabeans they told me...
...omg...they also had colombian coffee...
...next stop: a classic all you can eat place...at Att 4fun...
...plenty of food...
...cheese...meat...sashimi etc..
...and 2 kind for wine...
...and a chocolate fontain...
...and some mexical chilli bread...
...it was not that spicy...
...I also had plenty of dessert...
...and pudding...
...I ended with fruit and honey...
Taipei Metro hash event in Xindian
I joined the Taipei Metro hashers some time ago...
...it was in Xindian...and I got the chance to also visit the local ikea store there....
...buying swedish cheese...and chocolate...
...before joining the hash...
...the metro hash is free to join...unless you want to eat and drink afterwards (run+bash, but no "down-down")...
...walkers took off first...then runners...
...som check...it was a rather flat run..along the river side...
..t was good...since I planned to run 2 marathons...(but due to Taiwans covid situation they cancel all the events I signed up for)....
...next check...
...and more run...along the river side..
...and on the city...
...back at last...
...i joined the bach later on.
...with some down-down during the bash...eventually..
...and some guy drank from his shoe..i notisce that many of the taiwanese likes to announce that I should drink from my shoe (claiming that my shoes are new)...
...this american drank from his shoe...
...and this taiwanese drank from her...
...they seldom ask new runners t drink from their shoe...since they might never come back...
A quick visit to Hsinchu
I headed to Hsinchu recently...
...bought How Tai bus tickets...they only accept Taiwanese student IDs...too bad...
..."no mokus passengers"...
...PM 1.0 cleaner in the bus...
...passed by the chalmers office...corona empty..
...and some dust on the ground...
...an coconut milk tea t food court 1 (ye guo nai cha)...
...the new name...since they merget with Yang ming university...
...and a burger at Do do cafe...
...long time no see...
...I also passed by Chiems place...
...and Allens place...
...talking about him visiting sweden...soon...
...he had a nice view...south...
...we also went up on the roof...checking hsinchu night...
A day in Yuanshan meeting Ren Laoshi
I met up with an old chinese teacher recently...
...where I also had an indian tea...
...it was an outdoor area...more covid safe...
...a friend also brought a cat...
...I ended up having xome indian cousine....
...then we went for a walk...
...and looked for an old house...
...and some indigenous store..which was closed...
...and some black out...in tuanshan...
...I ended the day by seeing a nice sun set...
...and visit a thai restaurant...
...some thai drinks...
....and wrap...
...and some soup...
...blood soup...
...and then some free beers at le ble dor...
...beer of different colours...
...and some fried humus...but felt like it was just pure crust...
...they had some cool statues in the restaurant...
...later we headed to some beer bar...Taihu brewing...
...but they didnt have they drink I ordered...
...nor did they accept the money I paid with...
...I had some coconut porter...a sweet one...
2022 continues...
Last day in Guangfu and Hualian
...hot days passing by...
...morning visit to guangfu train station...many locals report about the covid situation...
...many cyclist passing by..apparently some competition...from taidong to hualian maybe...
...passed by a breakdfast place...
...for some "special coffee"...tasted sour...
...and a burger...
...then a chill drive north towards hualian...
...passing the east coast...
...back to fengbing...and some interesting insect poster...
...and heading more north...
...more ocean...
...and more bikes...
...here seems to be the finish for the bike race...
...next stop...my 2nd cousin Johans new place...
..he had many animals at home...
...some dog that was temorarily there...
...and some cats...
...and many toys...
...and some cat climbing shelf...
...we also had some tea...with oatmilk...since they are vegan...
...also showing some cool waterfalls to visit nearby...
...the dog ended up sleeping on my foot...
...and the tour continued after an hour...up north...with a short stop for more coffee...
...and playing some music in the car...
...taroko gorge...
...and an ocean filled with earth quakes...
...japan is on the other side...
...soon heading to yilan...
...a new free way is built...connecting yilan and hualian...(atleast for some parts)...
...Mr WSC playing games in the car...
...nexst stop...the cheese n bread store in jiaoxi...
...I bought 2 cheese bread...
...and a Tilamisu...cake..
...also stopping by Yilan Maitian...(barley farm manual beer)...
...and even bought a bottle for take away...
...I concluded that the new bottle was easier to open than the old one...
A visit to Guangfu and Fengbing
I headed south from Hualian recently...
...morning train...
...as usual, finding some indigenous posters...
...the strart of road 11...
...and a local meat marker in Guangfu...
...ir reminded me of the meat market in Hsinchu...and I was told that the meat market in colombia kind of looks the same...
...some vegetables...
...the locals were having tea and beer...
...after some short car ride...we reached the east coast...
...road 11...
...and we had some local food...
...and spotting the waves...
...we got the same onions as we had in some indigenous restaurant in taipei...
...I like this place...it is very chill...
...polynesian spirit...and many herbs...similar to the ones I have in my parents garden in Alingsås...
...some group photo...
...local dogs chilling near their home...
...and some local art...
...next stop...some abandoned road...
...helmets were required...
...cus some stones drop from the cliffs...
...Mr WSC in action...
...still need to wear facemasks...everywhere in Taiwan...
...how the coast line looks like...(and looked like when the dutch came some 400 years ago)...
...the path we were walking...
...they also had some glass path...
...and many people taking pics..
...some indigenous paintings...
...and souvenirs...(we had to pay 100 ntd for ticket to the path...and the ticket was a 40ntd voucher for a coffee in a nearby coffee shop)...(where the coffee coste 100-150 ntd anyway)...
...some land slide...
...we were listening to dido in the care later on...spotting some road block...it is common that they close some lane, when a person has died were were told...
...next stop...some amis village...
...locals collecting grass...
...some statues...
....and indoor fire...
...seems like a tribe meeting point...
...another local house...
...and area to chill...(a monument for spirits)...
...but it was on private property...so we couldnt enter...
...instead we chilled at a rood top in Guangfu...
...and went to a famous icecream store in guangfu...
...pretty fast service...
....a list of icecream flavours...
...well....apparently not everything was icecream flavours...I ended up getting ginger tea, and brandy ice cream...
....next stop: an indigenous restaurant...
...many sculptures...
...od owls...
...funny lapms...
...more owls...
...and fish...
...owls...
...and totem pole (i might do some owl when im back in sweden)...
...some amis people...
...and the local food...
...mainly vegetables and meat...in a stew...
...and a salted fish...as I got in kaohsiung some weeks ago...
...I also got some almond banana...
...more wooden statues...
...and a table decorated with coffee beans...
...the day ended with a visit to the local train stataion...
...and some ranodm christmas decoration...
A trip to Hualian
I went to hualian recently...
...early omrning train...
...had some breakfast...fiber and vitamins...
...spotting turtle island...hard to get the island on pic while on the move...
...one of taiwans only vulcanos...
...a tree covered...
...no tree covered...
...an agressive train clerk...
...and some rain..
...hualian...pretty exotic place...
...and a visit to some indigenous restaurant...
...and the classic pattern..that even the laos restaurant in Härlanda has on the chopsticks...(and also some buffet place near lilla bommen)...
...we were the only people in the restaurant...
...a classic christmas tree...
...and some animal in a cage...
...first batch of food...
...rice...deer and some seafood...
...and some soup in bambo...
...shrimps with stones...
...black stones...I learned when rafting in 2013...that black stones are from volcano..and are useful with food (cus they dont crack with temperature changes)...
...some indigenous pattern...
...they didnt accept my 200notes nor 20 notes...funny...
...later waiting for a cab...
...more indigenous pattern...
...and soe art at some new tourist spot...
....and a hunt for suspenders for Mr WSC...(got offered a rope at one store)..
...found some climbing euipment...t another store...
...and passed some street library...
...omg...SKF logo...
...I passed by an SKF store in Hualian...cool...
...the suspender hunt continues...
...after some hour...we finally found it...(orange suspenders matching Mr WSC's shoes...
...also some more indigenous patterns while looking up a geocache...
...I also wanted to find a coffee place...and here in taiwan many authentic coffee stores has a lot of wooden interiors...(its they way you distinguish them)...
...yep...wood...
...wood...
...a local guy...emptying the tent rood from recent rain water....
...it was a cosy coffee place...
...they had many christian things...even bibles...
...and some photos of locla celebrities...
...and a concrete cube looking like a house...
...nexst stop...some "popular" pancake place...
...omg...an even more popular pancake place nearby was also found
...most places here has some bike as decoration...that is interesting...
....and anoother street library....
...they had a number, queing system...(you got a number said to you upon arrival)...
...and these were the pancakes...served with spicy sauce...
...this store was closed today..due to some covid cases...
...we also passed by this mexican resturant...with canadian owner...
..."dos tacos"=2 tacos...
...they had 3 kind of spicy sauce...
...we got 3 tacos...
...some empanada...
....and some soft tacos...(tortillias)...
...and deep fried ice cream with kahlua...
Mr WSC...in action...
...later we passed by another indigenous resturant...
...and some geocache hunt...
...I got some electical shock...while climing a tree...this plasitc bag solution wasnt enough to protect the cable apparently..."hualian style"?
...next stop: the night market (I was told that Hualian only has 1 night market)...
...many vendors...
...they also had s special street for indigenous vendors..
...and some indigenous drinks...but it wasnt as good as the white russian drink...with millet wine that I had in taipei (Bali)...
...they recommended some coffee drink...
...some indigenous art...
...the bartender...
...the drink...it tasted like a drink from an "all you can drink" place....
...I also spotted a dog with a basket...
...and s burger bar (that was closed)...
...and a lamborgini...cars are high status here...
...omg...a meat in bun place...like jinx food truck in gothenburg...
...later on we went to this bar...(we know the owner)...
...they had a funny sign nearby..."peace prison"...
...and some interesting poster...
...and many dart machines...
...Mr WSC started to play...
...the owner played with us...he was good...he even competed profesionally...
...we also got some snacks...
...and some drinks with many lamps...
...Mr WSC ordered some hookah...
...we also had some millet wine (yellow colour, which was very unique we were told)...
...the owner...
...the bottle...
...we added lime to the drink...
...and we played some more...(I played with a guy i portugal...cus the machine had some wifi connection for multi player)...
...we were asked to do some group pose...
2022 continues...
A quick visit to Nankan
I paid a quick visit to Nankan recently...
...I also spotted the owner of the ironman car...in Nangang...
...I also passe by bank of Taiwan to change some 200 and 20 ntd...super slow queue...and had to tell the that it was possible to exchange those money...(first clerk asked me to move to another floor, seconfd clerk said that it wasnt possible...but changed his mind when I told him that other clerk said it was possible)
...I also passed by a 7-11 with a wine fridge...
...and a -11 clerk telling me that 20 NTD does not exist..or cant be used...(he later came back to me and told me that they do exit but are rare)...(after some research)...
...I went for a short geocaching tour...
...many magnetic ones on these poles...
...many items on the route was made from rail material...including this fence...
...they also had many sculptures...
...and some nice evening..
...and colorful sunset...
...I got some indiand foor from Mr WSC...who I quickly met up with...
...we went to this bar...but it was closed...or rather booked...
...so we ended up having some juice drink in a park...
2022 continues...
Indigenous museum and Taipei metro hash
I went to Academia Sinica recently...
...spotting some indigenous boats form Orchid Island...
...and some Paiwan statue from Laiyi...
...and some Kavalan clothes...
...and Puyuma clothes...
...and some tea areas...
...and pinpu artifacts...
...and a map, similiar to one I saw in Datong...
...more wooden carvings...
...and some shaman bags...
...and a taiwan (paiwan) snake...maybe I will make one in the future...
...and also some wooden shaman bag...
...omg..Paiwan uses some parts similar to Vietnamese culture...
...next stop...some hamburger store in ximen...
..but hard to know they had hamburger...mainly vietnamese stuff on the menu...
...it was an ok burger...
...bread proportion was too large...
...I also had some bubble tea later...
..and checked shoes...
...went to many stores...
...one that looks like the one I bought shoes from back in 2016...
...omg...passed by a language thinkery...
...and a hongkong dessert store...
...it was ok...almond and sesame flavour....
...I also passed by a brittish restaurant...
...and later headed to a Metro hash...
...it is a more informal hash...which ends with some dinner...for those who want...
...walkers took off earlier...
...and many runners...
...since this hash often starts in the city...there is often some traffic light that devides the group...
...after some time...I reached the end...
...at this hash one has to sign name and phone number...and later when you reach the end...mark that you arrived back safe....else they will call for you...
...some hashers staying for the dinner...
Some random mingeling in taipei
I went to le ble dor ysterday..
..they have free beer if you have 3 doses of corona vaccine, or have a passport number containing the digit 3...
...Iaso trying some mala chicken...
...and some cheese...
...it was a cloud free evening...
...next stop: and indigenous restaurant...but the apps are seldom up to date here...it turned out to be closed...
...next stop: a local burger place...
...they had some super hero theme...
...and stinky tofu burger...
...I had corn soup...
...some random snacks (paprika)...
..and the largest burger...with mashed potato..
...also passing by some mrt station...with some taipei history...
...a fmaily mart that looked like it was integrated with 7-11...
...next stop: Hasila...(some bunun bar)...
...they gave us millet wine and beer...
...and some local snacks...
...Geai was wearing some earing he bought in danshui some week ago...
...they also had some indigenous decoration...and taguth us some bunun language: MuniHaiChing means "eat!"...
A visit to Wulai, Bitan and ximen
I was heading to wulai recently...
...spotting a bus pimped with cosplay characters...
...also passed by an indigenous restaurant, that was said to have indigenous tiramisu...
...but it was closed...
...next stop: a place to try their hamburger...
...they had 3 kinds...
...and tiramisu..
...it was ok..a little salt...
...next stop Wulai...
...sunset behind the mountains...
...they had some table....showing when to stop at each stop...
...it was confusing to get clear time table from wulai...locals and bus drier said that the last bus left around 23...but the time table said 21 something...
...wulao had many bridges with lamps....
...and many indigenous patterns...
...and many local beers...
...and millet wine...
...and other hand crafts...
some ohter painting...
...and local indigenous food...
...they also had deer and some other mountain animals..
...and pretty of fire in the stove...
...the restaurant was near the river...
...I also tried out my tiramisu I bought earlier this day...
...it was good..(4/5)...
...I also got the indigenous food...
...a mix of vegetables and wild animal...(deer)...
...and omellette...
...some other wild boar stand...
...more restaurants along the river...
...omg...they use to have turtles here..
...and other bridge walk...
...more people gathering along the bus stop...for the 21 bus...
...road 9 passes by here (some branch of it)...
..I also passed by a spanish restaurant I have been spotting some years ago...
....the bus even announced the stations in local Atayal language...
...next stop: bitan...
...where they had many statues...
...and some pizza...along the river...
..more statues...
...some angel...
...and large masks that were made of lamps..
...some people thought they were scary...
...more bridges with lamps...
...and some cute mushroom...
...omg...hawaii burger in ximen...might try some day...
...next stop: ximen hong lou...
...I had a classic sugar& calorie bomb...
...and frensh fries with melted cheese...I increased my "step per day" goal to 20k...
A visit to Xinzhuang
I paid a visit to Xinzhuang recently...
...it was a nice evening...
...I also spotted a swedish flagged car...
...and some baseball designed MRT station...
...with some strange floor...
...and many posters...
...I also walked pass some temple area...
...and saw some rainbow coloured bridge...(by light)...
...and a Diamond ring decoration...
...and some "old street"...
...and a burger bar...
...but was heading to this place...
...having hotpot with lamb meat...
...with a bunch of international friends..
...Mr WSC had a cool t-shirt...
...and my Spanish friend Jesus was cycling on some strange bike in a park...
...I aso found a new aboriginal restaurant...
...I also found out that google's time table for buses is not up to date...
...on the app...(compare to reality)...
...not with the time table at the bus stop...
A visit to korean restaurant and ximen
Another rainy day in taipei...
...many puddles on the ground...
...and droids in the restaurants...
...many options...
...and some memorial event for some train accident last year...
...and a vegan store was spotted...
...also checking some shoe option...
...and most exits were closed...but no announcement until the exit...making many people walk far before realizing it...
...another droid...
...and some drink options...
...and side dishes at the korean place..
...so disapointing...I asked hte staff if they had the beer announed in the menu "Extra cold"; they said "yes"...but gave me a "cass" with the arguement that they only had "cass"...no logic about that it is a different beer...i kind of wanted to return it but felt sorry for their unawareness...
...some cheese and egg dish...
...and spicy food...
...meat balls...
...another droid...speaking korean...
...and some meat...
...and egg with cheese...
...and super spicy stuff...(they said)...
..and some tea in the rice...to get it loose...
..next stop: some beer bar...
...many kinds of beer...
...and some austrlian poster...
...the sorted the beers by brewery...
...i have had many of them before..
...walking to ximen...kai didnt really wanna drink more...but if we tried a new bar..he could consider it before heading home...
...more puddles...
..blurry free tofu at dalida...
...and some hot chocolate...
...we also passed by some other bar where they had some nice choclate drink...(i use to have it back in the days)...
...this girl "DaBao"...knew the owner of the lesbian bar...
...my favorite hamburger restaurant is called Cosby Taipei...it closed..but turned out to have reopened in Tainan...as CosbySaloon...I have to revisit there...
the evening ended wierd...that kai wanted to go home...but accidentally bumpted into his date and his friends who invited us to join...
...in a very indirect way he later asked me to go home, while he wanted to party with the rest...but it took 5-10 minutes for me to understand what he said...since it was a very local way of talking...
2022 continues...
A visit to a brewery and bike-whisky bar
I was in ximen recently...
...heavy traffie..
...the brewery's name was La Tour...
...with some barrels outside..(and a sign saying: "No pain no gain")...
...and an open chief area...
...seemed to be brewed in the house...
...and some free peanuts...
...and some cheese crayfish spring rolls...
...and some fried chicken...
...and some other snacks...
...and some spanish BBQed meat...(according to the menu)...
...they also had some advertisement of Mcdonalds on a wide screen...
...and some baseball...
...later we headed to ximen..the shopping area...
...saw some entertainment..
...and some shoes...
...i faound 2 pairs in almost my size...(its always the classic comment from the staff "Which shoes to do want"...even if i say I have size 46 (size: 12-12.5)...until they realize that they dont have many kinds of that size in stock...
...later we arrived to a whiskey and cycle store...
..with many kinds of beer...
...and they had coke reidel glasses...
...and trappist...
...I was also asked to check some VR introduction about the place...
...and I had some local beer...
...he introduced some books about why drugs were good...(alternative science(?))...
...and this book...
...some bottles were wrapped in plastic...
...we headed to the 2nd floor later on...
...and did some drawing on a paper...
...i painted some animals, logos and cartoons...
...we also got some liqour tea (i think the owner charged for them)...
...and we listened to some indian music...
...fully painted paper...
...then I was asked to be the DJ at entrance floor again...
...and I had some ocotomore whisky...
...it was 07.2 i think...pretty strong...
...and the owner said I had ot buy a dirnk every hour...he also wanted me to buy a oyster stout...not sure if my whiskey was included in the "1 drink per hour"...
...it was ok...also pretty strong...
...the owner also wanted us to go downt stairs later..he prepared shots...and played loud music...
...some belgian music...
...I played some of my favorite songs..
...and some songs that usually are popular in taiwan (atleast back in the days)...
...he also had some other bike tools nearby....
...and some cat walking around...
...and some foldable bike...
...taking the taxi back...I was told a taxi driver that drives by night...usually goes to bed around at 10 in the morning...
A quick revisit to Danshui
I paid a visit to danshui recently...
...taking the light rail to Kanting...
...no english...I had to match character by character...to see how many stops there were left...
...the stations were pimped with some big animals...
...and we had to make a transfer after some stations...since the rail splits...
...more art in the tram...
...and some cute statues siting on the seats...
...small animals...
...once arrived it was drizzling...
...Geai lives out here for a while...
...many new houses were built...
...and foggy oceansie...
...by some reason the path was closed...
...but some construction workers were fixing the trees...
...and some fire on an oil storage...
...and people at a remote beach...
...geai got his hair wet...
...back in danshui I found a starbucks look-a-like logo...
....and ikea sox...
...and many small figuers in the stores...
...also batman logos...
...and earings...
...but still very fresh air...after the rain...
...and some other people joined up...
...then we were looking for some vietnamese place to eat...
...but ended up eating local bef noodles....
...my friend was proud of his shoes...(he brought9 pairs to taiwan)...
....soe cellphone caages were IP11...in some of the stores...interesting...
...later on we went for dessert...
...some chocolate and mucha...
...they added cereals on...
...later on we headed to some lousa cafe...a common coffee store in taiwan..
...eating our dessert...
...and I had caffein free tea...
...it was sweet but good...
...I ended up having a meeting while chilling at the mrt...
...it was 15 degrees here...(shorts weather)...
...later we headed to a place where the owner use to work with aboriginals...
...i had a small cup of xiaoMiJiu (millet wine)...
...and some kimchi...
...omg..temp drop to 14 degrees...
...the day ended by me finding a family mart that acctually was closed...
Taiwan wait lifters
I paid a quick visit to a gym recently...
...and got reminded how it works here..when it comes with occupying some of the training machines...
...it is common that people rest for 10-20 minutes and check their phones...while siting on the equipment they intend to use...for me, who is training for a total time of 5-20 minutes...i end up just using the few things that are free...it can be confusing...
2022 keeps continuing...
