Taipei Metro hash event
I joined taipei metro hash recently...
...meeting Mr Reuter nearby...
...there were the signs from JingAn station to the starting point...
...and some info for the runners...
...walkers started earlier...
Aayon and Reuter prepared for the night run...Reuter got to borrow a flashlight...(we didnt know we needed one)...I ended up using my cellphone...
...and the ran begun...Mr Z was also there...he use to run a lot...
...and tried to be in the front...
...and of we went...in the city environment...
..stairs....up, down, up, down...5-7 km...
...and finally we reached the finished...
...and run to the starting point...
...and Mr Z was already there...
...and some drinking begun...
...some added juice to the beer to get radler...
...I also bought some hash badge...
...many people eating....
...and the hosts were cooking intensively...
...and 2 birthday people...
...they had to eat some soup with whipped cream..
...and some whisky was also served...
...and some toast...
..and more cream...
....and more beer...
...I planned to go for a diet...but kind of failed...
...also wearing my gothenburg Hash shirt...(and yes: the police arrived (in the backgorund)) cus some neighbour complained...(it is very common here in taiwan)...
...so the door closed...
...I was almost last man standing...taking the MRT back...
2022 continues...
A visit to Nankan Habier brewery and GBA brewery
I went to Nankan recently...
...walked on the path to Habier brewery...
...passing SHLs liufu office...
...omg...I was told that this was a fake car logo...
...next stop: Habier brewery...
...we also went to the old "frog place" (where we use to eat lunch long time ago...and they have frog on the menu)...
...and later we returned back to Habier brewery...
...they had 2 new taps, directly from their fridge...
...trying pilsner, witbeer and some Kölsh...
...the Kölsh tasted like some grapes...(or just fruity)...
...sipping more and more with the owner...
...I got a lot of foam...
...they also had a porter...
...the owner use to work with asceptic stuff...so hygiene was very important for him...
...I also bought a barrel...
...we got it in a cool insulation box...
...and we had to empyt it a little, cus it was too heavy..
...nuts and beer outside a local 7-11...
...may miitary trucks passed by...
...at Mr WSC we had some more beer...
...it tasted good...but felt like the bubbles disapeared by now...
...also we went to the roof top...checking the mountains...
...and the airport...
...plane spotting...
...useing flightradar app...
...I also found out that many new geocaches were places in nankan...
...later we headed to Linkou...and the taxi played some latino music...
...Mr WSC sang along...
...next stop: GBA brewery...
...we had pizza and tacos..
...and some wraps...
...with a loooong recepit...
...later we passed by a cigar place...but didnt enter...
...omg..."söt" café...(söt means "cute" in swedish)...
...the last stop was a bar near Linkous airport MRT station...where they had some nice music....
Baibai Mr Stöckli...who will work in Switzerland from next week!
Last day in Kaohsiung (march 2022)
It was very warm...but not its cooler...in Taiwan...
...Some cool ship in Kaohsiung...
...and some taiwanese stuff at a hotel lobby..
...and some photographers...in Tainan...near the high speed rail station...I wonder what they are watching...
..glanzing over the parking lot...or these hippos...
...I headed to Chimei museum...
...I was here some years ago...
...it look very international...
...they had some exhibitions with photographies...
..."wonderful things"...
...and some animals...
...taiwan bear...
...and some swedish gun...
...from 1658...
...and some samurai swords...
...and the statue..."the thinker"...
...and many violins...
...and a swedish nyckelharpa...
...the national instrument of Sweden...(i wanted ot learn when I was a kid)...
...later I had mucha tea...
...and fried fish...
...and some warm chocolate...
...and some sallad...
...and a taste of this dish...
...and another sallad....before heading back to taipei...(and I am trying to lose weight)...lets see how it goes...
2022 continues...
Another day in Kaohsiung (march 2022)
I concluded that cherry tomatoes are concluded a fruit...
...atleast in hotel breakfast...
...asian style breakfast is uually rice and noodles...(in hotels)...I had the omellete and some potato...
...omg..kaohsiung is more gender equal than Taipei...here they safety zone in night is for all genders...
...heading for a rock show...
...i got informed that my friends favorite movie is Castle in the sky:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_in_the_Sky
...I had some cheese pizza...at my friends birthday event...
...some philippino singer was performing...pretty skilled...
...they had many taps...but more or less all were closed...
...outside many vendors were selling stuff (at Pier 2)...
...there was also the music festival going in...
...I was told that this brisket was the best...
...but they were sold ou..so I had the only thing they had left...
...some other food stands...
...and stone decoration...
...Later I headed to this old bar...
...they had some funny painting...(i was told that this bar was very old)...
...I had some nice fried platter here..
...and later saw many drunk kids outside of the fetsival area...
...and some cool zebra crossing...(looked like a bump from a certain angle)...
...I ended the day by concluding that 7-11 has some bars...at some places...
A hot day in Kaohsiung
A very hot day in Kaohsiung...
...tried to find a geocache...but most caches were last found in 2018-2020...so im not sure if they are still in their position...
...omg...a 7-77 vending machine...
...Taiwan is some half year...or year...after europe in the covid progress...still things are closed...like in the MRT...it is not possible to drink tap water...due to covid restrictions...
...people campling in the park...
...I met up with old classmates...like Mr Simmons...who I climed many mountains with...
...we headed for some local juice...
...I asked what she recommended (as usual)...and the girl replied "what do you like"...(as usual). I said I like pineapple juice, without sugar...then she miraculously recommended pineapple without sugar...
...I told her I was joking..and that I wanted her recommendation...and that I was ok with anything...she still wanted me to tell her exactly want I wanted...so that she could recommend that...it was funny
...heading to Mr Simmons office...
...first passing by some marturs shrine...
...and some small hike...to a monkey mountain...
...it was hot...but Mr S wasnnt hot...he said that it was due to that he was from Texas...
...some view spot..
...classic kaohsiung skyline...
...many ships waiting to enter Kaohsiun harbor (the biggest in Taiwan maybe (or second biggest))...
...some monkey scupture...
Mr S telling where we could se BeiDaWu...
...if it wasnt for all the smog and pollution...
...more walking..
...later back in Mr S' car...playing rock...(and some taiwanese songs)...
...Mr S house had some religious quotes on the wall...
...we also played some country music...
...and headed bac to Mr S office...
...Mr S car..
...Mr S had his own classroom...
...omg...he had pics that I took...
...we use to do many mountain hikes...me and Mr S...
the university floor had a lot of monkey shit..
...it was at the ITI campus...
...it was a nice view...
...over the sea...
....Mr S likes nature...and found some interesting leaf...
...and more monkey shit...
...I brough a alcohol free radler...but Mr S preferd that I did not drink it..in case someone thinks it is beer...
...he played some tunes on his guitarr...
...he knew plenty of songs...
...the audience enjoyes the tunes...
...they also had some quotes from celebrites on the wall...
...later we planned for a short hike...
...heading towards the ocean...
...to some "secret beach"...that everyone knows about...
...many people here...
...very sweaty...
...omg..a cactus...
...we later took another way back up...
...driving in Kaohsiung...
...biulding 85...
...Mr S likes funny quotes and words...he found this sentence funny...
...looking for parking spot so we can eat canadian food...
...at this canadian place...
...Mr Stone (Shi)...booked it...
...many canadian things...
...Mr S served me canadian beer...(moosehead)...
...I had poutine...it was ok...
...the panini was much better...
...next stop...a rock festival...
...they also had some market...
...a funny guy at the beer tent...
...more rock...
...and some kids dancing in the front...
...they even had their own can of taiwan beer for this festival...
...it was a funny singer...
...later I tried some mexican food...
...and some pizza... (i think the black sauce was soy sauce...taiwan style)...
...back to the mexican vendor...
...he made a burrito...it was ok...
...later some "famous" band played at the bigger stage...
The famous metal band Flesh juicer (血肉果汁機)
...the burrito being consumed...
...and some light show...
...many people wathing...(both live and online)...
...it was 10 seconds delay...on the website...
...also passing by another beer bar later on with live music...
...the bridges hd yellow and blue colors...
...walking on kaohsiung walk of fame...(many names on the gorund)...
...and boats driving on the river...
...omg...I saw the same hotel branch as I spent my 14 days quarantine in......now days it is maybe only 10 days..or 7 days quarantine...but no tourists are allowed into the country...
2022 continues...
A weekend in Kaohsiung
I went to Kaohsiung recently...
...very hot weather in Taipei when leaving...
...taking HSR...with the QR code checking...that is a mix between decoration and recommendation...
...one in Kaohsiung I went to some special coffee place...
...some foreignt photo on a wall...
...many students were here...
...they had plenty of coffee...
...and the coffee was form all around the world (but no taiwanese coffee)...
...they had some signature pastery...some burned sugar cake...or some cheese cake...
...I also got recommended some hike when chilling here...
...a mix of coffee and pasteries...
...evening in Kaohsiung...
...and some house filled with lights...
...as usual many many scooters...
...and the "love river"...
...next place was the mega port festival...som kind of rock festival...
...they also had some electrical bike store...where the bikes looked a littlebit like lowriders...
...it is common that places here shows time from different places of the world...but the dont bother adjust to winter or summer time... I wonder what the purpose is to have "Paris time" when it is not correct...
...and some christmas tree in the lobby...(also as usual)...
...and no 4th floor...
...next stop: an indigenous restaurant...
...interesting interiors...
...menu in chinese...
...they had crocodile penis on the menu...interesting..
...and people could take pictures with some flowers in their hair...as if it was indigenous...
some flying fish decoration...
...first dish...some sushi...
...small small fishes...
...bee interiors was also observed...
...next dish...insects...
...not sure which insect...
...more dishes...
...and some soup...
...and a fish covered in salt...
...thich crust to remove...
...the staff helped out...
...next stop: some store where they sell beer...
...it was a lot of beers from other countries...
...American beers and belgian beers...
...I was checking whcih one that would generate a badge on my untappd app...
...I had these in sweden some year ago...
...I wanted to have some country badges...(i remember last year when I hoped for a canadian badge..but didnt get one...its all a little random on if I get one or not)...
...later a visit to the night market was paid...
...they simply block the street by night (from traffic)...even if some scooters still drive through...
...I had a juice...
...pineapple...and kiwi...
scammed by untappd
I often buy beers, to get badges on the beer app utappd
I had some russian beer reently but didnt get the badge cus they retired the country badge...
...must be due to the ukraine war...
...maybe they could have called it "north unkraine badge" or something instead....it is the 3rd time they change badges...(and third time I waste money on beer, just for the gamification of beer drinking)...
lets see if it comes back
2022 continues...
All you can eat steak at Jimmy's Kitchen, The top visit and mingle at Yuanshan
I went to Jimmy's kitchen recently..
...it use to be a fancy steak house...they had fancy interiors...
...at lunch time it was a full buffet...
...seafood, steaks and desserts...
...this guy made the steaks...
...I had a lot of seafood...
...and dessert...
....and steak...(I had to ask for extra thick)...cut they usually cut thin slizes here...
...more dessert...
...more dessert...
...we were also allowed to bring our own beers...
...more seafood...and steak...
...the symbol for men...
..the symbol for women...
...omg...at the nearby MRT station I saw payphones...so retro...
...next stop was some mart...
...before heading to "the top"...
...it was up here somewhere...
...taking taxi from Tianmu...
..taking us higher and higher...
...once arrived (they open at 17.00)...we got a queue number...so we got some drinks while waiting...
...many philippinos were also here...
...Mr WSC picked the red seat...once it was our time to pick table...
...taking photos...
...Taipei 101 in the horizon...
...it was a littlbit chilly...but still ok...(many people in the background taking pics)...
...pic ater pic...
..selfies and some dancing...
...some chocolate was ordered...
...and some rose tea or something...
...the clouds slowly disapeared as the sun was about to set...
...we also got some mozzarells sticks (but compare to Taboo club, these actually contained cheese)...
...later I ended up plane spotting...
...since we could see a nearby airport...
...each departure and arrival...
...later I also had some coconut juice...
...and once the sun set...the laps appeared...
...next time we might barBQ here...
...omg...the transformers car that I use to see in Xinyi...
...a quick visit to Wenhua university was paid...
...and some art center...
...and a visit to Yuanshan..where people dance...
...and some beer bar...(local beer)...
...Mr WSC bought a T-shirt...
...the beer where was brewed in Longtan and in Wugu...(it was possible to visit the Wugu brewery II was told)...
...I also had some dried fish and almonds, tasting like fish food...
I ended the day by inspecting locals dance...like these korean or western boy bands...
A visit to the post office
I paid a visit to the post office recently...
...they are like post office use to be in sweden 30 years ago...
...the counted barely spoke english...and i was reminded when I sent a post card back in 2019...geting a tracking code for a post card...not sure if that is standard or it was just a very intresting counter at that time..
...I found out that Taiwan blocked all post to Sweden and Switzerland...etc...(even post cards)...
...to bad, with my many many postcards...I could only send to Norway...I will come back in a month to see if they changed their mind...else I might have to bring my postcards back to sweden...
...I also passed by the counter at Taipei MRT who cheated me on the monthly card...funny logic...
2022 continues...
2 beer bars and a lesbian club
I went to some beer bars recently...
...also passygin by this japanese cosplay place...(i heard the staff calls you "Master" in here...very funny)...
...first bar: mikkeller...)
...many kinds of beer...
...a beer flight was 680ntd...wow....super expensive...since the cups were super small...
...and not all beers were served in the flight...
...I randomly picked some beers I never tried before...(you were not allowed to taste any beer in advance...I wonder why they put up these strange rules)...
...on my expensive flight...
...also some snacks were served...
...next stop: Jim & Dads....(it was 5 minutes away from Mikkeller bar)...
...here the staff encouraged you to taste the beer before you bought...
...I had some local beers...
...and some local food...
...later passing by this place called "chitty mood"...(at taipei main station underground mall)...
...omg "the best pizza"...
...next stop: Taboo, the lexbian club...(guys: 800ntd, girls 500ntd; all you can drink)...
...pretty empty...but it was just 22.00..
...some few (2) guest in the corner...
...they offered 6 kind of drinks...
...and some fee table...explaining what they charge extra for; like puke on sofa, puke on floor...etc etc
...the seiling was decorated with some grass...
...professional bartender...
...and mostly girl bodies on the walls...
...interesting...
...some mozzarella sticks were ordered...
..omg..they were all empty...so strange...(fried air sticks (!?)...
...later in the evening Mrs T didnt get her phone fron the cab...luckily we could trace its position...taking another cab to hunt the other cab...to grab the phone....it was an late night adventure...
Cheated by Taipei MRT
I renewed my monthly subway card recently...
...at this counter in nangang...near exit 5...
I asked to "extend another month"... but their system doesnt work like that I was told...it starts from 1 month from when you pay...and since my card still had 1-2 days left, I thus got double charged tha last days (the red striped area above (for people who can read waterfall diagrams)....
The system is based on that I have to wait until my monthly card expired, then I have to get to a vendor....and since I dont live close to a vendor...it is hard to plan...and I thus have to pay double fees some days... (funny system)...
...but thats ok....I did as I use to 10 years ago...broke some rules to compensation for the mental pain it caused...(together with some other taiwanese I lingered in the gangway)...
...and as some locals I was wearing my back pack in the MRT....
...even though; I am usually one of the few who adapt to these rules...
Another visit to Nankan
...I paid a visit to Nankan recently...
...it use to be very tricky to find the platform for Bus 952...since both "arrival" and "departure" platform was announced...but not which one was which...making me run back and forth to ask...
...but I got some hint from a friend that they simplified the system...only having 1 platform nowadays...
...in nankan I found a lot of whisky..
..and paid a visit to the pizza rock restaurant...
...many many pizzas...
...I had some 4 season with extra cheese...
...I also tried to finish the oil can...
...draining in fat...
...I also tried their 3 hot sauces...
...and passed by the locla brewery Habi...they were closed...but the owner said he will be there next week...
...I also saw a kitten nearby...
...later a walk to nankan city was maid...along the old railroad...
...heading up to floor 15 on a 25 floor building...
...Mr WSC had many small whisky bottles...
...but this Aultmore was hit favorite...
...later a visit to linkou and this japanese BBQ was made....
...with the grill in the middle...
...they had some clappers...very noisy...
...everyone was clapping, while the staff were introducing each table and why they were there...
...clap-clap...
...clap-clap-clap...
...and plenty of meat...
...we also got to guess the weight of a steak...
...they had a scale nearby...if we were 5g close to the answer...we got the steak for free...
...Mr Joe wanted to help us grill the steak...
...he had some golden tool for cutting the meat...
...he also showed his visit to japan...(he also did some working holliday in Brisbane some years ago)...
...we also had some 1 buy-get-1-free beer offer...
...and some costco tequila was brought..
...before leaving we checked our temperature..
...everything seemed normal..
...Mr Stöckli kept playing with his clapper...
...most people took the car back to nankan...I headed to taipei by the airport mrt...
2022 continues...
A visit to an Indigenous restaurant in Taipei
I went to an indigenous restaurant in taipei recently (105台灣台北市松山區 復勢里光復北路26巷10號)...
...near S.Y.S memorial hall...
...with a lot of decorations...
...some menu...
...first dishes..
...millet in bambo...
...random meat...
..and some wild boar maybe..
......and dove...and some other banana leave wrapped starch....
...and some local beer (3.5%)...
...dessert: fried ice cream and some taro look-a-like thing...
...they also served millet wine...
...cool fish decoration...
...it all ended with some friend cabbage in local spices...
A revisit to Kavalan tribe in Fengbing
I went to Fengbing recently...
...trying a beer from iceland...on the way...
...passing some kavalan and amis village...
...and some festival...
...it was partly raining...
...and the ocean side (east coast)...
...some forrest (locals belive that ghosts live here...so no one dares to go there (and cut the trees)...
...they have these spots on several places at the east coast...
...I passed here by bike some years ago...
...kavalan restaurant...
...my old coin is still here...
...some local lobsters (or imported)...
...sippin beer with locals...
...omg...wood, concrete and eletricity...I wonder how water safe it is...
...local dog..
...some meat in car...some eat it raw...
...more local food...
...some liver etc...
...."soup"...
...and crab (from yilan)...
..it was ok...bigger than the river crabs in pingdong...
...more traditional food...
...this fish was made for me...
...later sippin beer and eating snacks at this scenic spot...
...sesamy snacks...and black peanuts...
---inspecting the local restaurant kitchen...
...before taking the bus north...
..."daole"...(arrived)...heading to hualien...
...many concrete blocks to protect the seaside (i guess from landslides)...
...some small island)...
...and a ship far far away...
...omg coconut trees...
...later a visit to a hongkong restaurant was paid...
...I had a creme brulé...it was good...
2022 continues...
2022 Ruisui Township Half Marathon
I joined a half marathon recently...
...took a taxi from the hostel....(it was 4km walk...the race started super early as usual in Taiwan)...wake up time was 05.15...
......mountain in the horizon...
...and beetle nut trees...
...and Amis decorations...
...some sponsor stands...
...and girls in amis traditional dress...
...this was the race name...apparently they have races all over taiwan...
...they were playing Aqua on the speakers...
...while having some common warm up session...
..streching etc...
...some cool guy with a cool hairdo...
...here was the starting point...
...10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...and off we go...
...upp hill...
...to some fruit garden...
...and then on road 193...heading south...
...and it started to rain...
...I was pretty heavy...(100kg)...(which is my excuse for not getting the time as I use to get back in the days)...
...still got a medal...
...more amis patterns..
...the school where the run started and finished had many language signs...
...amis language...
...chinese and english signs...
...it was confusing if face mas was needed...I feel that the rules are very inconsistent...
...later they collected some stuff...even the safety-pins...which was good...
...people were later queing up for free stuff....
...and they announced the winners of the race...
...omg...taiwanese coffee...
...we all got vouchers to use...
...some local fruit...
...and indigenous stuff...
...millet donuts...
..best men...
...best women...
...some indigenous pattern along the roads...
...and a famous river on the east reef valley...which use to separate kavalan people from amis people...if one person entered the other side...they got their head chopped off...back in the days...(I was told)...
...I ended by trying some "tradicional egg" (I was told)...
A trip to Ruishui
I made a trip to Ruishui recently...
...prepared my self by drinking some milk (since a lot of milk supposely comes from Ruishui (they say)...
...omg...they had swedish oatly at 7-11...
...I bought chocolate and chicken for the trip...
...the trian had swedish...or ukrainian colors...
...some new free way between yilan and hulian
...and the ocean...
...some concrete facotry making thee lines in nature...thre was some debate between Truku indigenous people and some factory (however...many indigenous worked at the factory)...not sure who has the interest in this matter...
...some art in hualien...
...and some indigenous lanugage...
..."Lokah su"...hi in taia lanugage...
...same as Malusu in Truku language I think...
...some art..local claims that no one knows who put this up, nor what it suppose to symbolize...
...some store in hualien...that is said to be traditional...
...I also spotted some friend on a Amis poster...
...omg amis girls...
...I also passed by some festival for family picnic...
...they had burgers...
...I had a cheese burger...
...many fmailies having picnic...
...I also pased by a beer place...
...made in nantou...
...omg...many hello kitty stuff...
...100 and 150nt for their 2 kinds of beer...
...and they also had whisky..
...they also had some indigenous lanugage day at a local coffee shop...
...I had a belgian beer...(i think)...
...funny sign for slippery surface...
...I found that many places in taiwan looks like this...walls are mainly a metallic plate...that is merged to iran pole...
...often integrated in nature...
...I also found interesting art...
...and a character that is so rare...that they added bpmf to explain how it is pronunced)...(I think i have seen it before in Taidong)...
...later I headed here for some special fish...
...they had a lot of sea food...
...and drop coffee..
first dish...
...second dish...the bones were slimey...
and some indigenous vegetables...
...and the fish meat...
...after the fish experisnce I headed south...
...for some competition...in ruishui...staying a vough hostel...
...omg...the supermarket in ruishui made me feel like I was in the alps...not sure why...
...I found many icelandic beers here...
...I ended they day with some pizza...I heard its good food before a competition...
Soup kitchen Charity Event with the Swedish Chamber of Commerce
I went to a charity event recently...
...starting early... atleast according to schedule...07.45-09.00 in southern taoyuan county...
...it was initally hard to find...
...but I found this logo after a while...so it seemed right...
...some preparation to make food for 300 people...
...they also had icecream from latvia...
...it was really good...
...and some other pan for pork meat..
...I also got their business card...
...some other random items at the place...
...some people preparing the food...
...my Paiwan friend from Wenle...we have many friends in common I think...
...we pealed a lot of vegetables...
...washed and cut...
...and boiled...
...frying garlic...
...washing rice...
...the rule is..when you can see your hand...then the rice is clean enough...
...some more herbs...
...and soy sauce to the meat...
...omg...so much leek...
...and some people stiring soup
...and people taking picture of people stiring the soup...
...and remove some water from the meat...
...we also put rice and meat in bags...
...it was like driving a restaurant...
...we aso got some bread from one of my favorite steak houses in taiwan...
..in peanut bags...
...we later went to a hotpot place..where they had lobsters...
...a lot of food...
..it was good...
...one lobster each...
...since Im running a marathon in 2 days... I had to load with a lot of food...
...boiled lobster...
...I also passsed by hsinchu...
...and supported in a movie production...
...before heading to taipei main station...
...and the west gate 3...we suppose to meet for food delivery....
...we also had to wear wests...
..they had indigenous pattern...
...many people joined up...
...and the serving began...
...we also gave away cookies...
...walking around the cnetral station...
...sweet bread...
..my thailand friend Sky was also there...
I als made friend with an Atayal and Bunun person...it was fun...
it reminded me of other chairty events in taipei such as:
I might join some other time too...
2022 continues...
Myanmar street, Xike office visit and attempt to hike day
I went with Mr WSC recently...
...for some hike...or something....
...brought some beers I never tried before...
...finding very hight sidewalks in zhonghe...
...we also visited the myanmar street nearby...
...Mr WSC does not like seafood...and it was hard not to get fragnance of seafood in the dishes...
...we had some sheep meat, and spicy sallad (which they added seafood to by some reason)...
...I also had soe myanmar mango yoghurt...
...and they closed the store...atleast half way when we sat there...
...we also visited some whisky store...where they also had absolute vodka...
some whisky here is very cheap...why I consider to buy some to take home...(even if many are pretty bad...from a quality perspective)...
...we also tried to find a hike..by randomly walk towards a mountian in the horizon...
...and we found some random street art...
...we were sippin beer meanwhile...but could not take it on the MRT...since no chewinggum, food or drinks are allowed there...
...we were heading to xike office...
...omg, my old indigenous wine..that I left back in 2018 was still there...
...we also got some wierd nut...that taste bitter "if you had a bad sleep"...(?)...
...this is the name...(since some nuts tasted bitter and others didnt...im not sure if I had bad sleep recently)...
...Mr WSC was shoting rubber bullets on R2D2...
...my old blackboard painting was untouched...
...1 darth vader....among all the folks...
...also my old magazines...were there...at the office entrance...so funy...
...(y)...my name all over it..
...we also saw some swedish cider in the nearby store...
...we also played some music while there...it felt nice being back in the old office...
...later on we headed to a burger bar...
..it was called the chips...
...but they said that they turned off the fryer...so we didnt get any fries...nor the fried cheese for the cheese burger I wanted...so they propsed the most expensive burger to me...
...later we ended at another beer joint...
...I had some dutch beer...
Mr WSC helped the staff with carrying the chairs to some corner...before they closed the place...
New Taipei City 5K Test
I went for a 5k run recently...
...I try to sign up for as many marathons I can while in a travel...
...and managed to sign up for a 5k test...which means you run 12.5 laps on a 400m running court...
...it was not english information which made it all a littlebit confusing...
...there were 5 starting groups...one for people finishing in 28 minutes, one for 26 minutes...24, 22, 20...
...and then they simply had staff counrtng down...(dont ask why we were carrying chips)...
...I missed the starts with 20 seconds...but they said something in chinese...that I couldnt get my time registered....but there was no diploma or anything...to it didnt really matter...
...this 5k test was held at this gymnasium...i think i finished in around 22 minutes...which was expected by my group...
...i had some deep fried chicken after that...
...it was good...
A visit to a vegetarian buffet in Taipei
I headed to a vegetarien (and vegan) all you can eat restaurant recently...
...inspecting the MRT map in Banqiao...and still concludingthat north is not always up here..
...also passing the slowest elevators in taiwan...
https://johansvennung.blogg.se/2013/may/attempt-to-beer-safari-in-taipei.html (I called them the second slowest in earlier posts)...
...interesting...one panel hs 10 floors..the other has 11 floors...
...nice sunset...(but wrong building apparently)...
...I was heading to the nearby building...11th floor...
..."Enjoy Veggie Life"...
..."enjoy veggie life" (again)...
...500-1000 ntd...(standard price)...
...and plenty of food...(chinese food)..
...BBQ...
...sushi...
...pizza...
...a lot of cheese (but mainly 1 kind)...
...first batch...
...2nd batch...
...omg..guacamole...
...3rd batch...
...4th batch...
...I also had some fried grape fruit...
2022 continues...
A quick visit to Danshui
I spent a hot day in Danshui recently...
...met up with Geai...
...checked out some bars (which were closed)...and also some red building...where we had some cray fish party back in 2008...
...We also bought some pakistan food...
...and some japanese beer...
...and some statue...was colleting money...I felt a littlebit sorry for the person inside...since it was pretty hot...
...omg...tourist brochures...Wulai and Xindian...cool...
...I also found some pizzeria...which was closed...I might visit here later this year...
...we chilled at a coffee shop...where I have been many times before...
...some vietnamese coffee...(but tasted like some milk-coffee drink)...
...Geai went for som bubble tea...before I made a sorti back to Tipei city...
A visit to Fond Da Coffee and Tibetian restaurant
I recently paid a visit to the oldest coffee shop in taiwan
...its name is Fond Da Coffee...
...it was a rather small place...
...I had some taiwanese coffee from Alishan and some toast...with jam...
...they also had plenty of grinders...like my parents also have...
...and some information about coffee beans...
...later on I also went to a Tibetian restaurant...
...it was in Nangang...
...many decorations from Tibet...just like when I was there...
....and it was similar food to in mongolia...
...meat and some dough...
...and some big stew...
...and added some flat noodles...it was good (but tasted a little MSG)...
I realy liked the butter tea...(as usual)...
Batman movie and Thai food
I went to see Batman today...
...first an older movie was planned to be watched (goodbye lenin)...but it was changed in last second...
...ended up to be this one...
...it was ok...but maybe not the best batman movie I have seen (my favorite is Batman begins...
...later a visit to a Thai restaurant was paid...
...starting with some appertizers...
...some red curry...
...and some green curry...
...and some black sesame icecream...for dessert...
Some gathering with old coworkers in Taiwan
I met some old friends recently...
I started the meeting with going to a coffee store in Taipei city...
..."simple Kaffa"...
...they had plenty of coffee types...
...and they recommended some Ethiopian coffee...cus it was their most recent coffee...they told me...
...they were also selling a lot of stuff...
...and had interesting interiors...
..and some x-mas decoration...(i think)...
..and some awards...
...and were pouring coffee behind their desk...
...one of their famous baristas was called "Berg"...
...they also put some device on the filter...
...I also passed by the culture cretive park...watching a guy doing Diabolo...
...while I was enjoying a Tiramis, that I bought at the coffee shop...
...it was ok...4 out of 5...but a little soft...(maybe due ot the temperature)...
...a lot of cream...
...and my Ethiopian coffee...
...the Diaboo guy also used some in the audience for his performance...
...I also saw some poster...saying that people should pay atention to where they are walking to avoid injury...I wonder if I ever will see a poster like that in Sweden...
...next stop was a 7-11 with pink interiors...
...and Hooters...
...I met Mr S..who has a super mario inspired shirt...
...many hooter girls was inside...
...they were dancing...
...Jens was also there...he got some long hair now...
...omg...we got some cockroach in the beer...(or some insect)...
...the mini burger of hooters...
...and nacho plate...
...and some sign...that was hard to read...(maybe missing a comma)...
...fried jalapeno...
...and plenty of beer...
...and holahoops dance...
...people in the gang asking each other to go up to compete...
...some in the staff showing how it is done...
...later we chilled outside...
...and had to pay...in total 14.000:ish ntd...
heading to next stop...
...the Brass monkey...
...not that full...for being a saturday...
...more mngeling...
...and playing pool...
...and some football game..
...and had some drink...
...and more mingeling...
..later on we headed to Gongguan, at the water fron plaza...
...william ordered some pizza...
...and Anders was hiding...
...William ordered more pizza...since the first pizza never came...
...then some pizza rrived...
...this guy was making them...he worked here for 5.5 years...I recognize him from back in the days...
...we was using some italian tomato sauce (even if our frensh ex-coworker complained about the flavour)... (and I thought it was a pizza bianco)...
...we also got to try the cheese...
...he even had some parmesan smelling cheese (but we coudnt taste it on our first pizzas)...
...the team...
...william ordering more pizza...since his first orders never came...
...then some more pizza arrived...
...and more pizzas...
....and more again...
..a lot of pizzas at 3am...
...I ended the day by helping Jens catching a cab...back to his place in Xindian...
2022 continues...
Last day in Danlin (march 2022)
Im hanging out with people who live by night...
...waking up at 11-12...hainvg some noodles for breakfast (Vuvu made)...she likes to see people eat...
...I also made coffee...
...later we also passed by a local 7-11...
...and went to a local competition (in Laiyi county)...
...people doing high jump...
...and running...
...different gender, different competitions...
...winner for the girls...
...and boys...
...and men...
...and the volley ball...
...many military was there promoting to join the armed forces...
...Danlin won the volley ball game...
...I had som local pastery...
...this was the name of the event......Undukai...
...they had a lot of indigenous stuff...
...and drinks...
...my friends were mixing the drinks...
..."hello bitch"...
...I got an orange drink...
Gunai making the drink...
...some local orchestra...
...and some pizza bakery...
...omg...turtles...
...it looked like professional pizza...
...I was seeking shade...
...we ordered half margeritha, half hawaii...
...then back to watch more competitions...
...the the tribe leaders were dressing up...for some final event...
...some shaman singing some spell...
...and some danc performance...
...and martial art performance...
...and local politicians...saying hello to the people...
...and some more soldiers performing...
...many people were laughing about their performance...im not sure why...
...strong wind...
...and some more people in traditional clothes...
...omg...later we found that people parked so that we couldnt leave...(but I found a small path for us to exit)...
...Geai also told me that his village Danlin...is unique..cus not many people know where the people in the tribe comes from..they had some Rukaii ancestors...and some shamans say they dont really belong here...he said they might be from a magical place called "Mu"...
A short visit to Danlin march 2022 (part II)
New day in danlin...
...local breakfast...some rice dish...
...sunny day...
...heading to buy some stuff in pingdong...and passed by some pineapple fields...
,,,omg...another car had some indigenous jewelery inside...
...Mr G took a leak...
...some toilet for everyone in the family except the boy?...
...preparing some italian dish...
...omg...when buying whisky...the staff sometimes store it behind the counter...
...I also bought some whisky that my paiwan friends recommended..
...they also asked me to do some Lasanga...(i use to make italian dishes for them before)...
...they also assisted...
...2 batches...
...maybe a littlebit more tomato next time...but we had extra cheese...
...second batch...
...Vuvu (the tribe elder) also gave me some local dish...
...I also had a Uniqlo beer...
...and some local mango...
...until time for beer...
A short visit to Danlin march 2022 (part I)
I took the evening HSR south...towards Kaohsiung recently...
...a sunny evening..near Tainan...
...and once in Kaohsiung I headed towards Chaozhou...
...some x-mas decoration in Chaozhou...(christmas trees)...
...some romantic traffic light for pedestraints...
...also some couple on th green light...
...I headed to some BBQ place in Laiyi at first...
...where I bought some chicken hearts...
...locally BBQed...
...I also had some class while mingeling...
...more BBQ...
...and some beer and wine...
...the dogs were chilling nearby...
...later on we went to a local 7-11...
...and to samulavan in Danlin...
...where I had an icecream...before bed...
Some rendez-vous in Taipei
I met a friend who lived in Gothenburg recently...
...he picked this coffee shop...
...he will move to Germany soon...
...they had many western pasteries...
...and got some award...
...omg...coffee from Medellin...(colombia)...
...and cinnamon buns (with the same shape as at Starbucks)..
...I had a caramel coffee and a tiramisu...(3/5)
...omg...some traffic jam was observed later on...
...and a visit to some danish restaurant...(which I visited before)...but at a different spot...
...they had some variety of hotdogs and burgers...
...and interesting patterns on their chairs...
...my "man burger"...
...and some falafel...and viking hotdog...
...next stop was some italian restaurant..
...and a new tiramisu (2/5)...
...and some cafe au lait...
...I also passed by a whisky store and found a lit of swedish whisky...
...omg...and some freemanson place...
..."the grand lodge2...
...interesting house...
...scottish rite"...
..and many signs...
...nexst stop was some indian place...
..."indian palace"..
...a lot of naam...
...I had some mushroom soup...
...and snack..
...with some gree curry and beer...
...and naam and chicken legs...
I ended with a turmeric lassi...
A revisit to Zhonghe
I paid a visit to Zhonghe recently...
...and went to duimian de canting....
......I also visited carrefour where I found plenty of rare wine, and beer...
...omg...they also had riedel glasses...
...next stop was yilan beer bar in zhonghe...
...it was draft beer (felt more fresh than the one I had in jiaoxi..
...they had 4 kinds of draft...
...algea beer and damai (barley)..
...with cheese sticks...
...omg...a pizzeria with a disney logo...I wonder if disneys IP department knows about this...Thoughts of the day
Thoughts of the day..
...studying about teaching and motivation this week...and the issues with some countries education systems to "learn by heart"...which might in the long run lead to that one never really learns for long term...
Some video about motivation:
China hash in Xizhi
The meeting spot was to come to Xizhi station and follow the fluor...
: bought a quick breakfast once arriving...
...somce marker...
...plenty of people (to the left are the taiwanese...to the right are the foreigners.)...
...they had some beer and other beverages to take..
...Longdong brewery was sponsoring...
...it was also cloudy...but not really raining...
...and the run took of...Mr R looking for the path...
...after running up a mountain...(half to the top...Mr R took his shirt off)...
...a lot of stairs up....
...and after some 4-5km...stairs went down...
...after 7km we reached the official finish...
"ON IN"...
...and then another 2km to the finish... Mr R was pretending drinking or taking selfies so he could move without a facemask...
...he also took an extra lap around a running court before reaching the start and finish spot...
...doing some pull-ups...
...some snacks and beer...
...they also had some warm egg cake...
...and some circle where people got to drink...
...it was fairly ok...less punishments compare to last time...where some people had to drink from their shos etc...
...later on a visit to Le Ble d'or was paid...
...I met up with Mr Duck who I havnt seen for some years......he lives in Hsinchu but was visiting Taipei for some days...
A visit to Yilan and Jiaoxi
I re-made a visit to Yilan recently..
...buying some cheap whisky on the way...just cus it was so cheap (50sek for 750ml(3 year aged scottish whisky)...
...quickly tasting some american bourbon with Mr WSC on the track...before departure...
Omg...Ms T sitting on the seat for disabled people...
...turtle island in the horizon, once reaching the east coast...
...99% of the time when I try to catch a target (taking a photo)...a tree or pole ends up covering...exactly at the poto moment..
...it was fairly cloudy but no rain...
...we made it for the museum in Kavalan distillery
...we also got some free tasting...what a good timing...usually this tasting even it closed...
...they promoted their most exclusive whisky we were told...
...omg...some nice bottle...
...and a range of styles...
...after some 20 minutes in their gift shop we waited for a taxi (yilan is more convenient if you access a car or a scooter I guess)...
...I also bought some local beers...the brewery's name is Kind car...
...Later a visit to a chicken restaurant was made...
...I went here long time ago with yingian...it was a nice place...
...I got a whole chicken for my self..including feet and head...(taiwan style (I guess))...
..equiped with 2 kind of gloves...
...20 minutes later...
...they were BBQing the chicken in these barrels...
...next stop was the cheese bread store...(but the cheese bread was sold out...I got the last one from maybe yesterdays batch)...
...and then, as the tradition tells...a visit to Yilan beer bar...
...omg..i thought I got draft beer...but it seems they they were pouring it form a can in the fridge...
...barley beer and rye beer (i think)...
...we also passed by the spicy store...
also mentioned in my youtube movie about the same trip, somce years ago:
...omg...the sauce the the left was their most spicy sauce 3210000 on the Scoville scale...
... I had a local icecream instaead...
...it was Makao flavour...tasted like some pepper...
...except for also buying a spicy beer...I tried to focus on not that hot items...some thing in this store can be pretty painful...
2022 continues...
A quick visit to nankan and some ximen hang out
I paid a quick visit to nankan recently...
...taking the classic 952 bus...
...passed by this facility...
...and ended up here...a pretty nice restrant...
...I also joined mr Reuter back to taipei...who is not covering his face with a mask...since the rules says "if you are taking a selfie, you dont need to wear a mask"...(he is then constantly facing his phone)...
..."wonderful woman can be" event in banqiao...
...we stopped at starbucks...
...where I had a caramel macchiato...
...we ended up having a beer later on...
...and sat at G2 paradise for a meeting later on...
...having an "italian chocolate"...
...and later on an other chocolate...with some taiwanese...
...and there after a visit to ak12 was paid...(I had a 4 cheese burger)...
...I also tried a spicy burger...
Some random Thursday events in Taipei
I went to change some 200nt notes and 20nt coins recently...
...i use to call my self Mr 220nt before...
...I had some coffee in a tea bag...interesting...
...later I went to some sushi place...famous for serving free salmon for people with the name salmon...ended up with some locals rename themselves to "salmon"...
...not sure how corona safe this was...
...the dessert was good...
...plenty of plates at the end...
...had some nuts and beers later on...
..and headed to a "famous" ramen place...
...everyone had a booth...
...and some detailed menu to chose spiciness, saltyness...preparation of garlic etc etc
...and there was a button to press to get the waiters attentions...
...I also had an egg for 38 nt (at familymart an egg is 10 nt)...
....and this was the "famous" result...
2022 continues...
All you can eat in Taipei (early march edition)
I passed by an all you can eat recently...
It was hotpot..but they also had sashimi...
...some fresh buffet...
...and some drinks and icecream...
...and sauce...
...first batch...
...squid...(with big eyes)...
...I tried to eat as much of this as possible...
...I also got some strange foam on my tea...
...and I had some "chocolate beef curry"...it was interesitng...(central american meets india?)...
...more sashimi...
...the "icecream" was some frozen chocolate milk...(or ice)...
...I also went all in on shrimps...
...and some icecream with chocolate cereals...
...intersting "take aways"...pads, tissues and floss..
...the day ended with some interesting sign...not toilet?...
Gold card pick-up and some korean food mingling
I went to pick up my gold card recently..
...in taipei downtown...
..Taiwan has closed their borders since the pandemic came...I think they are debating to open up soon...
...I arrived to some offce where they seem to store all goldcards in Taipei area...
...omg...a gold card...
...the immigration agency...
...after doing some exersice...the trip was heading east...
..to a tofu restaurant...
...free refill of kimchi...
...it was nice...
...they also had some hot drinks (green on the photot)...and soybean icecream...
...the soybean icecream tasted almond...
...I also had some korean beer...(which I tried before)...
...the food reminded me of the food that I had in korea (with the wrap)...
...I added some garlic...
...in the entrance they have the QR-code...as usual...
...and some thermometer...to ensure that each visitor had the right temperature...
...after the restaurant visit...a mall was visited..
I inspected the 100 acre forrets (which is swedish is the 70km forrest)...means that the forrest must have a wierd shape adding these to distances together...
...happiness is important...
...I also had some focus issues with my camera...
...taking picture of some coffee...from all around the world...
...some book store visit was made after this...
...finding some japanese beer, and taiwan beer with coffee flavour...
A hongkong documentary and Taipei hang out
I went to see a documentary recently about hongkongs umbrella movement...
...some cartoon advertisement at the theater...
...the documentary was made by most people living under other names...to protect themselves from chinese government...
...it was pretty sad story...maybe they can show this one on Swedish TV...
...it seems like there is a new Batman movie coming up soon...
...nexst stop...Zhangmen at xinyi...
...I tried a New England IPA and some coffee beer (there is a lot of coffee beers here recently)...
...view over 101...
...many people here today...compare to "back in the days"...when I seldom see people enjoying the outdoor environment here...
...I was watching some presentation about Taiwan Indigenous (from female perspective) held by a swedish university...
..101 had the colours of Ukrainian flag...(and swedish)...
...later on a stop in nangang was made...
...where I tried some belgian strawberry beer...
...I remember that locals sometimes call "pasta" "noodles"...and on this menu even lasanga was under the "noodle" headline...
...I also tried dried mushrooms...which was a littlebit sweet...tasting like cereals...
...the lassange...
...a pizza (like a bianco)...
...I also found some whisky to be extremely cheap at a nearby store...I wonder if it really is pure whisky in the bottles...I might investigate later this week...
