A Year to the Day

April 28th marked the anniversary of Amanda and my arriving in Taiwan. It is strange to think that 365 days have passed by so quickly and even stranger to to think that our teaching contracts will finish in a little over 100 days.

To mark the milestones of being so far and yet so close to home, we decided to post something of a retrospective to cover our most memorable moments, most and least favorite things about Taiwan, as well as what we are most eagerly anticipating about returning to Canada. (As it’s a lot of ground to cover, I’ll be helping him out with this one - A) Here goes... 

Most Memorable Moments 


1. Dragon Boat Festival

This was our first taste of Taiwanese holiday spirit. We never would have known about it if we hadn’t happened to walk along the Love River just a few days before (on one of our many trips to Carrefour looking for sheets, no doubt!) The brightly coloured boats, the snacks, the crowds, and the beautiful weather all made for a perfect long weekend. 

2. Xiao Liuqiu

Almost one year later, Xiao Liuqiu remains one of my favorite memories. Our friend Stanley booked our accommodation which was a huge help because the hotel staff were very apprehensive about communicating with us when they discovered the guests that they were expecting were non-Chinese speaking foreigners. In spite of their apprehension, the hotel was great and the staff were really friendly. We lucked out with the weather and the views were spectacular. Although we suffered a little for the blue skies - I think Amanda had at this point already endured one or two of my midday sun +30C “death marches” but she was still finding them insufferable. Despite our lobster-red sun burns, Amanda agrees that it was all worthwhile for Xiao Liuqiu.

3. Singaopore

On our visit to Singapore this summer, we experienced some of the hottest weather, the friendliest hosts, and the most overpriced cocktails we’ve enjoyed all year. We spent time with our then-landlord’s family as well as with the family of a good friend and colleague of Brett’s. We tasted durian, visited one of the best zoos in the world, took a cable car over the city - and I held a lethal snake. All in a day’s work! 

4. Taipei 101 (台北101 / 臺北101)


Taipei’s most recognizable landmark is Taipei 101. The building apparently stood as the world’s tallest from 2004 until the opening of the Burj Kalifa in 2010. Some of my favorite photos taken in Taiwan, have been taken from the observation deck of Taipei 101, and from a lookout on Elephant Mountain (re-posted below). I sincerely hope I have the opportunity to return to that lookout one last time before we leave Taiwan, for a sunrise perhaps.

5. Paragliding in Puli


Our paragliding trip to celebrate a friend’s birthday couldn’t have gone better. We enjoyed a night in a quaint, rural cabin, and spent the next day relaxing in the mountains of Puli while each of our party took turns soaring overhead. Brett absolutely loved it, and has been pestering me to get back out there this summer! 

6. Chinese New Year Banquet

Amanda and I were very fortunate to be invited to join our good friend Stanley and his family to celebrate Chinese New Year’s Eve and the start to the Year of the Dragon. CNY is the biggest holiday in Taiwan and so we were lucky to have a full week off work, during which we returned to Kaohsiung. It was a great cultural experience and we are really grateful for the hospitality that was shown to us by Stanley’s family. 

7. Lantern Festival


We celebrated the Lantern Festival both in Taichung and in Kaohsiung with my mom during her short visit to Taiwan. We saw tons of beautiful lanterns, watched a lengthy and impressive fireworks display, and visited with friends we rarely get to see - all while enjoying a very comforting visit from my mom! 

8. Friends we made

About one month after arriving in Taiwan, Amanda and I decided to attempt to make some new friends via advertising for a “language exchange” on a classifieds website popular amongst foreigners living in Taiwan. We were both a little apprehensive and nervous prior to first meeting the people who we would later become good friends with. We both considered, “what if they turn out to be crazy?” and perhaps the same was wondered of us. As it turned out, the friends we made were probably the best experience we have had in Taiwan.

Back to Kaohsiung

After a wonderful start to Amanda’s mom’s stay with us, on the second day, we rose bright and early and headed for the HSR station to catch the train to Kaohsiung. Upon our arrival, we headed straight for Harbor 60 Hostel where we would stay for one night. Eric, the hostel owner, was his usual extremely hospitable self and we really enjoyed our stay.

After checking in at the hostel, we headed straight back out to the Lotus Pond/Lake (蓮池潭). The weather was unusually warm, even for winter in Kaohsiung, and we were able to enjoy near 20C temperatures and clear skies while we explored the various pagodas, pavilions, statues and temples that are at the Lotus Pond. We explored for a good two hours and still barely even scratched the surface. The Lotus Pond is definitely somewhere that you could spend a whole day and still not see everything.

After the Lotus Pond, we headed to Aozihdi Forest Park to go for a jaunt in our old stomping ground and to pay a visit to one of our favorite haunts, Muddy Waters. We enjoyed a great lunch and then headed back to our hostel before heading out to the lantern festival festivities along the Love River.

On the way, we stopped at Lao Song Beef Noodles Shop and we were very happy to introduce Amanda’s mom to one of our favorite Taiwanese foods. Back on the road and heading to the Love River, we past by a temporary stage where some sort of Chinese pantomime was being performed. We’ve wandered past a few of these during our time in Taiwan and they’ve always been incredibly brightly colored, often including neon and black lighting, as was the case here.

The Love River was absolutely jam packed with people. There were lantern displays along a good stretch of the western river bank, and plenty of vendors selling food and souvenirs along both sides of the river. After exploring the Love River for some time, we headed to the Love Pier where a fireworks display was scheduled at 9pm. The fireworks were spectacular and there was a crowd of thousands of people that had gathered to watch.

To finish off the night we caught the MRT to Foster Hewitt’s to meet our good friends Stanley and Vicky. We enjoyed some drinks and nachos before piling back into a cab to head back to the hostel to sleep after a long day of lots of walking.

The Dome of Light at Formosa Boulevard

Amanda at 蓮池潭

Lotuses at the Lotus Pond

A crane or a stalk? I don't see a baby, so I'm going to say crane.

Picture taken from the Dragon Pagoda at the Lotus Pond

The Dragon Pagoda

Amanda and her mom

Amanda

One of many Taoist God statues at the Lotus Pond

Amanda at Aozihdi Forest Park

Amanda said, "Make a face like you're really excited to eat it!" This was my best effort.

Amanda's mom enjoying beef noodles at Lao Song

A sort of Chinese pantomime performance that we stumbled on. It was so brightly lit with a variety of neon and black lights.

One of the Love River lantern displays.

Many schools compete to design and create the best lantern.

2012, Year of the Dragon

Foster Hewitt's with Stanley and Vicky!

Taichung Lantern Festival with Amanda's Mom!

Before I gush about my Mom’s visit to Taiwan, I want to fill everyone in on our floor - It’s finished! It exploded on January 5, and then construction began to replace all the tiles in the apartment on February 13. We spent every weekday from the 13th until the 21st getting up for our 8 am Chinese class, then not being able to re-enter the apartment until we got home from work around 10 each night. One night we came home and were told we couldn’t enter because of wet cement, so could we please go find a hotel to stay at! It’s all paid off though, as we now have our living room (almost) back to normal.

Anyways, now the fun stuff! On Saturday, February 4, my mom came to visit! She’d spent the day before hanging out in Taipei checking out the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall and 101, and then arrived in Taichung around lunchtime by HSR! I somehow managed not to cry like a big baby and we got her home to see our apartment. She came bearing tons of Canadian snacks and gifts from our loved ones and it felt like a little bit of everyone had come along with her! We took her to our favourite dim sum restaurant for lunch, and then to the jade market! 

Shopping with my mother is always a drawn-out affair, and the jade market was no different. We could now speak enough Chinese to help her negotiate on prices a bit, and I won’t go into details too much on what was procured as I would hate to spoil any surprises for the recipients! We tried some Taiwanese tea, looked at beautiful jade bracelets and pendants, checked out antiques, and admired traditional calligraphy and paintings. We were all tired when we left, but it was nice to see Mom so excited about her great finds! 

We rested a while, then after dark headed back out to see the lights at the nearby park for Taichung’s Lantern Festival celebrations. The Year of the Dragon made for an amazing spectacle, and we were not disappointed! One of my favourites was a giant vase-shaped piece that was made up of thousands and thousands of tiny glass bottles filled with coloured liquid. At first they looked like light bulbs, but when you got close you realized it was little corked bottles that had been painstakingly wired together... holy smokes. There was also a lantern made to look like the famous Jade Cabbage in Taipei, complete with grasshoppers! It was made up of what looked like green and white glass plates. Amazing! 

While at the festival, we also took the opportunity to introduce my mom to a few local foods. She tried some gigantic pieces of fried squid, some fried yams, and savoury slices of whole roast pig washed down with watermelon and papaya milk. A successful first day!

Lantern at 臺中圓滿戶外劇場. According to Google Translate, the name of the park is Taichung Satisfactory Outdoor Theater Park. I can confirm that there is in fact an outdoor theater there, but I would be a little more generous than to say it was only satisfactory.

Pagoda Lantern Display

The Dragon is a very auspicious creature in Chinese culture. To enter the mouth of a Dragon is said to bring you good luck, and so there were many displays whereby people could enter the mouth of a lantern dragon's head and walk along its body until finally exiting a less detailed depiction of its rear end.

In the National Palace Museum, in Taipei, there is a famous carving of a jade cabbage that includes a carving of a grasshopper.

Amanda and her mom

One of the more impressive lanterns

The park is apparently the main location in Taichung where the lantern festival is celebrated.

There were very large crowds on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday - this picture does not do the crowds justice! Best to visit on a weekday night, if possible.

Crowds 'exiting' the dragon, after having walked along its body.

Me!!!!!