Taipei 2010

I'm picking up blogging again after a 5 year absence.  It's not that I didn't travel during that time, it's just that I was lazy.  It'll be close to impossible for me to catch everyone up on all the places I've been to in the past 5 years, but I'll start with the 2 big trips I took this year. 

1/3/2010, I got a plane from Maui to go meet my mom in Taipei.  I was going to Taipei for a week for a work trip and I gave my mom a plane ticket to join me as her Christmas gift that year.  While the flight was long and involved plane changes in Honolulu and Tokyo, I can't complain too much since I got upgraded to Business class.  (Lay flat seats/beds are amazing)

Landing in Taipei on 1/4/2010, I met up with my mom and Ben who was a good friend and coworker to head to the Grand Hyatt Taipei.  The hotel is right next to the Taipei 101 building which on 1/2/2010 was the tallest building in the world.  On 1/3/2010, Dubai unveiled the Burj Khalifa  the new tallest building in the world.  (Damn it!)  Still the Taipei 101 is pretty amazing and I was excited about the fact that the Google offices were on the 73 floor of the building.

Let me try to condense the rest of my week in Taipei so you don't get bored with me.  I would wake up early and do breakfast in the hotel with Ben.  The breakfast at the Grand Hyatt was GREAT, a blend of asian and western food.  It was a great way to start the day.  Then I would work with the Taipei team and then spend time with friends and my mom after work.  Repeat for 5 days and more exploring on the weekend.  

My general impressions of Taipei was that it was clean, modern, and delicious.  There was so much good food, I literally could've spent another week just eating.  In fact, most of the time, my biggest problem was that I wanted to eat more but I was stuffed. 

Let's hit the highlights:

1) Night markets

In my opinion, hands down the best part of Taipei.  These are streets that are full of food vendors between the hours of 5PM and midnight or later.  You can eat like a king for less than 5 US dollars.  The food is a blend of all my favorite chinese food.  I guess that makes sense when you think about the fact that a lot of chinese people from all over China came over to Taiwan and the food/culture definitely blended.

Specialty store that makes soup dumplings deserves a mention. I did go there twice during my week in Taipei.  Check it out: http://www.dintaifung.com.tw/en/index.asp

2) Shopping 

There's a lot of shopping to do in Taipei.  In the downtown district by Taipei 101, you'll find all the designer brands you love.  西門町 - pedestrian shopping district. it's on the west side of the city,

also the old part of the city.  The clothes here are very much influenced by japanese fashion. 

3) Pandas

I didn't actually go, but my mom fell in love with the pandas at Taipei zoo.  

4) Foot massages

They're cheaper in China, but they're totally affordable and fun in Taipei.  Be warned, you must like strong massages!!

My friend Juliet sent a full list of things to do. I didn't get to them all but for those of you visiting, here it is.

THINGS TO DO / PLACES TO GO

士林夜市 - most famous night market in taipei, tons of 小吃 and cheap souvenirs. make sure you go on an empty stomach!
師大路夜市 - there is a night market here, but you can also go during the day. food is cheap when next to an university. this one is adjacent to
師範大學 where lots of 老外 take mandarin classes.
公館夜市 - another night market, this one is next to 台大. there'll be stuff during the day as well. lots of food stalls and t-shirt / accessories.
西門町 - pedestrian shopping district. it's on the west side of the city, also the old part of the city. my old hangout! the clothes here are very much influenced by japanese fashion. you should definitely check it out and get a sense of the place.
華西街觀光夜市 - aka snake alley, on the west / old part of town. it's been cleaned up for tourists... but you should still go see the snakes and check out 龍山寺 one of the most popular temple in taipei. food to sample
here but not limited to: 擔仔麵, 燒酒蝦 (drunken shrimp), 青草茶 (ice herbal
tea), 炒米粉 (rice noodles), and 碗粿 (taiwanese rise bowl). 

東區 - this is the popular 'new' hangout district for young people in taipei, though it used to stop around 忠孝東路四段, but with the constuctionof Taipei 101 and the boom in surrounding areas, it now extends to
忠孝東路七段. it's busy during the day as well as night... there are lots of department stores along 忠孝東路. there's also a night market on 通化街.

visit these if you have more time... museums will have entrance fee (you should get the student discount) and the parks are free of course.
故宮博物院 - national palace museum. lots of old stuff (traditional paintings, bronze, jade, china sculptures, etc.) that chiang kai shek looted from the forbidden palace in beijing before retreating to taiwan. this museum is huge... theres probably buses that'll get you there.
台北市立美術館 - or 北美館 for short. this is the taipei art museum. the art is okay, but the buidling is interesting (concrete, post-modern). it's also close-ish to 士林夜市.
中正紀念堂 - chiang kai shek memorial... west side of town. there's a park around the memorial, but not the kind you would want to hang out in. it's a very formal park. in the morning there are always old ppl
practicing tai-chi or dancing.
國父紀念館 - sun yat sen memorial... also formal, on the east side of town.
總統府 - the presidential palace. built during the japanese colonial period, designed by japanese architect. free entrance, visit monday -friday 9am - 12 noon. be sure to bring passport.
陽明山 - highest mountain in taipei, good for hikes and views of taipei. http://wikitravel.org/en/Yangmingshan
迪化街 - also old part of town. lots of baroque, colonial style architecture. shops selling herbs and traditional snacks. this place is especially busy during chinese new year. afternoon and weekends it becomes more activated.

Home

Thanks everyone who read my posts, which is probably just my parents. I had a great trip to Europe and I am very glad I got to do this before I am too old to backpack. I saw some amazing sights and when I get a chance I will be putting up pictures to accompany the blog. If anyone needs help or advice with a trip to Europe, please let me know.


My plan now is to pack and get ready to move to San Francisco. I do have a new apt and a new roommate as well as a new job, so it's very exciting.

London

I only had one day in London and it was my last day in Europe, so I wanted to take it easy. I did the photo tour of London. I saw the Big Ben, Westminister Abbey, and the Buckingham Palace. Then we went to this great park with a "duck island" which had all sorts of birds. It was a lot of fun.


For dinner, I had fish and chips :-). Very english and very filling. I have to say I was very happy to be home the next day. I've missed not doing anything.

Paris

I love Paris! After traveling all over Europe, I realized that Paris will always be my favorite city. When I studied abroad here, I lived in Paris for 2 months. I remember leaving thinking maybe I should've seen more monuments, but when I got into Paris yesterday, I think I did the right thing back then. I saw the Paris that was much more interesting and warm than the ancient monuments scattered through the city. I saw my share of them of course, Versaille, Musee d'Orsay, Musee Rodin, Lourvre, Tour Effiel, but what I spend the most time doing was exploring and enjoying the city. I wondered around the little cobbled streets of Moufftard, a great neighborhood with a wonderful outdoor market. I shopped everywhere :-P. I people watched in little cafes. I spent hours with my friends at great restaurants. You get the point, I lived in Paris. That's what I plan on doing for the next 3 days. I'm really excited.


We are living in a hotel close to my old hostel where I lived during my study abroad. It's in Le Quartier Latin, which is my favorite neighborhood in Paris. It's a student neighborhood, but fairly touristy. So it's an interesting mix and a great vibe. I've been revisiting my favorite places and falling in love all over again with Paris's charm, taking pictures of places I don't have digitally.


On my last day in Paris, I finished doing everything I wanted to do in Paris. I went shopping, went to the Effiel Tower and I took a belly dancing class at my favorite dance studio in Paris. Overall, I had a great visit to Paris.

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is an interesting city. It is very clean and for the most part very quiet, but it is also a city that has legalized marijuana and prostitution. We didn't enjoy our time here quite as much as we probably should've. Amsterdam is also fairly expensive.


My favorite part of the city is the Van Gogh museum. It was very interesting to see such a complete collection of his work and to also see some of his influences. My favorite part was actually the Study Room, it has a some of his lesser known works, but mostly it has a lot of books that give you an indepth look into what you just saw on the 1st floor.


With the end of the trip coming closer, I think we're all tired of traveling and moving every other day. I'm very excited to go to Paris, because I don't need to see the sights, I can just relax and enjoy the city.

Berlin

Berlin is the only city I have been to where it actually feels like a city. We're staying in west Berlin close to the main train station. Our neighborhood is very nice and safe and it feels a lot like any other big city in America.

But Berlin also has the most interesting history of any city I have visited. The history goes way back into the Medieval times and it is marked by wars, revolutions, and the rise and fall of great powers. We took a 5 hour walking tour of Berlin and our tour guide, Fabian, was amazing. He's a phD student in history and he knew everything about the city and its history. It was really fascinating to hear about how and why some of the landmarks of Berlin came to be and to be able to relate them to historical events. My favorite parts were hearing about how various people snuck out of East Berlin and seeing the remains of the Berlin wall.

What I admire about the German people is that they understand the importance of history and acknowledging the good and the bad. There are memorials everywhere that remember the victims of WWII and the Cold War. This is a city and a country that really values what they have acheived in the last century.

Despite the fact that WWII was 50 years old and the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, a lot of Berlin is still being rebuilt. Everywhere we look construction and restoration is going on and I think it will be interesting to come back someday when Berlin has finished a lot of its restoration.

Vienna

Vienna was a very interesting and comfortable city. It was a great blend of old and new and nothing was out of place. We had a very busy 3 days in Vienna and we're taking the night train to Berlin tonite.

I think anyone who loves music and art will be happy in Vienna. The museums we went to had beautiful and unusual art collections. My favorites includes Brugel's paintings on the seasons and Tower of Babel, the Ruben alterpieces, and the few amazing jewels in the Hapsburg Treasury.


I also really enjoyed going to the Opera in Vienna. We went to Andre Chenier and we got standing tickets, which were surprisingly nice and only 2 euros. We only stayed for 30 minutes because standing up for 3 hours is not very fun and we were hungry. Today, we got a tour of the Opera including the backstage. It's really a part of Vienna culture and I highly recommend it to music lovers.


Overall, we're all pretty tired of traveling, although each new destination continues to fascinate us. We cut out Munich and Prague from our schedule because one day in a city is exhausting and really not enough time to appreciate anything. So after Vienna, we have Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris, and London. Then it's back to Nebraska to pack and spend some time with my mom.

Venice

Venice was an interesting experience for us. We arrived thinking our hotel was maybe 10 minutes from Venice, but we were actually 5 towns outside of Venice and there was a 30 minute bus ride to Venice. This is about the 3rd or 4th time this has happened to us and after Switzerland it was a bit of a shock to have to deal with frustrating travel situations again. We have decided not to use hostelplanet.com again for finding hotels.


Venice was very lovely and charming. It was amazing because it hasn't changed in years. The way I saw Venice was very similar to the way Shakespeare saw Venice. Imagine narrow cobble streets, little bridges, and little glass, leather, and paper shops everywhere. My favorite part of Venice were the windows. The buildings are all painted warm terra cota colours; yellow, orange, red, cream. Then they all had lovely windows or balconies with cheerful flowers often red. I took alot of pictures of different windows. They just looked so charming and inviting in the tiny little city.


Unfortunately, Venice was very expensive. We all spent a lot of money in Venice getting gifts for our friends and family. Venetian glass is very beautiful and in Venice, it's everywhere. They make art, jewellery, chess sets, anything you can imagine from glass.

Switzerland - Murren

Switzerland was the most beautiful place I have ever seen. We stayed there for 3 days instead of the 1 day we planned. Not much internet access there, sorry :-(. It seems like a place where computers do not really belong.


We stayed in a little village called Murren up in the Alps. It was a quiet little village in the Swiss Alps where everywhere you looked, it was breathtaking. Everything was clean and fresh and there's nothing to do but hike and relax. The scenry reminded me of some of the scenes from Sound of Music and postcards of Edelwisse was everywhere.


Our room had a huge balcony that faced the mountains. It was absolutely amazing.
Everytime I went outside, it felt so amazingly peaceful. The world is so large and beautiful. Leaving was very hard, we felt like we were leaving Eden. I'm definitely coming back to Switzerland someday.


Photos

Switzerland pictures

View of Swiss Alps during fog and rain

View of Swiss Alps during snow

View of Swiss Alps at night

View of Swiss Alps from our hotel - clear day

Barcelona

We arrived in Barcelona last nite. The city is interesting at night. We´re staying in this really cheap hostel in Barcelona 15 euros per person per nite, but it is not quite clean. Brian and Henry are both a little sick, which is sad, but we slept in today and we all feel better.


We started the morning with delicous fresh squeezed orange juice, then we booked our trip and our hotel in Switzerland. Now I´m going to the beach and I think the boys are going to nap or maybe visit a park. Tomorrow we´re going to the Picasso museum and the big cathedral in Barcelona. Barcelona is very beautiful and luckily for me, most people speak French. Tonite, we´re probably going to have paellas and tapas. Yum!


We have a horribly overnite trip to Switzerland with 4 train changes. But we´re staying in a nice hotel in Switzerland to recuperate from the really cheap hostels we have been staying at.