Taiwan Day 20: Karaoke Night

Day Twenty

The beginning of my Taiwan trip was not so smooth because of expectation mismatch and I thought that I would just spend the rest of my time here tackling that problem. On my twentieth day here the problem is still not solved but I am enjoying my stay a lot more because I am meeting the right people. Not all Christians fit the friendly, kind stereotype and the same is with AIESECers but the nice ones are incredible and I'm thankful for meeting them because it has turned this trip to Taiwan around for me. I only have a little more than a month here and I know that it will be filled with memorable adventures!

In the evening Hui Chee, Darm and I went to an AIESEC event that is meant as a farewell party for outgoing exchange participants but us interns were also invited to interact with them.

AIESEC SCU members, EPs and interns

We had self introduction sessions and played ice breaker games to learn more about each other.

Of course we also ate! I bought a cheese, egg, tomato waffle sandwich and it tasted great :) The waffle was a bit too soft for my preference though.

After the event, a group of us decided to go sing karaoke. We stopped first at Party World in Ximending and I was surprised by its scope. The lobby looked exactly like a nice hotel complete with front desk and a chandelier. The place was full so we didn't sing here.

Party World at Ximending

We ended up going to a place behind the Red House at Ximending. Although I didn't know most of the songs, I had a great time listening and interacting with my new friends. While sitting there, I realized that when I leave that I would miss Taiwan more than I thought. The fact that Darm is going back to Thailand tomorrow due to visa problems doesn't help. Two friends leaving within three days!

Karaoke

Before we headed back to our homestay we had a quick snack at Family Mart. This is one of the things I like about Asia, the actual convenience of convenience stores. In Canada, only Tim Hortons or McDonald's would be open 24 hours and they don't offer all the different choices at a convenience store!

Family Mart

Something I've learnt: when things are going downhill, just be patient and your ride will turn upward again.

Take care,

Taiwan Day 19: Modern Toilet Cafe

Day Nineteen

Today's theme was all about waste. In the afternoon Hui Chee, Darm and I attended a lesson on Tamsui River's pollution and Taipei's water purification system. When I went to Tamsui on my first full day in Taiwan, I was disappointed in the discrepancy between the photos on tourist brochures and reality. The river was murky with litter and even had a slight stench. In today's lesson I found out that in the last 20 years, the Taipei government has already been cleansing out the waste in the Tamsui River since its height of pollution at the end of the 20th century.

Lecturer giving lesson

To complement the waste theme is the Modern Toilet Cafe! The absurdness of this restaurant has made this a must-eat place for tourists visiting Taipei and thus led to its cons. In general I had fun eating here, taking photographs and sitting on the toilet seats. Yet this will likely be the only time I visit this restaurant ever. Taiwan offers some of the best food and Modern Toilet Cafe is not up to par because its food is only mediocre at best. Also each person must order their own meal, meaning that if you are an un-hungry party of five you cannot order four meals to share.

Onto the fun parts of the restaurant! The tables are basins or bathtubs and seats are toilets with different toilet cover designs. The sink at the real bathroom is also a toilet o.o

Before coming here, I thought that I would find it slightly gross to eat out of the toilet themed bowls but it actually made no difference.

Chicken curry rice meal

Hui Chee and I

Darm and June

 The shaved ice was humongous but did not taste splendid. Like everything in the restaurant, it was simply fun to photograph. This truly is a restaurant where the camera "eats" (i.e. takes photos) of the food before the human and will shed a better light on its taste.

Strawberry ice cream and kiwi sauce shaved ice

Taiwan Day 18: Unexpected Departure

Day Eighteen

Last night we learnt some unexpected news that Olivia's grandmother passed away so she has to leave Taiwan for the funeral and won't be returning. Although sad to see her leave, family comes first. All of us homestays took a photo with our host uncle and auntie.

There was still some time before her flight, we went to Taipei Main Station to look around. There was a long line up at this Uncle Tetsu's Cheesecake the last few times we passed by it so we finally tried it today! One cake cost NT199 and we were lucky to get it freshly baked without lining up!

It was light and fluffy but did not have very strong cheese taste at all. This cheesecake is definitely more catered towards Asian preference of dessert.

Uncle and auntie gave all of us a ride to the airport to send Olivia off. There weren't many of us working on this project to begin with but now there is one less :( Glad to have met you friend!

Since Duanwu Festival (aka Dragon Boat Festival) is coming up, auntie made homemade zhong zi for us to try. It was delicious because she added lots of ingredients unlike the ones you eat at restaurants with only a single piece of meat if any.

Farewells can be unexpected, so appreciate the people around you while you can!

Take care,

Taiwan Day 17: Beitou and Hot Springs

Day Seventeen

We've been intending to visit the hot springs at New Beitou for a few days and finally went today! To get there, we took the Tamsui MRT line (red) to Beitou then switched trains to go to New Beitou.

New Beitou has the most informative signs I've seen in Taiwan so far. Out of the MRT station there was a sign with clear directions on how to get to the tourist attractions in both Chinese and English. Along the route were additional maps and signs to guide you along the way.

On the way to the Hot Spring museum we passed by the cultural museum so we went to check it out. It had information about the different aboriginal groups in Taiwan including their clothing and ways of life.

At the aboriginal cultural museum

Aboriginal cultural museum

A short walk down the road was the hot spring museum. Upon entrance you had to take off your shoes and change into slippers just like at real hot springs in Japan. There was information on what the beitou mineral is and origin of this hot spring area in Taiwan.

Hot spring museum

Finally we arrived at the public hot spring which only cost NT40 and an additional NT20 for locker rental. The street it is on is called Hot Spring Road and is home to many hot spring hotels. You can only use those hot springs if you stay the night at those hotels so the public one is popular for both locals and tourists.

Inside were four hot spring pools of varying temperatures and two cold water pools. The hottest water temperature was 45 degrees Celsius and I lasted less than a minute in that one! I quite enjoyed the second and third hottest ones with soaks in the cold pool in between. In total we were there for an hour which felt plenty enough and left us feeling toasty warm and relaxed.

Millenium Hot Spring

Since it was very hot out and the hot spring session made us feel even warmer, we went to the local library to enjoy the air conditioning. The library was quite new and we read children's English books for fun :)

Beitou library

Below is a photo of a cool dessert we saw at a bakery in Taipei Main Station. Inside the egg shells is pudding that tastes like creme brulee filling. There was taste-test so I tried it and it was so delicious! Too bad that it has to be refrigerated and it was quite pricey or else I would have definitely bought some.

On a side note, finally went to apply for the Taiwan Youth Travel Card (YTC) today. I actually didn't find out such thing existed until yesterday but it is not too late since I still have a little over a month in Taiwan. This YTC gives youth aged 15-30 discounts on transportation and admissions around Taiwan. For example, I could have paid for the concession price of NT80 at the National Palace Museum instead of NT160 with the card. Application was extremely fast and took less than five minutes at the Taipei Main Station desk. The lady just told me to fill a form, took a look at my passport and gave me the card.

Take care,

Republic Wake Park: Wakeboarding in Nuvali, Laguna

Finally! I got to see and experienced wakeboarding at Republic Wake Park in Nuvali. It's been two months since I first heard this thrilling sport is happening in Nuvali and since then I've been wanting to try it myself. Good thing that my rest day from work was matched with my friends' rest days also. So there's no stopping for this trip to happen.

How to get there?
Nuvali is just a 2-hour drive from Manila. You can take South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) and turn right as you reach Sta. Rosa Exit. Turn right again after the toll gate and just follow the main road.You'll know your're in the right direction if you passed by Paseo de Sta. Rosa (found in the left side of the road). Just a few kilometers away, you'll see a big sign of Nuvali and Solenad. This is the time you'll turn left (from the traffic light). Just go straight ahead until you see a guardhouse which is half kilometers away from Solenad. Just tell the guard that you are going to the Wake Park and they'll give you an instruction on how to get there. It's easy but you have to listen carefully. Tada! Welcome to Republic Wake Park!

Be attentive on this sign... we almost missed it (Photo from Baron Cantonjos)

By the way, food and drinks of your own are not allowed to bring-in at the Wake Park. So don't plan on packing your own food. They serve food inside. An open view restaurant is available so you don't have to worry in case you're hungry. Going back... as you reach the Wake Park, go directly to the information area to have your registration. You'll need to fill up a sheet with your information and in the same sheet you'll also see the rates:

Cable Rate 
1 hour pass � P250
2 hour pass � P475
4 hour pass � P595
8 hour pass � P995
Day & Night pass � P1,500
Night riding pass � P595
Private cable rent � P800/hour
VIP pass � FREE!

Unlimited riding package
1 week unlimited � P5,000
1 month unlimited � P15,000
3 months unlimited � P24,000
6 months unlimited � P35, 000
1 year unlimited (cash) � P55,000
1 year unlimited (monthly) � P60,000

Aside from the ratings above, we have also deposited 800 pesos each (Wristband � P200 plus Life vest & helmet � P600). This deposit is refundable. It was returned to us after we had brought back the gears at the counter (beside the registration area) at the end of our play. This deposit will become a fee in case the user damage or didn't return the gears.

feel free to choose your board (Photo from Baron Cantonjos)

After gearing up, we proceed in the activity. The activity area has two parts, one is for the Pro wakeboarders (the course has ramps and obstacles) and the other one is for beginners (a plain course). Of course, we belong in the beginners area. There is also a deck near the activity area where people can put their belongings as you play.

I dream myself, wakeboarding here... The Pro area (Photo from Baron Cantonjos)

Area for beginners (Photo from Baron Cantonjos)

Viewing deck in the activity area (Photo from Baron Cantonjos)

I suggest to arrive in the area as early as you could to maximize your time unlike us who came late in the vicinity. We only got to try gliding twice due to the long wait since there were so many people who wanted to experience this sport as well.

Photo op while waiting for our turn (Photo from Baron Cantonjos)

We're almost there... still waiting (Photo from Baron Cantonjos)

Before you do your turn, there is an instructor to teach you the basic and also the right positioning on riding the board. Listen to him because he knows what he is saying (which i didn't do). For non swimmers, you should also inform the instructor that you cannot swim so they will be more attentive once you get in to the water (which Aizel didn't do).

Byron listens and I don't... I have my own world. Naaaa! (Photo from Baron Cantonjos)

The park opens at 8:30am and closes at 9:00pm, Monday to Sunday. However, beginners area is only open until 5:30pm. Tip: If you're going in big group, Wake park offers a private cable rental. This is a full exclusive use of the wakeboard area which costs 8,000 pesos and can accommodate a maximum of 30 people.

Aizel in her full wakeboarding gear (Photo from Baron Cantonjos)

Baron, author of Baron the Explorer (Photo from Baron Cantonjos)

and of course, me :] (Photo from Baron Cantonjos)

In the end, I didn't made a stand in the board which makes me a loser. Hahaha. It was tougher than surfing and I didn't anticipate that one. Nevertheless, it was a fun adventure and a good alternative destination. A must try for thrill seekers and adventurous type of person. That was definitely not my last time. I'll visit the place time after time until I start wakeboarding at the Pro area. Now, that's a promise!

Contact Information:
Republ1c Wakepark - West Diversity Boulevard, Nuvali, 4027 Calamba, Laguna
Email: info@republ1cwakepark.com

A shop for wakeboarding apparels is also available in Republic Wake Park (Photo from Baron Cantonjos)

Taiwan Day 16: Jioufen and Keelung

Day Sixteen

Having explored Taipei City quite thoroughly the past two weeks, Hui Chee, Olivia and I finally left Taipei City! We started our day early at 8am to go to Zhongxiao Fuxing Road MRT Station. There,  we transferred to take the 1062 bus that goes to Jioufen. The ride was 1.5 hours long and I recommend sitting on the left side of the bus for the best scenery!

Jioufen

Previously, I did not know what to expect out of Jioufen but it was beautiful and reminded me of Japan. We went to the Jioufen Old Street which was full of souvenir and food stores. There were cookies, jerky and teas to try as you walk down the street.

Jioufen Old Street

Shaved ice with mochis

Fishballs in soup

After exploring the old street, we took a short bus ride to Jingguashi's gold mine museum. There was no admission fee for the place itself but individual exhibits like the tunnel one had an admission fee.

Touching a block of gold!

From Jingguashi we took a half hour bus to Keelung and switched to another local bus that took us to Heping Island Park (Peace Island Park).

Keelung

The park had an admission fee of NT60 for adults and NT40 for concession price. From the entrance it doesn't look that spectacular but the scenic view inside was beautiful.

Heping Island Park

Proud Canadians

It was late in the afternoon and the sun was peeking through the clouds. There was a slight breeze by the water that felt fabulous in the humid air.

We headed back to Keelung to visit the famous Miaokou Nightmarket! It is not very large but the food sold here has some variety compared to the ones in Taipei. I got four pieces of sushi for NT10 each, one whole sliced mango for NT50 and pig blood rice cake for NT10. I was skeptical to try the pig blood rice cake at first but after seeing it sold at so many nightmarkets I felt that I needed to give it a try. Turns out that it just tasted like very salty rice cake.

Miaokou nightmarket

To return to Taipei from Keelung we opted for the railway train. The ride was about an hour and quite confusing because there was no announcement inside the train for the name of each stop and the signs of the station aren't always clear.

Cannot wait to explore more of this island!

Take care,