Taiwan Part 2-- the Earthquake Edition and Taiwan Kind!

What the *&$#$##....... from the Wandering Berkmans!

So after all the doom and gloom of Donny-Downer's reality post 😅, back to a kinder, gentler experience.  Or not! You asked, and I forgot!  My last blog post was supposed to be "all earthquake all the time" but monkey brain took over and I neglected to mention our earthquake experience here in Taipei back in April.  

The unfortunate part-- the destruction at the epicenter of the 7.4 quake on the west coast and the frequent aftershocks since then.   The fortunate part-- very few deaths there (largely from rockslides) and very little effect here for us in Taipei, other than 2 minutes of a very surreal feeling of being shaken (not stirred!), trying to figure out the best place to be (inside our new building and in our hallway away from windows was best) and then that woozy feeling afterwards.  We felt it here as a 5 and change on the Ritcher scale.  My coffee took the brunt of the damage, spilling as it did from my cup, and some items fell off the shelves in the bathroom but not in the kitchen, strangely.  We continue to have small occasional aftershocks and have changed some planned outings, including a hike where the landslides took place.  It goes to show you that timing is everything! 

Pic on the left shows the worst of the damage at the epicenter.  Pic on right, I'll take this sad coffee.

Are we freaked out?  We could be but honestly every time we visit the kids in Mexico City and Seattle we exchange one earthquake zone with another!  The kids have learned to live with it and are prepared with earthquake bags (passports, food, etc) and so, as in many other ways, we follow their lead.    Onward!

Month 2 brought Zach out to join us!  As Javi did in Seoul, Zach came prepared with language skills to help us in our wanderings and most importantly, ordering food in restaurants!   

The happy reunion in our Airbnb in Beitou!

Zach hadn't seen the beach in years, living in landlocked Mexico City, so a beach outing was a must.  We didn't swim here in Qianshuiwan Seaside Park as it was just too darn hot to be out in the sun so we ducked into a whimsically decorated, air conditioned  restaurant, Cittaslow,  for a marathon 3 hour lunch, well cared for by extremely amicable owners.     

And when the sun went down, it was ahhhhhhhhhh..... We caught the sunset with the locals, including a couple taking wedding pix and a guy with his pet parakeet in a stroller (camera shy, unfortunately). 

The main gate to the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial was impressive enough during the day but at night it was incredible.  We took in a concert at the also impressive National Concert Hall there to hear the Taiwan Symphony Orchestra.  

You see her on Insta one day, you see her in person (in pig?) the next!  She was rolling around on the cool stone in the shade here in Ximending, wagging her tail as DB gave her a scritch.  Here she is in action. 

My mom recommended a visit to the National Palace Museum and it did not disappoint.  Yes, the highlight there is a stone that looks remarkably like a slab of pork (it really does!) but the display I found fascinating was this one-- amidst all the beautiful jade jewelry, this display demonstrated the strength of jade stone.  In ancient times jade was used as axe heads, daggers and cutting implements.  Imagine that axe head as a pendant!

A highlight of many of our stays is participating in a cooking class so that we can cook some local cuisine at "home".  Cookly offered a class with dishes of the Hakka people of Taiwan.   With the wonderful Chef Jin we made stir fried Hakka rice noodles and pineapple cake. We finished with a surprisingly delicious tea, Lei Cha, made with crushed seeds, nuts and green tea.   (email us if you want the recipes!) 

A trip with Zach isn't a trip unless it includes a "Trip Within a Trip"--this one even more exciting because it was a "Trip Within a Trip Within a Trip"! On the docket-- a plane to Hong Kong for 3 nights and a ferry to Macau for the day.  

When are you in China when maybe you're not "really" in China?  Welcome to Hong Kong!  Or should we say "Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China".  The placement of the flags says it all. And maybe we were jinxed by this "special relationship" because we had so many incidences here of newbie travel strife (metro kiosks that wouldn't let us in!!  choosing a blisteringly hot and humid day to hike and then go through a construction site?? so many times we took the tram in the wrong direction! Biting into hot dim sum too soon!) that we took to sarcastically exclaiming "Rodeo!" (as in "this isn't our first rodeo!") every time something happened.  Gotta roll with the punches! 

The Hong Kong skyline from the waterfront amazed us with a nightly light show.  

Hong Kong is one of the most vertical cities we've ever been to-- apartment buildings of 36 stories and more towering the streets.  Our Airbnb (also very skinny) on Hong Kong Island was on the 9th floor and overlooked the shipping harbor.  These skinny trams shown below are not only just cute as heck-- they handle the narrow streets like pros and got us everywhere we needed to be.  

Like something out of Little Shop of Horrors, this mouth of a building looks ready to chomp down on the traffic below near the Central Station metro entrance.  Feed me!!

The beautiful Nan Lian Garden sits next to the Chi Lin Nunnery and together look like they're juuuuust keeping the surrounding high rises at bay. 

This is called the Pavilion of Absolute Perfection, ironically also the name Don makes me use for him on his birthday 😇

This replica of Kowloon Walled City, demolished in 1994, was among the most densely populated cities in the world, housing 35,000 residents in about 6 acres of incredibly packed streets .  The lovely park commemorating this city made us wonder -- where did all those people go?  (see aforementioned high rises??)

Eat?  Of course we did!  Everything except this-- the dreaded durian.  If you can believe it, they smell more deadly than they look.   Funny story-- when we called our Airbnb host here in Taipei thinking we had a gas leak, both the host and employee from the gas company asked us if perhaps the smell was from some durian we may have purchased?   D'oh!  If you happen to see it in your local market, give yourself a life experience and take at least a of sniff of it.  Braver souls than ours will take a bite!

We sampled some very tasty treats at C Dessert.  Clockwise from the top, Don had a mango and tapioca pearl dish, Zach's was of lychee and mine (the best, in my humble opinion) was a coconut milk, tofu and tapioca pearl combo-- loveliness!

We had to wait in line to eat at the very popular and crowded cafeteria My Cup of Tea. Sharing a small table with another couple (who surprisingly, did not in fact become our new best friends), we tucked into the most requested dishes-- peanut butter french toast, the camera-shy 3 egg salad sandwich (scrambled, salted egg, century egg), bbq pork and egg on rice.  The bigger draw was sampling HK milk tea-- a very dark brew of Ceylon tea served with sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk.  Delicious!  Also surprisingly good- this same milk tea cut with espresso.  Try it at home-- it beats a mocha frappuccino any day!  

Off to Macau!  A former Portuguese territory returned to China in 1999, parts of it retain much of the architecture and culture we remember from our days in Portugal (read about our time there--- here!).  

Torrential rain as we rode on the ferry (we later learned there was a waterspout out there earlier that day- yeow!) did not deter us.  In fact, our arrival resembled that of James Bond in SkyFall! Ok, kinda.  Armed with umbrellas, we jumped puddles and dodged gutters to take it all in.  How lovely to again see in Senado Square the designs of those tiled sidewalks!

Even lovelier-- a very tasty Portuguese lunch at Boa Mesa Macau where we ooooh'd and ahhhh'd through dishes of (from top to bottom) porco à Alentejana (pork and clams)  and my ever-favorite ensalada da bacalhau.  Also featured, Don's frites.  And bread with olive oil so delicious we cried.  

Once sated, we headed towards a fort that offered a fantastic view of this golden lotus flower-shaped hotel and casino, the Grand Lisboa Macau .  Perched on a base meant to represent a Fabergé egg, it drips moolah.  But you can slum it for a night--prices start at a mere $118. 

Back in Taipei and having consumed our combined weights in bubble tea (Zach shown below shedding a tear as he takes in his last) , we wished Zach a "buen viaje!" as he headed back home after a terrific visit.  No rest for the weary, mere weeks later he and partner Tavo boarded flights to Santiago, Chile for a 2 week stay and later a visit to Patagonia.  Life is good! 

And while there-- an engagement was had by the frosty glaciers of 

Tierra del Fuego!  

Congratulations, Tavo and Zach!!

Don still isn't thrilled with Taiwanese food-- and while it doesn't start with a hard C, add the ubiquitous 5 Spice powder to the list of spices/spice blends he can't do! But dim sum is always a crowd pleaser.

A hike up Elephant Mountain (Xiangshan) required gallons of bug spray but the view of Taipei 101 was worth the toxicity. And wouldn't you know I was still eaten alive while Don emerged unscathed, pure as a newborn baby.  

A 3 night trip down south via the high speed rail train (max speed for us at 175 mph!) to Tainan and Kaohsiung had us impressed.  Who doesn't love a beautiful  waterfront?  Here's Don sharing time with some new tech savvy (but anemic??)  friends while the incredible Great Harbour swivel bridge looks on in the background.  Check out how it works here! 

The street art in Weiwuying covers 5 blocks where most of the apartment buildings are covered in art.  They had us looking up like true tourists as we crossed streets (doh!)  and injecting ourselves into the scenes, as we are wont to do.

A 2 night stay at Sun Moon Lake was a must on the itinerary.  Don randomly chose a Monday to Wednesday stay and are we glad he did-- we were told that on the weekends the streets are packed!  Other than a few families and a guitar player we had the pier to ourselves to take in this stunning sunset view of the lake.  

Chalk this meal up to the most dramatic, the most theatrical, the most kitchy dining experience we ever had!  The cuisine was of the Thao, the indigenous people of Sun Moon Lake but the presentation was pure Las Vegas!   Complete with a corn gratin housed in a glass slipper, partially shown here behind the vertical skewer of meats and fish, and the entire tray enveloped in dry ice, the only thing missing was Elvis and a laser light show! 

As I stayed home to dutifully relay to you all our goings on (ok, no lie I was avoiding the 90 degrees, 90% humidity!), Don went out and about to explore . Then this SMS comes in hahaha.  These two guys were hanging by the pier and offered Don a brew and to join them.    The Taiwanese version of the Beer Summit without the controversy! 

This post's Slice of Life is more like a full loaf!   The amount of times we have been approached by local people just to chat it up or that want to help us when we looked lost or confused -- it's been so surprising! (Or maybe we always look lost and confused!) As the photo above shows, Don is especially sought after, especially with older men in the metro-- they love to practice their English with him!  And just yesterday as Don waited for me outside a convenience store another man asked him if he were lost.   Someone said and we have found to be true, that there is "kind" and then there is "Taiwan kind". So wonderful! 

More examples-- this grandma was out walking with friends in the local botanical garden and told us all about her family here and in San Francisco.  Such a doll but where's my beer??

While in Yangmingshan National Forest we stopped at this little restaurant where we were invited to share a table and their food (!) with the wonderful Paulina and James.  And they paid the entire bill- how generous! Thanks to them, we now have an even longer list of places to visit when we return to Taiwan and I got a chance to try local oysters (the ultimate looks bad, tastes good!). 

Don met Emily from England (with her adorable kids) in our local park and after an hour of chatting Don found out Emily is the drama teacher at the Dominican School where I used to go to school!  When we got together next (her husband Sang couldn't make it-- maybe next time!) we had a great time exchanging Taiwan stories (she's been here 10 years)  and talking about life in general.... and all of our terrific kids, of course.  

And getting one more nomad meetup in under the wire was our marathon 3 hour dinner with the fantastic Heather and Volkan.  They have us beat, traveling for 10 years and with a third of the luggage we haul around-- our heroes!  It was terrific sharing life stories, travel stories (their journey from South Africa to Turkey as Covid was spiking is worthy of a screenplay!) and Long Island stories (Great Neck High School North vs South!).   With all the laughs and camaraderie no one would have believed we had just met.  We hope our paths cross again soon, maybe at one of their cruise ship lectures!   

The big question-- after 2 months in Taiwan, what's our overall take?  Would we return and if so where?  Bottom line, the answer is yes!  Taipei was rated our #1 city when we did the analysis waaaay back in 2016 (see the chart here) so it was great to see that our findings rang true.  Fabulous infrastructure, safe, affordable, quality healthcare, and super friendly people to top it off!  One change-- we would stay in Kaohsiung instead of Taipei-- something new to try, a little smaller and less busy but still with everything we loved about Taipei.  

 We head out today to Madrid and just in time-- I was eaten alive again yesterday by mosquitos and will be scratching for the full 25 hours and 35 minutes of travel we have ahead of us doh!   We've been exceptionally creative with the last of the food in the fridge.  Sautéed spinach on oatmeal, anyone?? We'll spend 3 weeks in Spain, this time in Madrid, Zaragoza and to the north in San Sebastían.  Everyone raves about SS and it's been on our wishlist for a while, what with cooler temps, the beach and what we're told is some amazing food.  (Don is soooooo done with Asian food!)  And then back to the US for a week in Cape Cod with Don's family where we'll do a long-awaited walk down memory lane!  And.... our swing through the midwest to visit my family will be extra sweet this time with Zach joining us!  So yes, many good things to look forward to, even if every step of the way we have to check for bedbugs and hope our upstairs neighbors aren't pogo champs! 

Be well and thanks for following along!!

Don and Monica