Taipei, Taiwan

As most of you know by now, I took a week-long trip to Taiwan with a few other Fulbright buddies during the winter vacation. I will be splitting this trip up into three separate posts, related to each city that we visited throughout the week. First up is Taipei, where we spent the majority of our time.

The gang! Hanging out at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

Hospitality: Happy Taipei Guesthouse

Perks:

• Staff were extremely helpful in providing navigational directions and tips
• Comfortable beds, spacious rooms, clean!
• Privacy curtains, personal outlets, lamps, and shelf for each bed
• Centrally located: 2 minutes' walk from Shilin Night Market, 10 minutes' walk from Official Residence, 5 minutes' walk from Shilin metro/subway station
• Within 15-20 minute subway ride to other main attractions in Taipei

Drawbacks:

• Steep stairs, no elevator - might be difficult for people with physical handicaps
• Not noticeable from the outside - have to call staff for assistance in finding the guesthouse

Overall:

• I highly recommend this guesthouse! The staff was very well prepared in answering any questions and helping our group make any necessary accommodations. I would definitely stay here again.

Shilin Night Market

Taipei Night Markets

Throughout the week, my friends and I visited a different market almost every night that we were in Taipei. Each night market was so different, and we tried a bunch of different food and found various products. Exploring the different night markets was probably my favorite park of traveling within Taipei. It was like the city didn't even come alive until after 7:00 p.m., haha!

Pork with green onions and chives

Shilin Night Market:

• By far the largest night market in Taipei! And a very short distance from our guesthouse. 
• Foods we tried: pork wrapped with green onions and chives, sugar-coated fruits, egg tarts (various flavors: brown sugar, original, raspberry, green tea, and more...), milk tea, sausage on a stick, ALL the dumplings, Japanese udon, ice cream, crepes, and more!
• Souvenirs we bought: Plush dolls everywhere, jewelry, magnets/typical souvenir items, fashion pieces, etc.
• All the food was between ~$0.25 (dumplings) - $3.00 (crepes) - SO CHEAP! 
• So large that it might be difficult to explore in one evening! We came back for two nights
• Crowded, especially on weekends! And there's no map to guide you along the way, so you have to twist and turn and remember landmarks of where you have/haven't been.

Egg tarts

Ningxia Night Market

Ningxia Night Market:

• Considerably smaller compared to Shilin
• Much more organized - just one long road - side-by-side - of vendors selling food and products
• Prices were a bit more expensive compared to Shilin
• Foods we tried: stinky tofu, milk tea (frog eggs), meat on a stick, fresh fruit, dumplings, and more!
• Souvenirs we bought: postcards
• Much quieter than Shilin - a bit "out of the way" from other night markets

Stinky Tofu

Raohe Street Market

Raohe Street Market:

• Next to a large Buddhist temple - very cool to walk by during the Lunar New Year preparations
• Another fairly large night market, but also just a few long roads of vendors selling food and products - more organized
• Foods we tried: Russian pastries, chicken hearts, dumplings, desserts, and more!
• We didn't spend much time here because we were exhausted after a day trip to Jiufen.

Overall, the street markets were SO fun and an essential part of experiencing Taiwanese culture. English levels are great, and vendors are super friendly. We definitely just ate our way through Taiwan. No regrets about it!

Official Residence

Attractions / Activities We Did in Taipei

Of course, no trip is complete without visiting some of the tourist spots! Here's a brief overview of places we visited!

Official Residence:

• BEAUTIFUL entry park leading up to the house. Walking around the park/garden was so awesome, and there are fun/random statues to pose with and take pictures throughout. 
• Entry into the actual residence: Maybe ~$5? I don't remember, but it was super cheap. 
• The tour of the residence took about 30 minutes. There's a free audio guide, and it's worth it. The rooms are decked out with classic furniture and lots of history.
• Good place to hang out, enjoy nature, and learn some Taiwanese history.

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

Palace Museum:

• Crowded! And expensive (~$10). 
• My friend and I were too tired to walk around 5 floors of a museum, so we made a bad choice. Especially with noisy children and families around.
• Best just to view it from the outside, that's the pretty part anyway. 
• It has a lot of rich history related to Taiwan, its artifacts, and more, but focus was lacking.

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall:

• AMAZING! And free! Very cool architecture to view here. Take lots of pictures.
• Very large space to walk around and enjoy the fresh air. Definitely worth a trip!

Taipei EYE Traditional Opera

Taipei EYE Traditional Opera:

• Probably the most expensive thing we booked (~$17), but very interesting!
• Reserve tickets in advance!
• The show itself was conducted in Chinese, with translations in various languages displayed on screens to the side.
• It was hilarious! We got lucky and saw a few mistakes and crashes, which made the whole thing even better. One of the actors was doing some flip jumpy kick things and he crashed right into the orchestra. It was clearly the best part of my day. Hahahaha!
• The actors present an excerpt from a traditional Taiwanese story.

Taipei 101:

• EXPENSIVE (~$20) to go up to the top of the tower
• We decided it wasn't worth it, so we just hung out around the bottom area. 
• We took pictures and left.

Beitou Hot Springs

Beitou Hot Springs:

• So relaxing! Bring a towel if you don't want to purchase one on-site.
• Bring a swimsuit - most are public/outdoors
• Average price ~$15 for unlimited usage for a day
• Worth a trip! We felt amazing during and afterwards.

Overall: We spent a lot of time in Taipei! It was totally worth it, and each attraction was unique and fun. I can't wait to explore other parts of Taiwan when I plan a trip to go back.

Stay tuned for two more posts regarding my trip to Taiwan. They will be covering a day trip to Jiufen, and my two days spent in Hualien, Taiwan's "countryside". See you soon!

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New Design!

Hi everyone! Notice anything different?

I finally decided to modernize my blog and logged far too many hours with coding and hashing out bugs with my new design. But, now that it is finally complete, I am super happy with it and will keep it around for some time.

Major changes: New logo (and made a thumbnail version), single-column body with two-column footer, added social media widgets to header.

Minor changes: Text/font styles, colors, added 'Read More' tags, added 'Share' buttons

Setbacks: Still working on getting thumbnails to appear next to posts on the Home page. Still a few bugs to hash out with that.

Hope you like it as much as I do! I love the simplicity of it compared to my last layout, and the brightness of it.

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Winter Class

"The List": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abqo7prT840

We made fake blood!

After the New Year celebrations, my school requested that I teach a voluntary two-week winter class to help students practice English. Because it is winter BREAK, I decided to make the curriculum something fun and out of the ordinary. I also learned that I had a small class of seven students, so my creative juices were boiling.

I ultimately decided on having the students make some type of movie (the genre and its contents solely up to the decision of the students). Luckily, the students loved the idea and immediately started brainstorming ideas. I was a little unsure if we would be able to get a solid production put together in such a short time frame, but we gave it a whirl anyway!

Practicing their lines

The first week was spent coming up with a topic/setting, roles for the students, script writing, storyboarding, and prop preparations. The students divided themselves into small groups, with the student director monitoring each person's role. They did a fantastic job writing the short film. The premise is a Thriller/Slasher movie where a jealous girlfriends seeks vengeance on her boyfriend and the girls he's been flirting with. She creates a LIST (movie name, "The List") and goes through it one by one, killing each girl along the way. I was pleasantly surprised by their creative abilities and the depth they added to their short film.

Giving guidance for stage direction

Close-up of a killing scene

The second week was spent filming and editing, with a viewing party held on the last day! I think this week was the most fun for the students because they could bring their roles to life, and they loved giggling at (with) one another throughout filming. I should also mention how much they enjoyed making fake blood and smearing it everywhere for the murder scenes. I wish I had captured the looks of pure joy on their faces - some actual serial killer smiles! Haha!

They filmed the movie at school using my Canon camera, and they edited it in the school computer lab. I think it was most students' first time using a video editing software, so I did a quick tutorial, and the rest was history. They picked it up quickly, editing the clips, adding sound and transitions, etc. They're continued dedication for the project made me so happy, and it was awesome because I was doing minimal work, just helping as needed.

"The List": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abqo7prT840

The students really seemed to enjoy this project, and I hope I have another chance to do a similar project in the future. This project was a great way for students to utilize their creative abilities while also practicing the target language (English). Entirely student-lead, I only provided guidance when requested. All work was completed by the students.

I'm so proud of them and want to share the movie with you all. Enjoy!

That's a wrap!

"The List": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abqo7prT840

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