Judgment Day. Jules and I have nervously been awaiting this day where we get the phone call to tell us to go downstairs to hop aboard the COVID bus for our PCR test. If either of us tests positive, then we get shipped off to a government quarantine center for another 15 days. High stakes […]
Taipei Quarantine: Day 12
This wouldn’t really be a proper blog about Taipei if we didn’t mention the food. Wait, you are in quarantine, right? Yes, yes we are. We are in quarantine in Taipei. Our quarantine hotel package includes three meals a day, and we’re also allowed to order delivery of outside meals via UberEats, Food Panda, etc. […]
Taipei Quarantine: Day 8
Woohoo, we made it to the halfway mark of our quarantine! And some unexpected news, Jules finally got a pet! More on that in a bit. With COVID cases consistently falling in Taiwan over the past seven days, we’re starting to feel a bit more hopeful about the possibility of the Level 3 soft lockdown […]
Taipei Quarantine: Day 4
Going into this quarantine I knew that Jules and I would best survive this experience by sticking to a routine. So, here’s what a typical quarantine day of ours looks like: Waiting for breakfast By far, the most exciting part of our day is spying on the person who delivers our meals. It gives us […]
Taipei Quarantine: Day 1
Our flight to Taipei was due to land at 5:15am. The incredible tail winds combined with the fact that a 777 only had about 42 passengers on board had us landing at 3:45am instead. In a pre-pandemic world I would have been thrilled. In COVID times, however, not so good. A check-in anytime before 7am […]
Flying to Taipei During A Pandemic (疫情旅遊)
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many Taiwanese Americans were flocking to Taiwan from the United States. Taiwan seemed to be in a COVID-free bubble — Instagram photos of unmasked diners, mass gatherings for the Taiwan Pride parade and domestic holiday jaunts were enticing to say the least. We wanted Jules to have a […]
Tainan (台南): Part 2
It’s hard to believe but coming to Tainan wasn’t all about the food. I had read about the Chimei Museum, a private museum established in 1992 by a businessman, Shi Wen-Long, to bring artwork to the citizens of Tainan for free. As non-Tainan residents we had to reserve paid tickets at least one day in […]
Tainan (台南): Part I
Since we have a few more days left in Taiwan, I thought, let’s go on a trip! For our last hurrah, we traveled south to Tainan, the oldest city in Taiwan. Once the capital of Taiwan during the Qing dynasty, Tainan is known for its temples, historic sites and of course, foood! Our first stop […]
Mandarin Daily News (國語日報)
This post is an unpaid plug for what I think is the best Mandarin learning program in Taipei. One of the reasons why I wanted to move to Taiwan was to improve my Chinese reading and writing. I checked out a couple of different programs before choosing Mandarin Daily News (MDN). It wasn’t a choice, […]
Hokkaido, Part VII: Kushiro & Tsurui
We said goodbye to our seaside home and drove south to the city of Kushiro for its Ainu culture, famed marimo balls and red-crowned cranes. Our first stop in Kushiro was in Ainu Kotan Village next to Lake Akan at the tiny rustic restaurant Poronno serving traditional Ainu cooking. Although the Ainu are the indigenous […]