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. […]
Jules
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 […]
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 […]
Hokkaido, Part VI: Shiretoko & Rausu
We were all bundled up for our guided hike this morning through the Shiretoko Five Lakes region inside the Shiretoko National Park. Because of its remote location Shiretoko is home to many endangered species, and the goverment takes great pains to protect it. From May 10 to July 31, during peak brown bear season, an […]
Hokkaido, Part V: Shari & Shiretoko
Sadly, we had to say sayonara to the beautiful Auberge Kita No Dan Dan hotel this morning for the drive east to the town of Shari. Coastal route 244 took us to Kitahama Station, the train station closest to the drift ice that comes from Russia across the Sea of Okhotsk in the winter. The […]