Time for some city life. Our next destination would have been too long of a drive from Biei, so we stopped off at Asahikawa, Hokkaido’s second largest city, for its famous zoo and shoyu ramen. The Asahiyama Zoo in Asahikawa is one of Japan’s most famous due to its unique enclosures, which allow visitors to […]
Jules
Hokkaido, Part III: Furano & Biei
Today we drove northeast to farm country. The farther we drove the sight of cars and buildings gave way to rolling green hills, stretches of vegetables in the making and the most unbelievable flower farms. Our first stop was at Hakone Dairy Farm for a lesson in cow milking. Realizing how time consuming it […]
Hokkaido, Part II: Noboribetsu & Lake Toya
We picked up our rental car today complete with an Audrey Hepburnish-voiced GPS navigation system advising us to “take a break” when we drove for two hours without stopping. Yet another reason why we love Japan. The nicest rental car employee on the planet patiently guided us through our route and even calculated tolls for […]
Hokkaido, Part I : Sapporo & Otaru
Put on your comfy pajamas, pop a big tub of popcorn and settle down with your favorite beverage for our next travel series — Hokkaido. My travel installments are usually broken down by country, but given the size of Hokkaido and the length of time we spent here I felt that it deserved its own […]
Battle of the Taipei Shaved Ices (刨冰)
Among the many foods that Taiwan is famous for, none can top its shaved ice for the refreshing factor on a hot summer day. I’ve chosen three of the most famous shaved ice spots in Taipei for a round of ‘Battle of the Taipei Shaved Ices’ — Tai Yi Milk King (臺一牛奶大王), Ice Monster and […]
Yingge Ceramics (鶯歌陶瓷)
It’s baaaack. That soul crushing Taiwanese summer heat that transforms rational, even-tempered people into a beastly state of irritability has made its unwelcome reappearance. As an adult I realize that complaining about the weather is childish and unseemly, but the sheer oppressive nature of the heat here defies all logic, so I refuse to be […]
Alishan National Forest (阿里山): Part II
We stumbled around in the dark after our 3:30AM wake up call and were briefly revived by a cup of hot sweet ginger tea while waiting for the shuttle to take us to the Alishan sunrise viewing train. Jules was a bit grumpy due to the chilly weather, but we dutifully stood on line with […]
Alishan National Forest (阿里山): Part I
I have wanted to visit Alishan National Forest, one of Taiwan’s top tourist spots, for many years now. The thought of hours driving along narrow, tortuous mountain roads with a child in tow, though, has usually been effective at laying that idea to rest. Jules has proven himself to be a hardy traveler this past […]
Chiayi (嘉義)
Philip’s nephew, Matthew, and his girlfriend, Katie, came to Taiwan mentally and physically prepared for the adventures awaiting them. They tackled Taipei like pros, and based on her culinary tastes we’re all convinced that Katie is part Taiwanese. Over the weekend, we headed south by high speed rail to the city of Chiayi. Chiayi is […]
Jules’ first salon haircut
It was high time to transition this eight year old boy’s hair style from little kid to big kid. Although I do enjoy cutting Jules’ hair and derive strange pleasure from watching haircutting YouTube tutorials, I don’t enjoy cleaning up the fistfuls of hair left in the bathtub afterwards. Most professional NYC hair stylists don’t […]