Philip, Jules and I visited this tiny treasure in Taipei back in 2018. The museum is named after Chen Su-Ho, the founder of the Chang Chuen Cotton Paper company, who died in an airplane crash in 1990. His dream was to establish a museum devoted to paper, so a private museum dedicated to paper in […]
MUSEUM
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 […]
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 […]
Weekend retreat in Wulai Aboriginal Village (烏來)
I really can’t complain about needing to ‘get away,’ since I’ve had seven months off from work thus far. However, it’s still nice to leave the frenetic energy of a big city every now and then, so Jules and I set out for one of Taiwan’s aboriginal villages in Wulai this weekend. I also happened […]
A Birthday Weekend in Taichung (台中): Part II
Although it would have been nice to sleep in on a Sunday morning, we set our alarm to make sure we would beat the crowds at the Miyahara Eye Clinic (宫原眼科). My friends, this is no ordinary eye clinic. In fact, this “eye clinic” houses 62 flavors of ice cream and some of the most […]
China, Part VI: Xi’an (西安)
The last Xi’an post, I promise. We were not quite ready to leave this city, which we found to be friendlier than Beijing, more relaxed and its food tastier. For our last day, we spent the first part of the day at a quiet, privately-owned museum, the Tangbo Art Museum (唐博), housing Chinese folk art […]
China, Part IV: Xi’an (西安)
生日快樂, 小牛! Happy birthday, Jules! These were the first things Jules heard when he woke up this morning as an eight year old. He had his favorite breakfast of a croissant, yogurt, fruit and juice before heading to the city of Xi’an two hours away by bullet train. Since it was his birthday, there were […]
Escaping to Yilan 宜蘭 for a Day
We took advantage of a school holiday to go on a day trip with Aunt Ivy to the ever-crowded city/county of Yilan. We made the half hour, eight mile long drive through the Hsuehshan Tunnel (雪山隧道), the ninth longest tunnel in the world, connecting Taipei to Yilan. The alternative is a vomit-filled two hour ride […]