Taipei, Hualian, Taichung, Taiwan
Taiwan is one of Ray’s favorite places because of the variety of foods available at every street corner. We are staying at my younger brother John’s apartment in Danshui (which means fresh water), on the outskirts of Taipei. I am truly blessed with loving and generous brothers and sisters-in-law who are so willing to share their vacation homes with us. Daintsui is on one of Taipei’s many metro lines, and public transportation in both China and Taiwan is cheap and excellent. We can get around easily by bus, train, or on foot. The USA still has lots to learn from these countries.
When we travel from Columbia to California, we always look forward to enjoying the “authentic” Chinese food in California. However, my relatives in California always told me that they prefer the “real” taste of Chinese dishes in China. But in our view, Taiwan is the undisputed champion of taste buds. Tasty food isn’t only found in fancy restaurants in Taiwan; but also in hidden alleys, traditional markets, and even street vendors. What would surprise most Westerners is how good Taiwan’s bakeries are. They produce many delightfully light, flaky and tasty breads – usually filled with nuts or dried fruits, sometimes with ham or cheese. Ray stops at bakeries as often as he can and usually ends up buying some special treats for snack or dessert. Our first dinner in Taipei was the freshly made “layered green onion pancake” and a bowl of hot and spicy beef noodles near the Shilin Night Market. It cost us a total of $10. On the 2nd night, we were invited out by my good friends to the famous Peng’s Family style restaurant. This restaurant is famous for its “Dong Po Rou” – a chunk of pork belly meat that is cooked so slowly it melts in your mouth. This was described by the author of “Chinas last chef” wrote that you would taste the flavor of “fat” in this dish but the meat is never “greasy”. We also took a picture in front of a famous giant Chinese brush painting of “Dragon Shrimp” (aka lobster).
We traveled to Hualian (the Flower Harbor), which is a 2-hour train ride from Taipei along the mountainous eastern coastline. We enjoyed the tapestry of vibrant green vegetation on the mountainside. That is why Taiwan was nicknamed “Formosa” (beautiful island) by early Dutch explorers. We met our Hualian friends Arina and Tony when they were students at William Woods in Missouri. They brought home not only their advanced degrees but also a bundle of joy named “Mia”. Mia is 3 years old now and as adorable as a Chinese doll but lively and talkative. Hualian is home to many ethnic tribes and is famous for producing many of Taiwan’s greatest singers and dancers. It has a larger aboriginal population than any other city in Taiwan. Hualian also produces these beautiful “rose marble” stones. Mia warmed up to “Ye Ye” (grandpa) and “Na Na” (grandma) immediately, but she clearly favored Ye Ye (Ray). She dances, sings, and chatters with everyone she meets in the restaurants and markets. She constantly asks questions, and Arina is very patient with her. Since Tony and Arina live in an apartment complex with many college students, Mia doesn’t have many mates her age. As a result, she speaks in full sentences and sometimes makes adult-like comments. She amused us the whole time we were in Hualian. She told her mom that she is going to America to visit Ye Ye and Na Na. Misty mountains and green and gold rice fields surround the community where they live. The air is fresh and fragrant. We met a large group of bicycle riders on their 3-day rides through the area. Taiwanese people have caught the bicycle fever, and the government has built many biking pathways, which are not only great exercise but also environmentally friendly transportation. In the evening, we went to a restaurant named “Moon House,” which was located halfway up the mountain. Their famous roast chicken is smoked slowly inside a metal pail,, basted withplum and honey sauce You have to reserve it a day ahead because it takes 8 hours to cook. We also had the best-tasting wild “bitter melon” and wild greens. The restaurant is built into the mountain, and one wall is made of giant stones. The floor is Tatami (straw mat), and the table is a big wooden plank. The natural, warm décor makes the dining experience special. This is definitely one of the best restaurants we have ever been to in Taiwan. After 1 night in such a beautiful and serene place, I might try to get a term lecturer position at the University here so we can come back and stay for 3 months to enjoy this area. All I have to do now is to figure out how to persuade the University administrators to hire me – maybe a special perspective view of a global tourist on Hualian.
We returned to Taipei just in time to join another good friend of ours for some Hong Kong-style dining. Liying and Tsuakuo spent a few years in Columbia about 20-some years ago. They still miss our little town and would like to come back for a visit. Columbia may be a beautiful place to live, but we definitely won’t get the delicious food they enjoy in Taipei.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/sgdypCBCCkDKBm8G7
We are on the road again to Taichung – this time by bus – to visit Kuoyang. Many of our Columbia friends know Kuoyang as the famous “Chef Philosopher”. He was pursuing his PhD in sociology but enjoys cooking and has prepared many special dinners for his friends in Columbia. We can testify to that fact because Ray and I have tasted many delicious dishes at Kuo Yang’s house. Now that we are in his hometown, Kuo Yang took us to some old restaurants he enjoyed as a child. We ate lunch at a local restaurant famous for goose meat and noodle soup. Goose is a very popular dish in Taiwan. Taiwan raises many geese and ducks, but most Taiwanese prefer goose meat. The goose is usually slow-cooked in a broth that may include various Chinese herbs. The meat is then sliced thin and served with slivers of ginger and hot-and-sweet sauce. The goose is tender and juicy, with a subtle an,d tasty.
We hated to leave Taichung so quickly, but the Taipei International Flore exhibition started on Nov. 6th and we had only 1 day and half to visit it before we headed to Indonesia. On our return to Taipei, we first met up with Uncle Li – an old family friend – and his family. Uncle Li is 94 years old but still in excellent shape. After treating us to a traditional Chinese dumpling dinner, Uncle Li took us downtown by Metro to meet his friends for his Sunday afternoon coffee. Uncle Li has enjoyed coffee his whole life and loves to see his friends (all younger than him). At 94, Uncle Li gets on and off the Metro and takes the escalator without hesitation. We have to walk fast to keep up. The coffee shop is located in downtown Taipei and sells relatively cheap but good coffee. When we arrived, it was full of students who just finished their Sunday classes from private tutoring centers, and they were doing their homework – a sight we don’t usually see in the USA. Uncle Li’s regular friends all showed up even though they can’t hear what they are saying or have a conversation; they come, as always, every Sunday, knowing he is happy just being there with everyone. After several cups of coffee and some French fries, we excused ourselves to visit the Floral Show.
The exhibition will last 6 months and consists of 6 large garden areas, eachwith da ifferent ttheme We started by visiting the area along the river, where there are large designs covered with colorful flowers like impatiens, salvia and petunia. These are fairly common flowers that are easy to grow and maintain, and they make great garden designs when planted en masse. Arou9 pm pm, we walked over to see the “Water Screen” – an artificial waterfall coming down from a highway bridge where they projected lighted pictures and words on i9 pm PM is a great design but the light wasn’t too bright and it was hard to take pictures of it. There are performances in the auditorium, but we decided to visit the “competitive flower arrangements” in the Expo Demo. There are hundreds of large designs – all made of fresh flowers – from many countries. Not only tarethe ddesigns impressivebut the fresh flowers used in the ddesigns– especially the orchids, calla lily and other exotic flowers are breathtaking. I took many pictures, but my favorites are a “dark satin purple” and a green “lady slipper” orchid. When I squatted down to take pictures of these orchids, someone commented that very few people actually look down to see the flowers on the low ground. Most people look at them at eye level and really miss a lot of beautiful flowers. We were lucky to go to the Expo Demo this evening because there weren’t too many visitors yet. I bet the Dome will fill up with large crowds during the daytime.
We came back the 2nd day to finish visiting the Expo. Even though we went in right at 9 am to get reservation tickets, we could only get tickets to the Celebrity Hall, not any other popular venues. Oh well, the garden itself is beautiful, so we walked around and took lots of pictures. Even though it is a Monday, with the sun shining and cool weather, there are a lot of visitors, including school field trips and tourist buses from other parts of Taiwan. The exhibition ticket is reasonably priced at 300 NT (about $10), and Ray received a 50% discount because of his “senior” age. The celebrity hall was dedicated to a famous Chinese singer, Teresa Teng, whose songs were popular in the 1960-90s but she died young at the age of 43 of asthma. We watched her performances on DVD and it brought back many fond memories for me. Even though we wcouldonly able to spend a day and half visiting the Expo, we really enjoyed it. I think if we come back in March, when the spring flowers are really blooming, it would be even prettier than now.
We spent our last day in Taiwan with HM’s college classmates. We met up at a metro station and walked up to a country club about halfway up the mountain. They offer golf and thermal springs, but HM was only interested in visiting with her friends. Of course, we ended up with another fantastic banquet, which included many of HM’s favorite dishes, but the friendship is even better than the food. Most of HM’s classmates are retired and thoroughly enjoying their lives by traveling around. However, none of them are as adventurous as HM. Their favorite vacation places are mostly in Japan. Some are planning to go to the Cherry Blossom Festival in April or climb Mount Fuji in August. Maybe HM can join them sometimes.
While we were in Taiwan, the Merapi volcano eruption caused a huge problem on our trip to Indonesia—one of our first stops in Indonesia was Yogyakarta, only about 40 km from the volcano. HM was on skype with contacts in Indonesia as well as friends in Beijing trying to decide what to do. After several tense moments, we decided to proceed to Jakarta (after all, President Obama made it there) but skipped Yogyakarta and toured a resort area about 2 hours from Jakarta called Bandung. Thanks to my friend Chad in Singapore, she secured a 3N/4D tour to Bandung for us. Indonesia, volcano or not, here we come!
I hope you enjoy this segment of our “million miles of SE Asia tour!