Taiwan Trip Recapped!

So there were a couple requests for info on my trip to Taiwan so here we go ^.^

I generally have a terrible memory for taking pictures as I've mentioned before so.. we'll try to have some pictures, but don't expect anything complete~~

I was there for 2 weeks total, which is longer than I've been in awhile although perhaps not as long as I would've liked to be there. I spent most of my time in Taipei, which is the capitol. There, I did many tourist-y things like going to night markets where there is much eating and shopping. What's nice about the night markets is that they are frequented by people who live in Taiwan so they are less tourist traps and more just fun places to go.

Boyfriend wanted to try snake meat at one of the night markets (see below) so we tried that.


It was chewy and a tad too salty

I also got Boyfriend to try a vegetarian buffet (run by a Buddhist organization and frequented by monks) which he declared a great success. These buffets have a lot of variety and just about everything was really tasty. They have these hand rolls that I really wish I had had enough stomach to eat more of. Unfortunately no picture because I am fail.

We also got to try lots of restaurants which have really fresh seafood. As in, they get their fish (including shellfish) off boats in the morning, and the fish are then stored in tanks until they are chosen to be eaten (you get to choose which ones you want or you can just note what type and have the seller/chefs choose).


I should probably emphasize at this point that a lot of the trip centered around eating. The Taiwanese are obsessed with eating, and everyone likes to take pictures of their food. Since Taipei especially is packed in really tight, you really don't have to go much farther than downstairs (most people live in flats/condos/apartments) to find food.

We did visit an aboriginal reservation/preservation area that also had an amusement park attached:


Aboriginal Cultural Village (this was more a display than anything else)


The amusement park part. Boyfriend informed me that the roller coaster was pretty awesome although I didn't go on it because well... I'm not a fan of roller coasters.
We did also visit a Memorial for one of the important figures in Taiwanese history although the styling of the memorial has made people comment that it looks like Lincoln T_T



I think I mentioned before that we did explore other parts of Taiwan besides Taipei (which is in the Northmost part of Taiwan). One of the places was this wilderness area surrounding a waterfall:


There was quite a bit of hiking to get around it and to see some of the other cool stuff in the area. Also, we took one of the best scenery pictures of the trip (at least in my mind) at just a little bit beyond the base of the waterfall.


All in all it was a really fun trip although it was during the hot and wet season ( Boyfriend was overwhelmed from the heat and humidity, and I probably didn't drink enough water). The food was delicious, and the relatives were fun as usual. I'm excited to bring Boyfriend back sometime (this was his first trip there).