Taiwan Life

Life and Business in Taiwan 101

Vivid Skies: Sunday Trips in Northern Taiwan

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Today’s trip was the result of a fortunate coincidence: great weather with clear skies, good company and something to celebrate. We started off at the Taipei University of the Arts where we had a big nosh up replete with steak, salad, cheesecake, etc.. After lunch, we wandered around the campus and enjoyed the lovely views over Taipei City.

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This picture looks down across the fields of Guandu towards the city center. In the distance, partly obscured by the clouds are the southern suburbs of Taipei, and the mountains.

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Looking out over the sea towards the setting sun, we were amazed by the richness of the colors: blacks, golds, silvers, and oranges all presented very vividly.

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The new tourist point! It’s well-trafficked by couples taking wedding pictures!

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A view of Fugue Harbor and Fishing Port from the new tourist point.

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And there’s a great little cheesecake shop that just opened there… It’s called SanChih’s Little Pigs and is named after the story of the Three Pigs (a play on the name of the town!)

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This was wonderful cheese: Rum and raising Cheesecake. I’d have loved to show you the cheesecake, but it was so good we scarfed the lot down… So all I have is evidence of sins past. If you like, check out the website for the restaurant and see what we ate!

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and

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Both delicious! I can only find a map to the original store, but if you keep driving along the No. 2 coastal highway towards JingShan, you’ll pass the store about 5~7 minutes past BaiShaWan.

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Right at the end of our trip, we met up with a photographer called Ernest. He spends most of time traveling around the island taking photographs of the beautiful environment that Taiwan has to offer. And his blog is linked to in the image below. I couldn’t find his gallery, though. So click through the blog entries to see some of his art work.

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And that was our Sunday! We had a great time! How did you spend your Sunday?

Photo of the Day: On the Walk to Tamsui

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It’s not often that we see contrasts in Taipei, but in the walk on Saturday, we came across this sharp contrast: traditional setting in the front, modernity rearing its head behind!

In the foreground, there’s a large pond filled with bullfrogs. In the middleground, a family house that’s been there for years – who knows? There are other even older settlements now abandoned in the area, including redbrick farm houses in the traditional Taiwanese style. In the background, three towers from the Shang-Hai Community that was just completed, which is selling for approx. NT$300K per ping. If I remember rightly, this is probably what the farmhouse would have cost when it was first built in the ’70s.

Traditional Family House in Tamsui

Tamsui was, in the words of one friend, just rice fields, trees and farmers when Tim first visited our area in the early ’80s. Since then it’s been transformed at least twice, with electronics factories; and now, residential units. I’m in the search for early photographs of HongShulin and Zhuwei from that period. There’s not much online yet.

Trips in Taiwan: From little Bavaria to little Italy

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map-1Fancy a little bite to eat… Lusting for some good German food… Then head out into the countryside of the North East Coast, to a little place called Smoky Inn.

It was a little tricky to find (I’ve borrowed the map to highlight its location). You can see the mark there. We nearly missed the turning, as it is easier to find from the SanChih direction.

But we found it. I’ve linked to the Google Map of the area for you.

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We went in the latter part of the day, just before dusk… Tim, Cindy and myself. Since we drove, our only beverage was non-alcoholic beer, but it was tasty and COLD!

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Their website boasts: “ENJOY THE REAL BAVARIAN MEALS. OUR SPECIAL ARE SMOKED PIG KNUCKLE, SAUSAGES AND OTHER TRADITIONALS. ENJOY TASTY BAVARIAN CHEESE AND NUREMBERG SAUSAGES, HOME MADE MUNICH SAUSAGE SALAD, ROAST PORK, POTATO BALL AND BREADS.” (their caps, not mine!).

And this is what came: Large sausages of all kinds, Sauerkraut, Bavarian potatoes, horseradish, and pickles, … We enjoyed the food, had some leftovers, and paid a reasonable NT$1600 for the three of us. Four would have cost about NT$450. The neat thing was taxes and service charges were INCLUDED. I haven’t any idea why more restaurants don’t do that. If you decide to go on a weekend, call ahead and reserve a table. Don’t be put off by the automated answering service. They’re too busy to answer phonecalls most of the time.

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Needless to say, the local wildlife were attracted by the bugs buzzing round our lights, and they had their own bug meal. I do have a video of this, too. If you can’t see clearly, it’s a gecko! A very active one, judging by the speed with which it devoured its prey. Then we drove to a nice coffee shop near JingShan called Young Door.

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It’s a well-known coffee shop on the North East Coast highway, and probably serves the best coffee in and around JingShan. Of course, we’ve paid more than their but had much worse coffee! I can guarantee their coffee is always good! You can read the review in Chinese. Prices are reasonable, and coffee is great! What more can I add?