We took Michelle out to the Taipei Municipal Children’s Recreation Center, which is Govspeak for a city-run amusement park which is apparently on the grounds of the old Taipei Zoo. It’s just a short walk from the Yuanshan station, which is one of the first on the Danshui line to be outdoors. (The subway runs … Read more
I was awoken this morning just after 5:00AM by a text message and since I couldn’t get back to sleep, I went for an early morning walk. Since it was Halloween, I decided to go to the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial and see the early-morning activity. On the last trip to Taiwan, I visited the memorial … Read more
Tonight we visited the Frying Scotsman, an “authentic” Fish & Chips shop here in Taipei. They’ve got a number of items, fish and non-fish on the menu, but I was here strictly for some good old-fashioned cod. There are two kinds of cod on the menu, Canadian and the more authentic (and expensive) European variety. … Read more
My Flickr account allows me to upload a maximum of 2 GB per calendar month. Sometime back on this trip, I began to think I might accidentally exceed that limit before the trip was over and be stuck towards the end of this month without being able to upload pictures as things happen. So, at … Read more
I mentioned previously that there are three Costco’s in Taipei, and that the third one is so far out that it was off our maps and no one had any idea where it was. My frivolous goal is to photograph every Costco in the world, which may seem impossible, but it gives me a goal. … Read more
For at least the last three trips, I’ve wanted to go to Keelung. It’s the last “major” metropolitan area in Taiwan that I haven’t been to and that, predominantly, is why I wanted to go there. Combine that with the fact that it really isn’t very far from Taipei and it is just been a … Read more
It’s 20-30 km from Jinshan to Keelung and then a freeway drive back to Taipei, a surprisingly short drive back to Taipei at that. Between Jinshan and Keelung is Yeliou, a place that I visited in 1999. It’s the northern tip of the island and home to many bizarre erosion formations in the coast. As … Read more
After my conversation with Irene about Bamboo Lake and Gold Mountain, my father-in-law decided that, since I hadn’t been to the town of Jinshan, he was going to take us. And so, before I was really sure what was happening, we were in Jinshan, a small, old town on the northern coast. By this time, … Read more
After they picked me up at the Technology Building station we drove up to the Yangmingshan area, which is a mountain park north of Taipei and a very popular one-day getaway for the locals. Not only is it green and pleasant, but there are numerous hot springs spas in the area provided by the natural … Read more