Chinese New Year in the Philippines (February 2-17)

Winter break in the states revolves around Christmas and New Years, but in Taiwan winter break happens during Chinese new year. The last week of classes at Principal consisted of loads of coloring pages and teaching the children about the Chinese new year. The last day was 'party time' where students brought in treats to share with the class.  It was an easy last week to say the least.  

As soon as the last bell rang on Friday at 6:10 p.m. I was out the door and preparing last minute things for my two week vacation in the Philippines. After a warm shower, an hour nap, and eating all the food left in my fridge, I was on my way to the airport to catch my flight. 

Saturday morning at 1:35 a.m. I flew south of Taipei to the beautiful tropical islands of the Philippines. Not wasting any time in the big city of Manila, I flew straight to Caticlan at 6 a.m. The flight was only an hour long and as soon I arrived their were loads of locals wanting me to take their tricycle to the pier, which was a short distance away. Once at the pier you must pay the terminal fee 75 peso, environmental fee 100 peso and the boat ticket 25 peso (total of $5 USD). There is no airport directly on Boracay island, so you need to take a 10 minute ferry ride from Caticlan to Boracay. 

It's been said that Boracay has one of the top 10 beaches in the world and now after going there I can see why. 

The white sand beach reminds me of a picture one would find on a postcard; beautiful white sand and transparent blue water.  The white sand beach, divided into three sections, section 1, 2 and 3 has a spot for everyone. Section 1 has high end resorts, section 2 is the most popular area with the outdoor mall, loads of restaurants and many bars and clubs, and section 3 is the quietest.  Many people don't know that Boracay has 12 other beaches besides the famous white beach. Puka beach, located in the north of Boracay, makes for a quieter day at the beach. The 30 minute tricycle ride gives you a whole new perspective of the island.  You will find run down houses and children eating from trash cans. It's a bit surreal to see considering many tourist don't move from the high end white beach. The sunsets on Puka beach will take your breath away. 

It has the most stunning sunset, unlike anything you've seen before. I spent three full days and three nights in Boracay enjoying the beautiful beaches, fresh mango shakes, and crazy nightlife. Boracay is rated as the number one destination in the Philippines for nightlife. In my opinion, Boracay is worth seeing, but if you don't like touristy spots and intense nightlife I would recommend going to a more quieter island. Boracay is also best to go with your spouse or with a group of friends. I don't suggest going on your own, there are better places to go to if you're traveling solo.

Each time you enter or leave the port you need to pay the terminal and environmental fee. Luckily nothing in the Philippines costs that much. I took a van from the port to l loilo, south part of Panay island, for 350 peso ($8.5 USD). Luckily the van dropped us off at the mall, in which, I could exchange money. Malls, I found, have the best exchange rate. 1 USD is about 40.8 Philippine peso. You will be lucky if you find a place that exchanges at a rate of 4.5 per 1 USD.  At the mall, I could take a shuttle bus to the airport for 70 peso (less than $2 USD).

My next destination was Cebu city, second biggest city in the Philippines. The flight from l loilo was only 45 minutes long to Cebu. Once at the airport you will need to take a cab to Cebu city, which is about 40 minute ride. In the morning, I took the 9 a.m. ferry to Bohol. The ferry was 500 peso one way ($12.5 USD), but you can get it for less. Round trip costs 800 pesos. Only two hours ferry ride.  At the pier there will be many locals trying to convince you to ride their tricycle.  I made the mistake and payed for a tricycle to my hostel about 40 minutes away. I should have walked 10 minutes to the mall where I could take a jeepney for $1 USD to my hostel. The hostel I stayed at was called "Nipa Huts" located in the town of Loboc.  It was the most beautiful hostel I've seen, right near the loboc river.  The rooms are made of bamboo and are surrounded by tropical grounds. 

I really enjoyed my time at Nipa for it's beautiful accommodation and friendly guests. 

My first day in Bohol, after taking a refreshing shower and eating a filipino lunch, I went off on my day adventure.  I waited for the bus to take me to the famous Tarsier sanctuary. As the bus was approaching I could see the bus filled with people. There was a man hanging off from the side of the door and people's arms out the window. As I stepped on the bus, I looked around at the people. I quickly noticed the dirt on many of the locals faces and clothes. I was standing right in front of the door as there were no where to sit. People had squeezed into all the seats and many were standing just like me. Right next to me, there was a man holding a baby and a girl sitting beside him. His wife was standing on the other side of me.  I continued to look around at the people. They all were smiling at me in the warmest smiles I have ever felt. I looked into the man holding the baby's eyes and started playing with the baby. The wife just stood there smiling at me. In a matter of moments, tears filled my eyes and began rolling down my cheeks. I didn't feel sad, but culture shock just hit me. As I was looking at the people that had nothing, but at the same time had everything, I couldn't help but become emotional. I don't get culture shock very often after traveling so often; I can count the number of times on my hands. I've been wanting to go to a third world country for so many years, but just haven't had that chance. It was in that moment on the bus that I knew how important it was to do the things you feel in your heart you must do. During the bus ride, there were very little exchange of words just the biggest smiles.  The words that were exchanged were how beautiful I was and the man asked me to join him and his family for lunch at his house. I refused the offer. As I was leaving I told the man what a beautiful family he had. Those 20 minutes on the bus are going to stay with me the rest of my life; I'm certain that feeling will never fade from my heart.   

The bus dropped me off at the Tarsier sanctuary. Tarsier's are the smallest primates in the world.

Bohol has the smallest ones in the world, but their are others Tarsier in Asia. The entrance fee was cheap only 50 peso ($1.25 USD). It was already late into the day, so I decided to take my time at the Tarsier's and not rush to another attraction. There were many staff members helping navigate were you should go along the path and helping take pictures for you. There were 11 Tarsier in the sanctuary. It was so neat to see the small monkey's so close. I enjoy talking with the employees; they were all very friendly. They told me, the demand was so high to work there that every 5 months a new batch of employees come in. Most people take about twenty minutes to go through, but I took an hour! Afterwards, one of the staff members showed me where he and most of his family lived, within walking distance from the Tarsier. He showed me around the village and even took a look into his house. I was very appreciative of the opportunity to see inside his home and met his family.  On my way back to the hostel, I stopped to talk with some kids that were playing with bricks and sand at the market nearby. The kids were asking me all sorts of questions: what's your favorite color, my sisters names, my birthday, if I had a boyfriend, etc. All they wanted was to be my friend. They brought me some plastic bubbles you can blow up using your mouth, so I could play with them. 

This day, not only because of the bus ride experience, but all the moments I was interacting with the locals made such a lasting memory. I quickly learned how warm and friendly the Filipinos are. Just by looking at the Filipinos, they give you a big smile. :) 

The following day, I went to the famous chocolate hills. It was rainy in the morning, so my day started a bit later in the afternoon once again. At the chocolate hills you could climb the 214 steps to the top of the observatory.

Some claim that there are 1268 hills. The hills are mostly uniform in shape and between 30 and 50 meters high.  The hills are covered with grass and after the dry season, turns chocolate brown, in which the name comes from. Near the chocolate hills is the town of Cameron where I spent the late afternoon walking around the market.  I had plans to check out the butterfly garden, but due to the local bus schedule I didn't make it in time. Back at the hostel, I met some new travelers. We all enjoyed each others company and exchanged stories. I decided that night after hearing so many stories about swimming with the whale sharks that I wanted to try it as well. So, I checked out of the hostel the next day and headed back to Cebu to take a 2 1/2 hour bus to Oslob early the following morning.

Before taking the ferry back to Cebu, I wanted to check out a few waterfalls. But, once again it was rainy. I decided because of the weather it wouldn't be as pleasant and the trails to the waterfalls would be muddy. Instead, I walked around the city of Tagbiliaran and took the ferry back late in the day. 

That night I stayed at the sister hostel of Nipa Huts. I was expecting an extravagant hostel like Nipa, but then was reminded Cebu was a big city and not a jungle. ;)  

One can only swim with the whale sharks from early morning to 12:30 in the afternoon. Therefore, I left my hostel early to ride the bus, which in fact, happened to take 3 1/2 hours to Oslob, located in the south of Cebu island. I made it just in time to swim with the sharks before the resort closed. I had my own private boat and guide. Before they allow you to go into the water, everyone had to go threw a brief orientation for basic policies. Afterwards, the boat man rowed the boat away from the shoreline. He stopped the boat not far from the shore and took my camera, so he could take pictures of me while I was in the water. Surprisingly, I wasn't afraid at all to swim with the whale sharks. I jumped into the water, put on my snorkel and enjoy the 14 sharks swimming around me. 

It was a fun experience! I feel so thankful to have heard about it through so many people; I'm glad I didn't miss it.  Due to government regulations, you are only allowed to swim with the whale sharks for 30 minutes.  

Since the return trip to Oslob would take approximately 7 hours, I wanted to make a full day trip out of it. So afterwards, I started walking to a waterfall I heard about from the travelers I had met in Bohol. While, I was walking I met a girl on the side of the road. She had just got off the bus from selling tortas (like a muffin). I asked her, if I was walking in the right direction to the waterfall. She quickly nodded yes and said, "Your going to walk there? It's far!" I shook my head yes. She said, "It's so far! You should take a bus. After I refused to take the bus. She asked, "Your by yourself? You don't have any friend?" I told her I was traveling alone and my friends didn't come with me to the Philippines. She didn't want me to be alone; and said she would be my friend and walk me to the waterfalls. Her and I walked together to the trailhead of the falls. At the beginning of the path, we met a family that was walking up the steep hill to their house. We all insanely became friends and the group of us walked 3 km up the steep hill to the falls. We all had a great time together taking pictures and playing in the falls. 

The falls were so pretty located in a lush area. They become my second favorite waterfalls, after Iguazu falls in South America. It was hard leaving the family we had met as our paths will probably never cross again. I gave them each a big hug and told them how much I enjoyed the afternoon together. The mom had tears in her eyes and I told her not to cry. I said, "I will always remember this moment and how much fun I had sharing it with someone." The young girl and I continued down the hill to the main road. I told her I wanted to buy her dinner. Her and I went to the town of Oslob and had dinner. After, she showed me her house and gave me a sweater I could wear on the bus; she was worried I would be chilly going back.  I thanked her again for joining me on the walk to the falls. It was a wonderful day!

In the morning, I took a cab to the Cebu international airport to fly to Puerto Princesta, Palawan. I arrived a little before 3 p.m., an hour later than planned due to the delay. I went straight to Nieves house, a couch surfer.  Jessie, my friend from Hualien, stayed with her while she was in the Philippines just a few weeks before I arrived. I spent the afternoon with Nieves, her boyfriend and other kids from her village. 

In the evening, we went to the local market to buy fresh fish and vegetables for dinner; her boyfriend cooked us a curry dish!  At the market, we also bought a snack -- fresh coconut! I don't recall ever eating a fresh coconut, so I was very excited. It didn't taste like much for sure not as sweet as the coconut shreds you buy from the grocery store. Once we finished drinking the juice, the lady opened the coconut with a machete and we could eat the inside. It had a jelly like texture and again it didn't have much flavor to it. Around 10 p.m. a group of 5 Filipino CSers from Manila came; Nieves was also hosting them. They were all very pleasant to talk with.  

At 6 a.m. we all left on a small tour bus for a day trip to St. Paul's underground river. It's located in the town of Sabang, about a 2.5 hour drive from Puerto Princesta. In 2006, the underground river was rated as the new seven wonders of nature. This river is the longest navigated underground river in the world. Due to its popularity there is a permit you must get before entering the park. The permit is very difficult to get and you must apply at least a month beforehand as they only allow 900 people to enter a day.  The time I went online to buy my ticket, they had temporarily closed it. I usually never book a tour, but it was my only option if I wanted to see the underground river. Nieves help me book a tour and it worked out really well. The tour guide picked myself and the 5 other Filipinos CSers at the road by Nieves home in the morning. We picked a few others up at their hotels and then drove to the underground river. You can't actually drive to the beginning of the underground river, you either need to take a boat or hike about 2 hours. The driver dropped us off where we could take the boat. Our guide did all the paperwork for us and we waited patiently until our permit time was called. The boat was about 20 minutes. Once we got off the boat, we walked a short distance in the forest to the entrance of the cave. There, we again waited for our number to be called. There were many people at the attraction. However, everything was well organized, it was quite a production. Once our number was called, we all loaded the boat that seated 12 people. Our boat man pointed things out along the way. I heard the man who discovered the underground river was an English man. He thought the cave looked like St. Paul's cathedral in England, in which the name came from. We saw stunning stalactites and rocks that looked like Jesus and alters. It was an impressive cave and very enjoyable. The total ride was 45 minutes. 

Afterwards, we took the boat back to where we started and had a nice buffet lunch nearby. The lunch was included in the tour. It was was a tasty lunch that overlooked the water. It was a pleasant afternoon. We were all tired after lunch and most of us slept in the van on the way home. About a half hour into the ride back, we stopped at an adventure park. We all got of the van, but none of us decided to try any of it. So, we all went back in the van twenty minutes later. The tour was from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. We all hung out at Nieves home and enjoyed the night in. 

I had heard El Nido, north of Puerto Princesta, had no accommodations because of the Chinese new year. I had tried calling a few places in the van on the way to the underground river, but everything was booked. Since I planned to spend my last 5 days in El Nido I decided to take a gabble, go there, and try to find somewhere to sleep. I wanted to take the earliest bus to arrive in El Nido in the afternoon, in time to look around at accommodations after people had checked out that day. I planned to take the 8 a.m. bus, but I couldn't get a tricycle on the side of the road. Every tric had kids going to school and adults going to work. I got desperate and asked a man on a moterbike to take me to the bus terminal. He unfortunately didn't have a helmet on, so he could only take me a short distance to the main road. At the main road he helped me get a tricycle, but by the time I arrived at the bus station it was 8:10! I was upset I missed the bus : / The next bus wasn't leaving for another 2 hours. So, I walked around the market, had breakfast, bought a few things at the supermarket and waited around for the 10 a.m. bus. The journey was 6 hours long and was far from a smooth ride. Half of the road was not paved. Someone would think at how often the buses and cars use the road that it would be paved. We arrived at 4 p.m. and right away I searched for somewhere to sleep. I wrote down a name of a place that someone in Bohol told me about, Bunakiz. It didn't take me too long to find the place. I was hoping Bunakiz would have an available room, but unfortunately they didn't.  I tried talking with the owners, in hope, they could give me a bed.  They said, "Circle around the town and look for a place, if you can't find anything come back to us." After 1 hour of looking through the entire town of El Nido, I found nothing! Everywhere had a sign saying, "No rooms available!"  I couldn't believe in a small touristy town of El Nido, 120 accommodations, everything was filled. The owners of Bunakiz were an old Filipino couple. I had told them I found nothing. They felt bad I was all alone and had no where to sleep. They were very nice to me and said, "I could sleep in their nieces bed."  I was so grateful! 

Before going to sleep, I walked around the town and along the beach for awhile. 

As I was walking back, I saw a group of four, two boys and two girls, and immediately I could tell they were trying to find an accommodation. Right away, I wanted to help them after my experience that afternoon.  The group was from Sweden and were about my age. Jakob had just finished up his studies in Hong Kong and his girlfriend met him in the Philippines to travel together as well as their friend Michael and Josefin. Michael is originally from the Philippines, but grow up in Sweden where they all met.  We all immediately formed a connection. It took about two hours until we found a hotel! We were so relieved when we found something. They all felt so thankful and wanted to buy me a drink to show their appreciation for my help.  We had a fun time together drinking at this cute restaurant on the beach and enjoying each others company even though we were all dead tired.  

In the morning, the owner had told me a room opened up! I was super excited to have a place to sleep in this busy town.  I didn't want to move my things because I was running late for my island hopping tour that started at 9 p.m. I had told her I will get my keys when I return in the evening and gave her permission to move my bag into my room.  El Nido, less popular destination than Boracay, has recently become a big tourist area. Since 2007, when the underground river received the title, New Seven Wonders of Nature, El Nido has attracted many international and local tourist.  The big attraction in El Nido is Island Hopping. There are 5 different tour packages tour A, B, C, D, and E, however, no one really goes on E. The most popular are: tour A and C. Each tour comes with a buffet lunch. My first day, I went on tour A. Tour A includes a small and big lagoon, secret lagoon, Shimizu island, intalula island and 7 commando beach. The group from Sweden was going to join me for the tour, but the couple wasn't feeling too well and wanted to take it easy.  It would of been fun to do together, but I had a nice day regardless.  On the tour boat was about 10 people. One couple in their late 20s, not married, happened to be a Jewish. They were very nice and I enjoyed talking with them throughout the day.  Our first stop on the tour was swimming in the small lagoon followed by the big lagoon.  The small lagoon had a cool cave you could swim in. For lunch, we stopped at the shimizu island. Lunch included: assorted seafood (fish, crab, lobster), pork, avocado dip and fresh fruit (watermelon, mango and bananas). The food was outstanding! So fresh and tasty. The mango's in the Philippines were the best I've ever tasted.  

We came back around 5 p.m. In need of a shower, I headed back to my room. The owner was happy to see me and escorted me to my room.  As soon as she opened the door to my room my jaw dropped. I told the lady, my friends had said this was a hostel. This was definitely not one. It had a double bed with a shower. I asked her how much it was and the price was double what I expected. I said to her, "I'm not going to be able to afford staying here." I only had a few days left in the Philippines and had just enough money to last me the rest of my trip. Not knowing exactly what I was going to do. She left me to think about it. After contemplating for awhile, I decided to take a shower because I really needed one to rinse all the sand off my body.  While I was taking a shower, I kept hearing a knock at my door. Finally, I opened the door and the owner said, "there was a man downstairs wanting my room".  I could tell she was nervous I might leave and she wouldn't get the money for the room. I went downstairs. The man was from Spain in his early 30s. I told him briefly the story about the room. I said, "I know we don't know each other, but would you want to share the room with me. It's a double bed and we could split the cost of the room." He looked at me and understood the situation.  He was desperate and said, "sure why not. I could do that". 

It's crazy the things you do when you're desperate. I wouldn't normally do something like this, but I was on my own in a foreign country. He also really needed a room and it just seemed like a good idea at the time. Everything worked out well. He was a nice man. That night we got dinner and walked around the town/beach. The next day, we both wanted to enjoy a full day by the beach. We went together to a beach nearby about an hour walk from the town.  The beach was less populated and was the best place to view the sunset. 

In the evening, we went for dinner. I had chicken curry for like the 10th time.  I love the curry in the Philippines. :) 

The next morning, he left to his next destination and I went on my second island hopping tour, tour B.  Instead of the lagoons this tour included: cudognon and cathedral cave, snake island where you could hike a short distance to the top, pengulasian island, and Ipil beach. Our first stop was snorkeling by one of the islands. As I was snorkeling I could see box jellyfish all around me. I never seen so many jellyfish before. I tried not to pay too much attention to it and enjoy the coral and fish. Luckily, no one got stung! We made our way to snake island 

and then cudognon cave where we had lunch. While the boat captain and guide prepared lunch, we checked out the cave! It was so cool! 

We finished the day by another snorkel session at pinagbuyutan island, snapping a few pictures at cathedral cave and then enjoying some time at Ipil beach. Island hopping is really enjoyable and a nice way to spend the day. There are many tour groups you can sign up with and each company costs the same amount. You can either sign up with a company the night before or go early that morning and reserve your spot.  All the tour groups are located right in the town. 

My last day in the Philippines I decided to take it easy and enjoy the day.  I slept in, took a shower, checked out of the hotel and then treated myself to a nice lunch.  After lunch, I got a 1 hr full body message. Message's are very cheap in the Philippines. Mine happened to cost 400 ($10 USD), but you could get one for as low as $5 USD I heard in Manila. As I was buying a mango shake after my message, I met three travelers.  The three boys were very nice and invited me to join them for the day. We tried to find out how to get to these waterfalls, but everyone had said the falls were dried up right now. As we were thinking what to do, we bummed into the group I had met from Sweden the first night I was in El Nido. I was so excited to finally connect with them again. I had tried calling one of their cell numbers a few times, but just couldn't reach them the times I found a phone to call. All eight of us, ended up going to the beach I went two days before. It was a great afternoon and in the evening we all went for dinner. We ate at a place where they had live music; the group from Sweden knew the singer from an overnight boat trip they went on and wanted to watch her sing. It was a great day all around and was hard saying goodbye to the group. The last bus departing El Nido to Puerto Princesta was 10 p.m. and the bus was packed going back!  

We arrived in Puerto Princesta at 4 a.m. I hung out with some study abroad students studying in Hong Kong, we were on the same bus, until my flight at 9:00 a.m.  We tried to watch the sunset over the water, but ended up seeing only a fraction of it.  Once the sun came up, the students went to McDonald's to relax for awhile since they were tried and then eat some breakfast. I was really in the mood for some pancakes, so we departed ways and I found a breakfast place five minute walking distance from the airport. 

I got to the airport and my flight was delayed 3 hours! The reschedule time was not until 12 p.m. which meant I would miss my connecting flight in Manila at 12:50 p.m. I got to say this.. Zestair is the worst airlines I've ever seen. They basically said to me they would try to help me make my flight in Manila. But, after 40 minutes of waiting patiently for them to figure out a way to get me to Manila they said they couldn't do anything. They wanted to switch me to another airlines, but all other airlines were overbooked for their morning flights. They even showed me in their terms and conditions, they are only responsible for getting their customers from point A to point B, not point B to point C. I was so mad. I wasn't going to give up though.  So, I personally went to talk to CEBU Pacific and thankfully got myself a seat on their 10 am flight without any charge. But, had to basically take Zestair by the hand over to CEBU Pacific to talk to them about the situation. It was a crazy and frustrating morning to say the least. There were about 15 people at the counter for Zestair all on their cell phones, talking with each other and laughing. They didn't care one once about my flight or that I needed to get to Taipei for work on Monday even though they said they would do everything they could. Well, they didn't. If it weren't for me going over to talking to the other airlines nothing would of happened. Absolutely crazy.  

Back in Taipei, the environment changed drastically. No longer were people smiling at you as soon as you looked at them. I was hearing Chinese all around me as the Taiwanese went about their business.  I always liked Taiwan and felt the people were friendly and helpful, however, after experiencing the Filipino culture I had a new perspective on Taiwan especially the Taiwanese.  

I had a great trip to the Philippines and respect the culture. The Philippines to me was a bit like Croatia -- off the beaten track and a destination I had a desire to go.  Both are starting to become a bit more popular and by no time will be the next big hot spot. It's possible that one day I might even want to travel back to the Philippines. :) 

Fun weekend in Taipei

Two weekends ago (Jan. 19-20) was one of my favorite weekends in Taiwan. Saturday, Kristin, Dino and I went to Yangmingshan national park. Dino and I have been there once before, but it was Kristin's first time : ) We all met at the MRT at 11 a.m. and then took the bus to the park. Once we got there, we took a small shuttle bus farther into the park to the trail head of Mt. Datun. The hike up wasn't too bad; we stopped frequently to take pictures and look at the gorgeous views from above. We were all stunned standing on top of Mt. Datun main peak 1092 meters above sea level. It was breathtaking. Dino has been in Taiwan 3 years and he said, it was the most beautiful view he has seen in Taipei. You could see everything including Taipei 101, Danshui and so many areas of New Taipei City. We all sat down for awhile admiring the view and enjoying our snacks that we brought with us. It was getting late, so we didn't finish the 5.4 km trail, but we did part of it. Once we arrived back into the city we met Lisa, Dino's girlfriend for dinner at Chili's restaurant in Shimin, a very trendy area. We all had a good time chatting for a few hours. It was nice to finally have some western food. I had my first beef hamburger since I've been here; It was so delicious : ) It felt weird eating western food after so long. It was a fun day: good company, beautiful view and sunny weather. 

After a 12 hour day with Kristin and Dino. I woke up very early on Sunday to catch the local train to Gonglio at 8 a.m. Alex, designer from Principal school, invited me to his wife's parents home in Gonglio. Alex picked me up from the train station at 10 a.m. and brought me to a famous temple. After, we drove 20 minutes to his in law's home.  After meeting everyone, Alex took me on a scooter up a mountain to see a stunning view in Gonglio. I was speechless yesterday after seeing the view from Mt. Datun and I was speechless again after seeing this. It's crazy. I would never think Taiwan was as beautiful as it is. Every time I go somewhere in Taiwan, I say "This is my favorite place" and then I go somewhere else and say the same thing. Everywhere I go the views just get better and better. We spent almost two hours walking along the coast and looking around. When we got back to his in law's home there was a nice Taiwanese lunch ready for us with fish, vegetables, soup and rice. All the food was so fresh. We relaxed for awhile and then Linda, Alex's wife, showed me around her parent's home. They live far into Gonglio on a farm. They have their own rice field and animals. After she showed me a bit of the area, I walked around by myself for an hour just taking in the beauty. I couldn't believe someone lives in such a surreal location, it was absolutely beautiful.  Around 4 p.m. we all packed into Alex's car and went to meet Linda's friend from university and her family for dinner. Before we ate, we went to Fulong beach, a very popular beach on the east side of Taipei.  Unfortunately, we got there at 4:45 and since it's the winter months it closed early at 4:30. So, instead we drove up linjiu mountain to a large temple. The sun was just setting, which made the view even more beautiful. The restaurant we ate at was very popular seafood place. Alex had a connection with the restaurant, so he was able to get us a private room. We all ate so much with the 15 different dishes of lobster, snails, crab, fish, vegetables, rice, soup and so much more. Alex's family and their family friend (husband, wife and their 12 year old daughter) were all so pleasant to be around. It was another excellent day.  

Bringing in 2013 with my parents

My parents and I have been counting down the days until their arrival in Taiwan for months. After my parents soaked up the heat and culture for 1 week in Thailand, they flew to Taiwan to visit me. The eight days they were here over New Years went very fast, but then again that usually happens when you're having fun : ) The first three days they were here, I had time off from work for New Years. It also happened to be the coldest days in Taiwan since I've been here. 

The first day they were here I showed them the morning market near my house. My parents loved it especially my dad. He still talks about how much he loved it : ) After we picked up some fruit and lunch from the market, we took a bus to Jiaoxi in Yilan county (the first county on the east coast). It was about a two hour + ride there because of the rain. Once we got there it was already very late and extremely chilly. So, we went right to the hot springs. The hot springs we went to were traditional ones, therefore, men and women bathed separately. The women's hot baths including 7 different pools each with different temperatures ranging from very cold to around 43 Celsius! The men's hot baths only included 2 pools one very cold and one very hot. The hot springs were very relaxing; we all really enjoyed it!  After listening to some music in the square; we headed back to Taipei. 

The next day was New Years eve. We took the MRT to Xindian and grabbed a quick bit to eat. From Xindian you can take a 40 minute bus to Wulai, famous for its hot springs and aboriginal culture. Since we went to the hot springs the day before, we decided to walk around the small town and see a few waterfalls. The area was very beautiful and the old street was filled with people. After walking the old street we took the bus back to Xindian; we decided to stop for dinner before heading to Taipei 101 building to see the fireworks. The restaurant we ate at was located right along the river. My dad and I decided to share the two person 5 course meal. We ate soup, salad, meat/chicken kabobs, vegetables and fish. For dessert we had a ice cream lemon drink served with a delicious chocolate cake. It was all very tasty and filling, it was a fun meal to share : ) 

Taipei 101 New Years fireworks are very well known worldwide. It attracts around 800,000 people each year.  We had planned to take the MRT to Taipei city hall station, but had to get off one stop before due to the event at Taipei 101.  We got to Taipei 101 square around 8 p.m. and we had 4 hours until New Years. We walked around for awhile making sure we had the best view of the fireworks. We couldn't get directly in front of Taipei 101 with the huge crowd, so instead we stood near a big screen where we could watch the various performers on the stage.  Where we stood, was a nice boy and his dad from Indonesia.  The boy was 17, but he seemed much older. He spoke very nicely; he was polite and was very knowledgeable.   It was very enjoyable speaking with him as we waited for the fireworks. At 12 midnight, we didn't hear any countdown, instead the 188 seconds of fireworks immediately began. It was impressive fireworks; the fireworks cascaded up and down the Taipei 101 building. It was fun to watch and a great way to bring in the new year. Our way back on the MRT was horrible! There were so many people that we couldn't even get into the MRT station. We had to wait outside with the huge mob of people. There was a lady standing on top of a platform allowing only small amounts of people at a time. Every time she would let the front of the crown enter the doors of the MRT station, people would be pushing each other. It was very dangerous. A few times she would say, if anyone in the crown felt faint or needed to get to the front for any reason we should make a path for them. After two hours, we finally got to the doors and made our way to the train.  It was crazy getting back, but we finally made it home.  The whole event was an experience, but it was surely memorable as we brought in 2013! 

New Years Day - It was raining, so we decided to go to the National palace museum. The museum holds more than 690,000 objects from China, making it the premier holding of Chinese art and culture in the world! Entrance to the museum is free on new years day and four other days throughout the year, so we didn't have to pay anything, which is always nice. We thought since it was a free day we would see a huge crowd, but it wasn't bad because the museum is enormous.  Our favorite part of the museum was the top floor, which had the jade and ivory exhibits. After spending a few hours in the museum, we had dinner at the largest night market in Taipei Shilin. My parents were in aw of how mammoth it was. We ate tapinashi, basically food that is prepared right in front of you on a hot fire for supper.  It was a fun three days off from work; I was very happy to spend it with my parents : ) 

Wednesday - I had to go back to work, but my parents spent a fun filled day in Hualien at Taroko National park on the east coast of Taiwan. They had a wonderful time and thought Taroko was beautiful : ) 

Thursday - My parents came to work with me in the morning. I introduced them to everyone: Uncle Victor (principal), Angela (head of school), co-teachers, Alex, and of course Kristin and Dino. My mom had a ball with the Taiwanese children : ) You could tell she was right in her element. At 9:30, my parents came to watch me teach my first class, which was K3C my favorite ;) I wasn't too nervous, but I could tell my parents were watching me very closely especially my mom. After class my parents wanted to take a picture of me with the students, which I thought was cute. My parents only watched me teach one class as I wanted them to explore Taipei city. They went to Longshan temple, Chiang Kai-Sheik memorial hall, inside Taipei 101, Beitou and met me for dinner in Neihu at Miramar entertainment park where the big ferries wheel is located. 

Friday - I took a day off from work, only day all semester, so I could have a three day weekend with my parents. We spent the three days in southern Taiwan. Early Friday morning, we got all our stuff together and headed to the car rental shore. The 3 1/2 hour drive to Tainan was easy and beautiful.  We had a little difficult time finding our hotel at first, but lucky my mom spotted the road our hotel was on. We put our stuff in our room and decided to take a taxi into the old part of the town. Tainan, regarded as the oldest city in Taiwan, has many famous foods, temples, and historical buildings. The old part of the city was so small that everything close around 5-5:30. Unfortunately, that meant we didn't see as much as we would of liked.  The one thing we went into was the Anping Fort, first and oldest fort in Taiwan. Since everything was closed after we saw the fort, we walked around the area. We saw many merchant houses build in the 19th century including one that belonged to Japanese Salt Industry. We also saw the memorial hall for Chu Jiouying, creator of Chinese Calligraphy! It was nice to learn about the trading of salt because on Saturday we went to a salt mountain and saw many salt fields.

Saturday - We drove along the southwest coast scenic area. We saw many temples along the way including one that was ginormous. 

Our first touristy spot was the Taiwan's salt museum. Taiwan's only museum solely devoted to its salt prodcution. There we climbed the highest salt mountain in Taiwan and got a view of the extremely flat land.  

From there we made our way to Jingzaijiao tile-paved salt fields, oldest salt fields still existing in Taiwan.  We learned about the salt production, which we all thought was very interesting. Crystal salt is made by pouring seawater into the salt pans, which is then evaporated by the sun.  The tile, almost looks like a mosaic, prevents the dirt from sticking to the salt.  

Along the southwest coast lies Taijiang national park. Within the park are many migratory birds including the black-faced spoonbills.  Our next stop, we were able to see through a telescope the black faced spoonbills. My mom had said, "this is something someone sees on national geographic" It was very neat to see the spoonbills with our own eyes as they one of the endangered species of the world. As we watched the sun going down, we know we had to leave the park behind and head to our next destination Kaohsiung city, second largest city in Taiwan.  

Sunday - After arriving very late last night into Kaohsiung, we did a little exploring in the city on Sunday morning before we made our way north. Right near Kaohsiung zoo lies a mountain in which we drove up.  As we were driving along looking at the beautiful coast on our left, we saw moneys! We stopped to snap a few pictures, but didn't get out of our car as we were a bit afraid after our encounter in Japan. (A man almost got bit as he was taking pictures of the monkeys).  The monkeys didn't seem bothered by all the tourist gathered around because people casually fed them. 

A bit out of the city center was lotus lake.  A beautiful lake with many temples and pagodas.  

After a few hours of sightseeing in Kaohsiung city, we made our way to Pingtung county and then to Maolin scenic area. The drive was absolutely stunning and Maolin was gorgeous. We were loosing day light and tried to make it to Mt. Yushan (tallest mountain in Taiwan, half the size of Everest), but unfortunately didn't make it there. Instead, we stopped the car as the sunset was setting and ate dinner before making the 3 1/2 hour drive back to Taipei.  

It was hard saying goodbye to my parents early Monday morning, but good things always come to an end. We had a fun filled week together, and we will always remember this time together.  I'm so glad they were able to visit me and see my life in Taiwan. I know, they had a fabulous time and were blown away with everything I have accomplished in Taiwan and how beautiful the country is. 

Rainy Season

Winters back home are very cold. For three or more months were bundled up with hats and gloves, and wearing a heavy winter coat.  Snow covers the ground and trees and you will see people shoveling their drive ways. In Taiwan, winter is nothing like Minnesota. November, December and January is the rainy season here. This past year, the middle of November to middle of December, it rained non stop in Taiwan. I've never witnessed rain for an entire month straight! It never stopped! I would wake up in the morning and watch the rain fall from the sky. Throughout the day it rained and the whole evening it rained. The cycle would start all over again, never clearing up for even just a day. The mornings were hard to get out of bed. It was dark, rainy and cold. You didn't want to do much on weekends as it was unpleasant to go out. The middle of December, the rain finally let up and I was outside in a blink of an eye. The first sunny day, I took a day trip to Yangmingshan national park. 

Yangmingshan national park, located in the north, is one of the eight national parks in Taiwan. It's the only national park in Taiwan that has volcanic geography and hot springs! It's right in Taipei making it very convenient to get to. Near the park entrance was the information center. I usually don't stop there as I like to discover places on my own. But, that day I decided to stop in. I've been wanting to go to Yangmingshan national park even before I arrived in Taiwan. For that reason, I wanted to get a map to see all the possible hiking trails and places to explore as I plan to come back several times while living in Taipei. There was a man at the information counter that stopped me and asked, "Where I was from?" Him and I talked for awhile.  Before I left, I asked him what do you recommend.. He said, "Come with me.." He walked me out the front door and in the middle of the parking lot pointed to a road. He said, "Follow that road, that is what I recommend". Little did I know, I was climbing the highest peak in Yangmingshan nation park, mt. Qixing! 

The first half of the trail consist of lush trees and uphill steps. I couldn't see much of the view until about an hour when all of a sudden it opened up and the peak was within eye sight! It was unbelievable gorgeous. I couldn't believe my own eyes. Right then, it became extremely windy and cold. I had to quickly put on my raincoat (lucky I brought it) and started climbing to the top. The view from the main peak, 1120m, was breathtaking! It was hard to stay up there for long as the combination of wind and cold were making my eyes tear up. Instead of turning back, which many people do, I decided to continue the trail for another 1 1/2 km. I'm very glad I did as the scenery was much different than the first half. Rather than the lush trees the land was filled with rock and sulfur. You could smell the sulfur as you were climbing down the steps.  I must say, I enjoyed the second half of the trail much better than the first half. The total length of the trail was 5.7 km, which took about 3 1/2 hours. By the time I reached the trail head, the sun was about to set. The beautiful sunset was a perfect end to my hike.    

Sick is no fun, thankfully, there are many hot springs in Taiwan :]

For the past month, ever since I fainted, I haven't felt well.  Right now, I'm just getting over a cold/cough.  Thankfully on Thanksgiving day, I'm actually feeling better for once.  I can't recall a time that I've been sick for a month straight.. It's crazy what a new environment and climate can do to a person's body.  Other foreigners told me, your bound to get sick.  They all told me they got sick very badly when they first got here.  But, I kept thinking no that won't happen to me; I've always been so healthy. 

So, for the past month I've been taking it pretty easy.  When I first got my cold, my whole body just ached.  I thought to myself, this might be the perfect time to check out the hot springs nearby.  So, two weekends ago on Saturday afternoon, I took the MRT to Beitou hot springs.  The hot springs in Beitou are the most popular in northern Taiwan.  The area of Beitou both the facilities and manmade attraction were established during the Japanese occupation.  Before heading into the outdoor public baths, I stopped to look at the hot spring museum right beside it.  There were many tourist looking at the historical bathhouse as it's one of the largest Japanese-style wooden buildings in Taiwan.  Looking at the Japanese style building and hot spring bath facilities in the museum, I was reminded of the ones I saw in Japan with my family.  : ) It brought back the memories of when we went into the hot springs 'nude' in Japan. 

The entrance fee to the hot springs was very cheap.  It was 40 NT, which is less than $1.50!  There were a total of 6 different soaking baths: 2 cold, 2 hot, and 2 extremely hot baths.  I was very surprised when I first saw the baths.  My first reaction was, it wasn't as beautiful as the ones I went to in Japan.  After soaking in the water for awhile and talking to some of the people there, I began to really enjoy the hot baths.  Sadly, an hour later, a whistle blows and everyone had to get out of the water and leave the baths to allow the next group to come in.  The baths are organized in a time schedule.  There are 2 1/2 hour incriminates of time allocated to each group.  If you want to stay longer, you could pay an additional 20 NT, but you still had to get out for cleaning purposes.  It's recommended not to stay longer than an hour, so I decided to leave and come back another time.  It was very nice!  For free you can check out the stream that also has the spring water. How many times do you feel a hot stream! 

After, I walked a few minutes up the road to Thermal Valley, one of the sources supplying the area's hot springs.  I read on a sign that thermal valley contains green sulfur; this type of water can be found in two places n the world, Taiwan @ Beitou and Japan! Many people were taking pictures and looking at the hot sulfur rising from the ground.  The water temperature ranges from 80-100 Celsius.  I'm glad I stopped to look, it was very cool! 

Just this last Sunday, I invited Kristin to go on a day trip with me to Jinguashi and Jiufen.  All week the forecast said, it was suppose to rain the whole day, but the night before I saw the forecast change to sunny day on Sunday.  My plan was to visit the geological park in Jinguashi and climb tea pot mountain, but the weather prevented us from doing so as it rained the entire day! Thank you forecast for making a wrong predicting.  The rain put a little damper on our trip, but we still managed to make the most out of the rainy day.  

We took the local train from Taipei to Ruifang (about an hour) and from there took a bus to Jinguashi (about 25 minutes).  The area of Jinguashi is amazing!!! You can see the sea and the mountains in one shot.  It's absolutely stunning area. I would have to say this is my new favorite destination, and it's so close to where I live. Besides, the great view, the area of Jinguashi is famous for gold-mining.  We spent the afternoon walking around the gold ecological park and looking at the numerous attractions including the gold refining building (originally a guesthouse when Taiwan was a Japanese colony), Crown Prince Chalet residence and the variety of exhibitions.  We even took a special tour of Benshal No. 5 tunnel to get a closer look at gold mining in Jinguashi.  After the tour, we climbed up a bit of stairs to see Jinguashi Shinto Shrine, as we were climbing up, we saw to the left of us tea pot mountain.  It actually looked like a tea pot : )  I'm hoping to come back and climb it!  On our way out of the park, we decided to stop and take a tour of the Japanese-style residence.  It was once a dormitory for high level Japanese company employees and now is turned into a display area for visitors to see how they lived.  The building is one of the few remaining in Taiwan and has become a popular location for filming movies as many people love the Japanese old style architecture.  Kristin, is big into history and saw on the tourist map there was a POW memorial.  We started walking towards it (actually we never made it there), but we came across Cyuanji temple that has the big bronze warrior statue.   You can see this statue from far away, so it was cool seeing it up close.  We took the bus back in the direction of Ruifang train station to Jiufen old street.  The bus ride back wasn't as beautiful as the way there with the thick gray clouds and the heavy rain.  Kristin and I enjoyed a nice dinner together in the cute old street of Jiufen that overlooked the sea and mountains.  We walked along the old street looking at the shops until it was time to catch the train back to Taipei.  It was a nice day and the views make me want to come back on a sunny day : )  

It's been three months since I've moved to Taiwan, crazy to think it's already been that long.  Just a few days ago, on my half day, I got my Taiwan bank account set up.  It took a bit of time to open my account since I had to wait for my ARC to arrive.  I feel so official now : )  After I opened up my account, I decided to climb a mountain near Yongning station.  The hike was steeper than I expected.  It was very well paved path and light poles alighted the way.  I started the climb around 4 p.m., so by the time I came down the sun had already set.  It was cool to see both the day and night view of the city from up above.  I remember before coming to Taiwan I wanted to do a lot of hiking. So far, I haven't done as much as I wanted to, but I'm hoping to do more. It's so easy to get to the mountains as they are all around Taipei. When else will I get such easy access to so many great mountains : ) 

~I am thankful for.. my family, my few close friends, the countless people I have met who have helped shape me, my home in America, my health, food and water, my job in Taiwan, my co-teachers, all the great experiences and traveling I have been fortunate to have, my education, Bradley University, the few jobs I have had, and my computer that I spend hours on ;)   

Couch Surfing: Bike Riding Events

I went to my first couch surfing event!  It was a great experience : )  The guy that organized the ride has biked around the world.  He's started about 10 years ago and has biked all through the Middle East and Asia; he is really incredible.  There were about 20 people at the event both foreigners and Taiwanese of all ages. There was one Taiwanese lady who was in her 60s, she was in great shape!  There was also a guy from Pakistan.  He was on a two week business trip and had the weekends off to enjoy the city. Another guy, who I had the pleasure of talking with during the ride started his own company in Taiwan.  Originally from Canada, he and his co-founder came with the idea of "making the ordinary, out of the ordinary." Take a look www.mohzy.com/world/en The ride was 20 kms total, 4 of which were up a steep hill overlooking Taipei 101 building.  The hill, known as Elephant mountain, goes through the biggest cemetery in Taiwan.  Most people call this path the cemetery walk.  We made a circle, starting at Gongguan MRT station, up the hill and down past Taipei zoo and along the river route and then back to Gongguan.  It was a nice easy ride with views of south Taipei.  Afterwards, most of us stayed and ate at an outdoor mexican restaurant outside Taipei water park.  It was fun chatted with the group, sharing our cultures and stories.  The couch surfing community is a great way to met so many diverse people from all over the world while sharing and learning from one another.   

 

The following Sunday, I went on my second couch surfing event, but it didn't go so well.. I fainted before we even began our ride.

Sunday, October 21st 

I woke up early, made myself a nice balanced breakfast and made perfect timing on the MRT.  I spotted the CS right away, the guy with the bike kinda gave it away ;) I introduced myself to a German girl, Finland guy and a Taiwanese.  We all began talking and getting to know each other.  The rest of the group were sitting by some benches, which we didn't see at first.  It was great to see many familiar faces from last weekend.  The people who didn't have bikes all went to rent ones.  When we got back the group had doubled in size.  We all were talking like usual.  I was standing talking to a guy I had met last weekend, originally from Africa who later moved to Australia and now has been teaching in Taiwan for almost 20 years. All of a sudden, things began to get blurry around me and in the middle of a sentence I quickly went to my bike to grab my water bottle, thinking it would help.  I drank my water and about 30 seconds later, I said to myself I think I need to sit down.  I sat down on the bench and apologize to this girl because there really wasn't any room on the bench, but I needed to sit down.  I told her I think I'm going to faint.  She said, I wasn't looking too good and to continue drinking water.  Not even a minute later, she is like yeah your not looking good.  The guy next to her said, she needs to lie down.  As he was having me lie down, I just fainted.  

I could hear the group of CS around me say, open your eyes.  But, all I wanted to do was lay their for awhile. They grabbed someone working at the train station and asked me if they should get an ambulance, but I just said to them, no I'm fine.  The sweet girl from Germany told me my face had turned purple.  We all agreed I shouldn't ride today and instead take it easy. I returned my bike with the help of the nice guy from Africa.  I was bummed I couldn't go on the ride.  But, it's better to be safe than push it even more.  So, instead I decided to at least enough the day around Xindian, where I was, and explore the area.  

As I was walking across the bridge, not to long after I left the CS group, I ran into a girl I had met through Torin (the guy I stayed with when I first arrived in Taiwan), another Hess teacher.  She was with two guys.  I hadn't seen her for awhile, so it was really nice to catch up with her.  They invited me to explore the area with them and I gladly said yes.  There was a nice trail at the other end of the bridge.  Even though I should be taking it easy, I decided to join them on a hike.  Initially, we didn't know where it was going to lead us or how intense it was going to be.  We ended up climbing up many stairs to a summit in which you could see the whole city even Taipei 101. It was stellar!  

Later that night, we were walking through the market and stopped to grab something to eat at a middle eastern vendor. A few people in back of the line called my name, it was the CS!  They had finished their bike trip and were also getting something to eat at the same vendor.  I had told them I stayed around the area and ended up going on a hike.  They were really scared for me, I tried to tell them I felt okay.  Once we got our food, we all took it back by the waterside and sat and chatted for awhile.  It was relaxing. 

That night I took a nice shower and went to bed early to recover from my day.  I woke up on Monday feeling well.  But, later that afternoon I began to get dizzy and had to take it easy.  I spoke with my co-teachers and they said I could sit down and teach my classes.  I decided to go to the hospital right after school to find out what the deal was.  It's better to be safe than sorry especially because I fainted and that never happened before.  So, immediately when I got back, I took the MRT to Far Eastern Hospital.  It was unfortunate that the clinic wasn't open that evening so I had to go to the  ER if I wanted to be seen today.  I wanted to take care of the issue that day, so I just decided to pay the extra money (basically triple in price since I still didn't have my medical card) and go to the ER.  After speaking with a doctor, we agreed I would take a blood test and have an EKG test.  I waited for over a hour for the doctor to give me my results.  He said everything was good, my blood test and my EKG.  He gave me some medicine for dizziness and said I had motion sickness.  I kept telling him I don't think it's motion sickness... But, that's what he think it is.  He said he's seen many people like me before.  

I'm thinking it might of been a combination of heat exhaustion (it was a really hot day on Sunday) and altitude sickness.  The next few days I wasn't feeling the greatest.  In the morning, I would be fine and towards the afternoon and evening, I just become dizzy : ) I took some of the medicine he gave me for two days and by Thursday I felt a lot better.  I'm not sure what it was, but I hope that doesn't happen again!