See what´s really "Made in Taiwan"

    
Taiwan, Asia

You´ve heard it before "made it Taiwan" and I´m sure at least 349 different items you own have it stamped, sewn, ingrained or tagged on the product. However, do you really know what they make in Taiwan?! Check it out:

 

In lieu of Jennifer Hansen´s birthday today, I´ve decided to blog about a trip I made with her..... last summer. I know, I know... where does the time go. But well, even though it´s been a while- it still merits a good blog post on my web page as it was, truly, a trip of a lifetime with a lifelong friend.

After my summerly stay in Galicia, España, I headed "home" early to meet Jen and travel in "my area" for a week or so. We toured around to see Seoul (aka my terf) and flew on to Taiwan. I really enjoyed Taiwan. Read on to hear a few of the adventures.


A word to the wise: When eating in Taiwan, find an area that lends itself to many restaurants, food stalls or shopping mall like food courts. Jen had neatly marked many restaurant choices in our Taiwan Lonely Planet to find that all of them had either shut down or no longer exist.

However- we didn´t go hungry: lookie here!

tofu, carrots, sauce and the little green things- Side #1 for Meg- not bad!

Beefy, noodly soup for Jen- stirring found little surprises along the way-- also not bad!

Interesting little sweet potato fried cakes- tasty to say the least. Nice combo of crunchy, sweet and deep fat fried.

Dislaimer: we did not eat this.

Stinky tofu is a very common street stall snack in Southest Asia. It´s fermented tofu, often made right in front of your eyes and well, it stinks-- A LOT! So much that when we crossed the stinky tofu isle at the night market, we hurried right by holding our breath the whole time. Here is a pic!

If you are feeling adventurous, I suggest it. If not, take a whiff and pass by.

click here to read more! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinky_tofu

 

Um, so there are a LOT of awesome architectural wonders in Taiwan. Jen and I ventured to many of them around the city and outside on the coast as well and here is what we found!



 國立國父紀念館

This hall is very impressive to say the LEAST! I LOVED IT! We first visited around evening and decided it was worth a day trip as well. I took tons of pictures and as you can see- it was a photographers paradise. There is something for everyone as a cultural, social and educational center. It also houses a very large "Lincoln-like" statue of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of "Republican China" and holds many roles in Chinese, Taiwanese, Hong Kongese and general Chinese-Taiwanese touchy / warlord history. Read more about him by clicking the link on his name above.

   

   

 

 

    

These last shots are of a group of teenagers drumming on plastic garbage cans and a quite large group of older "salsa" dancers. Nightime is an alive time in Taipei- the weather is so unbearable during the day it´s almost the only time to be outdoors. 

In addition to these photos of the main building, Taipei also houses memorial grounds, a Mausoleum, an impressive entrance gate that seems to leap out of a Disney movie, and parks all in Sun Yat-sen´s name.

Here´s a few pics of around the other side-

 

保安宮

Another impressive venue for photography. Roll your eyes if you will, but it came in handy to have 3 different cameras for this place: the amazing 40D, my Canon quick shot for the great color swaps you see, and the FlipVideo for a great little video opp of some kids practicing traditional martial arts with long bambu sticks out the back alley of the temple. 

Check out the AMAZING DETAILS on the Taoist temple. Bao-An is one of the cities leading religious sites and houses original, wooden structures dating to 1760! According to Lonely Planet, the Goddess of birth is enshrined in the bell tower therefore, lots of pregos visit the site (for real). 

   

   

    

   

   

      

龍山寺

 

As you may have guessed by now, religious life in Taiwan is up and jumping 7 days a week. Longshan is absolutely no exception. Although it is not the biggest, it is extremely unique and beautiful. 

Longshan dates to 1738 and is multidenominational enshrining 166 deities. The goddess Matsu is the centerpeice and provides safety to travellers by sea or land and is flanked by two male guards- one is said to see 1000 miles and the other hears 1000 miles. 

Outside the temple- women sell magnolias and monks vend cedarwood beads. Check out the amazing arquetecture then the red neon flashing lights under the hundreds-year-old entrance gate. haha 

Here´s a look inside:

   

   

    

   

 

(one of my favorites!)

The lilly pond- we didn´t see any frogs :(

 

I totally know why they wear these huge hats- it´s soooooo hot outside!

...more later, folks! The Taiwan blog part 2 coming up soon.