Laowai Kevin

This is Formosa Boulevard Station, and pictured above is the Dome of Light, consisting of two giant light columns and one heck of a ceiling. Between Taipei and Kaohsiung, Taiwan has some of the best public transits systems in the world. Clean, clear, and efficient, with bathrooms in just about every single station, the MRT is a joy to use and gets you where you need to be quickly.

Love River is a river that flows 7.5 miles through Kaohsiung to Kaohsiung Harbor. At night, it is beautifully lit and makes for a nice place to sit, stroll, or take a boat ride.

We took a boat tour along the river and had a chance to learn a little bit about the river's history. The water used to be polluted, literally black, but since 1979, the city's efforts have drastically improved the water quality to be much cleaner today.

Eating in Taiwan does not require an open mind to get by, but if you want the most out of your stay, I certainly recommend acquiring one. Stinky tofu may sound and smell like a train wreck of a dish, but I find it to be one of the most delicious things in Taiwan. I returned with my friend to my favorite place to eat stinky tofu in Kaohsiung. The above variant is deep fried and accompanied by pickled vegetables, and is usually served this way throughout Taiwan.

I've previously covered gua bao, what most refer to as a Taiwanese hamburger, containing porkbelly, pickled vegetables and/or cilantro, and ground peanuts. This time in Kaohsiung my friend took me to a place that pairs gua bao with duck stomach soup (not pictured). Please believe me when I say these two pair like a fine steak with a fine red wine.

A Taiwan staple, beef noodle soup is just what the name describes. My favorite place to eat beef noodle soup is in Kaohsiung. Beef, broth, and noodles, it always fills you up, and never lets you down.

This is a small horse that somehow managed to support me for one lap around my friend's relative's horse ranch. They have two small horses and about eight other larger horses. The small horse was brought out initially to carry my friend's nephew, and then I was encouraged to also take a lap. 

This is one of several banana trees next to my friend's grandmother's house in Pingtung, my favorite county and place in Taiwan. From these trees to pineapple trees to taro fields, Pingtung is filled with many beautiful sights.

Flowers all over the garden

My friend's grandmother generously kept handing us all kinds of fruit. This is a wax apple. Being a tropical island, Taiwan's fruits and vegetables are ridiculously fresh and delicious. This has to be one of the juiciest fruits I've ever bitten into.

Pineapple and/or betel nut trees as the sun sets on Pingtung

There was supposed to be a Part 2 to the Kenting post, but I'm currently missing some details on places I'd like to share and will come back to Kenting in a later post.

Please enjoy this rock that somewhat resembles a tiger (or lion?), found along the beach in Kenting.

The next two posts will be chock full of food and Kaohsiung.

I spent a good chunk of the past week in 墾丁 (Kenting), Taiwan's oldest and southernmost national park. There's a lot of beach to be covered, making Kenting a popular surfing spot. Traveling with my friend and her family, we drove along the coast and saw some beautiful sights.

There are a number of aboriginal communities in the south of Taiwan, and we passed through a few during our trip. This is an aboriginal high school.

Our second morning in Kenting, we had rice porridge, various vegetables, and a little bit of egg for breakfast, a nice light and tasty start to the day.

For lunch, we stopped at a restaurant featuring a number of old items of interest from movie posters to record albums. I have yet to look up The Wynners, but I will certainly be giving them a listen at some point.

In the evening, Kenting's main road turns into a night market. We stopped through and enjoyed the ever delicious 香腸 (xiāng cháng), a delightful savory and slightly sweet sausage. Like any sausage, when done right, there's a killer snapping of the casing when biting through. This stand in particular is unlike others in that it carries a number of types of xiang chang. The above make and model is flying fish eggs xiang chang.

I'm back in Taipei now, but will put up Part 2 of Kenting and stuff about Kaohsiung later on.

This is 蛋餅 (dàn bǐng), a delightful and delicious breakfast treat that is essentially a savory crepe filled with egg and varying fillings from ham to bacon to vegetables to corn. You’ll find it at breakfast stands all over Taiwan, and may also find it difficult to not want to eat it every day. Dan bing also pairs very well with the popular 豆漿 (dòu jiāng) – soy milk

I’ve been in Taipei the last five days catching up with friends and exploring New Taipei City. I’m staying in 板橋 (Bǎn qiáo). New Yorkers: New Taipei City is to Brooklyn, as Banqiao is to, let’s say, Crown Heights. Door-to-door, I’m twenty minutes from Taipei Main Station in Taipei City (Manhattan), which is basically Grand Central Station.

A couple days ago, I enjoyed one of the best cappuccinos I think I’ve ever had at the cafe pictured above. The cafe culture in Taipei is fantastic. There are many cozy, quiet places to enjoy a drink or a bite and catch up with a friend. You can almost always get a seat at even the nicest places, and if you want, you can even make a reservation!

I’m now on my way to visit a friend in the second largest city in Taiwan, 高雄 (Gāo xióng), via the Taiwan High Speed Rail. It only takes an hour and a half to travel the ~220 miles between the two cities. During my stay in Taiwan, I’m shooting as much video as I can in hopes of putting together a neat montage of things when I get back. I’ll be posting up a couple clips here and there during the next couple weeks.

A tradition, before I leave for a long trip overseas, I like to have one staple New York meal I know I won’t be having for awhile. I give you the deli hero. It, along with several other sandwiches, can be made to order and enjoyed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. While the hero may appear plain Jane, my favorite corner deli makes one simply delicious, oversized hero that easily makes for one two meals. My order is as follows:

Ovengold turkey, provolone, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, salt, pepper, and vinegar

Made to perfection, the deli hero is such a large work of art, it will not fit lengthwise on a standard household plate. The hero is but one of many treats the New York deli has to offer. From common household items to color commentary from employees and patrons alike, your corner deli has everything and more.

As always for me, a trip never feels like it’s happening until I’m actually sitting, seatbelt secured, on an airplane. My mind remains in NYC until takeoff, but the moment the wheels go up, it’s time to watch my most anticipated airplane movie of the year - Taken 3 starring Liam Neeson. I can’t wait to see how it all ends while eating microwaved scrambled eggs and soggy toast served in a bite-sized plastic dish.

I get in on Wednesday, and will post up literally the first thing I see after I land.

Before January 2011, the pages of my passport were blank. In fact, I didn't have a passport and my driver's license was likely expired. Visiting Taiwan changed all that and finally gave me a valid, government-issued form of identification. Taiwan did more than that though. What started as a curiosity and vacation destination ended up becoming a massive life-changing experience for me. Taiwan is now a big part of who I am. Learning to listen, eat, respect, appreciate and understand new culture, new people, step more out of a comfort zone, and generally slow my roll altogether – this is an incomplete top-level list of things I'm thankful to take away from Taiwan, carry with me daily, and hope to use in contributing back into Taiwan with each visit.

Having been two years since I last visited, I'm going back next week for one month, and can't wait to see old friends, make new ones, revisit old places, and explore new ones. I'm also excited to be in Taiwan to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

For anyone who knows me well, I've already given you the spiel on why I love Taiwan, and why you should visit. For anyone who knows me at all and cares to follow me on my journey this time around, I'll be updating this blog as often as I can with what I'm up to.

There is one wrinkle this time though, which is that I'm staying off the computer for the vast majority of my stay in Taiwan, as I've spent too much time on it in recent months. Therefore, posts may be short, but I will try to make them frequent and fun.

As always, I'm excited to once again experience the hustle, bustle, and food delights of the Taiwanese night markets. This is a flashback to my first visit in Kaohsiung (高雄)'s Liuhe Night Market (六合夜市) when I was still heavily jet-lagged and ate snake soup for the first time. This is definitely a unique item to find in a night market, and it was tasty.

I head out next Tuesday, and will post again then. In the meantime, feel free to check out the Taiwan Tourism website: http://www.go2taiwan.net/

親愛的朋友們：我的第二次在台灣是美妙的歷險因為你們，我真的不能感謝你們就夠了。我認為台灣我第二家，你們都非常大方和為我的中文很耐心。我很高興回來了紐約，但是雖然我腦子是在這裡，我心還是在台灣，再見。

To everyone that helped make this second trip to Taiwan once again an incredible experience, I truly cannot thank you enough. You've all made Taiwan become a second home for me from your extreme generosity to your patience with my now-slightly-less-broken-but-still-broken Chinese. While I am excited to have returned to NYC, a good chunk of me still remains in Taiwan. See you all again soon.

I had a chance to do a few more things before hitting the dusty trail, including striking gold with the smallest possible prize in the recent Taiwan lottery - NT$200 (approximately $6 USD). Every time you buy something in Taiwan, you receive a receipt with a 8-digit number and designated lottery period at the top. Every two months winning numbers are released and you have a shot at winning big (or small). An English explanation and winning numbers are available on Tealit's website.

Stinky tofu, one more time.

I saw a friend of a friend perform several Claude Debussy pieces on piano at the National Concert Hall.

Before my return flight, I rose early to go to the top of Taiwan's tallest (and used to be the world's tallest) building, Taipei 101.

101 from the very bottom

101 from the very top

Dan bing breakfast near 101

Sometime these scarecrow-like guys show up waving their arms whenever street construction is happening in Taipei. They're fun.

While visiting Kaohsiung, my friend and I visited a small community which featured several works of art on the streets between houses.  Here are a handful of what we saw:

Also found a very troubled VW bus.

I went back to Kaohsiung last weekend for one more visit.  It turned out to be one of the most fun weekends of the summer, and I was lucky enough to see Kaohsiung via motor scooter.

A friend and I queued up to get on a boat that took us to 旗津 (Qijin) (which you may remember last time was unfortunately too typhoony to explore).

Once we landed on Qijin, we took a really nice walk near the beach

And met some goose friends.

Later that night, we saw the second part of a two-part Taiwanese historical drama film, Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale (not the astonished teen ad pictured above).  I did not see the first part, most of the film was in a Taiwanese aboriginal language or Japanese, and I could read maybe 20% of the Chinese subtitles at best.  However, through the very, very patient occasional explanations of my friend, I was able to understand a good chunk of what was going on.  Honestly, even without a full understanding, I thought it was an outstanding film.

It's also a bonus when you can bring Taiwan beer into the theater.

One day left, and still a lot of other stuff to jam into this blog before I jet.  Before I leave, I'll try to cover my second day in Kaohsiung, the days I spent in Kenting, and my last day in Taipei.

Yesterday evening, a friend took me to Raohe Street Night Market.  The above character tiles lead up to one of Raohe's entrances (reading the full name - 饒河街觀光夜市)

Raohe has a few different entrances, one of which features a pair of owls with eyes that continuously fade between several different colors.

Once inside Raohe, we moved at a pretty fast clip, so I didn't have a chance to take many good photos of the food we ate.  I had a chance to enjoy several items including a glass of winter melon tea, 豬血糕 (pig's blood cake; Google Translate that one), and 手捲 (shou juan, a cornucopia of vegetables and mayonnaise in a seaweed wrap; pictured above).  UPDATE: The above is temaki sushi.

Just outside one of the entrances to Raohe rests Ciyou Temple.  We briefly stepped inside to take a look around.

I have just a shade over a week left in Taiwan.  Still a bit of time left to squeeze in a few more adventures.

A friend recently introduced me to a Japanese restaurant famous for their chicken.  After waiting in line for 45 minutes, we sat down and got cracking.  For the first time ever, I used a mortar and pestle.

I don't know what it is about the tool, but I really enjoyed using it for making the sauce and seed mix for our chicken.

The main event.  Well worth the wait.

On the way home, I stumbled upon a pack of dogs; all seven belong to a very friendly couple.

我第一次試小籠包是在紐約。那時候，傑克跟欣怡給我介紹一家好好吃的餐廳。我很快發現，我就開始迷上小籠包，所以我就常常去吃。

標準小籠包的裡面有豬肉和湯。台灣的最有名的小籠包家是鼎泰豐。這個公仔是鼎泰豐的吉祥物。如果他是真的，我會吃他。

因為我寫中文很慢，這個部落格文章很短。謝謝你的瀏覽。現在我要去睡覺了，晚安！而且，圖書館在哪裡？

Public transportation in Taipei is very convenient and makes getting around dead simple.  I live along the Taipei Metro Brown Line and occasionally find myself at the above platform for the Blue Line at Zhongxiao Fuxing Station.

Some stations have some pretty neat things on the platforms.  I found the above at National Taiwan University Hospital Station.

One day while riding the Blue Line, I discovered that I'm the exact height of the car doorway.

When flying solo (or duo) in Taipei, the moped is an extremely popular option.

When heading a long distance out of Taipei, the Taiwan High Speed Rail is the fastest option, getting you down to southern most stop, Zuoying, in an hour and a half.

Not entirely by myself, but rather with the help of Shin Yi's 舅妈 (jiùmā, which = aunt) and cousins, we ate two whole chickens.  I recently visited Kaohsiung for a second time.  I enjoyed a snake during my previous visit last February.

We worked on the chicken from the comfort of jiùmā's cousin's cafe.  The cafe features several tables and chairs built using traditional Chinese furniture craftsmanship.  The joints are designed to hold together without using glue or nails.

Right next to the cafe is a large, beautiful garden that jiùmā's cousin has been developing by himself for the past seven years.

A traditionally crafted wooden chair

The cafe also featured several amethyst clusters and other artwork for sale.

I finally experienced my first typhoon.  Once the rain died down some, I briefly went to a beach on 旗津 (Qijin), an island just off of Kaohsiung, and experienced probably the fiercest wind I've ever felt in my life.  I also had a chance to see Kaohsiung via moped with one of Shin Yi's cousins (pictured above).  Mopeds are extremely popular in Taiwan for getting around locally.

I recently took a stroll through Liberty Square to have a look at the famous monument erected in memory of Chiang Kai-shek (a former president of Taiwan), National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.

Also located in the square are the National Theater and the National Concert Hall (the Concert Hall is pictured above).

Liberty Square archways

Inside the National Concert Hall is a restaurant that claims to serve the original bubble tea.  Naturally, I've heard there is at least one other restaurant that argues that they are real deal.  Regardless, this bubble tea was tasty!

Alright, now for some random items.  This is the standard traffic light in Taipei.  Like many other modern lights, this one counts down your walk time.  However, beneath the countdown is a little green man that walks along with you.  When the countdown gets close to zero, he starts running.

Bet you didn't know you could marry apple juice and milk.  I didn't.  It's good!

Fengjia Night Market in Taichung has been claimed to be the largest night market in Taiwan.  There's a Chinese idiom that approximately means "huge crowds": 人山人海 (rénshānrénhǎi) - literally "people mountain people sea".

Long lines are an easy way to tell which vendors sell the good stuff.  The first thing we lined up for was one of my favorites - 香腸 (xiāngcháng, Taiwan's version of Chinese sausage).

A glorious tree of xiāngcháng pre-cooking stage

The above on-the-run photo does not do this dish justice.  The finished product - xiāngcháng wrapped in 糯米腸 (nuòmǐ cháng, rice jammed inside a sausage casing), complete with vegetables and garlic.

One of the other highlights was 章魚燒 (zhāng yú shāo) aka takoyaki - grilled octopus inside a Japanese-ball dumpling.

We also found what I think is a bread man brandishing a chili pepper.

Yes.