Run and Climb Taipei

Taipei is a huge foodie destination, which means that most trips there involve gaining too many unwanted pounds. I’ve recently started working out on my vacations in an effort to keep up with all the eating. But working out doesn’t have to mean wasting precious vacation time in a dreary hotel gym. Below I share some of my preferred places to run while sightseeing (or sightseeing while running, take your pick) and my experience visiting a couple of Taipei’s rock climbing gyms (thank you Taiwan Rocks for information on where to find the gyms!). Hope this provides some ideas for fun ways to stay fit while on vacation!

Daan Forest Park is one of my favorite places to run in Taipei. It’s a huge park, almost a mile and a half around its perimeter, making it a great place to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city for a little. Many locals go there to exercise, and I usually see a lot of other runners doing laps and groups of spry grandpas playing frisbee on the main lawn. I happen to have accommodations close to Daan Park, but it’s also easily accessible by the MRT red line at Daan Park station. There’s also the added bonus of being right next to Yongkang Street, so you can go and regain all the calories you just lost. Oh wait, that’s counterproductive… 

Daan Forest Park

Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall is a pretty common tourist destination, so why not go for a run there and get your workout in while doing some sightseeing? My recommendation is to go in the morning to take awesome sunrise pictures of the memorial buildings and to get the quintessential Taiwanese experience of watching retired people do tai chi in the park. There’s lots of different walking paths to choose from - just be careful not to trip on the uneven ground between paths. This is also easily accessible by the MRT red and green lines at the C.K.S. Memorial Hall station.

Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall

My first time rock climbing in Taiwan was this past trip at the Xinyi Sports Center bouldering gym, conveniently located a couple blocks from Taipei 101. It was kind of a small gym and didn’t look very well maintained. A lot of the colored tape was falling off so you sometimes had to guess where the routes went. I don’t know if I would recommend it for serious climbing, but it’s fine for a casual workout, and at 150 NT for a day pass you really have nothing to lose.

Xinyi Sports Center bouldering area

I had a chance to visit a second gym up in the Shilin area. It’s a brand new gym called The Little Rock - so new that the guy working there was telling us about all the new holds that they had installed two days ago. The gym was small by American standards, but bigger than Xinyi and had much better route markings. Price was a little more expensive at 250 NT, but still much cheaper than any gym I’ve gone to in the US. I really enjoyed climbing here. The only downside with The Little Rock is that they don’t really have that many advanced level problems, but for those of us climbing V4’s and below, it’s a great place to get some good climbs in.

Lots of fun beginner climbs at The Little Rock

I hope to have an opportunity to run and climb in more interesting places on my next trip! Do you have any preferred ways of staying active while on vacation? Feel free to share in the comments below!

Taipei Foodie Tour - 2017 Edition

Ask anyone who has been to Taiwan what their top recommendations are, and odds are food will dominate the list. With choices ranging from mouth-watering street snacks to exquisitely crafted cuisines, Taiwan is one of the top foodie destinations in the world. Anyone who has ever done any research on Taipei has heard of Din Tai Fung’s famous soup dumplings and Sunny Hill’s number one pineapple cakes, so for this post I wanted to share some of my new, mostly lesser known discoveries from this past trip. 

Jiang Jia (江家牛肉麵&永和豆漿) - The best way to start an argument is to ask a group of Taiwanese people what the best breakfast place is. I can’t claim to know the number one place in Taipei, but Jiang Jia is pretty damn good if you’re craving some delicious fried carbs, AKA Taiwanese breakfast. A solid combination is to get the sesame cake with egg and a Taiwanese donut with a side of soy milk. They’re even open 24/7 so if you happen to miss the last MRT home you can still come here to get some comfort food.

Jiang Jia store

Taiwanese breakfast at Jiang Jia

Hong Jing Beef Noodle (鈜景國產肉品專賣店) - I can’t believe how long it took to discover this place considering it’s basically across the street from where I usually stay. There are a lot of great beef noodle places in Taipei, but this is the first I’ve seen to serve “sashimi beef”. The bowls come out with freshly sliced pieces of raw beef arranged over noodles and veggies. They then pour steaming soup over the meat, cooking it right in front of you. The result is super tender and fresh tasting beef. Prices are a little high for Taiwan (and by that I mean slightly below average for Bay Area), but worth it for the true beef noodle connoisseur. 

Sashimi beef at Hong Jing Beef Noodle

Uncle Tetsu (徹思叔叔) - There are many examples of Taiwan taking foods from other cultures and adding their own local twist. Uncle Tetsu originated in Japan, but has since expanded to multiple stores in Taiwan with several in Taipei. Having tried Hokkaido style cheese tarts in Hokkaido, I can honestly say that these are just as good. Highly recommended and best eaten fresh.

Uncle Tetsu's cheese tarts

Uncle Tetsu's cakes

Zhangmen Brewery (掌門精釀啤酒) - Not strictly a food place, but Zhang Men is a local brewery and a solid place to try some local beers. They have a huge selection of rotating taps with light beers, dark beers, and everything in between. Drinks here aren’t super cheap - roughly 150 NT for a small glass and 600 NT for a flight of six drinks - but not too bad for a night out. I really liked the passion fruit beer!

Inside the tasting room at Zhangmen

Beer flight for 600 NT

Oia Cafe (伊亞藝術咖啡館)  - This isn’t really a food place either, and it’s not even technically in Taipei, but none of that matters because Oia Cafe is so much more than your typical cafe - it’s an alpaca cafe. Adjacent to the cafe is a large pen zoo with alpacas, goats, and donkeys that you can pet and feed carrots to. But the real stars are the two snowy white alpacas running free inside the cafe. With the purchase of a drink, you can spend as much time with the alpacas as you want. Pro tip: to get the best pictures with the alpacas, wait until they start chewing on the furniture - it’s the only time they stay still enough to get a good shot.

Alpacas at Oia Cafe

Shing Peng Lai (興蓬萊) - My cousin brought us here for an impromptu last meal in Taiwan, and they had quite possibly the best fried pork chops I’ve ever eaten. Shing Peng Lai serves traditional Taiwanese fare with a wide assortment of seafood, soups, and meats. Everything we had there was good, but the pork chops were absolutely heavenly. Crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, they were so good I couldn’t resist going for seconds, even if I could feel my arteries clogging with every bite. Located in Tian Mu, one of the suburbs of Taipei, Shing Peng Lai is a little out of the way, but 100% worth the trek for anyone looking for great Taiwanese cuisine a few steps above night market food.

Best fried pork chops ever at Shing Peng Lai

It’s always nice to revisit old favorites, but I’m glad I had the chance to try out some new places and discover new go-to’s. I’m always looking for new things to try - do you have any lesser known favorite food places in Taipei? Let me know in the comments below!

Shrines and Food in Fukuoka

As the largest city in Kyushu, Fukuoka was where we flew in and where we based our travel after returning from the Kurokawa Onsen area. Fukuoka was great for shopping and food, but in terms of actual places to see, I found Dazaifu much more interesting. A short train ride away, Dazaifu is one of the many day trip-worthy towns near Fukuoka, known for its temples and shrines. Here are some highlights from both places:

Tenmangu Shrine - HUGE shrine near Dazaifu station. Tenmangu is probably the biggest tourist attraction in Dazaifu, and since we are tourists this was our first stop. There’s a nice garden leading up to the shrine, complete with fish ponds, stone bridges, and trees hundreds of years old. The actual shrine has a raised platform where we were lucky enough to see some sort of ceremony in progress. Nearby were a bunch of small wooden structures where people had hung placards with their wishes written on them - mostly students looking to pass their exams. It was a nice place to just walk around and take pictures, and admission is completely free, so definitely worth checking out.

Lots of other tourists visiting Tenmangu Shrine

The actual shrine

Best of luck fellow bear!

National Kyushu Museum - Housed in an impressively large glass building, the National Kyushu Museum is one of the four National Museums of Japan. I’ve been to the one in Nara in the past, but I think I liked the Kyushu one better - the main part of the museum focused on Japanese history, with each area dedicated to a different era. Everything was well organized and explained well (with English translations!) and I would highly recommend a visit to anyone interested in Japanese history.

Kyushu National Museum

Dazaifu Mozenmachi - Right next to the Dazaifu main station is a shopping street with lots of souvenir shops, restaurants, and snack stands. The whole street is pedestrian-only and retains the traditional architectural style, so it was cool to just walk around and explore. We really enjoyed all the snacks - especially the umegae-mochi that every other store on the street seemed to be selling.

Umegae mochi

Yatai Food Stalls - Eating at a yatai food stall is the one must-do thing when visiting Fukuoka according to the natives. Each night, vendors set up tents all along the riverbanks. Inside are essentially small bars where patrons can order food and drink from the chef cooking right in front of them. The concept is neat, but I was a little disappointed by the selection - basically all the stalls we passed by were selling the same menu of skewers and ramen. It was pretty expensive too, with each skewer going for a few hundred yen each. Still, it was a cool experience. Go for the atmosphere, not for the food.

The yatai we went to

Inside the tent

Canal City - Canal City is basically a giant mall with a river running through it. We spent a good few hours there walking around and buying way too much stuff at the Walmart-sized duty free store. The entire top floor of one of the buildings housed “Ramen Stadium”, a food court with ramen from all over Japan. Great place to try a variety of ramen.

Canal City

Ramen Stadium! I had Hakata ramen from Jinambo

Kurokawa - Another Trip to the Hot Springs

Despite spending a week at various onsen towns in Hokkaido last winter, we clearly didn't get enough of hot springs, so this past winter break my family did another joint Japan-Taiwan trip with our first stop in the quiet, picturesque Kurokawa, a small hot spring town in the middle of Kyushu.

One of my favorite things about Kurokawa was just walking around town and exploring all the little side streets and alleyways. Despite the large amount of international tourists, Kurokawa has kept a very small-town feel, with its mostly traditional styled buildings and pedestrian-friendly streets.

One of the pedestrian paths in Kurokawa

Kurokawa is a relatively small town - you could walk around the entire perimeter in about an hour or two - but within its boundaries are more types of desserts than we could consume in a single day. By far the best were the cream puffs from Patisserie Roku. The sweet, creamy filling struck a perfect balance with the crispy cookie-crumb shells. They were so good we ended up going back there a second time to pick some up before we left town.

Really good cream puffs

Also notable were the dorayaki from Dora Dora. They look like normal dorayaki from the outside, but take a bite and you’ll find a whole mochi wrapped inside. The dorayaki come in a variety of flavors, from mango to matcha, and are definitely worth trying.

Dora Dora Dorayaki

As a small side trip, we went to Nabegataki falls which was highly recommended by the hotel staff where we were staying. The falls were a bit of a drive out of town and the area was generally pretty rural, meaning public transit wasn’t readily available everywhere, so we did have to take an expensive taxi ride to get there. The views at Nabegataki were pretty cool though - it’s famous for having a huge cave extending behind the falls that you can walk through. It was a nice place for a walk and some pictures, but I would recommend it only to those with (inexpensive) access to a car due to the remote location.

Nabegataki Falls

Of course, the biggest reason people visit Kurokawa is to soak in the onsen. A popular activity there is “onsen-hopping”, in which you purchase a pass from the visitor center that allows you to bathe in any three onsen at participating hotels in town. Sounds interesting, but the hotel we were staying in had small private onsen in each room, so we just used those instead. I can’t think of any better way to start a vacation than to soak in a hot spring and let all your stress melt away.

Private Onsen, AKA heaven

Lassen Camping Trip

Hello again, long time no post!

I haven't had the chance to travel much lately, but a few weeks ago we took a long weekend to go live in the woods up in Lassen Volcanic National Park. Camping is the type of vacation that takes a bit more preparation and work than, say, an all-inclusive resort where all you have to do is throw money at people to have things taken care of for you. But there's something to be said for roughing it in the wilderness completely off the grid, and cooking your own food over an open fire as you gaze up at the stars, unobstructed by any light pollution or smog.

Banana smores are surprisingly good

We stayed at the Summit Lake campsite, a medium sized site conveniently located right in the middle of the park close to most of the major hiking trailheads. As the name implies, we were also right next to a small lake, which turned out to be a great place to dip our feet after a long hike, and also to get some great views of the night sky. My only complaint is that a few of our neighbors did not seem to care about quiet hours. (PSA: Quiet hours at most campgrounds are 10pm - 6am, and people will think you're a total ass if you're too loud during that time.) Oh well. Maybe we'll go to a more remote campsite next time.

View of Lassen Peak near our campsite at Summit Lake

National parks are great places to hike, and Lassen is no exception. Here are the hikes we did on this trip:

1. Lassen Peak: 5 miles roundtrip, 1950 feet elevation gain. Lassen Peak is the tallest mountain in the park, and the hike to the top is one of the most highly recommended hikes for the grand, sweeping, panoramic views at the top. It’s also a thigh burner - you’re climbing for 2.5 miles straight to the top. I would recommend this hike for anyone who hasn’t done it before, but I would also recommend being in decent shape and/or taking frequent breaks on the way up. Hiking at 9000 feet elevation is no joke.

Top of Lassen Peak

2. Cold Boiling Lake: 1.4 miles roundtrip, 40 feet elevation gain. Our second hike was more of a cool-down walk after finishing Lassen Peak. The hike started at the Kings Creek trailhead and followed an easy trail through the woods to a small bubbling lake. It was a nice walk, but nothing to go out of your way for. 

Cold Boiling Lake

3. Bumpass Hell: 3 miles roundtrip, 800 feet elevation gain. This is one of Lassen’s signature hikes that I would consider to be a must-see for anyone visiting. Lassen is known for its many geothermal features, and Bumpass Hell is one of the best hikes to see them from. The trail starts out flat and then descends into a small valley where you can get up close (but not too close!) to steam vents, bubbling mudpots, and boiling pools. It’s one of those things you don’t get to see just anywhere, so I would highly recommend checking it out.

Bumpass Hell

Lassen tends to be one of the more underrated parks, which is fine because that means less crowds to deal with. It’s a great place to get away and go on some nice hikes, and I know I’ll be back to explore the other regions of the park.

Kenting, the Hawaii of Taiwan

Kenting is kind of like the Hawaii of Taiwan - it’s where people go for nice beaches, generally in the summer months. We’re a little unusual in that we visited during the winter off-season. This meant colder temperatures, but it also meant much less crowds to deal with while exploring all Kenting has to offer.

Kenting’s picturesque scenery makes it a great place to have photoshoots or shoot movies. The beach we visited (Baishawan or 白沙灣) was one of the settings for both Cape No. 7, a popular Taiwanese movie, and also the internationally acclaimed Life of Pi. The beach can apparently get shoulder-to-shoulder crowded in the summer, but we only saw one other group when we were there.

Movie masterpieces were made here

Warm water and soft sand at Baishawan

Many interesting natural features dot the landscape in the Kenting area. On the inland side, there’s a place known as the “Eternal Flame”, where natural gas vents out through the ground. The gas can light on fire and remain lit indefinitely when conditions are right (or when someone purposely starts a fire). On the southwestern tip of Taiwan there’s a nice viewpoint where you can see sheer cliffs dropping off into the ocean. One of the rock formations at the bottom of the cliff is said to resemble a cat, giving it the name “Maobitou (貓鼻頭)”.

Spotted a small flame at the Eternal Flame

Maobitou is the rock a bit out in the ocean towards the center-left

On the southernmost tip of Taiwan to the east is a place that could be accurately described in terms of both location and character as the end of the world. Longkeng (龍坑) ecological preserve is a relatively less traveled area, partly because they limit it to 300 visitors a day. Entrance is only allowed by guided tours with wait times up to 1.5 months in advance. It’s well worth a visit if you can schedule it in though. The guide will bring you all the way to the coast where you can experience the incredible power of the Pacific Ocean. It’s most impressive in the winter when waves can get higher than a two story building, and you can feel the spray from 100 meters away. 

Waves at Longkeng

It's no wonder why so many Taiwanese people flock to Kenting for getaway vacations. Whether it’s great scenery, relaxing beaches, or nature hikes you’re looking for, there's something there for everyone.

Seaside Day-trip from Taipei

Hello from Taiwan! We’ve been spending our first few days over here exploring, recovering from jetlag, and eating all the delicious food. I am currently on the high speed rail now finally with a bit of downtime to write about our recent day trip to the northeast coast of Taiwan. 

Our first stop of the day was Yehliu Geopark, about a 40 minute drive from Taipei. It was kind of like a huge rock garden measuring a few kilometers out the long way, but with most of the rock features formed naturally. There were some really interesting mushroom and checkerboard rocks shaped by the wind and waves. It’s a neat attraction worth at least a quick stop.

Yehliu Geopark

Mushroom rocks in the park

Most of our afternoon was spent 30 minutes east in Jiufen, a picturesque seaside town that was also the inspiration for Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away”. The town itself is pretty small, with mostly small streets and shrines and a few larger buildings. Looming over the town is Mt Keelung, a tall peak from the top of which you can see panoramic views of the ocean and Taipei 50 miles away on a clear day. We didn’t hike all the way to the top, but even from the lower platforms you can get some great views of the surrounding area. 

View of Jiufen from Mt Keelung

Top of the main food street

As the sun started going down, we made our way over to Shifen, another small town farther inland known most for being the tourist destination for lighting sky lanterns. All along the main Old Street were stores selling lanterns. They were pretty cheap, only about 200 NT per lantern, and really big with plenty of space to write all your hopes and wishes for the future.

Lighting sky lanterns in Shifen

This day trip was a nice contrast from the big city sightseeing of Taipei. For anyone in the area looking for something different and relatively close by, I’d recommend checking these places out.