Officially two weeks until my flight. Still doesn't feel real. This week, I am telling the rest of my classes that next week is my last week. With my younger classes, my coteachers and directors didn't want me telling them yet so now I will tell them. I told one baby class yesterday and it was so sad. They are one of my favourite classes, along with one of my favourite coteachers. Every Wednesday from 2-3:30, I will miss them.
In other news, Rick and I booked a trip to Tainan this weekend! Tainan is the old capital of Taiwan, before Taipei so it is one of the bigger cities in Taiwan. It is also in the Southern part so I am hoping it is a little hotter there than it has been here. Lucky for us, Taiwan is so small so we will be taking the High Speed Rail after work on Saturday night and back on Monday morning. We wanted to do something a bit further away but were unsure of what to do because of Atlas and then one of my friends reminded me about Air BnB. We've used it before and always had a great experience. With Air BnB, you are renting someone's home to stay in for a few nights AND we found a place with pets allowed.
Tainan will be our last trip within Taiwan before I leave which will be pretty sad but I am so excited. Today, we are off to lunch with some friends who are leaving for a vacation before we leave so we won't get to see them a lot. Last night, we went to a nightclub in Chungli with two other friends. It is called Search and its pretty popular among the teachers at Gloria bu we had never been before. One more thing I crossed of my to do list before leaving.
Showing posts with label high speed rail. Show all posts
Showing posts with label high speed rail. Show all posts
16 January 2014
28 July 2013
Around Kaohsiung
We decided to go on from Green Island to Kaohsiung since it was only a four hour train ride there as opposed to the longer train ride back to Taoyuan. Also my father had read a lot about Kaohsiung and was super excited to go there. So I booked us a room, booked us train tickets, and off we went.
The one bad thing about our trip to Kaohsiung was that I did not book an express train... ooooops. It ended up stopping every 20 minutes or so for at least five minutes, or more, at each stop. It was really annoying and we probably could've gotten there a lot faster but it was definitely a lesson learnt.
So we arrive in Kaohsiung and the hotel we booked at picked us up from the KMRT station. The staff at the hotel was super nice, even though they barely spoke any English, they were always trying. We didn't realize when we booked our hotel, but it was right beside Love River. Which is one of the main things we wanted to see in Kaohsiung. It was beautiful at night and we spent our night walking by the river and eating at a seafood restaurant close by.
The next day we checked out of the hotel, left our luggage there and off we went. First we went to Dream Mall. It is, apparently, the biggest mall in Southeast Asia and my mother wanted to do some shopping. It was a lot of fun and really big. While we were there, we went on a ferris wheel on the top of the building. People call it the Kaohsiung Eye, similar to the London Eye. It offered a really cool look at the city of Kaohsiung.
Next we went back to the hotel, picked our luggage up, and headed to Lotus Lake. We really wanted to see the Confucius Temple, along with the Lake itself. However the Confucius Temple was closed for renovations. So we made our way down the Lake and saw some beautiful temples and some great views of Kaohsiung.
After Lotus Lake, we were off to the High Speed Rail Station to come back to Taoyuan. Our travelling around Taiwan was finished and my parents still had a few more days left. We spent the rest of them relaxing after our long week of travelling, going to Taipei to see Taipei 101, and taking them to a nearby town called Yingge which is known for its pottery.
The one bad thing about our trip to Kaohsiung was that I did not book an express train... ooooops. It ended up stopping every 20 minutes or so for at least five minutes, or more, at each stop. It was really annoying and we probably could've gotten there a lot faster but it was definitely a lesson learnt.
So we arrive in Kaohsiung and the hotel we booked at picked us up from the KMRT station. The staff at the hotel was super nice, even though they barely spoke any English, they were always trying. We didn't realize when we booked our hotel, but it was right beside Love River. Which is one of the main things we wanted to see in Kaohsiung. It was beautiful at night and we spent our night walking by the river and eating at a seafood restaurant close by.
The next day we checked out of the hotel, left our luggage there and off we went. First we went to Dream Mall. It is, apparently, the biggest mall in Southeast Asia and my mother wanted to do some shopping. It was a lot of fun and really big. While we were there, we went on a ferris wheel on the top of the building. People call it the Kaohsiung Eye, similar to the London Eye. It offered a really cool look at the city of Kaohsiung.
Next we went back to the hotel, picked our luggage up, and headed to Lotus Lake. We really wanted to see the Confucius Temple, along with the Lake itself. However the Confucius Temple was closed for renovations. So we made our way down the Lake and saw some beautiful temples and some great views of Kaohsiung.
After Lotus Lake, we were off to the High Speed Rail Station to come back to Taoyuan. Our travelling around Taiwan was finished and my parents still had a few more days left. We spent the rest of them relaxing after our long week of travelling, going to Taipei to see Taipei 101, and taking them to a nearby town called Yingge which is known for its pottery.
11 April 2013
Shawn and Tarisha: Hualien
Woke up early and flew off to Hualien. Literally. We could've taken a train but it would've taken 5 times as long and it wasn't that expensive to fly. So off we went. A half hour later, we had arrived in Hualien and headed to our hostel. Since we arrived at around 2PM, we decided to save Taroko Gorge for the next day and explore the city of Hualien. We grabbed a taxi, got dropped off in downtown Hualien and went walking. We ran into a beautiful Buddhist temple that was holding a ceremony right after we arrived and we stayed to watch for a bit at their request. It was very interesting to see.
As we continued on our way, we did a little shopping and then found the seaside. There were beautiful views of Hualien so we stayed there for awhile to admire the view and of course take a bunch of pictures. Looking at the pictures now, it still doesn't feel real how beautiful everything was.
Our first night in Hualien ended with a visit to the night market. The food was great, Rick and I finally got to try coffin bread (toast that is filled with your choice of filling), and we were definitely pleased with how amazing it was. While Tarisha and Shawn ventured far past what they are used to eating back home in Canada and got... pizza!
Our second day in Hualien was devoted to Taroko Gorge. The pictures speak for themselves. So beautiful and I can't wait to return with my parents, WHEN THEY COME IN JUNE!
After our long and amazing day in Taroko Gorge, we were headed to Kenting the very next day. My mistake was not booking a train beforehand. So when I went to book one that night, there were no more seats. There was standing room but an eight hour train ride standing was not what any of us had in mind. We ended up flying back to Taipei, and taking the High Speed Rail (HSR) to Kaohsiung and from there a two hour bus to Kenting. Finally, we had arrived in the South.
As we continued on our way, we did a little shopping and then found the seaside. There were beautiful views of Hualien so we stayed there for awhile to admire the view and of course take a bunch of pictures. Looking at the pictures now, it still doesn't feel real how beautiful everything was.
Our first night in Hualien ended with a visit to the night market. The food was great, Rick and I finally got to try coffin bread (toast that is filled with your choice of filling), and we were definitely pleased with how amazing it was. While Tarisha and Shawn ventured far past what they are used to eating back home in Canada and got... pizza!
Our second day in Hualien was devoted to Taroko Gorge. The pictures speak for themselves. So beautiful and I can't wait to return with my parents, WHEN THEY COME IN JUNE!
After our long and amazing day in Taroko Gorge, we were headed to Kenting the very next day. My mistake was not booking a train beforehand. So when I went to book one that night, there were no more seats. There was standing room but an eight hour train ride standing was not what any of us had in mind. We ended up flying back to Taipei, and taking the High Speed Rail (HSR) to Kaohsiung and from there a two hour bus to Kenting. Finally, we had arrived in the South.
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