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 travelling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travelling. Show all posts
16 January 2014
2 December 2013
Koh Phangan: How We Spent the 20 Hours We Had There
We had to take a ferry to Koh Phangan and it didn't suit either of us very well. I felt nauseous while Rick spent his time vomiting. Lovely start to Koh Phangan. We arrived there and it was beautiful. Upon arriving to our hostel, we really wished we had more time there. It was great. We had our own hut with a hammock out front. The hostel had its own little beach, a beach bar, tons of lounge area. It looked awesome.
The Half Moon Party is a party that happens once a month in Koh Phangan. These parties started with just the original Full Moon Party, also once a month, but I have no idea why it started or who started it. But as I said, they have expanded to the Half Moon and also the Black Moon Party. I think that they're just looking for any reason to have a party. Regardless, everyone we talked to who had been to Thailand and one of these parties said we had to go. Lucky for us, the Half Moon fell right in the middle of our trip so off we went.
Koh Phangan was where we had planned to meet up with a former teacher from Gloria, Emily. She finished her contract a month ago and thought she would be travelling Thailand alone so we were all really excited to meet up for the Half Moon Party. An even better part of it was that she ended up traveling with Amber, Ashley (two more former Gloria teachers), and their friend Kelly. Since the Half Moon Party was closer to our hostel, they would be coming there later. So we headed to their beach for the afternoon.
They were staying on Haad Rin beach which is the main one. This beach is where the Full Moon Party usually is and I could see why. It was a massive beach, and it was beautiful. It was really nice to see some familiar faces! We relaxed on the beach, ate lunch, and caught up. Rick and I were pretty exhausted from our major day of traveling so we headed back to our hostel to take a nap, and have dinner and planned to meet back up with the girls later.
They came to our hostel at around 10 PM and we had lots of fun drinking and painting each other with some crazy designs. The Half Moon Party is full of black lights so everyone paints neon paint on themselves. Another thing I thought was funny was that all throughout the town, stores were selling shirts that said, "Half Moon Party!" or "Full Moon Party." And I thought to myself, no one would actually wear that shirt TO the party! Boy, was I proven wrong. I couldn't even count how many people were wearing those shirts, to each his own I suppose.
The party was very cool and I am really glad we went. The atmosphere was really cool. Lots of black lights, lots of people wasted. So many European bros were there, shamelessly hitting on any girl in sight. One of them just walked up to one of my friends and started kissing her, no hello, nothing. Rick saw it and pushed him off of her. So that was an interesting experience. Another interesting part was that they sold laughing gas for $200 Baht for one balloon, we didn't partake in this.
About halfway through the night, we lost two of the girls we were with. Cue panic. So many random people. We searched for them for over an hour and were starting to stress out but finally, they came back. They had found some guy passed out behind the bathroom and got him sent to the hospital. After that, the party felt over for Rick and I so we headed back to the hostel. Taking a taxi back was a challenge, the driver wouldn't leave until he had a full van so people kept leaving to look for another ride. So frustrating. Eventually we made it back to our hostel, slept for two hours, and woke up in time for our 7AM ferry ride.
We had a ferry ride, a bus ride, another ferry ride and we arrived. Ko Phi Phi was our next destination.
While in Koh Phangan, we stayed at Coco Gardens. It had its own beach, their restaurant was amazing, a beach bar, each hut has its own hammock, more hammocks near the beach. Would have been amazing to stay longer. The staff was really nice, answered all the questions we had and hooked us up with a taxi to take us to our early morning ferry. If you are going to Koh Phangan and don't want to stay on Haad Rin Beach, this resort is perfect for you.
About halfway through the night, we lost two of the girls we were with. Cue panic. So many random people. We searched for them for over an hour and were starting to stress out but finally, they came back. They had found some guy passed out behind the bathroom and got him sent to the hospital. After that, the party felt over for Rick and I so we headed back to the hostel. Taking a taxi back was a challenge, the driver wouldn't leave until he had a full van so people kept leaving to look for another ride. So frustrating. Eventually we made it back to our hostel, slept for two hours, and woke up in time for our 7AM ferry ride.
Wasn't feeling too great about this 7AM ferry ride
This guy was sleeping waiting for the ferry, it was clear he had been at the party as well
We had a ferry ride, a bus ride, another ferry ride and we arrived. Ko Phi Phi was our next destination.
While in Koh Phangan, we stayed at Coco Gardens. It had its own beach, their restaurant was amazing, a beach bar, each hut has its own hammock, more hammocks near the beach. Would have been amazing to stay longer. The staff was really nice, answered all the questions we had and hooked us up with a taxi to take us to our early morning ferry. If you are going to Koh Phangan and don't want to stay on Haad Rin Beach, this resort is perfect for you.
1 October 2013
Day One in Hong Kong: Temple Street Night Market, and Ladies Market
Our flight left Taiwan at 12:30 so we didn't arrive in Hong Kong until the afternoon. By the time we got to our hostel and were settled in, it was around 5 o'clock so we decided to go to Temple Street Night Market. We love all the night markets we go to in Taiwan and figured this one would be great as well. Plus, I read in our guidebook that it had a lot of touristy items which I wanted to check out for people back home.
So we took the MTR and started our night. The Temple Street Night Market was a really cool experience. A lot different from the night markets we visit in Taiwan. In Taiwan, night markets have a lot of food stalls and they sell a lot of clothing as well. In Hong Kong, this night market sold a lot of clothing, accessories, and tourist items but there was not one single food stall. Which we were actually kind of disappointed about, we were looking forward to snacking but instead we just shopped a lot. We were able to buy a lot of souvenirs for people back home which was nice because souvenirs are actually hard to find in Taiwan. I was recently talking to a co-teacher and she told me to wait until I go to the airport in Taoyuan as the gift shop there apparently has the best souvenirs.
After the Temple Street market, we were super hungry as we had expected to eat there. So we took out our trusty guidebook and picked a restaurant to go to near where we were. We arrived and when we walked in, it looked like we had crashed someone's wedding. The decor was ... interesting. Which is something that would happen at a few of the places we ate while in Hong Kong. Overall, we were disappointed by the food. Our book really recommended this place and it was expensive, and the food was just.. alright. Disappointment in food would become a common theme with our time in Hong Kong.
Next we headed to the Ladies' Market. They had some cool clothes but it was the same kind of stuff they sell in Taiwan for double the price so I didn't buy anything. It was then time to head back to the hostel. Since we were on a different island, we decided to take the Star Ferry back to the Hong Kong Island that we were staying at.
The Star Ferry proved to be one of the highlights of our time. It was super cheap to take (works out to be .33 cents CAD for one way), and the views were amazing. We took it multiple times throughout our trip and each time, it was so exciting.
Day two in Hong Kong was planned to be a big one so we got plenty of rest for the rest of our time. But first we ended our night with some amazing guava shaved ice :)
Taoyuan Airport
Sleeping on the plane
We made it to our hostel!
So we took the MTR and started our night. The Temple Street Night Market was a really cool experience. A lot different from the night markets we visit in Taiwan. In Taiwan, night markets have a lot of food stalls and they sell a lot of clothing as well. In Hong Kong, this night market sold a lot of clothing, accessories, and tourist items but there was not one single food stall. Which we were actually kind of disappointed about, we were looking forward to snacking but instead we just shopped a lot. We were able to buy a lot of souvenirs for people back home which was nice because souvenirs are actually hard to find in Taiwan. I was recently talking to a co-teacher and she told me to wait until I go to the airport in Taoyuan as the gift shop there apparently has the best souvenirs.
Temple Street Night Market
After the Temple Street market, we were super hungry as we had expected to eat there. So we took out our trusty guidebook and picked a restaurant to go to near where we were. We arrived and when we walked in, it looked like we had crashed someone's wedding. The decor was ... interesting. Which is something that would happen at a few of the places we ate while in Hong Kong. Overall, we were disappointed by the food. Our book really recommended this place and it was expensive, and the food was just.. alright. Disappointment in food would become a common theme with our time in Hong Kong.
Super .. interesting .. decor
Next we headed to the Ladies' Market. They had some cool clothes but it was the same kind of stuff they sell in Taiwan for double the price so I didn't buy anything. It was then time to head back to the hostel. Since we were on a different island, we decided to take the Star Ferry back to the Hong Kong Island that we were staying at.
Ladies' Market
The Star Ferry proved to be one of the highlights of our time. It was super cheap to take (works out to be .33 cents CAD for one way), and the views were amazing. We took it multiple times throughout our trip and each time, it was so exciting.
Star Ferry
Day two in Hong Kong was planned to be a big one so we got plenty of rest for the rest of our time. But first we ended our night with some amazing guava shaved ice :)
28 July 2013
The Final Days of my Parents in Taiwan
As I said, we spent our last few days relaxing. Showing them around Taoyuan, where we used to live, where we used to hang out, our favourite places to eat. And of course we took them to Taipei to see 101, and have some amazing shaved ice.
Here are some pictures of their last few days:
How could I forget! We went to Modern Toilet! This is the restaurant that is known for their slogan, "Shit or food? You decide!" I'm not even kidding. This restaurant has terrible reviews online about the high prices for the sub par so we were pleasantly surprised with our experience. The prices weren't ridiculous and the food was actually good, we definitely enjoyed our selves. I would definitely recommend this restaurant if you can stomach it haha my mother wasn't too keen on eating out of a toilet but she managed!
If I thought that saying goodbye to my parents the first time was hard, I definitely wasn't prepared for it the second time. Especially the aftermath once they were gone. It was hard and made me miss home a lot. However, getting back into the swing of things in Taiwan helped a lot. Their visit just love and appreciate them that much more.
Here are some pictures of their last few days:
My mom met the man of her dreams..
Taipei 101
How could I forget! We went to Modern Toilet! This is the restaurant that is known for their slogan, "Shit or food? You decide!" I'm not even kidding. This restaurant has terrible reviews online about the high prices for the sub par so we were pleasantly surprised with our experience. The prices weren't ridiculous and the food was actually good, we definitely enjoyed our selves. I would definitely recommend this restaurant if you can stomach it haha my mother wasn't too keen on eating out of a toilet but she managed!
If I thought that saying goodbye to my parents the first time was hard, I definitely wasn't prepared for it the second time. Especially the aftermath once they were gone. It was hard and made me miss home a lot. However, getting back into the swing of things in Taiwan helped a lot. Their visit just love and appreciate them that much more.
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.
22 July 2013
Green Island ft. the Pituls
Okay.. I have been slacking lately on the blog but moving on... MY PARENT'S CAME TO TAIWAN. I put ft. the Pituls in the title because maybe the Lococos will come visit us too one day! (Hint.. hint... nudge.. nudge.. wink.. wink......)
SOOO. My parents arrived, they were very tired after their long trip and we still had a couple days of work. So for the first few days, we just did little things with them. Took them to the Taipei Zoo, the Maokong Gondolas. And then we were off to Green Island. Our trip to Green Island started with an eight hour train ride that left at 6AM... such a joy. But the seats were comfortable and I mostly slept. While my mother spent 96% of the train ride taking pictures of what we went past. After the train ride, a taxi ride with a very friendly taxi driver and a pleasant ferry ride (read: extremely rough ferry ride), we were at Green Island!!
We met up with the people we booked our trip through and were taken to our eBikes. Now my mother wasn't sure about these bikes at first and said she would just use it as a normal bike. But by the end of the trip, she was a eBike professional. Weaving around pot holes and bumps in the road. Without the eBikes, Green Island wouldn't have been nearly as enjoyable. While it is a small island (17 km around), there were no taxis at all so walking around the island would not have been an option. The eBikes took us everywhere and were a lot of fun to ride. We had a couple problems with the battery dying but the hostel owners were quick to help us and we were on our way.
Our hostel was also a lot better than I expected. A fellow teacher had told me to expect "rustic," when going into Green Island so my expectations were very low. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The hostel was very clean and very comfortable. Air conditioning and a pretty nice shower.
Included in our package was snorkeling. My father and Rick were very excited for this part while me and my mother were hesitant. We went out, got our flippers and all our gear, and stayed on land. My mom and I just couldn't get the hang of it so we told the boys to go off on their own and have a good time. Rick says that Green Island was the best snorkeling spot that he has ever been to, he saw so many different kinds of fish. They both loved snorkeling so much that they continued to snorkel four different times on our three days there.
The hot springs at Green Island were another highlight. They are one of the three only natural salt water hot springs in the world. The other two being in Italy and Japan. Rick and I have decided that we want to go to all three. The hot spring down by the beach wasn't open but we still enjoyed the other hot springs. It was beautiful. Nothing like the Beitou hot springs in Taipei which I found kind of dirty and off putting. These were so clean, and just so relaxing. We all had an amazing time.
Finally, the food. Green Island is known for its seafood since it is an island. Some of the seafood we ate was just okay.. some was amazing. We enjoyed eating so much. Every meal was a new adventure, and breakfast was included with the package that we booked! We also ate the best shaved ice that I have ever eaten while we were there.
Here are some picture highlights of the trip!
We booked our package through Green Island Adventures and I would recommend this company to anyone. I was originally worried about the payment method but everything went without a hitch. They made our time on Green Island amazing and without any difficulty. We booked the Relax package and had an amazing time. I cannot say enough good things about this company. We loved our time in Green Island and they are the sole reason why. Here is the link if anyone is interested! http://www.greenislandadventures.com/
From Green Island, we went on to Kaohsiung! Next blog post coming up!
SOOO. My parents arrived, they were very tired after their long trip and we still had a couple days of work. So for the first few days, we just did little things with them. Took them to the Taipei Zoo, the Maokong Gondolas. And then we were off to Green Island. Our trip to Green Island started with an eight hour train ride that left at 6AM... such a joy. But the seats were comfortable and I mostly slept. While my mother spent 96% of the train ride taking pictures of what we went past. After the train ride, a taxi ride with a very friendly taxi driver and a pleasant ferry ride (read: extremely rough ferry ride), we were at Green Island!!
We met up with the people we booked our trip through and were taken to our eBikes. Now my mother wasn't sure about these bikes at first and said she would just use it as a normal bike. But by the end of the trip, she was a eBike professional. Weaving around pot holes and bumps in the road. Without the eBikes, Green Island wouldn't have been nearly as enjoyable. While it is a small island (17 km around), there were no taxis at all so walking around the island would not have been an option. The eBikes took us everywhere and were a lot of fun to ride. We had a couple problems with the battery dying but the hostel owners were quick to help us and we were on our way.
Our hostel was also a lot better than I expected. A fellow teacher had told me to expect "rustic," when going into Green Island so my expectations were very low. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The hostel was very clean and very comfortable. Air conditioning and a pretty nice shower.
Included in our package was snorkeling. My father and Rick were very excited for this part while me and my mother were hesitant. We went out, got our flippers and all our gear, and stayed on land. My mom and I just couldn't get the hang of it so we told the boys to go off on their own and have a good time. Rick says that Green Island was the best snorkeling spot that he has ever been to, he saw so many different kinds of fish. They both loved snorkeling so much that they continued to snorkel four different times on our three days there.
The hot springs at Green Island were another highlight. They are one of the three only natural salt water hot springs in the world. The other two being in Italy and Japan. Rick and I have decided that we want to go to all three. The hot spring down by the beach wasn't open but we still enjoyed the other hot springs. It was beautiful. Nothing like the Beitou hot springs in Taipei which I found kind of dirty and off putting. These were so clean, and just so relaxing. We all had an amazing time.
Finally, the food. Green Island is known for its seafood since it is an island. Some of the seafood we ate was just okay.. some was amazing. We enjoyed eating so much. Every meal was a new adventure, and breakfast was included with the package that we booked! We also ate the best shaved ice that I have ever eaten while we were there.
Here are some picture highlights of the trip!
The train ride
The ferry ride
Green Island
We booked our package through Green Island Adventures and I would recommend this company to anyone. I was originally worried about the payment method but everything went without a hitch. They made our time on Green Island amazing and without any difficulty. We booked the Relax package and had an amazing time. I cannot say enough good things about this company. We loved our time in Green Island and they are the sole reason why. Here is the link if anyone is interested! http://www.greenislandadventures.com/
From Green Island, we went on to Kaohsiung! Next blog post coming up!
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