We were very blessed to have beautiful weather during our short stay in Taiwan. On our second full day in Taipei, we took a taxi out to Tamsui Fisherman’s Wharf, which sits at the western tip of the Danshui District.

The scenery at Tamsui looking into the Taiwan Strait is just gorgeous. There is a very long pier, perfect for a leisurely stroll in the sun.

Should you get hungry, underneath the length of the pier are numerous eateries (snack shops and restaurants), plus an arcade and a few carnival-style games. You can also rent bikes, take a boat ride around the harbour, enjoy the incredible views from Lover Bridge, and sample the fresh seafood on offer or the more local Chinese handmade delicacies.

We stopped at the Water Bay restaurant for an outdoor lunch. I had the oysters fried in cheese and breadcrumbs, with a very refreshing glass of iced apple and melon tea (with little pieces of apple jelly – so yum!).  It’s a great place to enjoy the views of the harbour and people watch :-)

At night we went to visit the Shilin Night Market for some local food. Wow, it was packed!! We only got to sample a few of Taiwan’s popular food but missed out on others like giant fried chicken cutlet, sausage wrapped in glutinous rice, and pig’s blood cakes (which, honestly, I was quite happy to miss!). We did get to try Oyster Omelet (delicious!) and “Stinky Tofu“:

{Stinky Tofu image credit}

I have no idea what makes this so smelly but all the local vendors were selling it and the smell permeated a huge section of the market (and my clothes!). Yes, we tried it, but we didn’t finish it! Most definitely an acquired taste :-)

We also had some shave ice desserts – this one was a mixture of shaved ice, condensed milk, chocolate sauce and caramel flans for just under $3 AUD:

Overall, we found Taipei to be more spacious in its layout, much less crowded, and definitely more green than Hong Kong. The people we encountered were also very friendly, and it was good to be able to use just a tiny bit of the Mandarin that we’ve learnt so far.

The girls got an added treat at Taiwan (Taoyuan) International Airport – we ended up boarding at the Hello Kitty gate :-)

Thanks for the wonderful memories Taiwan – we will be back! But for longer next time!

The family and I made the most of the recent Easter long-weekend and flew out of Hong Kong just over 1.5 hours north-east to Taiwan. It’s the first time we’ve visited Taiwan but a lot of our colleagues have been previously and they were able to give us some good tips on what to do and see.

We got a good deal at the Sheraton Taipei. The staff provided really great service and the rooms are lovely. I even managed to squeeze in some ‘me time’ and get a rejuvenating massage :-)

With two kids, it was inevitable that our first stop on our short getaway was Taipei Zoo – currently the largest zoo in Asia. I have to admit, it did feel like it as we were only able to cover about a third of it in half a day! Some of our favourite things:

Flamingos (yes, I have two little girls and anything in pink is a hit with them!):

The Butterfly enclosure was fun – lots of friendly butterflies who didn’t mind landing on your head or staying still for photos :-)

And the Panda. We could not miss the Panda. Such a beautiful creature:

After the Zoo, we walked a little further up the main street and arrived at the Maokong Gondola (Taipei Zoo Station). These cable cars take visitors up to the village of Maokong – it was previously the biggest tea growing area of Taipei, but now mostly is known for numerous tea houses and temples. By the way, they sell the most delicious tea-infused chocolate fudge at this station :-)

We took the ‘crystal cabin’, which has a clear glass floor, up the 4km+ meter ride to our destination. It was quite a treat watching the tree tops pass by under our feet.

The view of Taipei from the cable car was magnificent, and provided a very relaxing ride after lots of walking at the Zoo.

Once we arrived at Maokong, we ended up staying close to the station as we were all still quite tired from being on our feet for most of the day. So we ended up sampling some of the local hawker food, including this refreshing, cold, sweet dish:

I had no idea what was in it – I simply pointed to to it, and the lady behind the counter rolled her eyes at me after she asked me a question in Mandarin that I couldn’t understand. It was delicious though!

We also passed a few stalls selling “Stinky Tofu“, but I will leave that for the next post!

We’ve started taking Mandarin lessons. I’ve never been good at languages but I’m enjoying learning Mandarin. One thing’s for sure, it’s not easy!!  But our teacher has been great and very encouraging. The title of this post is something she says to us often – which amuses me because I know I sound ridiculous! :-)

We’ve been here for 7 weeks now but it feels like it’s been much longer. I guess that means we’ve settled in quite well! A few more snippets of life here:

On the Star Ferry from where we live in Tsim Sha Tsui across the harbour to Central. A quick 10 minute journey and nice break from taking the underground subway :-)

Finding time to relax – definitely what weekends are for!

I’ve always been a BIG fan of mochi. This is my favourite place to get my mochi fix – freshly handmade everyday and the flavours are just amazing:

The weather has started to turn warm and humid – it’s been about 2°4C when I get to work in the mornings. There’s a park just in front of my building, which provides just enough serenity before heading into a busy day.

I’m always intrigued by what’s served at these corner hawker-style places.

So, what do you fancy? :-)

Hello! It’s been a while :-) In my last post I mentioned I was about to start at my new job – and what a baptism of fire that was! Long days has meant no time for One Red Robin or crafty things in general. And since work has been taking up almost all of my time lately, I thought I might as well share a little bit about working life here :-)

First let me say, peak time travel on the MTR is cah-razy!! So. Many. PEOPLE. Admittedly, it is amusing to see how determined some people are in trying to squeeze into that last tiny space on a ridiculously packed train, and watching the doors scrape across their nose as it closes. Hehe! After having my leg and elbow caught in the closing doors of the MTR numerous times (wow, it hurts!), I have learnt not to fling myself into a packed train and just wait for the next one – given that trains arrive every 1-2 minutes during peak time anyway!

Here’s what a half-empty train looks like on the inside:

As you can see there aren’t many seats built into the MTR. There are nine stops between my workplace and my home, so after a long day at work, I always hope for a seat! Usually, peak time means you stand the whole journey and there is no such thing as personal space! I’m kinda thankful that I am taller than the average here as I don’t get stuck standing face-to-face with other people (or worse, awkwardly facing other people’s body parts) – that’s probably why everyone is playing with their phones! :-)

I work at One Island East, which is a huge skyscraper in Quarry Bay/Tai Koo. It’s HK’s 7th tallest building at 70 floors.

This is the view from Level 38:

And this is what Tai Koo looks like when I leave work:

I’m working for a global company so I spend a lot of time in phone and online meetings with people who are located in Asia,  US, Australia and UK. I will admit this is the most challenging job I have had but at the same time I am learning quite a lot and gaining skills I would not have the opportunity to in my previous jobs. So overall, it’s been a rewarding (though exhausting) experience so far :-)

I haven’t had a chance to  explore during lunch breaks but I am hoping to do so in the next few weeks. However, I thought this little statue in the building was quite fitting – sink or float? I can totally relate to that at the moment :-)

Hope to be back soon with more snippets of life in HK.