Ending 2012 in Taipei

We spent our days in Taipei visiting family and roaming the streets for food. My favorite? the warm sugar cane juice at the Shihlin night market and grilled squid at Keelung Miaokou.Taipei was definitely a food paradise. If only we have the same 7-Elevens in America...they have fresh food, dumplings and even ramen!

Despite having a giant camera on our back, we did not take too many photos. With so much food around us,  I decided to use the camera for video instead. Perhaps we should've carried two cameras instead of just one.

bamboo was everywhere!

oyster and egg

vegetable soup

fried food in Taipei was exceptional--perfectly crispy tofu and basil w/ chips

egg and bitter melon

We're thankful to have Danny's family as our hosts, especially Aunt May who arrange for our hotels, her husband who drove us everywhere. I'm thankful to have met so many of Danny's relatives and see his old home. 

Good Eats in Taiwan

Din Tai Fung 
 Sogo Mall

vegetarian dumpling

taro buns

Tip: go there before 11 AM to avoid the rush Miao

Keelung Miaokou Night Market

My husband's aunt and her family took us to Miaokou and we wish we had four stomachs each to eat the food. We were surround with so much variety!

fried within fried food :)

Tips: 

1. Try their peanut ice cream, grilled squid

2. Go on an empty stomach...there's a lot of food to try!

December 2012, Hualien, Taiwan

Hualien was completely different from Taipei. There were fewer people and more natural sceneries. We took a day tour with a friendly English speaking guide to Toroko National Park.  He told us about the history of Hualien and Taiwan. His stories were quite interesting, especially that of the headhunters who inhabited this island (see photo below).

this sign is for the men's restroom. I mistakenly went into it :(

signs for restrooms in Taiwan are different than the States. They are more creative!

inside one of the many tunnels built by Chiang Kai-Shek's veterans. The writing is of the names of hundreds of veterens who died from the construction of these tunnels

aboriginal statue

eternal shrine

gorge

eternal shrine

one of the many bridges

view from our hotel  room

the gorge

lots of tunnels

tour bus!

Cimu Bridge(Motherly Devotion Bridge), built by  President Chiang Jing-guo, in memory of his mother

head hunters in 1904

entrance

climbing the tower

we traveled to Hualien via train

view as we headed back to Taipei