Taking Taiwan

February, 2016

This winter Jen and I decided to escape the cold and do a sister-sister trip to Taiwan! Turns out we didn't escape the cold at all because Taiwan in February isn’t casual (we basically wear our whole suitcases every day to layer up aka we look like puff balls). Despite the cold, we are loving the Taiwan life.

We have come across some of the kindest, funniest most endearing people and have learnt a lot about Taiwanese culture and tradition. We want to share some of our favorite experiences and moments in this beautiful country.

1. Taiwan is independent from China. Although the Taiwanese speak mandarin and many locals have Chinese origins they do NOT, consider themselves Chinese. I repeat, THEY ARE NOT CHINESE. Don't make the mistake, they will take you down.

2. Jokes about the take down, Taiwanese people are actually crazy nice, some of the nicest people I have ever met traveling. There is definitely something in the water here; Jenny and I have been shocked by the number of people who have went above and beyond to help us.

Exhibit A: as we keep kosher, finding a veg. meal in Taiwan is a hunt (not to mention when we actually find one we have to use crazy body language to explain what we want). One night we trekked miles to a vegetarian restaurant only to find that it was closed. We were pissed, starving and prob the worst versions of ourselves, but just as we were giving up, a Taiwanese girl wearing a surgical face mask pulled over on her motorcycle (never thought I would say that sentence). We asked her if she knew of any vegetarian restaurants and she instantly whipped out her phone and began calling all of the restaurants in town. She drew us a mini map and sent us on our way to a new veg. restaurant. When we arrived on the street of the restaurant everything was in mandarin and nothing looked like a restaurant. All of a sudden we hear a voice calling us and it was Tina (our new friend) standing outside of a empty store with a few tables and a small kitchen. Turns out she followed us to the restaurant to make sure we go there ok and to help us order, literally doing the most for strangers she just met on the street. Tina ended up eating dinner with us and telling us about her life and Taiwanese politics- an absolute badass.

Exhibit B: When Jenny was in Ethiopia she met a Taiwanese girl named Wei-Jung, another BA who has traveled the world. Wei-Jung planned a three day hike for us where she mapped out the trail, bought us food, cooking supplies, rented us a tent and sleeping bags, basically organized our lives. When we met her in the train station she looked like the ultimate bag lady, stumbling with two HUGE bags filled with supplies. She went above and beyond, even cooking us all gourmet meals on top of the mountain. We ate like queens.

Side note: Our campsite was filled with these beautiful ferret like animals. They were peacefully prancing around the grass and playing in flowers, being adorable and all. Next thing you know, fangs were out and the ferrets were thieving. They turned on us, stole one of our bags and ran into the wild. Ferrets are cray, never. trust. them.

Exhibit C: after our three day trek in the mountains, we decided to go to hot springs to relax our bods. First of all, we asked a random woman for directions to the springs and instead of just explaining she insisted on driving us there (so kind). Once we got to the hot spring I was telling Jenny how my back was really sore and next thing I knew I was getting a bomb back massage from an elderly Taiwanese man in a speedo who REALLY resembled buddha. He was there enjoying his day off and instead insisted on sorting out my back probz.

If the man in the speedo doesn't relay my point, I don't know what will. Taiwanese people are SO NICE, it's never fake it's the real deal.

3. If you are an adventurous eater, get on a plane and get to Taiwan. Now. Eating food in Taiwan is an emotional roller coaster. You never know what you are going to get and every street corner has a different smell. Taiwan is known for its many night-markets and they do not hold back when it comes to food options. From what I have seen almost everything is edible; squid on sticks, insects, balls of pig, chickens feet, fried tentacles (basically all of my favorite delicacies). One night at our hostel I was peer pressured into trying one of the most common Taiwanese dishes, "stinky tofu". Yes, it has the word stinky in it which should have been the first red flag, but I walked into a room filled with Taiwanese chowing down and they were like “common gab, try it” and then the chanting began “try it,try it!!!” so not wanting to disappoint I tasted the famous stinky tofu. So many flavors and so many smells, I threw up in my mouth a little but was still pat on the back for trying. Always keeping it classy.

4. Japanese Anime comic books have made it BIG in Taiwan and Jen and I witnessed our first Anime convention. Firstly, anime fans don't mess around. Th convention was basically any teenage boys fantasy (Asian fetish to the max). The gals dressed up exactly like the comic book characters with long wigs, huge eyes and bright colorful contact lenses. They were werking it while dozens of men with professional cameras surrounded them taking their pics and getting their autographs. It was a horde of pubescent teenage boys and then me, snapping away. Lets be real, I was probably worse then the boys but YOAO- you only anime once.

5. Taiwanese love cats. It's cat city betch up in here. They sell cat memorabilia, hello kitty everything and cat clothes wherever we go. The best part is the cat cafes; cafes filled with cats hiding in boxes, resting under tables, perched on shelves, nuzzling up to you while you drink coffee. Cats galore! Jenny and I were freaking out at our first cat cafe, we couldn't believe it was an actual thing. Now we wine and dine with cats on the reg.

Besides the new food, anime, cats and warm people, Taiwan is filled with beautiful temples nestled into mountain tops, natural hot springs, green hills and so much nature. People thought that it was very random that we chose to spend three weeks in Taiwan, even our local friends were confused, but this place has proven to be one of our favorites. It is not touristic or commercial, none tries to haggle or rip you off, it is peaceful, laid back and the people are genuinely good natured. There is definitely a lot to be learnt from the lifestyle and character of the lovely Taiwanese.

#taiwan4thewin!!!!

Xie Xie (thank you) and goodnight