Pickleball friends

River walkway.

Our friends Lora & David’s son lives in Taipei snd has provided invaluable suggestions for fun places to visit in Taiwan. Unfortunately Taroko Canyon was on our wish list and the earthquake changed those plans. So tragic.

A suggestion is to take the local train from Taipei to a smallish town where ceramics are mastered. The train ride – either locals – fun. And the community was very low key & interesting. Interesting g street art using ‘found’ objects. An interesting ceramic museum. And interesting main streets. Fun Sunday morning. A departure from Taipei hustle.

As Japan, Taiwan & Korea are so densely populated- citizens are out & about. Especially in public places. Teen Dance groups practicing, tai-chi groups, musicians. It is great to see.

Taipei is easy to explore/ subways & buses great. And we started with a guided tour of the Palace Museum. Artifacts, jade, history. Interesting stories of moving treasures to Taiwan.

Next it was the Chiang Kai Shek square & changing of guards. All very impactful.

Sometimes one just needs to jot thoughts before they are forgotten and this post is one of those.

Greg was kind enough to accompany me to an appointment for threading. The fact that we found the salon is a Miracle. And it is only because I asked a kind woman if she knew the shop location. She immediately stopped what she was doing & off we went – to a local market – where she asked no less than 5 of her buddies until we found the shop. It was a staircase- with pink painted steps on the second floor. Not a single word of English was to be found – 100% Mandarin characters. The technician could not have been nicer and better – an excellent experience. And a testament to the kindness of Taiwanese to strangers & tourists.

After my appointment/ we were starving & fortunately there was a local night market. It was great. Had the most refreshing honey lemonade / fresh. And we had a grilled ear of corn / fixed Taiwanese style. And we had yummy sweet potato puffs.

PUNCTUATION – we all studied it / few of us liked it and seldom do we think about it- except when eating potato puffs & sitting next to another food stand…which read—Black Sesame Oil Pork Innards Chicken Testicles. … which one of those ‘bolts’ you to action to order? Here is my question about Punctuation…,how many chickens would need to be harvested to create a satisfying meal for a 20 something male???? Seriously how large is a chicken testicle and how many does one need for an entree? I hope this is a punctuation issue- perhaps a few commas would clarify the offerings and some large animal has volunteered his testicles for this booth’s entree. And you know what? I will never know for certain! I do know I ate a number of mystery foods and I know I ate intestines at least once! 😄 another meal we ate something – I have no idea what it was – and I was certainly not going to ask / in this case / ignorance is bliss! We have had so many excellent meals and food has been a fun part of our adventure.

Punctuation !

We flew Scooter airlines from Tokyo to Taipei. A budget airline that is great!

We arrived at 15:30 & had a train ride from airport to city center – through stunning natural beauty. Glad I could see from train as there has got to be lots of hungry snakes in there! We arrived at Taipei Main Station – huge! We tried to exit & found ourselves in an underground shopping area – with trinkets & stuff as far as the eye-can-see. Did I mention stinky tofu…decomposing bodies come to mind. 🫣no thanks! At this point as we just have backpacks – hoofing it to our hotel is easier than a subway. We encounter a street market, National police building, and plenty of our favorite 7-11 stores! Our hotel is lovely & air conditioned & has a wonderful shower- Taipei is hot & humid. We are starving so we go to Ningxia Night Market. Every food you can imagine & many more that you would never believe. Queues- long ones!! For deep fried taro balls, quail eggs simmering in a brown sauce. Of course, fried squid – which is yummy and looks a bit daunting when raw. As I approached the watermelon juice stand – there was no hesitation- I grabbed & gulped! It was wonderful. We did like the Michelin rated taro balls with pickled yolks and the fried scallion pancakes, and the stir fry. And I drank my first cold Coca Cola in 12 months to combat the greasy & yummy food. If the food is interesting the spectrum of people enjoying the night is entertaining as well!

Welcome to Taipei – vibrant!

While in Tokyo we stayed near Hamamatsucho Station. Loved it. Convenient to all transportation around Tokyo, fun little restaurants, views of Tokyo Tower. First we stayed in a MyStays Hotel. Perfect for us. Not available when we returned- so we stayed in Henna Ha Hotel. Our Front Desk personnel- never missed a beat.

We are heading to Taipei – so a good time to reflect on our time in Japan.

We continue to be amazed by the natural beauty of the countryside. When you get outside of the major metropolitan areas – the rivers, streams, forests, peaks, shore lines are gorgeous. And Jack was so fortunate to sneak in two days of perfect powder skiing.

We love exploring the back streets, alleys and neighborhoods of the cities we have visited. We have found amazing cafes & friendly citizens.

Our train rides have been an amazingly easy way to tour the country. Bullet trains are so easy & fast. Local trains get you close to small towns.

Respectful & courteous people have helped all along our routes. From amazing new pickleball friends to the kind people in restaurants who help us order amazing food to kind travelers who help us navigate the streets & train routes.

Google Translate – thank you🤣🤣

To a country where we feel safe to wander at any time of day and eagerly anticipate our next adventure. It has been such a treat to explore here.