As the destination everyone seems to have visited and loved, and as YP's preferred place to relocate to, Taiwan has been on my to-go list for a few years now. I finally made it happen a month into my summer holiday with three of the iGEM fossils. I am so grateful for all the thought and planning Chloe did, as I was rotting away in extensive holiday laziness. She was also the most prepared person on the trip, with extra cash, plastic bags, and power socket converters to save the day. We were there for seven days and seven nights. My phone's camera decided to go on strike right before the trip, so I brought my brother's DSLR and attempted (and failed, most of the time) to take nice pictures. Please do not comment on the pictures with varying degrees of brightness :) As the trip went on, I also took less and less pictures :)
On our first day we took the train to 青桐、平溪、十份、九份。The sights were beautiful, especially at 十份 and 九份 。I got to release my first sky lantern amidst throngs of people doing the same. It was late evening when we arrived at 九份, and most shops were closed. It was a fascinating place with little alleys and lanterns aplenty, and if I ever had the chance, I would definitely return to 九份 for a thorough visit.
It took me several tries to take the name of this place, as it was flashing. So cute!
The nice bike paths along the river reminded me so much of biking last summer in NY along the island banks.
淡水
Interesting dessert place in Ximen which had scrawls over every available surface, including the ceilings.
For our one night in Yilan, we home-stayed with this couple who had a frog obsession. The only frogs they didn't have were live frogs! The hostess was super friendly and talkative, she had maps of Yilan on her wall and gave us a 20 minute lecture on what there was to eat and see.
There are many beautiful parks to visit around Yilan, but we only managed two. We also visited a whiskey distillery, which was what Eric was looking forward to the most ;)
Edward and his modelling
On our way from the first park to the second, I thought we would walk to the main road and hail a taxi. It quickly became clear that this was impossible, as the "main road" was a mini highway running through plantation fields lined with large houses and farms. We were forced to walk to the second park which was half an hour away. Although I enjoyed the view and the breeze and was quite amused by our detour, I think my friends and their tired legs were prepared to murder me. 
My favourite food in Taiwan is, hands down, 卤肉饭。Needless to mention, the milk teas I had there were the best. I was also obsessed with this traditional dessert at a franchise called 小南门. I made this serendipitous discovery on the 6th day, while shopping around Xinyi area. I was lunching late at a food court, when the cashier recommended that I add on dessert for a few more bucks. It was glorious. The tauhu had perfect consistency and taste, with soft boiled peanuts and two other chewy things I cannot identify. I returned to take out round two that same night, and returned the next day for tea.
One of the best parts of the trip was the companionship and the unfiltered camaraderie. We played the most epic game of guessing movies using a single phrase which does not include any words from the movie title, which lasted several hours. We spent our nights playing cards and endless rounds of Fun Run 2 (thanks Zac) in the hostel room. The alcoholics ensured we had drinks every other night, and we also tried to be fancy and had wine and cheese once. On the last night, everyone was reluctant to go to bed and we were up until 4am, learning to play German bridge. I had to set 10 alarms to make sure that I could get up at 7am for church before my flight the next day.
The only downside to the trip was the weather. It was either too hot or pouring rain, and we returned to the hostel with shoes soaked through with rainwater one too many times. I also felt like I was back in HK, with my three HK companions and countless other Hongkongers speaking in Cantonese around me. Hoping to return soon with my family, preferably not in the summertime!
*atm*
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