Go Joyfulli

I haven't flown anywhere in some time... almost exactly three years. I'm very much looking forward to traveling again and am planning to go to Taiwan in a couple of months! Especially because it's been a while, I've been doing what I can to be prepared. The first step (well, other than deciding where to go!) was to make sure that my passport was okay and not about to expire. Around this time, Taiwan hadn't re-opened to US citizens for tourism yet (due to COVID) so I decided to renew my Taiwanese passport just in case. It took a couple months for the new one to arrive since the application had to go from the embassy to Taiwan to be processed.  Note: by now, things are back to normal and US citizens are allowed to visit for tourism without a visa as long as the stay is less than 90 days. Second step was to buy the plane ticket and then book lodging. On a typical vacation, I'd probably look into what cities or other countries I'd like to visit and book lodging/...

Even though one of the most well-known tourist spots in Nantou County (and possibly Taiwan in general) is Sun Moon Lake (日月潭), I only went for the first time during my last trip to Taiwan. The lake itself is quite nice. There should be places where you can rent bikes or scooters to go around, though I didn't see any where I was. There's also a ropeway that connects the lake to the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village (九族文化村), which is an amusement park with museums, roller coasters, shows, games, and lovely trails. It's a great place to learn about Taiwanese aborigines. I hadn't heard of the amusement park before, so I only planned a one-day visit of the lake and we spent half the day in each place. I think that the amount of time to see both places was about right since our itinerary was already pretty full, but it wouldn't have been boring to stay longer either. One reason I finally decided to go this time is because my dad was also back in Taiwan and he drove us. ...

Jiufen (Jioufen; 九份) - the town which may or may not have been an inspiration for Spirited Away. The streets are full of stands/stores and are decorated with red lanterns. I guess it has a "classic Asian" look, for lack of a better descriptor.  To be honest, Jiufen was a little too crowded with tourists for me, though I guess it was worth going once. My friends went to the teahouse and learned how to properly make tea - they enjoyed it a lot! I probably should have made myself join them in the teahouse too, since I'm unlikely to visit again... but I needed a break from being around so many people. Instead, I went to a little crane game place more on the outskirts of the town (I was even able to win a bunch of souvenirs to take back for friends/family/coworkers :). October 2019. This might be a little confusing, but Jiufen is technically in New Taipei City. We didn't go there directly from Taipei, but if you do, it sounds like it's pretty straightforward to get the...

Hi everybody! I decided to start my Instagram and this blog with a post on the first hike I remember going on the last time I was in Taiwan. As an introverted homebody, I often have to fight against my desire to stay inside when traveling. I hadn't planned on hiking during this trip, but one morning I decided to look up some options. I figured it would be interesting, good exercise, and get me out of the Airbnb without (hopefully) having to deal with too many crowds. Jinmianshan (金面山) came up as an option. The article I found said that it would be an easy hike and that it was close to an MRT station. The hike did end up being relatively easy. At one point, it looked like I'd have to traverse rocks by holding a rope, so I stopped there. I didn't want to risk a fall, especially because I was alone, and I wasn't sure it was even part of the trail. I still got a nice view of the city - it was definitely worth going! 值得 😄. I'll probably go again the next time I visit (m...