Hello guys please brace yourselves for this riveting announcement. I have decided to make a single post for Taiwan as I am only here for a few weeks and am moving around a lot. Enjoy. Please press play to set the vibes for the Taiwan read, multiple options on this one as it’s a longer post. You lucky things

PEPPERMINT – LAVENDER and MICK JENKINS

VERTIGO – ANTIR and ABEL BALDER

CHIAYI

DAY 60 – From Vietnam to Taiwan

I wandered to the market and in about 30 seconds realised it was not my scene and it was too bloody hot for me. While I was booking my taxi to the airport another (German) couple offered to share their cab with me, so it was a win win win and a good omen for the Taiwan travels.

The check-in lady was scepitcal of my story that I had booked an onward ticket from Taiwan to Seoul (I hadn’t) and then was extra sceptical of letting me on the plane because my bag actually weighed double the maximum amount, but after batting my eyelids and flashing my new tooth gems she would’ve had to have a real vendetta against me to not let me on. The good omens only continued when I managed to buy an eye mask at the airport (I lost mine in Koh Lanta and have been looking for one since), and I was also on the emergency exit so I had basically paid £60 for a VIP travel experience. 

Things started to go downhill from here though, this makes sense as they say good things come in 3’s. I got off the plane and followed a load of people to a queue, where I eventually got turned away because I didn’t have a ticket thing proving that I didn’t have any plants or meat in my bag (I didn’t realise this is what it was at the time). I had to get in another massive queue for them to check my bag, I’m still unsure if this is a precautionary thing because I came from Veitnam? Or if there had been an outbreak of a disease, I guess we’ll never know, it’s a medical mystery. I then proceeded to stand in the wrong queue for immigration, and transpires I also had to fill out an e-visa thing, everything was looking long. Once I had got through immigration I then got on a train heading to Taipei main station as I was getting a train to the city of Chiayi. I stepped onto a train (hoping for the best) then got a pang in my gut that this was not the right train. I stepped off. I waited 8 more minutes and stepped back on what was essentially the same train, just 8 minutes later (stupid girl). I was genuinely on the train for about 20 minutes when I realised I was going in the wrong direction. To cut a long story short, after lots of panicking and running, I eventually got the High Speed Rail (HSR) to Chiayi. Often the HSR stations are a way out of the city center so they offer free shuttles into the city, and after more panicking and getting ripped off by a taxi driver, I had reached my destination. I was already impressed by the infrastructure of the country, as well as how many people were offering to help me and how many signs there were in English. 

DAY 61 – Mooch and Night Market

Ches and I put some washing on and strolled around to find a good spot for lunch. Honestly, this meal was 10/10 and it was so refreshing not have to worry about there being fish sauce in everything. We would come to realise that often in Taiwan, restaurants don’t sell drinks, sometimes they have some water you can help yourself to, but usually you will just bring a drink with you or get one after. As well as this, you pick up a small printed menu on your way in, cross off what you want and walk up to someone for them to take your order. You also collect your own cutlery and sauces, it’s actually a very efficient way of doing things, but I still feel a bit rude going into an establishment and just helping myself. 

I was already loving the Taiwanese vibes, it’s so beautiful here and so many interesting and new things to eat. Also the lack of bibbing and the general lack of traffic and noise pollution such a welcomed change and made the mooching much more enjoyable. There are lots of arcade things around the city so we spent time shooting hoops and a man even gave me a bag he had one on one of the grabby things. 

We went to the night market for dinner where I got to try ‘scallion’ pancake which was incredibly tasty. 

SUN MOON LAKE

DAY 62 – Chiayi to Sun Moon Lake

We went for some beef noodle soup which is a staple in Taiwan, it was pretty good but not as good as the lunch yesterday.

Ches and I got the High Speed Rail to Taichung (one of the major cities) where we jumped on a 1.5hr bus to Sun Moon Lake. It was a bit confusing with how to get where but we managed to figure it out. We were staying near Ita Thao pier rather than Shuishe Pier which is where most tourists are, so we waited for our bus to the other side of the lake. We decided to get some food at the night market but realised everything closed super early here so had to opt for a 7/11 microwaved meal, which in all honesty wasn’t too bad. 

DAY 63 – Ches’ Bday

For Ches’ big birthday we hired some electric bikes to go around Sun Moon Lake, it’s a very famous thing to do and there are really cool cycle paths to complete the journey.

We stopped off at temples, viewpoints and pergodas and there was minimal cardio involved which was an additional bonus. Some of the views here were the best I’ve seen, the water was so clear and the contrast of the jungle kind of landscape was just stunning.

The sun was shining and the vibes were so good, at one point we even ended up quite far from the lake because we were just having so much fun pedalling around. Towards the end of the day both of our bikes started loosing some welly, and in hindsight we were so lucky they didn’t completely die because them shits were actually so heavy to move without the electrics. 

After dropping the bikes off I tried some of the famous Black Tea Ice Cream, which was a bit of a riup off (£3) but was rather tasty. We sat on the pier and did some people watching, enjoying the sunset, a highlight of my trip so far.

TAINANG

DAY 64 – Solene the Star

Ches and I said our goodbyes as he was heading to Taipei and I was off further South on the West coast to the old capital of Tainan. The journey actually felt super long and by the time I had arrived at the HSR station and the bus was about 20 mins late (and I had no idea where I was going) I was on my last legs.

My bag is absolutely brimming so it’s super heavy and the humidity in Taiwan is literally a different gravy, but after traipsing around the boiling hot city, I made it to my hostel. It was really worth the journey because the vibes at the hostel were very zen (and rather quirky). It was so clean, so calm and I knew I would have a lovely few days here. 

I went straight out for dinner and stumbled (quack quack) upon a quaint duck restraurant where I enjoyed some quiet time. In my room at the hostel I started chatting to a Swiss girl, and we decided to grab breakfast together the following morning. I was planning to be mostly solo in Tainan but I was so pleased to have a friend in a less touristy city. 

DAY 65 – Good Old Fashioned Friendship (+ cocktails)

Solene and I woke up bright and early for a free walking tour I had seen advertised at the hostel. We grabbed a little coffee which genuinely took 20 minutes to make (God knows what they were doing) but we both agreed it was very tasty and worth the wait. We then grabbed a little bun thing and started the toasty walk to the old Dutch Church. After waiting for a good 10 minutes and doing a more thorough check of the companys website, turns out that although the tour is free, you have to book onto it. Solene and I sat without a care in the world outside the temple for ages, it’s so funny how you can click so quickly with people you’ve only known for a few hours. 

We headed to the second oldest department store in the world, something I would really recommend. We were just enjoying eachothers company, mooching at all the gorgeous crafts, skincare and perfumes (Taiwanese perfumes are absolutely delicious, if I had any sense/scents/cents I would’ve bought one). We tried this really horrible desert which was like a peanutty, milky, tofuey vibe with tapioca balls. To me it looked more tasty than it was, but Solene loved it. We got some postcards, bought some tea and had a good old fashioned natter.

We mooched around for the afternoon, exploring snail street, when the heavens opened and we stopped off for some veggie ramen. 

After a quick siesta we headed to dinner where I had sweet and sour soup which was very tasty, despite the fairly viscous texture.

We ventured to tasting some of Tainan’s famous cocktails, each establishment is famous for having their own signature cocktails, and let me tell you, they did not disappoint. We met a lovely man called Po who showed us some of the more secret spots, and I thoroughly enjoyed the cherry tomato cocktail which I proceeded to drink everyday for the rest of my time in Tainan. They weren’t bloody cheap (about £9 a pop), but I reminded myself that I am a woman of luxury who deserves to drink cocktails with her new found friends. 

DAY 66 – Unbelievable Scran

Solene and I walked in the blistering heat to a café she had found online and I genuinely haven’t stopped thinking about this place since. IBT Coffee had the tastiest selection of cakes, where I had an earl grey basque cake which really tingled my tastebuds.

After Solene left to head to Khaoshung for the night, I thought I would treat myself (again) to a little baguette and glass of red from a French restaurant we had walked past on snail street. Honestly I am so surprised that I am missing European food, but this warm baguette and butter really quenched my proverbial thirst. 

I grabbed some passionfruit and mango juice with Po, followed by a tasty little Beef Noodle Soup where he told me that in Tainang it’s normal to add some vinegar to the broth.

Later that evening Po drove me around on his scooter and took me to some very cool bars, one of them so secret you had to ring a doorbell and they came and collected you from outside.

All the bars are so quiet it’s unbelievable, the whole country is to be fair, even when it’s rush hour traffic. We finished off the evening back at Swallow Bar for another Cherry Tomato cocktail (I’ll think about this drink on my death bed). 

TAITUNG

DAY 67 – Australian Postage and Scary Beach

I arose from my slumber and enjoyed an iced coffee and a tasty Taiwanese breakfast. I also tried some mochi imposter thing, it was warm and the texture was definitely something I wasn’t expecting.

I went for one final cherry tomato cocktail (at 11am – and it was half the price in the day) and said my goodbyes to the staff I had actually come to know quite well. Po helped me send my box of miscellaneous items to Australia because my bag was actually getting ridiculously full and it was making me so sad. There’s no way I could’ve done this without his help because even speaking Mandarin we were in the post office for 30 mins filling in various forms. 

Po dropped me to the train station which was additionally helpful because the taxis cost a pretty penny here. I jumped on the train to Taitung on the East Coast of Taiwan where Solene and I had booked a little hotel room to spend a few days in. We walked into town for some scran and ended up walking for over an our to the sea which we couldn’t even see and was brimming with scary men and equally scary dogs. On our way back we were wading through the horrific rain when some locals invited us to have a beer with them as they were having a family and friends party, so we stayed for about an hour. Lottie and Solene vibes are just delightful and whimsical. 

DAY 68 – No Hiking For Us + Earl Grey Coffee

We woke up bright and early to head to a trecking spot up in the mountains. We ate some really quite disgusting fried dumplings at a fairly sketehcy spot, and on the way to the mountains it started torrentially raining.

We asked the bus driver whether he was going back to where we came from, and he said no, we would have to get off and wait for another bus. This man genuinely lied through his teeth because we hopped off in some random village, waited in the pouring rain for half an hour, only for the fucking same bus, same bus driver to turn up and take us back. Amidst the chaos I lost my sunglasses too which was a shame so I was pleased to return to our hotel and have a nap to deal with the overwhelming situation. Solene is also a sleepy and chill girl so I feel like we match each others energy when it comes to Siesta and chill time. 

We walked to my favourite café yet called Coffee House. We had actually tried to go there the day before but everything opens so late here, like 1pm for cafes it’s a crazy business model in my opinion. She really was worth the wait. The interior was so lovely and I opted for their Earl Grey coffee, if you are a real one you’ll know I love Earl Grey. I was so pleased to see the concept art in this order, Earl Grey infused ice cubes (them shits was so concentrated it was delightful), then coffee, milk and sugar syrup to pour at your leisure (customisable to your own taste of course). I have never experienced such a taste sensation, honestly what a time to be alive. Solene really is the queen of finding good food and café spots, I feel like my brain shuts down when I’m with her because I’ll just follow her like a lost lamb. 

After a brief photoshoot shoot we grabbed a Tea en route to dinner (I think I mentioned that places don’t usually sell drinks so you bring something with you if you want anything other than water). This lychee milk tea was really a highlight of Taiwan for me, every single thing I have here is so tasty, every time I feel like it can’t be topped. We ended up at our dinner spot, a vegetarian place recommended by one of the guys we were drinking with yesterday. This meal was astounding, we got 2 bowls of noodles, bamboo soup, 2 bowls of tofu and cabbage for £5, a real bargain price.

We headed back to the beach, where the threat of a typhoon made us a big scared to go any closer than 10m to the massive waves. We also had a bit of a poorly tummy at the same time so (possibly breaking and entering) had to go into some random establishment and use the toilet (they were possibly aware of us being in there, possibly not). We then had a couple of cold ones at a beer bar and grabbed some delightful chippies on the way home. 

TAIPEI

DAY 69 – 5 Hour Train Ride

Solene and I ventured for one final café stop before we parted ways for a few days.

I hopped on the train heading to Taipei. My phone fully stopped working at the train station, but after an hour of light panic and some really inventive and genuious methods of technological research she was cured. 

I was so impressed with Taipei when I got out the station. It’s kind of just how I imagined, futuristic vibes, bustlying but still very quiet streets and the light at this time in the evening was so gorgeous. After a sweaty 20 min walk, I arrived at my hostel. Honestly I felt nackered and decided to have my leftover train snacks for dinner. I did my washing, shaved my legs and prepared for a blissful sleep.

DAY 70 – A Terrible Nights Sleep, Jifuen and Cocktails with Cindi

Regarding the last sentence of day 69, you can imagine my fury when I heard the familiar pang of an alarm at 4am. The girl sleeping below me didn’t even wake up, so when I aggressively shook her curtain while huffing and puffing and possibly murmuring some profanities, I became even more furious when she didn’t even get up, and just turned her alarm off. Then the standard hostel proceedings of people getting up from 7am onwards also didn’t help with the night of solitude I imaged.

I decided to proceed with my original plan of venturing to Jifuen town, even though I literally felt like I was on deaths door because I hadn’t had enough sleep. After the one hour drive from Taipei I was pleased that I had came. It was originally thought that this was the town that originally inspired the village in Spirited Away (this theory had now been de-bunked), but I mooched around with pace because I had heard how busy it gets here, and the rapid pace of tourist busses arriving put me on edge a little bit. I enjoyed a glorious lunch and after an hour and a half of said mooch, I decided to go back for siesta. 

Naturally as soon as I had my pyjamies on, someone decided to enter my hostel room and make a raucus, but I did manage to sleep for a few hours, I’m sure you’ll be pleased to hear. I woke up feeling like a new woman and decided to head for a quick dinner. I walked for about 40 mins to Nanmen Market where there is a big food court and enduldged in a delightful rice meal, paired with a Thai Tea which was a real moment of nostalgia (if you’re following thoroughly, you’ll remember this was my hyperfixation a few months ago). 

I met up with Cindi, a woman I had been put in touch with through a friend who had lived in Taipei. She works in the club scene, so I felt like a VIP when we went to a really cool rooftop bar with an amazing view of Taipei 101. We shared some food and chatted about her love of Pole Dancing and her cat, coconut. We then headed to Red House which is an area of gay bars in Ximen, near my hostel. We had originally planned to go to Taboo Club, but after realising the trains had stopped running we thought it would be best to plot up. I was extra pleased when a man we had been talking to said he would like to pay for our drinks, extra extra pleased because as Cindi had paid for dinner and this was my round. 

I had only had a few drinks but ended up back at the hostel at 3 ish, indulging in a pot noodle and conversation with a very funny Argentinian man. 

DAY 71 – Blog Day and Michelin Meal

I woke up feeling refreshed, likely because I wasn’t REUDELY awakened by a maniac at 4am and got stepping on my walk to the district of Datong, which Cindi had told me had lots of cafes and a hippy vibe. I walked for a significant amount of time and may or may not have wandered to a bus stop only to find City mapper lied to me. Anyways, need to burn off some of these Earl Grey treats. En route I wandered past a market and grabbed a cheeky rum and raisin treat. I stopped at a cafe where I drank a pint (a literal pint from a pint glass) of black coffee.

I then headed to my second stop of Hapa Cafe which so cute. I had the most unrelievable cherry tiramisu of my life and got cracking on the blog (reiterate, this is the bane of my life and takes up entire days at a time).

DAY 72 – Elephant Mountain and a Sad Goodbye to My Girl

I woke up bright and early to start my hike to Elephant Mountain, one of the best spots to be able to see Taipei. I actually really enjoyed this hike, taking it at my own pace and feeling the endorphins rising from deep within me. I was listening to my netball training playlist, notable song mentions include PURE/HONEY by Beyonce and It Makes You Forget by Peggy Gou. I was very sweaty and got some really horrific mosquito bites which are periodically weeping (infection?), but the view was really cool and I loved seeing Taipei 101.

I stopped off at a cafe recommended by Solene called squeeze and reinserted all my lost calories with an earl grey cheese cake and an iced americano.

I was really disappointed/disgusted when I nocked my little toe and my whole toenail came off minus a small section which was holding on to my toe for dear life. It was possibly because my nails were too long (I wanted to keep my little French tip going on lol) or if the gel colour masked the fact it was dying, either way I only have 9 toenails now. I decided to grab some dinner to cheer myself up, and ended up walking past the infamous postcard/cat cafe.

I met up with lovely Selene for one last hoo-hah as she had just arrived in Taipei. We managed to watch a gorgeous sunset over the river before heading for some drinks and dinner at a crate marketplace. We had some cockails in a glass container, topoki, plum salted sweet potato fries and some bbq courgette. And also a beer.

We proceeded to shlep to the other side of time to grab some cocktails at a speakeasy place, and we were both near tears when we said our goodbyes. I am starting to really struggle with the amount of people I have to say goodbye to, but Solene was definitely the hardest. Solene and I had spent the best part of a week together, meeting up in 3 different cities, the laughter and smiles we shared together mean everything to me. It’s not all sad news however, because we are hoping to meet each other in Thailand in a month. I’m trying to persuade her to get a 5 star hotel resort and to be honest, I don’t think she’ll take that much convincing.

Taiwan, you were absolutely my favourite country so far. I have made amazing memories at every stop and eaten more amazing food. I have never met people who are so friendly, welcoming and genuine, the gorgeous landscape is a massive bonus too. Thank you Solene for making my time in Taiwan so special, I really hope we can live there for a few months next year together. I’m feeling bitter sweet about going to Korea, but travelling is all about meeting new people and I feel immeasurably lucky to have met you!