Our last night in Japan was interesting... let's just say, always read the reviews before you book a place to stay... 'nuff said. We couldn't find accommodations in either Kyoto or Osaka before our flight out to Taiwan, so we stayed in a wee town close to the airport.
After borrowing the establishment's three bikes, we found an interesting mall - kind of Kmart on steroids and then we stumbled upon one of the three restaurants in town. We went in... once you do that.... it is hard to back out. They didn't have any English and our Japanese is sadly lacking but the hostess was hilarious in her gestures.
She served us okonomiyaki . I am pretty sure that was all that was on the menu. This is a kind of layered omelette deal and a specialty of the area. It starts with a pastry crepe cooked on the grill in front of us while the rest of the ingredients are cooking along side. She piled on top of the crepe loads of cooked cabbage, onions, choice of meat (shrimp, pork, whatever), couple of strips of bacon, then flipped it and cooked the whole thing on a hot grill. A fried egg is put on next and then the grilled noodles. Top this with some kind of brown sauce and mayonnaise for good luck. It is huge and made in front of you on a huge grill. The hostess and her hubby worked together making them... he would just lean over and add oil or stir something while she was working away on it. Hilarious. When the hostess asked us a question, she would rely on other customers to get the question to us and so on the evening when. When she learned how long the flight was, she gestured praying hands and said 'gong' (meaning she would go to the temple and pray).
We flew into Taipei the next day. I have to say, Japan Air, ANA and Eva are all Japanese airlines that we have used and are all amazing. Free checked bag, food and great service. Nice change from air travel in North America.
So Taiwan is not Japan. It is in my opinion somewhere between Japan and Vietnam.... not nearly as clean and orderly as Japan. Buildings are old and grey (often hiding high end malls on the inside). Traffic has flexible rules and scooter are going in every direction. The people are generally more pushy and not afraid to jump the cue. But the city is bustling and vibrant with lots of neat food stalls and night markets.
Art in a subway station....
Sunday night in the park near our hotel.... roller skating, crowds of families enjoying the fine weather.
Whereas the forests in Japan, reminded me of home with the pine, maple trees and coloured leaves, Taiwan is a jungle. Super humid and tropical. You get the sense if the grounds folks didn't stay at their work, the jungle would over grow the place in no time.
Taipei 101 - was once the tallest building in the world.... not for a while.
En route to the night market.... Temple light up in the background.
The night markets are pretty interesting. Stalls of food - deep pots of different coloured and smelling liquids with all manner of meats, sea foods and just plain unidentifiable stuff for sale to eat. The 'Food Safe' folks would have a coronary. There are dogs and cats around, people smoking, food being hacked up and tossed into buckets to get ready to grill. In between these stalls are hair dressers, clothing shops, lottery ticket sales,.... you name it. Even can get your brows done!
Memorial Hall for Generalissimo Chang
We did a hike yesterday on Elephant Mountain in Taipei - close to 2 kilometres to the top -all steps of various heights and spacing and then you have to do all again going down. Kate used the stairs as an opportunity to exercise - she went up and down doing sets while waiting for me to catch up... I used the stairs to get up and down.... sore calves today my friends. Excellent view though.. seemed like we were as high at Taipei 101. Tons of butterflies along the way too.
Half way up...
Examples of the different styles used on the temples here. You can see the Chinese influences.
We took another high speed train to Taichung today. This is the way to travel. It is much cheaper to go by train here in Taiwan than in Japan and just as comfortable.
We had a fun afternoon of navigating the traffic on bikes here in Taichung. This is NOT Kyoto. In Kyoto, we travelled on wonderful bike paths, along the river through the heart of the town. I highly recommend that town for cycling. Taichung... ?? well, we did it. Scooter, buses, cars, flexible rules and it was just plain crazy.
Found this little photo opportunity in one of the malls.
Take care all.... sharon
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