Dessert: 芒果芝麻腸粉

One of the most amazing desserts we had in Hong Kong was while on Cheung Chau island for their Bun Festival  which is held once a year in April or May. We had the pleasure of experiencing it first hand. The humble island of Cheung Chau, literally named long island (長洲), is best known for their dessert specialties. One of the our favourites was a variant on the cheung fan noodles that is made with sesame and has mango fruit and sauce on it. My canto friends call it "manguo jima cheung" in Cantonese, so the literal Chinese would supposedly be 芒果芝麻腸粉. Delicious!

Hong Kong is Humid

I know there are many real posts that are still needing to be published - I keep telling myself that I'll work on them after exams are done! This year I'll have about a week off before Christmas that I can spend doing my Christmas shopping and working on this blog :)

Anyways, Hong Kong is a crazy humid place so if you're going to be there for a long time, get some of this stuff. It will stop your clothes from getting moldy :S

Thailand - Part 4: Chiang Mai

The next morning was yet another early day; the four of us had to pack our bags, check out of the hotel, and get aboard the bus to take us to our first tour destination. The transportation was not exactly what I in mind - somehow, I thought there would be a cushy small tour van that would take us to place to place, but instead, we find ourselves in the back of a truck-like taxi vehicle, where we sat on benches along with 6 other people. I didn't mind it though (until one of the benches broke down...but we'll get to that later) :P

Our first stop was a butterfly/orchid farm. In my opinion, it was kind of disappointing. The orchids were indeed pretty and fragrant, but I didn't really know enough about orchids to tell the difference between this one and the other :S. The butterfly farm appeared to have only 1 butterfly. To our horror, the facility used heavy metal chains in the doorway to brutally stop (and kill) any butterfly that attempts to fly though through the "door". It really wasn't very pleasant stepping through the killer metal chains.

Jordan sniffing the orchids.

Another type of orchids

Jean and I posing with the beautiful flowers!

A nice lady took a picture for the two of us

Some of the tourists were more enthralled with the cat

Nan Lian Garden

Nan Lian Garden is a beautiful little green getaway in the middle of the city, close to the Diamond Hill MTR station. I found it as I was researching online for a nice outdoorsy adventure to give Melody a break from her midterms. For anyone with quick access to the MTR, Diamond Hill is each to reach and it is quite easy to find the garden with the standard directions posted at the MTR exits. The garden is open to the public and has a general area where you can walk unrestricted into the evening hours. Along the paths, there are these special exhibit areas that you have to pay to access and they have less frequent opening hours. I believe these paid areas have either reduced fare or free entrance on Wednesday, but we never found our way back to try this out.

 Entrance area of Nan Lian Garden

 Chinese people have a thing for building gates

 Little trees are also popular here

This garden trip was where I first learned to use bokeh with my Canon point-and-shoot

Nan Lian Garden is a gently meandering series of walkways that have small ponds, trees and pagodas scattered aesthetically about. All around the garden are the towering skyscrapers and the immovable mountains. On our visit, it was populated mainly with older folks who were strolling about, or sitting by the larger pond, watching the giant Koi swim peacefully about. Throughout the park, small birds sing and call to each other, helping to remove the drone of the city traffic.

Map of Nan Lian Garden

 The views are like something from a post card, but more urban, due to the skyscrapers

 Some of these buildings house information guides about the ancient wood construction techniques

Eventually, the sun began to set in the garden. Due to how it is deeply entrenched against the highways and skyscrapers, we were quickly being left in a small garden pit of darkness. Climbing up to higher ground, we noticed that there was a walkway across a highway that was actually a crossing to the Chi Lin Nunnery that we had visited on the first city tour that we were taken on. With a few more pictures, we concluded our adventures and went in search of dinner!

 Sunset in the garden

 Chi Lin Nunnery Courtyard

This is one of my favourite HK pictures: The contrast of these ancient temples and the tower mountains and skyscrapers is a peculiar urban beauty to me

Japanese Curry Beef udon 

 Soup noodle dinner set thing

Melody bought a Snoopy shirt at Uniqlo

Whampoa Adventures

Thursday was a day right in the thick of Melody's studying. She was exhausted from days on the books so we decided to take an evening off and go in search of a restaurant that I heard about. We started our adventure by heading to Hung Hom station.

Emerging at ground level, we meet the large mall and slowly find our bearings. We start walking in the direction of the coast, looking for our mystery restaurant. Along the way, we old dark streets with small stores. The majority of these stores are selling elaborate wreathes of tropical flowers, which we later learned were all funeral wreathes :S

The general lack of large billboards and lights, the little old ladies pushing carts of cardboard, and the old men chatting and smoking in small store alcoves gave us a feel for the old Hong Kong. It was not the new, flashy, bright, 24/7 711 feel of Hong Kong Island.

Most of the stalls in this area sell the funeral flower wreaths

All the while that we are walking, we still do not know what Whampoa refers to. It is this mythical existence that we do not fully understand. Finally, as we wander the dark streets, we find large lit up signs announcing that we are entering the "Wonderful world of Whampoa".

With a bit more wandering we find the area where our restaurant is and we finally understand Whampoa: it is like a housing community, complete with grocery stores and restaurants. One of the most noticeable and distinguishing parts of Whampoa is the mammoth boat that was built there and houses restaurants and various stores. Walking up on the boat, we find a local community group doing Wing Chun practice and Tai Chi.

 It's all one big community

 Up on the boat, Wing Chun practitioners behind us 

 View from up on the boat

Melody admiring the view and spying on locals

The dinner it self was in a building across the street, and is heartily recommended by us. Wang Jia Sha's (王家沙) food is primarily Shanghai cuisine is primarily known for their interesting use of sugar, according to wikipedia, but this is not something that I noticed in many of the dishes. What I noticed in general was rich flavour and very saucy food. My favourite dish that we ordered was called 擔擔麵 (Dan Dan Mian, aka Dan Dan noodles) which is a saucy noodle dish with a strong peanut flavour. We ordered another soup type dish that I was not particularly fond of, mainly because it was full of this slimy rice-cake type material that I didn't really enjoy. We also ordered wonton's that were very tasty. In summary, we had a great meal and I felt that it was quite affordable for two adventuresome students!

 擔擔麵 (Dan Dan Mian) - very recommended! 

Departure

The constant rumbling of the plane's engine, the distant chatter of other passengers, the announcement from the cabin crew to buckle up was the first few signs that told me, in a few moments, I was really leaving Hong Kong.

I looked out the window and saw the building that I just came out of - a large structure with glass windows that housed many departing people, whether they are tearful, happy, or excited. Jordan was still there, probably en route to his own gate, to board his flight to Toronto. The mountains, so close to us, provided a impressive backdrop against the many waiting planes in the vast lot. Beyond the mountains was the rest of Hong Kong, which had been my home for the past 4 months...

The plane ride was quite relaxing and enjoyable. I spent the first 4 hours eating, watching a movie (Limitless) and a few episodes of shows that I fell behind on. The next half an hour consisted of me disturbing my sleeping neighbour so I could go to the washroom, then struggling to find a comfortable spot for me to fall asleep. Once that position was discovered, I snoozed for the next 5 hours and woke up to find we were only an hour away from our destination!

My first thought as the plane was descending towards the runway of Vancouver airport was how far the mountains looked. It looked hundreds of kilometers away! It was a great change from Hong Kong, where the nearby mountain was simply a few kilometers hike or an MTR stop away...

It was quite sad to be leaving Hong Kong. I have such an incredible 4 months full of great adventures, fantastic people and delicious food! However, I am glad to be back home, to see my family and friends here, and to enjoy the beautiful and dry Vancouver weather. I will definitely be back in Hong Kong sometime, to enjoy the rest of the amazing places I never got to visit. It's not goodbye, but 再見 - see you again!


P.S. We will still be updating the blog and posting about our past adventures! Sta tuned :)

Minor Update!

Hello everyone! As you can see, we have fallen behind with updates on this blog. Apologies! The term is coming to an end so soon, and there are way too many things happening all at once!

We are currently in final exam period, so if we are not holing up in the library studying, we are outside enjoying the last bit of Hong Kong. Both Jordan and I have our flights on May 27th to return to Canada. My dad is actually coming to visit on May 25th, so we'll be spending our last days in Hong Kong with him!

The blog updates will probably come when I return home :P It is so weird to think I will be home in about 1 week. I will definitely miss it here!

Thailand - Part 3: Chiang Mai

- First Thailand post written by Melody! Pictures to come soon, since Jordan was the photographer and has all the pictures! :) -

We were all pretty tired from our adventures in our first day in Chiang Mai, so we headed back to the hotel and went to sleep promptly.
The next day was an early day; we woke at around 6am in order to get ready to meet with Jean's family, who was going to take us around the town. There were a few confusions however, and we didn't end up leaving until a couple hours later. But during that time, we decided to sign up for a day tour for tomorrow that consisted of elephant riding, river rafting, bamboo rafting and a hike to a waterfall! We were quite excited to get those plans set in stone and ready to go.

Jean's uncle arrive to pick us up, and we set off! The day plan was to visit the San Kamphaeng Hot Springs, and then the Tiger Kingdom. The drive out to the area with all the tourist attractions was quite long, so we felt quite uncomfortable to have to impose on Jean's uncle, but he seemed perfectly fine with driving us.

The San Kamphaeng Hot Springs park was a beautiful place, with many green areas and gardens for family and kids to hang out. It was another blistering hot day, and we walked along the path, following signs that point us to "Hot Springs". There were many other areas of the park including restaurant areas, a mineral pool, buildings for mineral baths, and more! I was quite excited to finally visit a hot springs, but as we got closer, we realized something was wrong. The hot springs were outside in plain view, and were very small. There was a sign indicating that the temperature of the water was 105 degrees Celcius. It also says "Boil egg".

Thailand - Part 2: Chiang Mai

After a long and bumpy ride, we arrive in a deserted little area on the outskirts of Chiang Mai. After freshening up in the small bathroom, we went off to meet Jean's family, north of Chiang Mai. An important note that this is Jean's extended family whom she's never actually met. So it was a first meeting for all of us. Upon meeting her grandfather, he embraces all of us warmly. Just as friends, yet we've never met. The road there is an interesting one for me, as I was sitting in the back of the pickup truck.

As we arrive at their property, we realize how rural the area is and how far we are from everything we know. We are in for an experience. As the truck pulls in, we see many shy children poking their heads out from doorways of the different houses, curious to see the strange visitors who have just arrived. With Jean's help translating, we are quickly introduced and shown the humble accommodations of Jean's family. Baby chickens are snooping around the yard, the wildness is literally on the doorstep - this is a cozy place. It is quiet and serene, but quickly heating up with the rising sun.

Her family graciously serves us a late breakfast and we go exploring around their backyard. We meet a few more relatives and then it is nearly time to return to Chiang Mai. Jean's uncle has found us a room for 300 baht / night  - 10CAD!

 Brushing teeth finally!

Thailand - Part 1: First day in Bangkok

While we have many other updates that we still need to publish, Thailand is by far one of our biggest and most exciting! In the ending days of midterms we quickly snuck away to Thailand for a 9 day trip around three cities, Chaing Mai, Koh Samed, and of course, Bangkok.

This was our first major trip out of Hong Kong (Macau had only been a day trip). We had no idea what would be in store. What we found was sunny heat, liveliness and the smiles of a humble people - the Thai.

To describe our exact summary of events is to write a small essay, so I will do my best to be more succinct but not just list the sequence of our travels.

Our trip began Mar 29th in the early morning with a off-meter taxi ride to Hong Kong airport. The off-meter rides are a discounted method of getting to the airport and back. You just need to phone a guy named Denis. Flight from the airport went well. We were all itching with excitement to get on out and exploring in Bangkok!

Our first location was Khaosan Road - a bustling little area that is informally dedicated to Thailand's backpacking community. It was a bit of a culture shock to see so many young white Europeans! The retro rock music playing on some unseen stereo made me think that I had be whisked away to a 70s hippie experience. The second sensation that literally hit us was the blistering heat: it was bright sun and 37C when we stepped out of our A/C taxi. I instantly regretted wearing two shirts and shoes. I quickly learned to wear a light coloured t-shirt and sandals.

Khaosan Road was our first experience with the food stands that really define Asia. Hong Kong's food stands are become scarce due to regulation, and most of them are larger and built into actual building stalls. The food stands of Thailand are so small (about the size of an ice-cream freezer you see in the corner store) that there is often only enough room on top for the wok and some sauces to the side.

 Khaosan Road!

 Padthai for 35 Baht - 1.1 CAD!

Melody is happy here :)

Mar 17/18 Weekend

Been falling behind on updates lately! We've been getting busy with our midterms (Melody has midterms, all my work is devoted to my project grous) and it leaves us with little time for going out or updating the blog.

This past weekend however, was a time when we had to go outside and enjoy the nice weather, because it was a rare period full of sunshine. One thing we didn't realize until we arrived here is how overcast it is on a weekly basis. Getting one day of sunshine is an amazing thing. Getting 2 days in a row is lottery luck!

So we woke up on Saturday and went down to the water and enjoyed the warm sunny heat!

 Melody enjoying the sun and water

 A wider shot, showing the bay

Jordan in the sun

Rare commodity

It seems that foam ear plugs are a rare commodity in Hong Kong. My supply of ear plugs for sleeping are running out, and I first thought that I could simply get some at our Park n Shop convenience store on campus, or at a Watson's (similar to London Drugs and Shoppers') here. But nope - at a majority of the places I have been to, they only sell silicon ear plugs. I suppose those would work, but none of the packaging says how many decibels it blocks out, and I'd like to know that before I spent $5 CAD on a pair of ear plugs. So if anyone knows a place that sells regular foam ear plugs for a decent, expected price, please let me know...:P

East on Ma On Shan - a Stroll alongside the Ocean

Not having a plan at all was the plan for March 4th. I, having finished a midterm, was ready to leave the campus and set out to explore! We met up with Chris, and left for our adventure readily. 

Jordan: Hopefully we can knock off 2 stations today...maybe 3 if we're ambitious!
Me: I don't think we should get ahead of ourselves, I think 2 is ambitious enough!

Our goal for our 4 months here in Hong Kong is to visit every MTR station. There are 84 MTR stations in total; we have completed 25. Our progress isn't too bad so far, but we have to take in mind that we will become busy as finals are progressing nearer...but anyway, we still are trying our best!

   

Mountain!

We transit to Choi Hung MTR station, transfer 2 times and soon enough, we were at our destination - Wu Kai Sha (烏溪沙), situated in the Northeastern area of the New Territories. The station is the East-most station along the Ma On Shan (馬鞍山) line, and from our little research we did the night before, we were aware that it was by the water. We also found out that there is a mountain nearby to be hiked - the Ma On Shan mountain, which one of the top 10 highest peaks in Hong Kong!

Sha Tin - A Day of Culture, Heritage and Snoopy

This day, Feburary 26th, was a planned day. Jordan and I had discussed exploring around Sha Tin area for a while, and we invited a few friends that we knew that liked to explore. So on Sunday morning, Chris, Nigel, Jean, Jordan and I congregated at the Sundial at HKUST and left campus for a day of sightseeing. The weather was better than I expected - the whole week had been foggy, wet and misting. But today, it was relatively dry, and quite fogless. I was happy.

My Taiwan Youtube Video :)

Here is the video montage I made about my 10 days in Taiwan :)
Was a ton of fun to make and surprisingly took me way less time than I expected. I think my draft version took me about 3 hours to select and trim video, arrange it, and do a basic render. I then took another hour or so to add basic colour touch-ups and then made an outro session. Turns out that a video montage doesn't take nearly as much time as I expected, but I've already thought of improvements that I want to do to try and match some of the amazing travel footage that I've seen on Vimeo.

Hope you like it! :)
This 5 minute video results from 44 min of recording (very spread out), which equates to 7.2 GB of video. It took about 6 hours of work to select clips, clip them, find music, drop them into place and render.

Lung Yeuk Tau Heritage Trail - A step into the past

Lung Yeuk Tau Heritage Trail is literally a step into the far past. Not far, far past in terms of China's history, but far back in terms of Hong Kong's cultural heritage. Located up by Tuen Mun MTR station, it's a completely different place, exactly the type of thing we'd been looking to find since we got here.


We got up in late morning and had our breakfast and met up with Chris, and began our MTR journey to get up to Fanling station. It's one of the very farthest stations from our east side of Kowloon, so it was quite a journey. Probably took almost almost an hour to get there! Once we arrived in Tuen Mun, we hopped on another little mini-bus and made up way up into the hills to find the heritage trail. Upon landing, the first realization we make is how spread out and new the houses look. Some of the houses look like they were built in the last 5 years. The siding is new, the metal railings are shiny. We're supposed to be looking for an ancient heritage trail, yet our first observation is brand new housing developments. The mysterious double story of Hong Kong history arises again.


Our very first stop is a map board that clearly declares the beginning of the trial. It is standing in the small courtyard of Tang Chung Ling Ancestral Hall, just a stone's throw from 6 tenant apartment building where a man is washing his patio. Here on Google maps. An old man is sitting in the courtyard, chatting away in Cantonese into a mobile phone, dispelling all conception that this area has been left forgetting by Father time. We look to the map board and see a description about the early walled settlements built by the Tang clan, one of the first clans to move into Hong Kong, settle, and proliferate themselves in history by the construction of walled villages, or "Wai", 圍)

 The Map showing the different wai

Outside Tang Chung Ling Ancestral Hall 

Aberdeen and Ap Lei Chau

It was another cloudy day in Clear Water Bay in Hong Kong. We were hoping for a bit of sun, but the slight fog definitely wasn't going to dampen our spirits. We were headed to a new place for adventure today - Aberdeen!

  

Jordan by the ferry boats

Now, the name 'Aberdeen' to Vancouverites means a shopping mall in Richmond, but it had quite a different meaning here. Aberdeen in Hong Kong is know for their fishing and seafood industry, as well as more tourist geared places such as floating restaurants. The public transit trip there took quite a while - approximately an hour and a half, but we enjoyed the ride as we talked to our fellow exchange friend, Chris, about school, Hong Kong, a bit of philosophy and lots of food.

Valentine's on the Peak, Part 2

...continued from Valentine's on the Peak

Although the view was gorgeous, and the atmosphere romantic and relaxing, we noticed that we were getting chilly and definitely very hungry. So we decided to head on down to the most touristy, non-local food we've had so far in Hong Kong - Bubba Gump Shrimp! 

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co is a chain of restaurants originating in the US, that serves shrimp as their specialty. This restaurant is themed around the novel and movie Forrest Gump - you would have to either read the book or watch the movie to know why in fact, it's called "Bubba Gump". The atmosphere in the restaurant was very...North American. I felt like I was back home, at a regular restaurant in Downtown Vancouver or Toronto. Artists such as Taylor Swift was playing in the background, the place was decorated with pictures of Gump and American friends, and there were signs with English quotes written on them, such as "Stupid is as stupid does". The only thing that felt different than North American restaurants was the waiters and waitress communicating to each other in Cantonese. It was quite an interesting mix...

The dinner was incredibly enjoyable. I must say, as much as I love Chinese food, I do miss American food. The fries were well cooked, the coleslaw was a nice alternative to vegetables in soup, and the shrimp - oh my gosh, the shrimp - was delectable. We ordered the Shrimper's Heaven, a shrimp platter, which we were told was a must get here at Bubba Shrimp. There were 4 kinds of fish - cocktail shrimp, coconut shrimp, tempura shrimp and fried shrimp, and it came with a few dipping sauces that were made to compliment each of the shrimp. We also ordered some Captain's Fish and Chips to share. I was very, very happy. In addition to stuffing ourselves with seafood, I also enjoyed some of the quirky things of the restaurant. For example, if you wanted the waiters'/waitresses' attention, you display the sign, "Stop, Forrest, stop!" and if you're all good and happy, you display the sign "Run, Forrest, run!". The theme and atmosphere of this restaurant spurred us to watch the Forrest Gump movie the next day :)

Since we started the night off being tourists, we of course, ended the night being tourists as well! We wandered around outside for a while, trying to see if we could identify hiking trails that we can take up in the future. We took a couple more photos, then decided to take the scenic route home - the bus! As the bus winded down the mountain, we got to see the beautiful view once more. The buildings became taller and taller as the bus rolled down the mountain, and we became tinier and tinier in comparison, and soon enough, we were once again, only a small fraction of the grand skyscrapers of Hong Kong.

Macau!

Macau, as many people know, is just across the pond in terms of travel from Hong Kong is quite suitable for a day trip. Close enough for a day visit, but a distinctly different culture resides there. Hundreds of years of Portuguese influence still holds strong there, and the food, language and architecture are hallmarks of this small gem. We took an early ferry ride on the TurboJET, so that we could try to come back the same day, and avoid paying for a hotel room.

 Departing HKUST

On the TurbeJET!

After arriving in Macau, we made our way through immigration and out to the main entrance where a slew of tour guides, bus drivers and guys who drive minivans are awaiting the tourists. Many people approach us offering tours as we unfold our large tourist maps and try to find commonality in the sheet of points that we printed off of Google Maps.

Library News!

Dear all,

Jordan and I have been spending quite a bit of time in the library, due to upcoming midterms, projects and assignments. Don't worry; we are still have lots of fun. We try to add to the amazing fun in the library with addition amazing fun of exploring, a couple times a week! We went to the Hong Kong History Musuem and Science Museum yesterday!

Anyway, the point of this post is to tell you about this amazing playlist of songs I have been listening to while I study: http://8tracks.com/thegirlnamedjedrzejko/my-ultimate-study-playlist. It has quite the mixture of songs, from classical composers such as Beethoven to epic movie soundtracks from movies such as Inception. For those who are stuck in the library like us, I hope you enjoy it!

Valentine's on the Peak!

Monday, February 13th was turning out to be a normal day. I had just finished my two classes of the day, and went home to Skype with my brother. As usual, he was being clown. After our conversation, I was sitting in my room, thinking of what I was going to do in the immediate future, when my phone rang.

Melody: Hello?
Jordan: Hey, how's it going?
Melody: Good! How you?
Jordan: Good. Um, hey, do you have dress clothes?
Melody: Uh...yes. I brought a summer dress thing...
Jordan: Ok, good. And what kind of shoes?
Melody: Well...I have a pair of heels and my flats.
Jordan: Oh ok!

So it appears that my boyfriend suddenly developed an interest in women's apparel.

My exchange course info is on the internet!

Check it out :)

http://uwaterloo.ca/engineering/current-undergraduate-students/engineering-exchange-oportunities/exchange-opportunities/hong-kong-1

Gotta get UW Eng Exchange to update my info to the courses I actually took tho

Tech Tips: Know what type of memory card you have!

Quick tip for anyone planning a big trip overseas that I believe is usually overlooked: You want to capture memories so you think about buying the nicest, newest camera out there. But 2 things that people often forget about: you need to make sure you have adequate batteries and memory cards as well.

Adequate batteries is pretty easy to understand. You need enough battery to last you until the next time you'll find an electrical outlet. Memory cards is a different story.

Jan 26 - Flight to Hong Kong!

So on Jan 26th, we left our urban island paradise of Taipei, Taiwan. It was a sad feeling to leave a place where we were well fed and well exercised from scouring many areas in Taipei. The city ended up being a lot bigger than I expected. I initially thought that we'd only need 4-5 days to explore Taiwan and after that we'd want to go south on the island, or move on to other countries. Melody and her dad showed me so many beautiful places in Taiwan that I think we'd still have a list going if we did 2-3 things for 4 weeks.
But sadly, 10 days is all we had to give Taiwan on my first time there. It was a great time there, but only a sampling of the beginning.

Taiwan Adventure Journal - Day 9!

Day 9 (Jan 25) was our last day in Taiwan :'(
We started our day off with a trip to see the Martyr's Shrine. It is reminiscent of Chiang Kai Shek square with its immaculate upkeep, large stone architecture, and brilliant red contrast decorations. While we were their we walked around the inside and entered rooms that are dedicated to martyrs who have died throughout history while serving Taiwan.

 The main gate. Note the stone-faced guards under the arch

Taiwan Adventure Journal - Day 8!

Day 8, aka Jan 24th, was another drizzly day in Taipei. Streets quiet, the few pedestrians scurry by with a flurry of umbrellas and Mandarin chatter. There are fewer cars in the streets.
On this day we went to the National Palace Museum, just a few kilometres out of Taipei's city centre. You can find in google maps here. To get there, we took a city bus from one of the main city intersections in Taipei. It was a 15 bus ride or so, which drops us off in a little landing area outside the museum. As you walk in, you see a garden off to the side as well as an open stone walking area that surrounds the museum itself.

Mountains in the distance, right in the backyard of the museum, a comfortable silence pervades the scene.

 The walkway up to the museum

Taiwan Adventure Journal - Day 7!

Day 7, aka Jan 23, was our first day of the Chinese New Year. Our first day in the year of the Dragon. As mentioned in other posts, Taipei practically becomes a ghost town when CNY rolls in. People travel and go on vacation, visit family, and generally take a break from their daily grind for about week or so. The city being nearly empty, is a good time to sight see any of the open venues for pictures, but isn't as good for shopping and markets, as many of them are closed.
On this day we went to Sun Yat Sen memorial hall and took a look around. 

It was a cool, overcast day. Taipei 101 loomed in the distance, spire occluded by the clouds overhead. The general lack of crowds and the low hanging mist created the feeling of a quiet morning that endured throughout much of the day. 

We walked around Sen's Memorial hall and then moved on to the notably bigger Chiang Kay Shek Memorial square. The large square is bordered by a gate on one side and three large, traditionally decorated buildings on remaining sides. One of which is the National Theatre, National Music Hall on another side, and finally the memorial hall, which lies to the South-East side.

Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall

Taiwan Adventure Journal - Day 6!

So this is Jordan's first time delving into the lengthy writing process of our Taiwan, so spare me if these entries aren't as well written as Melody's :P

Day 6, aka Jan 22, was the day we went to the mythical Taipei 101. Please note that this is also Chinese New Year's Eve.

The first thing to know about Taipei and a lot of Asia in general, is that Chinese New Year is not a big street party. It's a time when people get time off work to go home and take care of their family, see relatives they haven't seen in a while, and generally eat a lot of food. That said, all that family time means that a lot of food stalls and attractions are actually not open. For this reason, we had to leave the morning comfort of our Taipei hotel room to get our breakfast for the first of 3 or 4 days where the city was very quiet in many different areas.

This particular morning, we got some Chinese baking and some noodles for breakfast.

 This is how dead the malls are on CNY Eve