#taidong

[mothmiso]

202202 Taidong (2) (3) (4) by tzejen

[jasminebutintaiwansojiemin]

July 28th, 2024 星期天 - Traveling to Kaohsiung, Meeting the Celebrity Cat, Somewhat Scammed by Sushi Restaurant

We spent a lot of this day traveling from Taidong to Kaohsiung. I packed a lot the night before, but when I woke up I also continued packing. Trying to get my stuff out of the hotel was a NIGHTMARE, especially because I had so much extra stuff from the typhoon. After struggling for what felt like forever, I finally made it to the bus.

For the first part of the ride, I played sudoku and listened to music to destress. At the first stop (a rest stop very similar to those on the Florida Turnpike), as we were walking inside, an old lady tried to take pictures of me and I was like hahahahaha no. I ended up getting a Starbucks drink just for the Taiwanese Starbucks experience. There was so much extra stuff on their menu from strawberry Frappuccino drinks, to ginger tea, to a wide array of Starbucks merch that one could definitely never find in the U.S. unless they were in Seattle.

After the rest stop, we continued driving for a while. During this part of the drive I worked on finishing my dance I’m supposed to be choreographing, so when we made our second stop I tried running it to see how it would feel. For the rest of the drive I played more sudoku and watched videos of the currently ongoing 2024 KCON LA convention.

Our first surprise stop was right by an elementary school, so at first I thought maybe Yeh laoshi was going to take us to her old school? But then we kept walking towards a train station, where the best surprise ever was waiting. The little orange train conductor cat Yeh laoshi always carries was there in the flesh managing his station. He was so cute and calm but i could see his little ears go into airplane mode and twitch when the beeps from different machines would sound. Apparently he (and by he I mean Mikan the Kaohsiung cat) only works one day a month, so we were lucky to see him. We even got to have him come outside to take a picture with the gator flag. After some more awwwwwing, we split up for lunch.

After some deciding, we got steamed buns from a nearby shop that also sold Mikan shaped buns. Cat bun place ratings: Spicy pork bun 6/10 Mikan Bao 4/10 very mid BUT it was cute so its okay. After eating we walked around for a bit more as there was coincidentally also a parade for a nearby Daoist? Temple. As we walked through some shops, we somehow got called over by one of the people with the temple to get free drinks. As we walked through the parade, we also ended up bowing to the gods of the temple (not quite sure which ones those were but alas). Eventually we escaped and headed down the street to the open fair area were there was some shops and a karaoke area. One of our classmates ended up doing karaoke which was very funny but he slayed down.

After that we all headed back to the station before going to the bus and heading to the Mikan gift shop near the high speed rail station we had passed through a couple of days before. After reloading our transport cards to work in Kaohsiung (I finally put the shark cat stickers on my card hehe) we explored the Mikan store. It was very cute and they surprisingly had a lot of options for merchandise. Something funny I noticed is that sometimes there would be pictures of the actual cat playing with or sitting on the items for sale. I also did notice in the train station earlier in the day that there seems to be a dedicated fan club for Mikan, having matching shirts and expensive cameras like he’s an idol or actor. I ended up finally buying a drink carrier from the Mikan shop.

After the shop, we headed to the hotel. It’s definitely the most modern hotel we’ve stayed in so far. After settling in, some of us headed out to try out a nearby sushi place. The sushi was pretty good but we’re pretty sure the overcharged us for something, which was very irritating. I ordered tuna and salmon sashimi, seared scallop and yellow tail, miso soup, a tokidoki roll thingy, a shrimp hand roll, and some peach seltzer drink. It was most definitely pricey, but when else will I be in Kaohsiung eating sushi *insert shrug*. After dinner we headed back towards the hotel, but I first stopped at Watsons to buy nail polish (that I literally ended up never using). I may or may not have gotten got by the cashier but I took the L and just bought two polishes. Then I went home and settled into bed to rest after a long day.

[survivingtw]

A Weekend in Taitung // Why You NEED to Visit Eastern Taiwan

On the last weekend on the festival, myself and two coworkers hopped on travels and headed down to the south eastern town of Taitung.

First off, Taitung is FAR lol. Living in western Taiwan, we are blessed by the high speed rail system that shoots us down the coast in about two hours, north to south. On a regular train, from my area to Taipei is about 50 minutes. On high speed rail its less than 15. WHAT. Yes. I know.

Anyway, there is no high speed rail on Taiwan’s eastern coast and to be honest it would probably be quite the challenge and EXPENSIVE to build. The west coast is mainly flat until you hit the mountain range but the east coast pretty much is the mountain range lol. It’s also full of more aboriginals, nature and gorgeous seaside views !! Mountains and the sea all on one area ??!!?! YAAAAS.

The hot air balloon festival is VERY dependent on the weather. The few previous days were all cancelled and when we arrived (at 530am mind you =.=) it was raining a bit and many people left. Luckily, it cleared up for a good hour of hot air balloon fun. 

PS IT WAS GORGEOUS I JUST DON’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY.

Eastern as well as Southern Taiwan grows a lot of the food for the rest of the island so its not surprising that the food tasted so fresh. There were also some veggie choices that aren’t so common in the north. 

The alcohol is just as good in the north in case you’re wondering :P 

If you do your research, you can find some preeeeeeetty interesting restaurants to stumble into for a photo op :P

Just around from the hot air balloon festival, there is a look out where you can see the plains before the mountains start. Absolutely stunning. 

Later that day, we went to a restaurant on the shore. It was honestly such a great location because they had seafood, sangria, a pool and the ocean all on the same lot! You could really just spend the whole day here just for the cost of one meal and enjoy all the area has to offer.

   Although I only spent a really short time, it gave me a lot of inspiration and motivation to take more opportunities to visit towns and places like this that aren’t really in the tourist book. I felt so at peace not rushing like in the city but, having so much fun enjoying the water ... and panicking I was going to get a sunburn (WHICH I AVOIDED THANK GOD).

Pro tip: Rent a car or get a taxi drivers card. Renting would be lovely since most things are pretty spread out, but if everyone wants to drink, a cab is totally affordable, especially if youre with a few people and can split the fare. Just make sure to get someone’s number to pick you up cause you’re not just going to find a cab rolling around by the beach. 

[color4]

/ 「最美的風景。」 —旅途風景系列 #臺灣 #台東 #都歷遊客中心 #台東景點 #攝影 #旅行 #旅行風景 #生活 #sonyxa2 #taiwan #traveling #travelpic #travelgram #life #photogram #photography #taidong https://www.instagram.com/p/B1x3Z5nnXlX/?igshid=11y9bczkju7qj

[taiwandedongxi-blog]

Taiwan

[wolfhantw]

＃weekend47 #familyday #sisters #旺哥 ＃Ruby #Lucy #Rudio #xz2 #索尼濾鏡 #canon77d #三寶媽 #日常 #簡單就很幸福 #taidong #naruwan #chuluranch #musemofprehistory #台9線 https://www.instagram.com/p/B5TuSqMHqtQ/?igshid=1mycjfm8a9g2q

[suzyhazelwood]

Maple Leaves in Mist by 白士 李 Via Flickr: Please visit my facebook page, www.facebook.com/SomewhereInLife

[skkhang]

타이동 in 타이완~ 타이완 남동부 도시로 타이완에서 가장 한적한 도시~ 외국 관광객도 별로 보이지 않고 몇몇 현지 관광객만 보이는... 그런 곳~ 옛 타이동 기차역을 활용한 철도예술촌, 야시장, 천후묘, 태평양이 보이는 해빈공원, 타이동삼림공원, 바닷가 기암괴석의 소야류, 지본온천 등 볼거리, 즐길거리들~ 자전거하이킹 좋아하면 타이동에서 화련까지 150km 해안도로 가도 좋아~ 자이언트에서 자전거 대여~ #타이동 #taidong #자전거하이킹 #화련 #소곤소곤타이완 #천후궁 #야시장 #철도예술원 #지본온천 https://www.instagram.com/p/B0z4pX2pMkK/?igshid=1gaddhlb2e99n

[brandknewme]

The East Coast

[beyondthepeachblossom]

Taidong / 台東

[marcelsauderphotography]

Experience the Taiwan Lifestyle. Peacefull Chilling. . . . . . . . #creativity #lovemyjob #formosa #lifeisgood #taiwan #ty1 #travel #tripadvisor #audio #zoom #art #creative #atayal #aboriginal #eastcoast #dulan #taidong #marcelsauderphotography (hier: Dulan Mountain) https://www.instagram.com/p/BvYKU5SgMH-/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=3w6rvzvu9a5o

[organicbydesign]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Wanshan Lin (@wanshan_33)

#torik #dance #taidong #taiwan #台東 #boomerang (at 鐵花村 | 音樂聚落 ‧ 慢市集 |)

[fumetimes-blog]

@kuunatic 謝謝台灣!!! We had such a wonderful tour here😍!!! Thank you everyone who came to see us, helped us on this tour!!! Hope to come back to Taiwan soon!!! 再見😉😉😉 #kuunatic #kuunatictaiwantour2019 #taiwan #taipei #taidong #kaoshiung #tainan #意識不能招待所 #意識不能の層後趴 #鐵花村 #tiehua #wearesouth #南迴樂 #tcrclivehouse #revolvertw #continuemusicstudio #tour (at Taiwan) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs7GrL8ggmY/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=lq200ldvaxpa

[kuunatic]

謝謝台灣!!! We had such a wonderful tour here😍!!! Thank you everyone who came to see us, helped us on this tour!!! Hope to come back to Taiwan soon!!! 再見😉😉😉 #kuunatic #kuunatictaiwantour2019 #taiwan #taipei #taidong #kaoshiung #tainan #意識不能招待所 #意識不能の層後趴 #鐵花村 #tiehua #wearesouth #南迴樂 #tcrclivehouse #revolvertw #continuemusicstudio #tour (at Taiwan) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs7GQBvgFUh/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1i94shh6os7kd

[color4]

/ 「大波池。」 —旅途風景系列 這地方真的怎麼拍怎麼美❤❤❤ 原來鹿野高台的熱氣球只有早上五點或下午五點才有😂（沒作功課的下場 #sonyxa2 #臺灣 #台東 #池上 #大波池 #旅途風景 #旅行 #生活 #攝影 #花東縱谷 #taiwan #taidong #travelpic #traveling #travelgram #life #photogram #photography

[maraczeks]

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