You might have noticed that my blog hasn't been updated since January, 2011. A lot has happened since then so I am working on bringing everything up to date. Every week I hope to make a few new posts and photo albums until I catch up. The entries will be dated when they happened and not when I actually wrote them so you might have to dive into the 2011 Archives page or click on the older entries link at the bottom.…
Allison and I at the gates to Taroko Gorge.
I had been to Taroko Gorge in Hualien back in 2010 but Allison had never been so we planned a trip over the long holiday weekend. Taiwan is divided by a massive mountain range running north/south down the center of the island. Hualien is located on the less populated eastern side of Taiwan. Tainan is located on the southwest coast and Taichung, where Allison lived, is on the west coast right in the middle. To get to Hualien you have to take a train or bus either to Taipei around the northern tip of the island or to Kaohsiung and then…
Lien and Allison in the park.
I went back to Taichung to visit Allison and Lien for the weekend. We had originally planned to go Water Zorbing at a park but when we got there they told us that the government had shut it down. We were bummed but we decided to make the most of the day. The park is called Fengle Sculpture Park (豐樂雕塑公園). I had never been there before and like the name says, it is full of sculptures. We walked around for awhile and took pictures with the sculptures. We then walked for several hours all over Taichung city. Walking around Taichung with Allison…
Lien staring up at the Dome of Light.
Lien and Shauntelle were going to Kenting for the weekend and they invited me to come tag along with them. We ended up spending a night in Kenting, a night in Kaohsiung, and then a night in Tainan. It was pretty cozy with three people staying in my dorm room size apartment barely big enough for 1 person. They met me in Tainan and then we jumped on the train to Kaohsiung and then on a taxi to Kenting. I was able to negotiate a ridiculously cheap price for the 2 hour taxi ride. Once we arrived, we rented a scooter. The…
Chinese New Year Fireworks on Love River
Allison and I both had time off for Chinese New Year so she came and stayed with me in Tainan for a week or so. We toured around some sites in Tainan and then spent some time in Kaohsiung. I had only been in Tainan for about a month and haven't really had the chance to go sightseeing. Tainan is an old city originally established by the Dutch East India Company. In 1661 when the Dutch colonists were defeated by Koxinga it became the capital of Taiwan (then under the rule of the Tungning Kingdom and shortly after the Qing Dynasty)…
