Hello! This week has been super busy (aren’t they all?) and I have a lot of things to catch up on for this blog, so here are some highlights from my first two weeks here:
Met up with my 阿姨 (aunt) and my cousin’s family to ride on the gondola to Maokong, a mountainous area near Taipei which has some pretty amazing views
Later that week I was planning on meeting some friends who were in Maokong, but decided against taking the gondola to meet them there since I had just rode it a few days earlier. I had been waiting for them for a little while at the base station when the sun began to set, so I decided to take gondola just before it closed for the day. At this point, the station was pretty empty so I was able to get an entire gondola car (normally for up to ~6 people) to myself.
I was very much not ready for how amazing it was - just being alone, wind whistling through the windows, surrounded by 360 degrees of mountain and sunset. Pictures don’t do it justice.
ICLP (the program I’m attending) organizes optional student trips every week or so, the first one being to Sun Moon Lake, a popular Taiwanese tourist attraction. The weather forecast was looking pretty terrible, but we were assured that since it would be raining it wouldn’t be nearly as crowded! Fortunately, they were right! Unfortunately, it was downpouring pretty for much the whole time.
A bike trip and boat tour were planned for us but pretty quickly cancelled. For the two or three hours it wasn’t raining, though, the lake was lovely!
Stopped by another popular night market, this one known for especially good food.
象山 (Xiangshan, Elephant Mountain) has a popular “hiking” trail that offers incredible views of Taipei. (“hiking” is in quotations because the trail is located not too far from one of the MRT stations and is just fifteen minutes of stairs)
Some friends and I decided to head to Wisteria on a rainy afternoon, a historic Japanese-style teahouse that once served as a gathering place for Taiwanese political dissidents, artists, and academics in the 80’s. We arrived around 1:00pm and were informed that they did have a table available but that we would only have until 5:00pm to make way for a reservation. 5:00pm? So much time! We’ll probably be out of here in an hour or so, anyway.
We ended up leaving around 5:00 pm. We were seated in a quiet, warmly-lit tea room, where we had to take our shoes off and sat on the floor around a low table. After a short walkthrough, we took turns steeping the tea ourselves using the traditional Gongfu-style tea preparation methods. It was definitely the best tea I've had. Each tea on the menu had flowery descriptions like “this oolong evokes the sensation of walking through the forest on a crisp autumn evening” but then the tea actually tasted like walking through the forest on a crisp autumn evening. So good!
One of ICLP’s popular traditions is their Friday night 熱炒 (rechao, or “hot fried” (?)) dinner. A Taiwanese staple, 熱炒 restaurants are chaotic and messy eateries that churn out tons of different 家常 (jiachang, homestyle) dishes and lots of booze. We were seated outside in what seemed to be a parking lot with some low stools and plastic tables set up for us and some other diners. The night was hot, the 台灣啤酒 (Taiwan’s signature beer) was cold, the food was delicious, and the company was great!
Had a late-night bowl of Taiwan’s signature 魯肉飯 (lu rou fan, stewed pork rice). It was fatty, perfectly greasy, and phenomenal (this bowl cost just over $1. wow!)
Went to two different places for some famous mango shaved ice. It’s nothing like shaved ice I’ve had back at home – the ice is so finely shaved that it almost has the texture of cotton candy. Also Taiwan’s mangos are dumb fresh and sweet
Had many a bowl of delicious 牛肉麵 (niu rou mian, beef noodle soup). It might not be the same as my mom’s, but it’s pretty darn great
Attended a wonderful dinner with fellow Yale students, families, and alumni organized by Yalies in Taipei. Everybody was super kind and welcoming and it was great to meet the small but incredibly wonderful Yale community in Taipei!
Went to KTV for karaoke with some other Yalies living in Taipei for the summer
A new roommate just moved into our apartment and brought an adorable, old, and lazy cat named Cha-cha. We love him.
