That Time I Visited Taichung in Taiwan

I love visiting Taiwan. The first time I visited Taiwan a few years ago I felt at home. There was familiarity even though it was my first time to visit. It made me think, maybe my grandma is from Taiwan? Anyway, I always look forward to visiting Taiwan and as much as I haven't done any of the touristy things I'm happy I've been able to visit a few places outside of Taipei like Kaohsiung, Yilan and Taichung. 

This is how I will remember Taichung for now, until I get to explore it more. 

Last year from Tokyo I flew to Taipei and then took a train to Taichung with Shin Yee. I was so happy she decided to come join us (she loves visiting Taiwan too). We met up at the train station and got HSR tickets to Taichung. I love taking the HSR since it's fast, comfortable and you can have snacks if you want! I was excited to see a new county and explore it. 

The county has it's own charm. I loved walking around just before dinner to explore.

Taichung is famous for night markets and hiking. I got to explore the night market and try out a couple of bubble tea shops. The train station was huge! It doubles as the bus interchange too. I didn't get to see the old train station which they say is beautifully made of bricks. 

The train station.

I would have loved to explore Taichung more, but it was raining so hard while we were there. What made the trip special for me was meeting the teacher community and seeing old friends. They are always warm and welcoming and despite the rain they managed to host a mini-party for the success of the event. They hosted the celebration on the stage of the auditorium haha. It was a totally different experience! There was so much laughter and they all made me feel welcome. 

I was hoping I could explore Taiwan a bit more this year. That will have to wait for another day.

CB//175 #StuckAtHomeDay/205 #WFH119 #StayHome #BeKind 

My Weird Airport Routines

On Mondays I think about traveling. It's almost seven months now since I last got on an airplane. Not traveling is driving me a bit crazy because I've never been grounded this long (even after heart surgery!). I was musing last night about weird routines I do at airports. It will probably take a long time before I can travel again, so I thought I'd write my rituals down so I don't forget.

Changi Airport

One thing I love about living in Singapore is the easy access to teh tarik. You can find it everywhere. I prefer teh tarik over bubble tea tbh. I always have a cup of teh peng before I fly out of Singapore. I oftentimes skip going to the lounge so I could have my cup of milk tea.

NAIA

There's two things I usually do before I leave Manila: (1) Buy our dinner, usually Max's or Kenny Rogers; and (2) Buy something at National Bookstore! I buy dinner so the boys can eat something fresh from Manila (sometimes I squeeze in some Jollibee/Wendy's/Mary Grace for the next day). National Bookstore is one of my favorite places. I always buy a book or magazine which I read in-flight.

KLIA

I super love Old Town's white milk tea and that's what I usually have before I ride the train to the my gate. Sigh. It's been a year since I last visited Kuala Lumpur. I miss sitting at the Old Town Coffee Cafe, drinking my milk tea and watching people as they come and go.

Suvarnabumi Airport

There's two things I usually get at the Bangkok airport: (1) A nice quilted bag; and (2) Mango sticky rice with Thai milk tea. I don't go to Thailand often so I usually come to the airport early so I can explore the airport too.

Narita Airport

Oh there's a lot of things I like about the Narita Airport: (1) Play gachupon, (2) Buy some Japanese snacks and new flavored Kitkat chocolates, (3) Check out Pokemon items, and if I have time, (4) Eat or buy takeaway.

Taoyuan International Airport

After I finish drinking bubble tea from one of the shops at the departure area, I usually head to the toy shop to look for something to bring home for the boys. They have a lot of Gundam and Transformer toys.

Sydney Airport

There's one thing I can get at the Sydney Airport which I couldn't from other airports -- quilt/patchwork magazines! I rush through the airport so I could visit all the bookshops. Oh I almost forgot, I usually mail postcards also from the airport since there's a post office near the check-in counter.

Incheon International Airport

I was so hungry after a flight and ended up at a coffee shop at the basement. I ended up try bagel with cream cheese and white onions. I originally thought it wouldn't be good, but I ended up liking it. I think this will be my weird routine for this airport.

What about you? Do you have weird airport routines like me?

CB//132 #StuckAtHomeDay/162 #WFH94 #StayHome #BeKind

My First Visit to Korea

Last February I shared the time Sweetie and I visited Korea. I also visited the beautiful city of Yeosu. I have so much blog backlog and I remembered I never got to share that first time I visited Korea. 

My first visit to Korea is truly memorable. I went with friends from work. We always joked that it was a test of friendship since we spent our first night in a traditional Korean home. It was Myra who wanted to try it and we gave in. We all decided even before we went to bed that we were going to move to a hotel the next day. It was an experience like no other, but the need for conveniences won. 

After transferring to a hotel we immediately visited two palaces: the Changdeokgung and Gyeongbukgung Palace. All I remember now is we walked a lot. I guess at that I was already starting to have issues with clotting and I got so tired easily. At Changdeokgung Palace I parked myself at the museum steps while waiting for the girls to come back and get me. 

That same day we met a Kpop star who taught cooking at our office! That was a memorable experience! I should have probably asked him if I'd pass to be a Kpop star since I was mistaken to be one in Pakistan! Hahaha. 

By evening we dined out and ate yummy Korean barbeque. What was memorable for me was trying soju for the first time! They mixed it with beer and I absolutely loved it. I found it really tasty since it matched the grilled pork perfectly. We conked out immediately when we got back to the hotel. 

The next day we went to Seoul Skytower and Namsan. We took the cable car going up to the Namsan Tower. We decided to dress up for the day just for fun. We spent most our time there just taking photos and I remember laughing and laughing. There was a Latino guy who even asked to take a photo with me! That was so funny. 

After Namsan we went to a market since I wanted to buy fabric. That was where we had our second funny incident for the day. We were so hungry we went inside one of the shops. We immediately found a seat and tried to observe what other diners were ordering. We belated realized that everything they offered were raw food! OMG! We weren't ready to have that so we apologized to the server and moved to another resto. 

For our final full day we went to Nami Island. We just commuted and took the train. It was so cold! It was the perfect timing to visit Nami Island because the leaves were all orange and yellow. We rented a bike-trike (I'm not sure what it's called). It was an exhilirating experience to see the whole island through biking. I had so much fun doing that. After visiting Nami Island we also went to Petite France. 

We spent evenings roaming around Myeongdong. I learned a lot about beauty products visiting the shops. It was useful for me since Sweetie and I spent time in the same area when we visited last year. I wish I could visit Korea many more times in the coming years. I'm also interested to see the different provinces. Hopefully when things start going back to normal, maybe next year or the year after. I'd really want to visit all the wonderful people I've been meeting from Korea. I shall be back!

#CB45  #WFH39 #StuckAtHomeDay76 #StayHome #BeKind #ThrowbackThursday #TravelThursday

Lakwatsera Ako

Yes, eversince I was a kid my family would tease me that I have "itchy feet" (not the fungal kind!). Well, it's the fault of my parents since I was just a few months old when they started bringing me to Bicol and other local vacation spots and the US when I was 4-years old. I could've lived in the US, but I chose to stay home because I just simply love it here.

In the last iBlog3 our panel was asked, "What do you want bloggers to ponder on?" and I said that as bloggers we should promote what's good in our country. Tourism helps a lot in the economy, so I think it's very important to be an evangelizer for one's country (naks). Anyway, Noemi suggested to me during the Digitalfilipino Web Awards last Friday that I should have a travel blog since I get to travel a lot. I pondered on this and seeing that my stats show that a lot of people read through my travels I thought it'd be great to share my experiences. (I can just imagine Erik chuckling about all the content I'm putting online, LOL).

And here it is:

Tara! Sama na sa paglakwatsa ko!

Translations

Lakwatsera - a person who cannot stay put at home; one who loves to travel and go out
Tara! Sama na sa paglakwatsa ko! - Let's go! Come with me as I travel!