Everything I owned at that point was either sailing on a boat somewhere between Korea and America, collecting dust in a tiny storage unit in Philadelphia or in the over-sized rolling suitcase I was about to traipse through twelve countries with. I felt spread out. I am spread out. Bits and pieces of me are all over the world at this point.
I am a vagabond.
The next two months will be a menagerie of flashing passports, stuffing bags into overhead compartments, checking into hotels, home-stays, and hostels, fighting jet lag, exploring new culinary cuisines, wandering through markets, and seeing as much of the world as I could fit into 79 days. My journey would begin in Taipei and end in London.
I will be filling you in here and there on my travels, mostly with highlights and funny anecdotes for your entertainment. As I write this, I am already in Israel, the fourth country on my journey. But let's start from the beginning. The following is the tale of my first day of travels...because it's an entire blog in itself.
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As I dragged my suitcase through my tiny kitchen into the doorway to leave my Korean apartment I tried to take a second to breath it all in. I took one last look around, one last deep breath, then left the first place I had ever lived alone. The two-hour bus ride to the airport was bittersweet. It was the first time I felt really sad to be leaving Korea and truly emotional about what this country had done for me and the amazing experiences I had and people I met. The sun was setting just as I was reaching the airport like curtains closing on my year abroad. It was disgustingly poetic.
I was supposed to arrive in Taiwan at midnight and I knew that I would have to hit the ground running in order to make the last shuttle bus into Taipei, an hour away from the airport (and a hefty taxi fare that I was trying to avoid). So I took my time in the Incheon Airport, had a leisurely last meal in Korea (I had Pho, not Korean food, and I don't feel bad about it at all) and settled into my aisle seat hoping to catch some z's until touching down in my first of many countries.
Thus began the comedy of errors...
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| Spotlights throughout the night. The lights weren't even aimed in the right direction. This light belonged to the man to my right. |
I was using an airline called Scoot Airlines to fly to Taiwan. The name alone made it sound like the beginning of a bad joke...and true to it's name, the airplane had some design flaws that kept me, not only awake, but giggling for the entire journey. Scoot had decided to put the lights and the flight attendant call buttons on top of the arm rest. Therefore, any time you decided to actually use the arm rest, you set off the lights and alerted the staff that you needed their assistance. For two hours we flew in what looked like a disco of flashing lights and dings from the flight attendant button going on and off constantly. While I knew well enough to keep my arms tucked to my side, man next to me hit our call button about 67 times in the duration, and never once realized he was doing it. The flight attendants seemed to be somewhat used to the constant annoyance and would calmly walk up and down the aisles turning off the signal lights. Still, I could tell they were seething on the inside, imagining themselves working for more reputable airlines.When we landed the second flaw came to our attention. The overhead compartments where impossible to open as the handles were so high up that anyone under 5'11" had no chance of reaching them. Keep in mind I was flying from Korea to Taiwan and I was the only Caucasian on the flight. Not to jump into any stereotypes but let's just say in that entire flight I think there were only four people tall enough to reach the compartment handles, including the flight attendants (who turned a blind eye as many passengers stood on the seats in order to reach the handles).
Eventually, we all got our bags and I was off the plane, speed walking through customs, and baggage claim. I withdrew cash and practically flew down the escalator to the bus terminal cutting off old ladies and pushing my bag through crowds like a plow. I wasn't going to miss that last shuttle. I managed to purchase my ticket and be the last person allowed onto the bus. I was winning Taiwan. So it seemed.
Anyone who witnessed me planning this trip knows how overly prepared I was. I had maps, walking directions, sticky tabs with my hotel addresses and the like. So when the shuttle dropped me at the train station, only a fifteen minute walk and five minute cab from my hotel, I had a few options to make this last step an easy one. Tired and not wanting to risk walking through the streets of Taipei at two in the morning with a giant suitcase and a sign on my back that read "tourist", I opted to grab one of the cabs waiting a few steps away. A grumpy cabby argued with me about whether or not my bag would fit into his trunk then finally decided to let me do all the work stuffing it in while he watched with arms folded. When we began to drive off I handed him the address I had for the hotel - it was in English. He yelled at me in Mandarin...ok so plan B...I quickly reached in my backpack and pulled out a map I had printed off Google maps and handed it to him, thinking (without checking) that the street names would at least be in Mandarin. He took one look at the map and turned it upside down. It became abundantly clear that my assumption was wrong, the street names were in Korean and he had no idea what he was looking at. He yelled at me again and gestured for me to get out of the cab. I wouldn't budge until he opened the trunk, fearing that he would take off in anger forgetting that my bag was in there. Finally he got the hint and opened the trunk allowing me 5.2 seconds to fling out my 20kg suitcase before he sped off. This was not going well.
I was afraid to try another cab, fearing none of them would speak English so I decided my best option at this point was to walk. I took my crumbled map that the angry cabby had thrown back at me and tried to make sense of it. The problem was, I was dropped into a huge train station complex so I wasn't exactly sure where my starting position was. The very reason I come so prepared when I travel is because my sense of direction is shite. I stood on the street corner of a major intersection, map in one hand, suitcase clutched tightly in the other, and backpack weighing me down from behind. I heard my parents' and Itai's voice in my head starting to yell at me about the guessing game I was attempting to play on which direction I should walk in. Everything in me told me to go left, which probably meant the correct direction was to head to the right. The worried voices of my loved ones in my head got louder...this was stupid, it was 230am now and I really had no idea where I was going. I refused to fail this early on into my trip...so I went to plan C.
Plan C: Stand here looking as adorable (and clueless) as I could until someone stopped to help me. It worked in Korea many times, maybe it would work in Taipei too. Sure enough, within five seconds a cab pulled over..."Hello?" I said tentatively. "Hi there! You need some help?" Relief washed over me, he spoke English! The nicest cabby in Taipei had stopped to help me. He called the hotel for me and got specific directions, he loaded the suitcase for me, refusing my help and made light-hearted conversation with me calming my frazzled nerves. When we arrived he unloaded my stuff and stood in the doorway of the building, not letting me out of his sight until I was safe and sound through the entrance of my hotel. Before I left, I handed him ten Taiwanese dollars as a thank you and he acted as if I had just sent his kid to college...it was about $0.30 USD. I wanted to give him more but I only had large bills on me. I told him he was my hero, he laughed and said "no, no, I am zero".
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| My awesome space-themed hostel. |
A large marble staircase laid before me, the last obstacle to my basement, space-themed, hostel. Exhausted I slowly dragged my giant bag down the stairs one step at a time, fighting every urge I had to just let it go sailing down the slick stairs on it's own. When I reached the bottom one of the men who worked at the hotel, held back a giggle as he told me I was welcome to use the elevator next time...I missed that somehow...I decided to blame it on exhaustion.
I was staying in a room of pods with 15 other girls so when I arrived at now 330am and stumbled into the room it was pitch black. I fiddled with the luggage locks on my bags trying to get out something comfortable to sleep in but gave up when I realized I was waking the whole room and resigned to sleep in the clothes I had on me. Just as I laid my head on the pillow, after what felt like the longest day ever, I heard the snoring from the girl above me. I stuck my earbuds in and played soft piano music vowing to buy ear plugs the next day. #podlife
After a terrifying bathroom break a couple hours later where I woke having no idea where I was, realized I wasn't quite sure where the bathroom was located and walked back in the room, not quite certain of which pod I had come out of, the snoring seemed to have stopped so I slept the rest of the night sans piano music. At about 7-8 am, only 3-4 hours after I had first arrived I was awoken by the girl in the bunk across from me who was letting out the loudest farts I had ever heard without a care in the world. At this point I should have been mad or frustrated or close to tears from the array of misfortune I had encountered since leaving Korea (and severe lack of sleep)...but instead I just laughed, turned my piano music back on and went back to dream land for as long as my jet lagged body would let me.The rest of my time in Taipei went off without incident. I walked that entire city, about 8-9 miles a day, and I saw and tried just about everything I could. I discovered the glory that is the soup dumpling and had my fill of night markets and street food. I think for Taipei it's really essential that you come with an extra stomach, there are just so many different types of food to try from goose to fried milk to pieces of chicken the size of your face.
The following is a photo montage of my time in Taipei. Next blog, I'll tell you about the time I angered the Gods of Bali.
More of my awesome hostel...
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| Showers |
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| Hair drying station |
Sight Seeing Day One...
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| This two pictures show the eclectic nature of the Taipei skyline. |
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| It was pretty delicious. |
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| James Kitchen - an Anthony Bourdain favorite. |
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| Tonghu Market |
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| Markets and Metros for days. |
I stopped at this famous place for beef noodles (Yong Kang Beef Noodle) and there was a line out the door (Friend's from Korea, can you spot the Koreans in line on the left? Hint... they are the one's holding the selfie stick). Before I knew it everyone was pressed against the glass taking photos and murmuring excitedly.
Apparently, there was a Taiwanese celebrity inside. When I figured it out, I managed to snap his photo as he escaped the crowd. But for about ten minutes the Korean girls and I sat there scratching our heads while the crowd squealed like ten-year-old girls. P.S. - the noodles were delish.
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| Bubble Tea in Taiwan! |
One of my favorite memories from Taipei happened in Xiemen, a place that has been referred to as the Times Square of Taipei. There were plenty of unique shops and food stalls to explore and scattered among them were a few food carts as well. Being a food cart junky, they immediately stole my attention as I gravitated towards them to take my traditional "random meats on sticks" photograph I get in almost every country I've been in. As I approached the first cart, pointed my phone and readied the camera, the man speed off, meats swinging, as fast as he could from me. Before I could figure out what happened, food carts were whizzing past me, turning me in all directions. I managed to fiddle with my phone and take another picture (seen below) but by the time I looked up from my camera, they were gone...all of them. They had expertly disappeared into thin air.
I stood in shock...were they running from me? A man nearby began to chuckle as he saw the confused expression on my face as he nodded behind me and said "Police." I turned and saw nothing but heard the faint sound of a motorbike in the distance. A solid minute later the po-po came barreling through the crowd. I guess the food cart vendors were trained on that sound and I assumed (correctly) that their existence was illegal.
I waited a few minutes hoping to see them reappear so I could at least figure out how they all managed to vanish like that but I had no such luck. So I wandered off onto the next street defeated, only to hear the sound of cart wheels behind me. There they were again, lining up in some kind of predetermined order, ready to sell their meats and dumplings. It was an impressive thing to watch and appeared to be a well choreographed dance they had performed time and time again. Kudos street vendors...kudos.
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| Xiemen street art and a crazy spider tattoo man. |
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| A piece of chicken the size of my face and a dance show in the background, who could ask for more? |
Day Two - apparently a day full of food...
...ok well not really but it was full of markets, which always contain street food, which I always take pictures of. Unfortunately for me, I only have one stomach so I could only actually consume 25% of what's pictured below. I know...it's a damn shame.
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| For breakfast I started with Goose Meat from Ya Rou Bian |
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| It's like duck..but more tender and juicy...amazing! |
The night before, I had discovered that a friend from Korea was in Taipei, so we planned to meet up at a dim sum place called Din Tai Fung that was so well known in Taipei it hit the top of every "to-do" list. We waited an hour and a half for our table and it was worth every single minute. The top contender was the "soup dumpling" or Xiaolongbao, a dumpling actually filled with soup that requires directions in order to eat it properly. If I could have a thousand more of those, I still wouldn't be satisfied. We ended up ordering two extra portions. AH. Freakin. Mazing.
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| A tiny portion of the vast menu. |
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| You could watch them make the dim sum through a glass window. |
The infamous soup dumplings and their instructions...
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| Look who I found in Taipei! David + authentic hot'n sour soup = a good day |
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| Step 1 - dip soup dumpling in vinager/soy sauce blend Step 2 - place the dumpling in your spoon and pierce with your chopsticks Step 3 - squeeze out the soup and add a touch of ginger Step 4 - have a foodgasm |
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| Hey this looks familiar! |
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| Practicing with my new selfie stick. Ground pic :/ |
I planned to see three night markets on day two so the timing of my day was crucial (Wufenpu, Raohe & Shilin). But I'm happy to say I hit them all. Some were full of clothes, some more eclectic, all had amazing food.
A note on markets:
Wufenpu has a very large variety of clothes, Raohe is definitely the place to go to eat and Shilin is by far the biggest and most famous night market in Taipei. I also went to the Shida market (not my fav) and the Tonghu market which also had a lot of really good food. The only market I didn't get to on my list was Snake Alley which is also highly recommended. But only for those with strong stomachs.
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| Go this way... |
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| No this way! |
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| Purdy |
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| Chicken feet |
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| Taiwanese snack - syrup glazed berries. |
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| No idea what this was, some sort of jelly? |
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| Scallion pork dumpling (assembly pictured above) |
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| Watermelon juice |
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| Scallion pancake - ahhhhmazing. |
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| I honestly have no idea what this was but I liked it. I saw a huge line for it so I decided it was worth trying. Every time they asked me a question in Mandarin I just nodded and then they added another ingredient. I wish I could give you more information but I can say this, when you see a big line, get in it. You're welcome. |
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| I went out of my way to try this one... |
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| ...Fried Milk. It was better than expected. |
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| I will miss the easy access to quail eggs in Asia. |
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| Beef wrapped around scallions. |
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| And for dessert... |
Third & Final Day - more fun as a tourist...
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| Start your day off right with a heaping helping of dragon fruit and coffee. |
After breakfast it was zoo time! Where I got to see pandas!!! Yay!!!
(it was super hot so I didn't actually spend a ton of time at the zoo but for $2 USD these guys were definitely worth the trip)
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| Pandas! |
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| I was super excited. |
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| Panda breakfast. |
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| So it isn't just Korea that's obsessed with poop. |
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| And butts. |
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| So I wanted to try egg rolls and fried rice in a place as close to China as I would get...don't judge. Which of course had to include a trial of all the egg rolls offered in the shop. Results - Egg roll number one on the far left (or top, depending on how you view things) was superb. The middle egg roll was not good (to me) at all...not even sure what was in it, so I didn't eat it, yuck. The final egg roll was mostly bean sprouts, not my favorite but not horrible. Egg roll #1 wins. |
No trip to Taipei is complete without checking out the view from Taipei 101, one of the tallest buildings in the world. Instead of hitting the observation deck for a large fee I opted to check out the world's tallest Starbucks for an amazing view of Taipei all for the cost of a coffee and a pastry. The catch, you had to reserve a spot at least one day in advance then wait in the lobby to be escorted up for your allotted 90 minutes.
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| Our escort. |
After Taipei 101 I went back to the hotel to finish off the leftovers I had been hoarding from all the markets with all the food I couldn't finish then waited around until it was time to go to the airport for my 1am flight. I made it there around 11pm only to find out, as soon as I walked in the door, that my flight was delayed until 3am which eventually became 330am. As a "totally sorry about your troubles...oh and the fact that everything in the airport is closed" prize, they gave us the smallest sandwich and cup of water I have ever seen. My first delayed flight...and pretty early on in the game. Let's see how the rest of my flights pan out.
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