Week 34: Exploring the East Coast

This week, I got to explore the entire east coast of Taiwan with my partner! Despite the cloudy weather, it was a beautiful trip, and I loved being able to check out different towns throughout the week. I also loved being able to meet up with a couple friends from other Fulbright cohorts throughout the break too.

My partner and I were still in Kaohsiung on Monday, so we spent a good part of the day riding the light rail (tram) around the city. Is it a little silly to spend so much time on such a slow-moving transit vehicle? Perhaps. I just love being able to take in the scenery.

After riding half or so of the tram circuit, the two of us went to an Indian restaurant for lunch, then checked out a secondhand bookstore. Once we'd each bought a book, we then took the tram to the ferry port in the west of the city and walked around a bit. We met up with a couple ETA friends from the Yilan cohort, then took the ferry to Cijin Island. It was relatively quick and cheap to head over (both quicker and cheaper than the ferry from Big K to Little K), so that was nice.

It was nice catching up with the Yilan cohort! We all chatted as we went to see the Kaohsiung Lighthouse and Cihou Fort. After we passed through a night market, we all took the ferry back, went to an Indonesian restaurant for dinner, then split off and biked to a bar. It was nice both catching up with people we'd met before and meeting new ones, especially since our group was so big. All together, we had probably eleven or twelve people, all representing the Hualien, Pingtung, Yilan, and Kinmen cohorts.

The next day, I took a train with my partner from Kaohsiung to Luye, which is a small town in Taitung County. The views of Pingtung and the coast from the train were spectacular! Luye itself was also pretty peaceful. Once we'd checked into our homestay, my partner and I scooted to the nearby Bunun Leisure Farm (which is a cultural attraction showcasing the culture of the Bunun, who are an Indigenous group living in Taitung). We arrived a little too close to closing time to properly visit the village, but we got to walk around it a bit.

We scooted to the Luye Highlands next, which were beautiful. There were lots of families flying kites, walking their dogs, or just hanging out, and paragliders who had taken off from nearby mountains were landing on the highlands. Once we'd looked out over the rest of Luye and its surrounding mountains, my partner and I went to a nearby café. My favorite part? The Golden Retriever puppy that leapt through a window to lick my hand.

Later, my partner and I went to Liping Organic Tea Farm to try some teas. We ended up spending an hour talking to the farm owners in Chinese, and among other things, they told us about tea making and traveling Taiwan. One of the teas we tried was honey oolong, which apparently gets its taste from little green bugs called tea leaf hoppers, whose saliva causes the tea leaves to curl up and produce a honey-like flavor.

Then, for dinner, we went to a nearby hotpot place. The hotpot was pretty different from other hotpots we'd had—we actually cooked the soup ourselves. First, we seasoned the pan with aromatics like garlic and onion, then we browned the meat, and then we added the soup. It was delicious! I especially liked the dessert, which was a small bowl of fresh wax apple and pineapple slices in tangy milk.

On Wednesday, we saw the Luye Shinto Shrine, then checked out of our homestay and walked to the train station. It took a little over half an hour, but it was nice to see more of Luye, including the purple fields of pineapple. Once we arrived in Yuli, to the north, we rented a ridiculously-highpowered scooter, then drove into the mountains to check out the scenery. We saw Nanan Falls, then went to hike part of Batongguan Historic Trail. The latter is part of Yushan National Park, which is a national park containing Yushan, Taiwan's tallest mountain, that encompasses Nantou, Chiayi, Kaohsiung, and Hualien County.

The park was beautiful! In addition to seeing the mountains rising in the mist, we also saw a monkey and a Swinhoe's pheasant. Crossing the first suspension bridge was a little terrifying, but the views of the nearby mountains and river gorges were amazing. We headed back to the homestay after a little bit, then got hotpot again for dinner.

I slept in the next morning, then spent most of the day relaxing. I think I needed it. In the afternoon, my boyfriend and I got lunch (which included terrible shaved ice and douhua), then later, we went to Dream Bus Café. Among other things, we got a honey and banana waffle, which was pretty good. We also saw a couple of cats lounging around the store, one of whom took up residence in another customer's lap.

I went to buy fruit later, and my partner and I ended up talking to the stand owner a bit. Then for dinner, we went to a well-renowned stinky tofu (臭豆腐) restaurant. Dessert, of course, was several of the wax apples and the bag of pineapple I'd bought earlier. Fruit on the east coast is amazing! Honestly, I think it's put me back in my pineapple era (which was a brief-lived era when I was a child, up until I ate too many and my tongue felt funny because of the bromelain).

The next day, we headed north again as we went to Guangfu. Unfortunately, it was also the only day of the trip it rained. The rain was a fine drizzle, but while we scooted, it soaked our clothes and beaded up on our helmets. As usual, my partner and I chcked into our homestay, then rented a scooter. We scooted half an hour or so south to Tribal Queen Café, which is an art space, homestay, and café owned by Yoshifu, an Indigenous Amis artist we met at the Fulbright Thanksgiving conference. Although he wasn't there, we did get to talk to his younger sister. We ordered a matcha latte and a pomelo flower tea, and I ended up buying a postcard of his art.

We checked out the fish mosaic Yoshifu had created across the street, then tried to visit Danongdafu Park and the Hualien Sugar Factory. Neither of them were super fun in the rain. And the ice cream at the sugar factory wasn't the best. My favorite part of those two stops was definitely seeing my boyfriend's goofy dance impersonating a Malayan night heron we saw.

The two of us scooted around Guangfu and the surrounding town a bit, then went to an Indigenous restaurant called Cifadahan Restaurant for dinner. As with Yoshifu's café, the restaurant was owned by members of the Amis tribe, which was cool. I learned about some of their dances through Chinese folk dance as a child.

My partner and I had to drive through the wetlands in the dark and the rain without being able to see very well, but we made it without sinking into any ponds. While we waited for our food (which we ordered takeout for), we looked at the art and the wood carvings throughout the restaurant and met a cute little black dog. Although the dog was incredibly skittish, he was also remarkably curious, and he would just stand a couple feet away from us and stare.

Saturday meant another train from Guangfu up to Luodong, which is in Yilan County. We met two of our Yilan friends for brunch, then got bubble tea before heading to a nearby leisure farm called Bambiland (斑比山丘). As suggested by the name, the farm is home to a number of deer you can pet and feed as well as a couple capybaras. Once we'd bought our tickets, the other ETAs and I spent maybe an hour or so petting deer, feeding them grass and carrots, and trying to pet the capybaras.

Although capybaras have a reputation as the "chillest animal", they don't seem quite as chill in real life. I put my hand out, and one came up to me, but instead of sniffing or nuzzling my hand, he chomped it! Completely unprompted! It didn't hurt or draw blood, but it was certainly a bit of a shock for a large rodent to approach me and immediately try to snack on my hand.

After we'd pet all the deer we could and fed them all of our grass and carrots, the five of us went to Plum Blossom Lake nearby. The lake was lovely, and the surrounding forest was a deep, vibrant shade of green. We fed the fish, then watched as various egrets and herons prowled the banks for fish. We watched as one black-crowned night heron in particular successfully caught several minnows.

All too soon, my partner and I's time in Yilan came to an end, and we had to catch our train from Luodong to Songshan (Taipei). On the way to the train station, at least one of our friends and I did some scooter karaoke to pass the time. Once we were in Taipei, I went to Taihu Brewing, which has excellent hamburgers and beer, with my boyfriend. We then wandered Raohe Night Market for a bit before checking into our hotel. Interestingly enough, the hotel check-in was completely automated; there was only a kiosk that dispensed keycards.

Sunday was the last day of our break, sadly. My partner and I checked out of our hotel, went to an Indian restaurant for lunch, then biked to the airport. Along with entering my wax apple/pineapple era during break, I think I've entered a YouBike era too.

Back in Kinmen, we drove home, then took a walk through Jincheng. Along the way, we got pastries and bubble tea. I missed wandering the alleys of Jincheng! Upon finding a cool souvenir shop, I bought a canvas bag that says, "KINMEN KINMEN KINMEN" across the front, and my boyfriend bought another Chinese book about Kinmen to add to his collection.

As usual, Sunday was our weekly hotpot night. Everyone assembled at our favorite hotpot place, including the other Little K ETA, her sister, and her brother-in-law. I missed seeing everyone! I loved catching up with everyone and hearing about their trips. Some of the places everyone traveled to included Xiao Liuqiu (a small island off the coast of Kaohsiung), Kenting (the national park in southern Pingtung which encompasses the southernmost tip of Taiwan), Hualien City, Kaohsiung, and Taipei.

We ate and chatted for almost two hours, then everyone headed their separate ways. The Mr. Hong House ETAs and the other Little K ETA's visiting family hung out in 3F, and the other Little K ETA gave out a couple gifts from her trip to China. Then, we ended up playing a bunch of bananagrams until bedtime. I had a great time! I also did pretty well for someone who hadn't really played before—I love word games.

It's been an incredible week! I've never seen so many different cool animals or parts of Taiwan before. I also liked having the flexibility to meet up with different cohorts but also explore on my own as I traveled around. In addition to loving being on vacation, I also loved being able to spend so much time with my significant other. It was nice to travel together.

Traveling this week also made me excited to spend another year in Taiwan as an ETF. If I end up placed on the main island, I look forward to exploring more easily (and more cheaply). Even if not, I'm definitely planning on exploring new places more frequently, like Alishan, Tainan, and Xiao Liuqiu.

Until next week!