Adventure is out there

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Adventure is out there
Painted Village, Taichung, Taiwan
April 23, 2024 in Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C
Another painted village, but so different from the ones in Malang. This was a much smaller area, but there was also much more details in the painting.

It was very bright and colourful, the style reminded me of Mexican paintings.

Luke told me while we were entering that according to reviews there was Iron Man here as well...we expected an Iron man portrait, when in fact it was a guy dressed in an iron man mask taking photos with other visitors. Thankfully he avoided us, as it was all kinds of weird. We initially saw him doing some colouring in on a table near the post it wall before taking some photos with a couple of women, who were still with him when we left.

We had to take quite a long bus ride to get here but well worth it, nice to see a different part of the city and explore this attraction.Read more
TravelerBeautiful 🤩
4/25/24Reply
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Dihua Old Street, Taipei, Taiwan
April 25, 2024 in Taiwan ⋅ 🌧 23 °C
We visited the old street as it was close to a night market, unfortunately it wasn't the most interesting street but it did have pretty architecture.
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Khongshan Park, Taipei, Taiwqn
April 26, 2024 in Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C
A lovely little park we went to, where a memorial hall was also situated. Unfortunately the rain was just starting as we arrived here, so we enjoyed a quick stroll around and then decided to head indoors.Read more
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Taipei 101, Taipei, Taiwan
April 26, 2024 in Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C
We meandered towards Taipei 101 while it was starting to rain, getting to see it approach on the skyline. Luke was a fan of the design, although I'm not (too much like a 90s children's toy tiered cake for me!), but I do conceded it looks far better lit up at night (no photos unfortunately) and I appreciate that it's a different design than usual skyscrapers.

You were able to visit the shopping centre at the bottom for free, or pay eye-watering prices to go to the viewing decks. We decided to shelter from the rain in the shopping centre, not expecting to get stuck for around 2 hours. The expense designer shops weren't really our bag, although I was very happy to find soup dumplings from Din Tai Fung which was delicious!Read more
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Ximen Night Market, Taipei, Taiwan
April 26, 2024 in Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C
Possibly the most disappointing night market in Taiwan, we headed in this direction after having a vegetarian noodle soup which luke enjoyed but I didn't (too gelatinous!) and we thought there would be more options than the previous night market we visited. Unfortunately when we arrived we realised there was a fun atmosphere and lots of atmosphere, but far more stalls selling goods and souvenirs than actual food.

We wandered around for a while, had a drink, and then headed back to the hotel instead.Read more
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Shinghuang Temple, Jiufen, Taiwan
April 27, 2024 in Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C
One of the more popular temples with locals, possibly due to its positioning, this temple was close to the old street and our usual walk back to our hotel so we passed it quite often. It was lit up beautifully at night, and very ornately decorated (like most other temples tbh!).Read more
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Jiufen, Taiwan
Apr 27–29, 2024 in Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C
Juifen is only a short bus ride away from Taipei, yet feels like another world away. We initially found this place as it was the supposed inspiration for the town in Spirited Away, a favourite film of mine, although the director confirmed it wasn't it still peaked our interest enough to visit.

The quaint town is a major tourist destination in Taiwan, and although the red lanterns hanging along the street that lit up at night were reminiscent of Spirited Away, it was actually the stunning views and more peaceful alleys that made us fall in love with it.

I also enjoyed the neighbourhood cats who wandered around, claiming areas as their own and entertaining the crowds as they peacefully snoozed.Read more
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Quigyun temple, Jiufen, Taiwan
April 28, 2024 in Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C
We took a wander to this temple as we saw it on the bus ride into the town and it looked magnificent! It was only a 20 minute walk downhill from our accommodation, so seemed like a perfect morning activity.

After seeing how busy the town was the night before, it was refreshing to see it peaceful, and as we walked down the road it became more and more secluded. The temple came out of nowhere as we walked, and as we made our way towards it we could see many locals around the area. Not wanting to disturb them we found a pagoda to sit, and watched as more people arrived, and drumming started - confirming our thoughts that we had arrived during something important!

We enjoyed sitting for a little bit longer before starting the ascension, by this time the temperature had risen and gone was the cool morning breeze so it was a hot and humid climb back to the hotel.Read more
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九份天公廟, Juifen, Taiwan
April 28, 2024 in Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C
This temple is a climb up through a rabbit warren of stairs and houses. We got to stop and admire the view while listening to locals sing karaoke (at 1.30pm!) as we slowly made our way up, stopping to see the traditional graves which clung to the side of the mountain, and a bird who was admiring their reflection in a car window. Reaching the temple we were welcomed by a local family, using Google translate to talk to us and then show us how to honour the temple God. We were able to introduce ourselves to the Jade Emporer, and pray for the health of our family and friends with the prayer blocks.

After a lovely interaction we then admired the view, as the temple sat perfectly positioned on the mountain side.Read more
TravelerWhat great hospitality and love the bird!
5/4/24Reply
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Nine Fukuyama Temple, Jiufen, Taiwan
April 28, 2024 in Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C
A short walk away from the other temple we decided to stop by this one too, it didn't have the same impressive views but it was a cute temple all the same!
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Longshan Temple, Taipei, Taiwan
April 30, 2024 in Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C
Large temple in the middle of the city with a beautiful waterfall outside and huge lanterns hanging along the side. It was very busy with people praying, by this time we were a bit templed out again though so decided to move on quite quickly.Read more
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228 Peace Park, Taipei, Taiwan
April 30, 2024 in Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 33 °C
We decided to have lunch in a park so made our way over on the MRT and bought various items from 7-eleven and Family Mart before getting a seat in front of a pond. It was a satisfactory lunch, made better by watching the birds, turtles, and fish enjoying the pond too. We made our exit when a local man starting conversing with the birds, and wandered around the rest of the park instead. We found a lovely Pagoda in the middle of another large pond, and saw some big squirrels before heading into the musuem!Read more
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Taiwan National Musuem, Taipei, Taiwan
April 30, 2024 in Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C
Fantastic musuem to wander around, it showed information about the native animals, people, and landscape of Taiwan. The building was also beautiful, and there was some interactive elements for children...and me.Read more
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Bent Postboxes, Taipei, Taiwan
May 1, 2024 in Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C
We stopped by here to see these famous post boxes, which survived a tornado that destroyed everything else surrounding them. They are still bent from the damage they received, but these hard working guys are still in use today!

We then found a fantastic Indian restaurant to have a thali at, which was expensive but worth it.Read more
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Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Taipei
May 1, 2024 in Taiwan ⋅ 🌧 24 °C
Wow, this was breathtaking! It was a surprise to find such a wide open space right in the middle of the city, and being flanked by the liberty arch on one side and the memorial hall on the other meant you didn't know which way to look.

We had a slow amble towards the memorial hall, and climbed up the steps (in relative easy as the temperature and humidity weren't too high) to find a crowd of people at the top. Luke thankfully read the information and we realised everyone was waiting for the Changing of the Guard, which happened shortly after. An odd ceremonial process that took 7 whole minutes there was lots of synchronised gun swinging and slapping before the new guards took their position.

When we exited it had started to rain, so we made a quicker amble back down and found a lovely park area on the grounds. I got distracted by the birds and thankfully the rain eased so we sat and enjoyed for a while.Read more
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Naritasan Shinsho-ji, Narita, Japan
May 3, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
What a fantastic introduction to Japan. We made the decision to stay in Narita for a night once realising that with the time our flight landed if we went straight to Toyko it would be evening when we got there. Best to stay close by and make the jump to Tokyo the next day.

Then we were recommended a temple in Narita, which turned out to be the perfect place for us to experience the sereneness of Japanese temples for the first time.

Narita itself was a busy, bustling place and walking down the street everyone seemed to be making their way to the temple as well. We thought this would mean the usual hive of activity at the temple, which there was, but we were also able to quietly stand and appreciate the zen garden, and wander around the grounds and the ponds mostly by ourselves too.

The weather was a perfect sunny day too, not the usual high heat and humidity that we have become accustomed too, which made this an even better experience. Our first restaurant meal in Japan we also had here - unfortunately it had to be Indian, as we could guarantee vegetarian and nut free, but it was delicious nonetheless!Read more
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Tokyo Train Station, Tokyo, Japan
May 4, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
This train station was ginormous! We actually walked around another side, saw a classy promenade area which had been built with seating, walked underneath the station and past many shops (hello kitty, miffy, studio ghibli, godzilla) some of which there were queues for, stopped to have lunch at a ramen place that we queued for, before we emerged into this area!

It is a unique building as it is obviously more western architecture right in the middle of the busy city and surrounded by modern skyscrapers.Read more
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Imperial Palace and Gardens, Tokyo,Japan
May 4, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
Unfortunately can't get close to the Imperial Palace, but it was nice to have a wander around the gardens. There did seem to be a distinct lack of wildlife around the park unfortunately, we mostly saw ravens and ducks.Read more
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Hide and Seek Alley, Tokyo, Japan
May 4, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
A cute little alleyway made infamous as there's things to be spotted on the cobbled streets. As we wandered along, heads looking down to the floor, we realised other Japanese couples were doing the same, so fun to be playing the game alongside locals!

There is a star, heart, and diamond hidden somewhere along the street. Luke managed to see the star quite quickly but it took us longer to find the heart! We saw another couple desperately searching under bins for it, and when we spotted it close bu and shouted the lady almost shrieked in delight!

Cute game, although we did give up on finding the diamond to go see other sights in the city.Read more
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Kōkoku-Ji Temple, Tokyo, Japan
May 4, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
Really pretty temple that is very secluded away, there was only one other visitor we saw here (apart from a cat, who look thoroughly surprised to see me!).

The main reason we choose to come and see this one was that part of the temple there is a building lit by neon internally. Unfortunately, although we could figure out how to get into the building (first automatic doors in a temple!), we could not figure out how to turn the lights on - even with luke trying to program his name into a tablet in Japanese symbols.

Still, beautiful temple with the ornately crafted building work and spotless upkeep we have come to expect!Read more
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Omoide Yokocho (Piss Alley), Tokyo,Japan
May 4, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Piss alley was actually much smaller than I expected it to be, although filled with the cutest Japanese restaurants. We found one advertising vegetarian food, and headed up. We were seated by the window to be able to see the bustling city below and trains going through the nearby station.

An unattractive name for a nice little street, although very touristy!Read more
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Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
May 4, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
Finally the colourful, neon, bright, and busy Tokyo that we were expecting to see. Of course the most famous inhabitant of this area is Godzilla, and after spotting him we had a wander around the iconic area too.Read more
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Asakusa Underground Street, Tokyo, Japan
May 5, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
A little underground street, connected to the subway line, with an assortment of shops and restaurants/bars hidden away. We went in the morning and not too much was happening, think it was more of an evening place!Read more
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Senso-ji Temple, Tokyo, Japan
May 5, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
Huge temple in Tokyo, this was massively busy! Very much a tourist area as we walked down a street of shops before the entrance. Everything was huge about the place - huge amount of lanterns, huge lanterns themselves, plus a huge pair of sandals hanging on the walls!Read more
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Ubagaike Pond, Tokyo, Japan
May 5, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
Completely not what we were expecting to find, this pond area was supposedly haunted by a woman who, again supposedly, killed travellers and dumped their bodies in the pond. The pond was actually very small, and not very deep, but the ravens were enjoying it!

Next to the pond was a busy children's playground too, which added to the surprise when we found the place.Read more
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