Ringing in the Year of the Monkey from Taipei!
China's biggest holiday - the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival - is celebrated not only in China, but also throughout much of Asia. This holiday meant a one week vacation from work for me so I jetted of to Taipei, Taiwan to check out a little of what Taiwan is famed for and ring in the Year of the Monkey!
On my way via Hong Kong and the Hong Kong airport is niceeee!
I was welcomed right away at the appropriately named Homey Hostel in Taipei. And coincidentally, I had arrived at the perfect time to join the hostel staff and fellow travelers in a Chinese New Year dinner! At the dinner I made friends with a friendly Swedish girl, Hannah, and two German guys, Andre and Martin, that would keep me company during my short stay in Taipei.
Chinese New Year dinner prepared by the staff at the hostel from Taiwan, Japan, Korea and few other places. It was great!
Welcome to Homey Hostel - Taipei Main Station!
Recommended if you are ever find yourself in Taipei!
The first day I woke up at 6 in the morning to go catch the Superbowl with my new German friends...never before would I have thought that I would wake up so early in the morning to watch football. But then again, how often do you get to say you watched the Superbowl at a bar in Taipei with probably every other American that was in Taipei at the time? While there I enjoyed not only the game, the commercials, and the halftime show but also a cheeseburger and fries for breakfast. From there, I followed my German friends on what I was told would be a 1000 step journey to the top of Monkey Mountain. Five hours and way more than 1000 steps later we reached the top of this mountain and I had completed one of the best workouts that I have had in a while! It was worth it. Monkey Mountain wasn't the only mountain I found myself trekking up while in Taipei - I also climbed to the top of the popular Elephant mountain to catch the great views of the sun going down over the city. Night markets, temple and museum visits, and city exploring filled up the rest of my time in Taipei.
Super Bowl 50 at the Brass Monkey..."WITH THE AMERICAN ADS"
I was so lucky to have sunshine and warm weather during my stay!
Working our way up Monkey Mountain, we stopped at a temple for the view and a photo op! Thanks to Andre for letting me steal his hat for the day!
Martin and Andre and me and Taipei!
When it's the Year of the Monkey...
Taipei is famous for it's night markets...
And do you know how excited I was to find corn dogs?! I hadn't had one in nearly a year!
View of Taipei and Taipei 101 from Elephant Mountain
On my last day, Hannah went with me to Houtong Cat Village in route to the Pingxi Lantern Festival. Houtong has to be the smallest place I have visited since flying to this side of the world - it was old, charming, had cats everywhere, and when I stepped off the train and looked up at the hillside I could literally see the entire village. An old mining village about 40 minutes outside of Taipei, present day Houtong is a place for cat lovers! There are cat themed souvenir shops and several food options, including a cat themed cupcake shop! We stayed for a few hours and then against the advice of the people at the train station, we bought our tickets on to Pingxi to join in the first night of the Pingxi Lantern Festival...
Houtong, Cat Village
Due to the large number of people going to the festival and the overcrowded trains, the people working at the train station were doing their best to talk people out of going to Pingxi. We didn't listen and when the train arrived it is a miracle that we were able to push our way on. Yes, I said push. Mainland China has taught me well and I was determined. Once aboard, it was another 45 minutes of standing, no need to hold on though because there are so many people pressed up against you that you aren't going to go anywhere, before we finally rolled in to Pingxi. This night was magical. It is tradition for the Lunar New Year to write your wishes for the new year on a lantern and let it carry your wishes up into the night sky. I got to decorate my lantern and watch my wishes float away above me...it was such a cool experience and totally worth being packed like cattle in the train for an hour there and back. I even wrote some Chinese characters on my lantern for which I was super proud of myself. If you ever find yourself in Taiwan for the Chinese New Year, experiencing a lantern festival is an absolute must.
Made it to Pingxi!
家人 (jia ren) means family in Mandarin! Love my family!
SO thankful for my life and all of the opportunities I am so lucky to have.
新年快乐! (Xin nian kuai le!) Happy Chinese New Year!
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