We had the opportunity this June (2016) to take a trip to Taiwan. Both Brenda and John had the chance to give papers at the 23rd Pacific Science Congress which was being held in Taipei. At the last moment (well, the week before we left) Sam decided to join us. It was the first time to Taiwan for Sam and Brenda. John lived near Taipei 25 years ago for about one year teaching English as a Second Language. He was especially excited to see some of the places he had been to before, and to see friends from that year in 1991. We visited with John’s landlord, David Wen, and were really treated well by him and his family. It was wonderful to see them. They took us to vegetarian buffet and back to the house John lived in when he was there. Our first day in Taipei we spent with another of John’s friends from 1991–Sean Frost. Together with Sean’s wife Wanda and two kids, Ian and Leah we were treated to food and shown around the Shilin neighborhood of Taipei. What was really terrific was that the Frosts were going to allow us to stay at their apartment for our entire time in Taiwan! They were going to the US the next day and gave us the keys to their flat on the top floor of a great apartment in a wonderful section of Taipei. The flat was located just 5 minutes walking distance to the metro so it was a great place for “home base.” It made travelling to and from the the conference, other parts of the city, and other places in northern Taiwan incredibly easy. So, that’s the basic intro to this story….the rest will be shared in pictures. Sai jen!
We were pleasantly surprised to find that one of the stewardesses on our flight to Hong Kong was a friend, Talica Malani!
We landed in Taipei in the evening. The next morning we walked around our hostel First impression: Lots and lots of motor scooters!
This was our hostel the first night in Taipei. The Happy Taipei Hostel. Very tight quarters packed into four floors.
We were lucky to have a three bed dorm to ourselves!
Our first day we visited with Sean Frost and his Family. We were shown around their neighborhood as it was where we would be living for the next two weeks!
Although we only had one day together, we enjoyed the company and John & Sean spent lots of time reminiscing about old times.
The next day we visited with David, Miranda and Cathy Wen. David Wen was John’s Landlord in 1991 and Cathy was his student. This was at a great vegetarian restaurant they chose for Brenda.
This was the place John lived. It was a sparse one-room flat above the garage. The best thing about it was that it was free! David let John stay here in exchange for teaching his two children Cathy and Glen.
Group Photo at the Longtan Buddhist Temple.
Dragon Fruit!
Leechee and Guava!
At Shimin Reservoir. This is where 25 years ago Sean and John went swimming (unbeknownst to them–illegally)
Sam and David rubbing the lucky gold bar at the Longtan Temple
Longtan Temple
These are some cool night photos Sam took from the roof of the Frosts’ apartment (15th floor).
A look down at the front entrance to the apartment.
The location was really outstanding!
Slow shutter photography of the metro.
Another cool shot of the metro just a 5 minute walk from the Frosts’ apartment.
So, we were able to afford to come to Taiwan for two reasons: First, we were fortunate that both John and Brenda received funding from USP to come to give presentations at the Pacific Science Congress, and second because living at the Frosts’ home for two weeks made it affordable–and possible–to bring Sam along. The Pacific Science Congress was interesting, but once we got our deeds done, we skedaddled.
Taipei is an intriguing city, and very large. There is so much to do just in Taipei, and we couldn’t do it all! But we did a few things. We walked to the Tianmu Trail which is an urban forest just on the edge of north Taipei, we visited the Longshan Temple, toured the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial, and indulged in foods at the Shilin and Huaxi Night Markets.
Our first little excursion out of Taipei was to the small mountain town of Jiufen. During the Japanese occupation (early 1900s through the end of WWII) Jiufen was a prosperous mining (gold) town. Today it’s a tourist destination, a lot like Park City, Utah or Bisbee, Arizona. It is very quaint indeed. The streets are narrow and looking at homes today, it is not hard to imagine what it was like in its hey-day. We spent two nights and one full day there. Our hostel (The Flip Flop Hostel) was pretty hip.
Our next excursion was the Taroko National Park. The park is one of four national parks in Taiwan and is centered on the Taroko river and gorge. The gorge is narrow with steep cliffs of granite, gneiss and marble rock throughout. It is famous for beautiful scenery and also because it was/is home to many of Taiwan’s aboriginal people. We spent two nights at a hostel at the mouth of the gorge. The hostel was pleasant and we were lucky to get a three bed room to ourselves.
After visiting Taroko National Park we returned to Taipei for one more day before leaving for home. We flew all night and arrived in Nadi at 7 am on the 24th of June–which turned out to be National Sports Day. Meaning there were fewer buses leaving from Nadi to Suva than there normally would be. After waiting a couple of hours we finally caught a bus and endured a 4 hour ride in a bus that was packed tight with as many people as a bus in Fiji can hold (which is a lot). The picture below is one that Brenda took of a guy who kept dozing off to sleep and leaning over–in to the aisle–from the window seat! (note the guy in the green shirt is in the aisle seat!). We were back in Fiji. We were home.
????
Our Adventures In Fiji 
