On the eve of my 4 day trip to Ilo-ilo in the middle of August
A fellow photographer asked if I can fly out to Taiwan
Luckily, I didn’t have anything the week after the Ilo-ilo trip
So I eagerly said, why not!
It would be my first time in the land of Xiao Long Bao
But having been to Singapore and Hong Kong a few times
I thought I’d figure my way around Taiwan easily
And it really didn’t disappoint, everything was really convenient
It wouldn’t be a trip without blunders, you know?
Like when I didn’t know what to do with the single-journey coins
So I had to observe what the others were doing
Of realising that I boarded the wrong train going back to the airport
There were also a few serious questions lingering in my head until now
Like when we when to Jiufen and the crowd was really bad
It was like a scene from The Walking Dead where the crowd moved like zombies
I thought, that was a really sad truth about tourism
Well anyway, here are a few pictures that I took from Cebu to Taiwan
Taken by nothing less than the mighty, mighty iPhone.
This airport is one of the best things that happened to Cebu City in such a long time.
That’s our ride out there.
That’s Taiwan from above. I knew looking down that it was such a nice country.
I didn’t even hesitate to ride the train by myself. Something I don’t usually do.
See how marvelous this country is.
I walked from Taipei Main Station to Ximen.
One of the streets in Ximen area.
I met this group for the first time. We looked for a place to eat.
Ximen looks a lot like Shibuya.
That’s the Red House. Their latte is really nice. The best I’ve tried so far.
We walked around the whole afternoon of the first day.
Beatles?
There were a lot of nice places to shoot downtown.
And the sun doesn’t set until around 6:30 in the evening.
On my first night I headed to Zhong Xiao East Road for some night shopping.
Blurry.
That’s were we stayed.
I told you. So many nice areas to take pictures.
This was just outside the Flower Farm in Tai Chung.
Closing time.
This is my client’s little daughter.
Awesome sunset drive from Tai Chung back to Taipei.
The next day, we left the hotel at 4:30AM for a hike up the Elephant Mountain.
It was terribly tiring but the view made up for it.
Taiwan has big streets. Which I think is really lovely.
Chiang Kai-Shek Meomorial.
A fancy noodle place.
Starbucks of course.
And Tiger Sugar. Because apart from Xiao Long Bao, this is also Milk Tea land.
Really nice streets.
See!
I thought this was a really cool place. They serve hotdogs.
The North Gate and myself.
We left early for Yeh Liu.
Hello Taipei 101
On our way to Jiufen. The most disturbing place for me.
But the view was nice.
Crowds started to pile up.
Up close and personal with the Taipei 101. By now I’ve seen three of the worlds tallest buildings. And I don’t think it made me a better person.
I enjoyed the city center more than the tourist attractions.
On my way back to the airport.
This book kept me awake the entire flight home. I finished it up there and I have to say it is good.
