Travel – Historic Tainan
I fear I won’t be able to do Tainan justice with its four hundred years of changing occupiers, deep religious roots, and arguably the best traditional foods in Taiwan. After two trips to the city, I was only able to scratch the surface with its roundabouts and narrow, meandering alleys. The history below attempts miserably…
Food – Buns, Buns, Buns Everywhere (Bao Zi or 包子）
This cannot and will not be an exhaustive or even representative display of the different kinds of bao zi (包子)one can buy on the streets in Taiwan but here are some highlights. To be clear 包子 is different than dumplings in that the skin or dough is usually thicker, though not always. Perhaps there’s no…
Travel – Emerging Kaohsiung City (高雄) (Part 1)
Kaohsiung City is by no means a pretty city, but it has made great leaps in the last couple of decades. It has even made the New York Times’ “52 Places to Love in 2021”. Kaohsiung is where my family and I were based during our time away from home and it is also where…
Travel – Emerging Kaohsiung City (高雄) (Part 2: Three Day Tour)
For those who want to check out this southern city of Taiwan, here is a suggested three day itinerary for exploring the area in and around the city center. It is best to book a hotel near Siziwan, Central Park or Formosa Boulevard as they are quite central locations and help facilitate traveling around the…
Foods – Xiluo (西螺鎮) Artisanal Soy Sauce
After being in Taiwan for any period of time, one cannot miss the plethora of small-batch, artisanal food production at the local markets. This term “artisanal” is not reserved only for the Western hipster notions of local, hand-crafted food stuffs. This is how food has always been made across the world and continues to be,…
Food – Taiwanese Breakfast and the Dan Bing (蛋餅）
The family and I have adopted the habit of having a Taiwanese breakfast on the weekends. It is so convenient, simple, and cheap as heck as well as being very satisfying for some reason. The Taiwanese take breakfast very seriously. I would categorize breakfast into two types—the brunch joints and the soy milk (dojiang 豆漿)…
Delights—Dry Markets
Dry markets are less common than the day markets but are just as special in what’s available. Basically, anything that comes in bulk dry form can be found at a dry market. One can buy a little or buy in bulk at wholesale. It is a window into the myriad of ingredients that go into…
Delights – Scooter Life
Scooters are such an integral part of many Taiwanese lives that it almost feels like they are an extension of the physical self. Scooters have been and continues to be the most common form of transportation in Taiwan. While Taiwan has an excellent public transportation system and more people are acquiring cars, nothing can beat…
Delights – Traditional Day Markets （傳統市場）
I have decided day markets are what I would miss the most when we return to the U.S. These day markets are often considered “wet” markets, as opposed to “dry” markets that do not sell produce or meats. Some are open only in the mornings, others only in the afternoons. There are lively sights, sounds…
Travel – Alishan (阿里山）and High Mountain Tea （高山茶）
An often overlooked fact about Taiwan is that a majority (2/3) of the island’s land mass consists of a chain of mountains that run down the spine of the island from north to south, with over 100 peaks above 3000 meters and the highest peak Jade Mountain (玉山 Yushan) reaching 3952 meters. One of the…
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Everyday Dan Bing 