East Asia

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Exploring Jiufen’s Old Street

Getting to Jiufen Today, I had the luxury of sitting down for breakfast at McDonald’s before walking to the train station.  It proved to be the right move for two reasons.  The tea at McD was awesome with two bags of Dilmah and plenty of milk.  And some food options at the station weren’t yet […]

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Shakadang Trail

Shakadang Trail I had set the alarm for 0500, expecting it to be easy as I woke up naturally at that time yesterday.  Sure enough, it wasn’t a problem and I got on the 0630 bus again just fine. I was dropped off at 0720 at the Shakadang stop and after having my sandwich, I […]

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Short walks in Taroko Gorge

Swallow Grotto I had the idea of starting early to go to Taroko Gorge National Park, perhaps taking the second bus out by waking around 0600.  But for some reason, I woke at 0515 without the alarm and decided to take the first bus at 0630. My first stop around 0730 was the Swallow Grotto […]

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West coast to east coast

High Speed Rail to Banqiao I walked to the nearby main street to catch the bus to Taichung HSR station which arrived a little late, after 0900.  On the ride, I notice plenty of cottage industries to service traditional Chinese beliefs such as palanquins for deities and giant joss stick urns for temples.  There were […]

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Exploring in better light

Lukang in better light With warmer and brighter weather, I was optimistic that today will give me a better experience of Lukang. I did a pass of the historic area in my full day here, starting towards the north through Lukang Old Street to Matsu Temple. Text continues after this gallery.     Late morning, […]

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Flight, metro, train & bus

Above: City God Temple by night. Leaving Manila The alarm went at 0345.  I had a surprisingly adequate sleep aided by the anti-histamine tablet that have been legally re-purposed for sleeping. After a quick shower, I walked to the airport getting to the check-in area around 0420.  The place was buzzing.  I found the check-in […]

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Seeing my aunt

I woke at 0130 after 7h of sleep and continued to doze and sleep till 0600.  That’s nearly 12h in bed.  I must have needed it after the stress of the last few days. The included hotel breakfast at 0730 was awesome.  I chose the Vietnamese style kwayteow with pork steak.  I went for a […]

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Coastal sights of Busan

Oryukdo Skywalk I had made arrangements to meet an old university friend at Oryukdo Skywalk at 0945 today.  As I had kept somewhat on New Zealand time, I took breakfast at 0645 and was on the bus at 0740.  The ride took about an hour before getting dropped at the last stop in front of […]

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Moving to Busan

Bus to Busan I woke early at 0600 and took breakfast before the official time of 0800.  I left soon after on a 5 min walk to the bus stop where I managed to get a bus to the Express Bus Terminal.  I’m bound for Busan today and it was a lot costlier to go […]

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Jeonju’s Old Town

Morning walk Despite sleeping around 2300 last night, I woke at 0530 and went out for a walk around 0645.  The sun was out but the forecast was for cloud and showers so I had to make the most of the weather.  I found an elevated platform on a hillside where I had hoped to […]

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