National Palace Museum 國立故宮博物院

The second day in Taiwan was another rainy day so we all headed to the National Palace Museum. The museum contains over 600,000 pieces of ancient Chinese artifacts and artwork. Click here for a virtual tour of some of the galleries. There is much to see throughout the three floors of the large museum. When we went, it was so crowded that we saw more people than exhibits!

A very small portion of the tour groups that had come to the museum that day!

We started with a free tour but quickly decided we wanted to go at our own pace and went off on our own.  Unfortunately we were unable to take pictures inside the museum.

Walking from the street to the museum grounds

just past the gate, headed toward the museum

The beautiful path we walked from the street to the museum entrance

taken from in front of the building on the side of the museum, looking toward the main building

I don't know who this statue is of

When we finished touring the museum it had just stopped raining so we walked around the small garden area next to the museum and ate lunch. The garden has a very minimal fee to enter, but is free with a museum ticket which cost NTD $250 (around $8 USD). You can also purchase a discounted combination ticket for other museums as well as to the Taipei 101 Observatory (though you may be only be able to purchase that at the observatory ticket counter).

The reason the bridge to the gazebo is crooked is because it was believed that evil spirits can only walk in a straight line

The fish were literally jumping out of the water to catch the food being thrown at them!

We next headed to Beitou to visit the Thermal Valley and relax at some hot springs. Pictures coming soon..
Read the summary of our first few days in Taiwan here!

National Palace Museum  國立故宮博物院
Location: Taipei, Taiwan
Transportation: Bus
Cost: NTD $250
Website: www.npm.gov.tw/en/

Goodbye Taiwan, Hello Hong Kong

再見 台灣, 你好 香港!  

"Zai Jian Taiwan, Lei Ho Hong Kong," or in other words "Goodbye Taiwan, Hello Hong Kong!"

view of Taipei from Maokong

After the perfect fun-packed week in Taiwan, it was time to move on to our next destination: Hong Kong!
Meanwhile at the airport in Taiwan....

A Hello Kitty check-in counter for Eva Airlines

A Hello Kitty check-in counter for Eva Airlines

I met this guy back at the airport in NY!

hmmm

Our flight from to Hong Kong was really good and only an hour and a half. The best part of our flight was our food. We had  two desserts. We received a light chocolate cake topped with chocolate mousse. If that was not good enough already, we also received a chocolate covered cannoli! If only I can have such great desserts on all my flights...

At the airport, I passed by an area to get brochures of the city and a man kindly gave me a few of them (a little more than I needed). I started to say "thank you," but I like learning a few local words of the area I am in so I asked him how I say "thank you." He told me to wait a moment and pulled out a small paper from a shelf on the counter and hands it to me. It had a few useful phrases in Cantonese with their English translation. He showed me where it said "ngoi" ('thank you') and "dor tse" ('thank you' when you receive a gift). I thought that was it and was about to leave when he started talking some more saying "...for example, let's say you are in a market and something is too expensive." So I looked for the phrase "too expensive" and said "ho gwai ah!" I said it in the way I would have in any language if I would have been annoyed at someone for overcharging me. His face shot up and he had a big look of surprise on his face. I must have said it perfectly. He responded with "I see you are good with languages." Well, as long as I made someone's day!

To get to Kowloon (the section of Hong Kong we were staying in the first few days) we took a bus from the airport and then walked a few minutes to get to our lodgings. The temperature was already somewhat humid but still nice. It is a good thing we went in March and not in the summer.

the double decker bus we took from the airport even has special luggage racks

the double decker bus we took from the airport

traveling from the airport passing the busy ports in Hong Kong

traveling from the airport passing the busy ports in Hong Kong

What was also interesting on the bus is that there was a screen providing info about the areas of interest as we were passing them during the ride. It was a nice to be given a tour right from the beginning!

Stay tuned for the rest of our day after we got settled in!

Also check out our first destination, Taiwan!

Taiwan: Wulai 烏來

Wulai is a small town outside of Taipei. Nestled among tall mountains, Wulai is known for its odorless hot springs. I went there with some friends and we took many pictures of the stunning vistas and the waterfall. Afterwards, we soaked in the public hot springs along the river which felt so therapeutic. I would love to do it again and spend more time hiking some of the trails in the area. To read about the our day, click HERE.

en-route to Wulai

en-route to Wulai

almost at Wulai stop

the view right after disembarking at the last stop, Wulai

bathing in the natural hot springs, and even swimming in the river!

close-up of some of the hot springs

at the Atayal Museum, a free museum about the lives of the Atayal aboriginals in Taiwan

Wulai Old Street

street food being sold along Wulai Old Street

"train" to take to the cable car; we chose to walk instead

cable car traveling over the waterfall

view along "lover's path," the road along the river towards the cable car & waterfall

 

first glimpse of the waterfall!

heading back to town to capture this amazing moment around sunset

back in town once the light started to turn on

went for an early night dip in the public hot springs

a great view of the footbridge at night

on the bridge as it is changing colors

How to get to Wulai:
Take bus 849 from Xindian MRT station in Taipei to the last stop which brings you into the town slightly past the footbridge. Sit on the right side to get the best views.

Tourist map of Wulai (taken right after where the bus stop is)

Read about our entire day HERE.