Tag: asia

Ramblings

Japan

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Over the summer, we went to Tokyo, Japan for 10 days (followed by Australia but more on that later). This would be my third time in Japan, so I wasn’t too keen on visiting again except for a few reasons:

  1. We brought C to Japan when he was only a year old, and O has never been
  2. DisneySea is often called the best Disney park in the world, so we thought it was the perfect place to take the boys for their first Disney experience
  3. We wanted to climb Mt. Fuji
  4. Japan is only a three hour flight from Taiwan – plus, no jet lag!

Japan has always been a favorite destination for many, particularly in the last few years to the point that it’s suffering from overtourism. To be honest, I never understood it. Japan is nice enough – safe, clean and affordable – but I didn’t think it was any more special than other countries. I never got the hype…until this trip.

First, the food. We didn’t seek out the most popular spots, yet even the little restaurants down the street were amazing. I don’t think we ever had a bad meal there, and everything was so affordable! (As you can tell from the pictures below, we ate a LOT of sushi.)

Next up: DisneySea. We’re not huge Disney fans, but could still appreciate their stunning visuals, immersive experiences, and attention to detail. DisneySea felt especially unique, with rides like Soaring Fantastic Flight and Journey to the Center of the Earth that we had never experienced before.

Tickets to DisneySea were about $70 USD for adults, and $60 USD for kids, which is a STEAL compared to the prices for Disneyland in Anaheim. We did splurge on fast passes for Soaring Fantastic Flight and Anna and Elsa’s Frozen Journey, at around $15 USD per person per ride. What would’ve been a 1.5 hour – 2 hour wait ended up being a 10-15 minute wait with the fast passes, so the splurge was worth it!

By the end of a full day at DisneySea, our feet were so sore and our wallets a little lighter, but we had an absolute blast. Disney sure knows how to make your experience there enjoyable!

On a less successful theme park note…

We had also planned to go to Legoland Japan for O’s birthday. We were careful to book tickets for Legoland Resort (the full theme park), not the Legoland Discovery Center (the smaller indoor version). The day before while checking the route, we realized it would take us THREE hours by train to get there. (Why we didn’t notice this earlier, I have no idea.) But since it was O’s birthday and we already had the tickets, we decided to make the trek anyway.

At the crack of dawn, we packed our bags and headed to the train station…only for Baba to discover that round-trip train tickets would cost us $700 USD!! 😱😱 We checked, re-checked, and triple-checked, but it was true. Since Legoland is in Nagoya, the only way to get there was the Shinkansen, and those tickets are pricey. (Planning ahead? Clearly not our strong suit.)

We had to cut our losses short. We gave up our Legoland tickets (about $150 USD) and faced the hardest part– telling the boys. Poor O burst into tears, heartbroken that his birthday trip to Legoland was canceled. My mama heart was crushed.

To soften the blow, we went to the Legoland Discovery Center instead (ironically, the very place we had been so careful not to book initially – ha!). Thankfully, it’s right in central Tokyo, and while it’s nowhere near as comprehensive as the full resort, it still had enough rides, games, and Lego builds to keep the boys entertained for most of the day.

We wrapped up by letting the birthday boy choose dinner — AYCE shabu shabu, which helped turn a disappointing start to a day that was still memorable and fun. Happy birthday O, we love you! ❤️

On our last day in Tokyo, we visited TeamLabs Planets, an immersive exhibit that combines art with technology. The boys and I had already been impressed by a TeamLabs exhibit in Taipei, but since Japan is where TeamLabs originated, we wanted to check it out.

The experience was nothing short of psychedelic and fully immersive, from bouncing among giant ceiling-to-floor spheres, to walking barefoot through water as digital fish swam around us! The “wow” factor never stopped. It was wildly creative, awe-inspiring from start to finish, and highly recommended for kids AND adults!

As you can tell, we didn’t exactly dive into Japan’s cultural side on this trip. 😏 Instead, it was mostly theme parks and art exhibits, but we still had a fantastic time.

As for our Mt. Fuji climb…this post is getting a bit long and I think that deserves a post all its own. So, stay tuned!

Ramblings

Thailand

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The last leg of our month-long SE Asia trip was to Bangkok, Thailand. Since we had been bouncing around Vietnam and Cambodia the past few weeks, we decided to station ourselves in Bangkok for the remainder of our trip. Bangkok is one of my favorite cities in the world. There is a special vibe and energy that that’s both comforting and thrilling. There is just so much to do, see, and eat! This is my third time there, and my feelings about the Bangkok remain the same.

It would be negligent to visit Thailand and not eat to our heart’s content. 😊 We love Thai food but as with Vietnamese food, Taipei unfortunately doesn’t have a lot of authentic Thai restaurants and we sorely miss it.

We spent the week in Bangkok eating and eating and eating. Probably gained a few pounds from this trip but boy, was it worth it!

The food prices in Bangkok were not as cheap as Vietnam’s, but more on par with Taipei’s (about $25-$30 for a casual meal for family of four). However, you can also easily find street food that’s much cheaper.

Another “must” when visiting Thailand is getting a Thai massage. Since we didn’t have anyone to watch the boys, Baba stayed at the Airbnb with them while I went to get a 1.5 hour massage. It was a relaxing experience, but not as joint-cracking as I remembered (and hoped for) 😂. At $30, the massage was on the higher-end but still very reasonable compared to the US.

Sightseeing around Bangkok: Chinatown (incredibly chaotic but in a good way!), Icon Siam (the biggest, most fabulous mall in Bangkok), and Wat Arun Temple.

Around the second or third day into the trip, Baba started experiencing GI issues. (We suspect it may have been all that coconut cream from the mounds of Mango Sticky Rice he ate.) So, I decided to book a last-minute Thai cooking class with C, my boy who lives to eat.

We had a total blast!! The class started off at a local wet market, where our teacher showed what some common ingredients are in Thai cooking. We went back to the cooking school via tuk-tuk and cooked four amazing dishes: Tom Yum Goong, Pad Thai, Massaman Curry and Mango Sticky Rice. Every dish was restaurant-quality and surprisingly easy to make! Then again, not having to source ingredients and clean up after ourselves makes a huge difference too 😅.

As the week went on, C caught another stomach bug. 😣 (Or maybe he never fully healed from the last bug in Vietnam?) With two men down, O and I went sightseeing at the Grand Palace and Wat Pho (Reclining Buddha Temple) by ourselves. I remember seeing these grand, opulent temples for the first time 20 years ago and feeling my jaw drop to the floor. It was moving to see O reacting the same way when he laid eyes on the Grand Palace, and I was reminded why we take these trips with our kids.

And that completes our whirlwind trip in SE Asia! Thankfully, Baba and C recovered from their illnesses before we flew back to Taipei. We even got to sneak in some delicious food (but with extra caution) on our last day. We got back to Taipei in the evening and the boys had school the very next morning 😅. Even after a month-long vacation, they whined and wished they could stay in SE Asia a while longer. But you know what? I felt the same way.

Ramblings

Cambodia

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After Vietnam, we took a bus from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh. When Baba suggested taking a bus instead of flying, I was skeptical. The ride would take 8-9 hours long, although Baba reasoned that flying (driving ~1 hour to the airport, checking in, waiting around for ~2+ hours, etc.) was just as much of a nuisance.

We took the Giant Ibis bus, a popular transportation company in SE Asia. And to my surprise, it was a great experience. The seats were large and comfortable, and the driver offered water and snacks. The bus stopped every 2 hours for restroom breaks so the ride didn’t feel long at all. C also caught a stomach bug that morning – vomiting a couple times before leaving HCMC 😓- so it was a relief that he could just rest on the bus. (Luckily his nausea stopped once we departed too.)

Pic taken from Google

Phnom Penh. Baba and I visited Cambodia 15+ years ago but only went to Siem Reap/Angkor Wat. Therefore, our memories of the capital are vague, but we definitely did not remember Phnom Penh being so modern and full of mainland Chinese! We later learned that a lot of mainlanders immigrated to Cambodia to invest in high-rises and casinos.

On our first day, we visited the Central Market, an art-deco market selling everything from fruits to seafood to fried tarantulas. A whirlwind of interesting sights, smells, and sounds, wet markets are one of our favorite things to see while traveling!

Two places I regrettably missed while visiting Cambodia many years ago were the Killing Fields and the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. From 1975-1979, the Khmer Rouge regime under Pol Pot committed a genocide that killed between 1.5 to 3 million Cambodians. Pol Pot’s goal was to create a completely agrarian, classless society. This led to forced labor, mass purges and executions. Yet, we never learned about the Cambodian Genocide in school and never heard much about it in the media. I always feel it’s important to learn about the history of the places we’re visiting, no matter how horrific it may be. Traveling is not only about luxury resorts and shopping malls.

The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum was once a high school in the middle of Phnom Penh but under the Khmer Rouge regime, it turned into a torture prison. Inside the prison, you’ll see actual devices and tools that were used to torture people. The rows and rows of black and white photos of prisoners were particularly haunting. Out of the estimated 14,000 to 20,000 people imprisoned there, only 12 known survivors made it out alive. Because of the graphic nature of the museum, we didn’t bring the boys inside but briefly shared with them what we saw.

Many prisoners from torture prisons like Tuol Sleng were taken to the Killing Fields, where they were brutally executed. At a quick glance, the Killing Fields look like a nice, serene park but there, babies’ heads were smashed into trees (often in front of their mothers), and women and men were killed with blunt objects, slashed with knives, etc. in order to save bullets. We rented the audio guide, and it was absolutely gut-wrenching to hear what happened at the Killing Fields.

Many Cambodians today are still scarred by the genocide and you can see the pain in their eyes whenever Khmer Rouge is mentioned. Visiting both the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng in one day left me heavy-hearted, but I’m grateful we got this opportunity to learn about this important piece of Cambodia’s history.

Siem Reap. We traveled by bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, which took about 6 hours. Siem Reap was no longer the run-down little town we remember from 15+ years ago. Today, it’s a trendy resort town with cafes, pizza shops, and modern hotels.

The food in Siem Reap (and Phnom Penh) was unfortunately not suited to our tastes. There wasn’t a ton of variety, and even the national dish – Fish Amok – was a hit and miss for us. We ended up mostly eating pizza in Siem Reap, which was surprisingly pretty good!

We did, however, stop by a local stall to try a popular local snack – BUGS!

There were beetles, grasshoppers, and worms. They were heavily spiced and deep fried so you won’t be able to taste the “natural” flavor of the bugs, but once I popped a worm into my mouth and felt its guts explode I was DONE. The boys and Baba enjoyed them though.

But like most tourists, our primary goal for visiting Cambodia was to see Angkor Wat. We booked a tuk-tuk to take us around Angkor Wat for a day. This was probably the boys’ favorite part of the trip. 😅

We skipped the sunrise this time (because I just cannot wake up at 4am anymore 😂) but still arrived early enough to avoid the crowds.

Angkor Wat will never not be amazing to me. Built in the 12th century, it’s the largest religious monument in the world, showcasing the incredible skill of the Khmer people. Walking through Angkor Wat feels like stepping back in time – its beauty and history leave you in awe.

Still, after visiting the main temples, you kind of get temple fatigue. There is absolutely no shade at Angkor Wat so we were burning up for most of the day, even though we went in the winter!

We left Cambodia after 7 days. Baba and I sometimes wonder how much the kids will remember from this adventure. But at least for Baba and me – we take with us memories of stunning temples, new experiences, and the joy of seeing it all through our kids’ eyes.

Ramblings

Vietnam

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Hello, it’s been awhile!

But I have an excuse. We had been traveling around SE Asia over the boys’ winter break, visiting 3 countries and 8 cities in 4 weeks. We had such an amazing time there, and surprisingly didn’t find the trip exhausting at all. SE Asia is one of my favorite regions in the world.

I’ve been wanting to visit Vietnam for some time. Baba and I both have connections there, with his parents and siblings being born in Vietnam and my family having lived there for many years. I’ve also been enticed by pictures on social media of the beautiful nature and landscapes around the country. But most of all, we absolutely love Vietnamese food and have been missing it since we moved to Taiwan (the Vietnamese food here is lackluster).

We visited Vietnam from north to south – first Hanoi, then Ha Long Bay, Hoi An, Da Nang and finally Ho Chi Minh City.

Hanoi. Despite the terrible air pollution and nonsensical traffic, we loved Hanoi! I don’t know if it’s because Hanoi was the first place we visited, but the city has that old-world charm that makes you feel like you’ve stepped back in time, with its narrow streets, cozy cafes and roadside restaurants complete with the quintessential small, plastic stools. We stayed in the Old Quarter; most things were within walking distance and every corner had something to be discovered.

The food in Hanoi was also amazing. People have told me northern Vietnamese food is pretty bland but we didn’t think that at all. I don’t think we had one bad meal there, and of course everything is so, so affordable. Our meals were usually around $8-$10 for a family of four. 😱

During our stay in Hanoi, we also booked a day trip to Ninh Binh, a city in the countryside with calm rivers flanked by stunning limestone mountains and caves. It was so scenic! After the boat tour, we hiked to Hang Mua Cave and climbed up the Ngoa Long (Lying Dragon Mountain). The hike was all stairs so it was definitely a work out!

Ha Long Bay. We left Hanoi and took a 2 hour bus ride to Cat Ba Island, a gateway to Ha Long Bay. Originally, we wanted to go on a 2-night cruise to Ha Long Bay but the atrocious prices and lukewarm reviews turned us off. So, Baba found a more economical alternative: stay in Cat Ba Island for 2 nights and book a day cruise to the bay. 🙂

There wasn’t much to do on Cat Ba Island (although the tourism department is trying to build it into a resort town) and the food was mediocre. But we had a wonderful day cruise around Ha Long Bay – the views were beautiful and we got a chance to do some water activities even though the water was freezing. Our tour operator was Cat Ba Express and they were great. They seamlessly organized the cruise and transportation to/from Hanoi.

Hoi An. After Ha Long Bay, we flew to central Vietnam which included Hoi An. Hoi An is an incredibly picturesque city and has become one of Vietnam’s most Instagram-able place.

Hoi An is a very small city so after one day of sightseeing, we were pretty much done. There were so many tourists in the main part of Hoi An that at times it felt like a commercialized tourist trap. The streets were lined with shops selling souvenirs or tourist “experiences” like the lantern release on the river (which we ended up doing anyway 😅).

Nonetheless, we ate some good comfort food in Hoi An like bánh mì (including the shop that Anthony Bourdain visited!), and dishes native to central Vietnam that we’ve never had before, like mì quảng and cao lầu.

Da Nang. Da Nang is just a one hour drive from Hoi An. We only stayed here for 2 nights, but wished we stayed longer because it turned out to be one of our favorite places in Vietnam.

There are two sides to Da Nang. We stayed at the “resort” side, which was next to a really nice beach and tourist-friendly shops and restaurants. The boys loved the beach here and kept wanting to stay. (Taipei has no nearby beaches so the boys miss it immensely.)

We thought that was all of Da Nang until we did a Google search and realized there’s another part to the city over the bridge. A part that is a bit grittier and more frenzied, but with much more authentic, delicious food and interesting sites. We loved this part of Da Nang the best and had some of the best bánh xèo of our lives here!

Before leaving Da Nang, we also spent a few hours visiting Marble Mountain, a cluster of five limestone and marble hills/caves. It was a nice break from the usual cityscape.

Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh City is the most modern city in Vietnam, with wide boulevards, upscale shopping, and international cuisine. But HCMC is also incredibly vast and scattered. Even though we stayed in District 1 (where most tourists stay), it took us a long time to walk to places or we’d have to take a taxi, and many of the restaurants we wanted to visit were a 20-30 minute car ride away.

We heard that HCMC has the best food in Vietnam but thought the food was average (except for 1 or two dishes), at least compared to what we had in Hanoi and Da Nang. Maybe we went to the wrong places?

The highlight of our visit to HCMC was going to Cu Chi Tunnels and War Remnants Museum. We visited the museum one day, then booked a day tour to Cu Chi Tunnels the day after. They were the perfect complement for learning all about the Vietnam War. The Cu Chi Tunnels were a vast network of secret tunnels that the Vietcong soldiers used to combat the Americans. The living conditions for Vietcong soldiers during that time were terrible; many had to eat rats and snakes while in hiding, and had to live alongside dead bodies in the tunnels.

To accommodate tourists, the tunnels today are built three times larger than the original and equipped with lighting and air conditioning. This is crazy to me because I was already feeling hot and tired after a short trip through the tunnels. 😅 It was incredibly humbling to experience what people’s lives were like only 50 years ago. We discussed the war and Cu Chi Tunnels for days after – so much better than just learning about it in school!

We spent a total of 18 days in Vietnam. This was my first time there, but I strangely felt connected to the place. Perhaps it was the familiar smells, tastes and sounds that reminded me of my upbringing, which was heavily influenced by my parents’ time in Vietnam. For the first time, I wondered what my parents’ life was like there, and what our lives would be like if they never left.

I loved the craziness, familiarity, and of course the food in Vietnam. I can only hope to go back one day.

Ramblings

A Weekend in Yilan 宜蘭

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Since moving to Taiwan, we’ve heard a lot about Yilan, a county in the northeast part of the country. Apparently it’s a very popular weekend getaway for families.

Earlier this month, we finally took a trip to Yilan for a weekend. It was so easy to get there! Friday after school, we walked 15 minutes from our place to the Taipei City Hall bus station, then boarded a bus to Luodong 羅東. The buses depart every 10-15 minutes and we simply paid the fare on board with our Easy Card. Within an hour, we arrived at Luodong – easy peasy!

I decided to stay in the city of Luodong because it’s close to a few of the family farms Yilan is famous for. I booked a room at Check Inn Magi and it was a HUGE hit with the boys. It has video games, ball pit room, a large indoor slide and motorized toy cars. The boys seriously wanted to live there. 😂 The best part was that Baba and I could rest in our room while they played downstairs.

Our hotel was also close to the Luodong Night Market, which we visited on Friday night. It was a pretty big market but nothing stood out in particular, at least nothing that we tried.

On Saturday morning, we went to Zhang Mei Ama Farm 張美阿嬤農場, about a 20 minute taxi ride from Luodong. Buses don’t run very frequently in Yilan, so most people either drive, hire a driver, or take a taxi.

Zhang Mei Ama Farm is a popular petting farm located in Sanxing. Visitors can get up close and personal with animals like alpacas, capybaras, sheep, wallabies, etc. But first, we signed up for a short cooking class at the farm, where we got to make (and later eat) sweet potato and taro balls. The balls are fairly easy to make: just mash up soft taro and sweet potato with rice flour, then boil in water.

After the cooking class, we headed to the petting farm. The worker gave us a bunch of grass to feed the animals. It can be pretty overwhelming at first because the animals charged at anyone with food. The taller animals like alpacas and deer would grab the food right out of C and O’s hands, so Baba and I had to hold it with our arms held high. 😂 But aside from the animals being ravenous, they were generally very tame and seemed to be well taken care of. We all loved seeing the variety of animals here! We paid $10.75 per person for both the cooking class and farm experience, and booked our tickets here.

Nearby Zhang Mei Ama Farm are a couple of scallion farms. The one we went to is Cong Bao Bao 葱抱抱體驗農場. It was about a 30 minute walk from the farm. You could take a taxi there but since the weather was comfortable, we decided to walk.

At Cong Bao Bao, you can make scallion pancakes and/or harvest scallions. Unfortunately, the scallion fields were destroyed by Typhoon Kong-rey the weekend prior. But all was not lost! The farm also grew dragon fruit so we were able to pick those.

Interestingly, dragon fruit grows on long prickly vines. The dragon fruits at the farm had pink flesh and were wrapped in bags to prevent bugs and animals from eating them. We each got to take one home.

On our last day in Yilan, we took the local train to Jiaoxi 礁溪, another small town in Yilan famous for hot springs. Streets are literally lined with hot springs spas. We bought a day pass at Chuan Tang Spring Spa Hotel 川湯春天溫泉飯店 for about $10 per person. (On weekdays, it’s about $7 per person.)

The resort is a little dated but we still had a lot of fun because of the variety of facilities. They had different scented and colored baths; a kids’ section with water slides; scented steam rooms; fish pedicure; and even a bath with a mahjong table! 😂 We stayed here for 4 hours – definitely got our money’s worth!

The trip from Jiaoxi back to Taipei was seamless as well. As with Luodong, there is a direct bus linking Jiaoxi and Taipei. We took the bus for about an hour and the first stop was just a 5 minute walk from our apartment. Can’t get any more convenient than that!

We had a great time in Yilan. It’s family-friendly, easy to get to, and has tons of fun, affordable activities. It really makes a perfect weekend getaway.

Ramblings

Field Trip to Penghu: Taiwan’s Offshore Islands

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Written by C

In September, I went on a 3 day, 2 night field trip with my school to a beautiful archipelago in the south of Taiwan called Penghu. We flew from Taipei’s Songshan Airport to Penghu, which took less than an hour.

Penghu was extremely hot! Luckily, whenever you are sweaty a gust of wind will cool you down. An interesting fact is that Penghu is made up of 90 islands and only 19 islands have people living on them. Also, Penghu doesn’t get that many tourists so it’s mostly locals who live here. Three popular islands are Qimei, Huxi, and Xiyu.

At Penghu, my classmates and I visited a local school, the old street, and we even went kayaking! This was my first time kayaking.

Penghu is famous for its salty seafood and its old temples. Most of their vegetables are imported from the main island. In Penghu, they grow a type cactus where it can be made into drinks, ice cream, and jelly. Penghu is the only place in Taiwan where they grow it. I liked it so much bought some for my family back home. I also brought home a peanut candy.

In conclusion, I think that this trip was a great experience for me to learn about Penghu traditions and its cultures. Maybe one day you can go there and check it out yourself. Remember to put on sunscreen though!

Ramblings

Lunar New Year in Taiwan

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Even though our winter break was packed with activities, we made sure to schedule time in Taipei during Lunar New Year. We were curious how the locals celebrated this important holiday.

Turns out, it’s pretty tame. 😆 But it’s also because LNY is a family-oriented holiday, and since we have no relatives here, we didn’t get to partake in many festivities. Still, we have been enjoying the lovely decorations around the city, and of course we visited Dihua Street to buy LNY snacks and goodies.

A lot of Taiwanese locals warned us that Taipei becomes totally vacant during LNY. It was noticeably quieter, but the places that remained open were very busy. I guess those of us who stayed in Taipei were all looking for somewhere to go!

On the first day of LNY, we went around the neighborhood to watch lion dances. The most popular one was at Grand Hyatt. But it was so crowded that we could only see the lion when it was up on stilts. Luckily, we saw another lion dance not too far away and this time, we had a front row view.

The next few days were surprisingly normal, and the majority of stores and restaurants opened back up. The only real disruption was the garbage service. Normally, garbage trucks come around everyday except Wednesdays and Sundays, but during the first week of LNY, the schedule was erratic. Whenever we heard the garbage truck music play, Baba and I rushed downstairs because we just never knew when the next garbage day would be!

About a week after LNY, the Lantern Festival 元宵節 began. The Lantern Festival is not hugely celebrated in SF, so this was an eye-opening experience. The festival celebrates the end of LNY and welcomes the coming of spring. People enjoy fireworks, lanterns, and eating glutinous rice balls (湯圓) during this time. The national Lantern Festival celebration was held in Tainan this year, but Taipei also had its own festival in Ximen.

The lanterns were gorgeous! Some of them were actually created by students in a lantern-making contest too. The whole Ximen area was sprinkled with lanterns everywhere; it was fun spotting them while we roamed around.

The year of the dragon – especially when it meets leap year – is considered very auspicious in Chinese culture. We wish everyone a healthy, happy and prosperous new year!

Ramblings

Tainan: A Trip of Gluttony

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(Long overdue post! We went to Tainan back in October 2023 but just now decided to blog about it. 😅)

Tainan is Taiwan’s old capital, and one of Taiwanese people’s favorite vacation spots due to its delicious traditional food and historic architecture. We decided to travel there during Taiwan’s Double Ten Holiday 雙十節, when the boys had a 4 day weekend.

We took Taiwan’s high-speed rail which was super convenient, clean and efficient. After booking our tickets online, we printed them at 7-11. On the day of departure, we took the MRT to Taipei Main Station, which is connected to the high-speed rail. Within 2 hours, we arrived in Tainan!

We stayed in the West Central District of Tainan in a quaint Airbnb located on top of a café. We literally had to walk through the café, go up the stairs to the attic to get to our Airbnb! It was an unusual place to stay but the location was great. A lot of people warned us that we’d need to rent a car to get around, but we never felt the need to because our Airbnb was so central.

Tainan is famous for traditional Taiwanese food, so let’s first talk about the food! As soon as we arrived in Tainan, we hit up several restaurants.

(From left to right, top to bottom)
Danzai Noodles 擔仔麵: This is a popular snack in Tainan that’s made with wheat noodles in shrimp broth, garlic and topped with marinated pork. The portion is tiny, so it’s more a snack than a meal. It was delicious and we gobbled both portions up!

Fish Soup and Fried Pork Over Rice: After eating 擔仔麵, we came across this simple restaurant owned by a sweet old lady. We ordered a fish soup and fried pork over rice. Both were so simple, yet packed with flavor. It was so good that we ordered a second plate of the fried pork over rice!

Grass Jelly with Taro and Sweet Potato Balls: Baba and the boys love this dessert. Personally, I’m not a big fan of the glutinous texture and mild taste but it’s very popular across Taiwan.

Peanut Shaved Ice 花生刨冰: We noticed a shop selling different kinds of 刨冰, but their most famous was peanut! We grabbed a cup and it was the perfect not-too-sweet and refreshing dessert on a hot night.

The next morning, we had a traditional Tainan breakfast of milkfish congee and braised pork rice 滷肉飯. I’m a huge congee lover, and was really looking forward to eating my favorite comfort food here. But the milkfish was thick and dry, and the rice was not as creamy as I’d like. I still prefer Cantonese style congee.

Later on, we took a long walk to get in line at Wen Zhang 文章牛肉湯, a famous restaurant known for a Tainan staple: beef soup 牛肉湯! We waited in line for 30-40 minutes in the heat, but it was worth it. The soup is very simple – literally beef broth with thin slices of beef – but it’s amazingly flavorful, clean, and comforting, like something your mom or grandma made. Apparently many people in Tainan have this soup for breakfast!

Eel noodles is also a common dish you’ll find in Tainan. We went to a popular hole-in-the-wall restaurant called A Jiang 阿江鱔魚意麵 to try this dish.

They basically have two options: one that’s dry-fried and one with sauce. We ordered both. Visually, these are not the prettiest looking dishes. 😂 But the smoky flavor and wok-hay were amazing. The eel was firm – even a bit crunchy – and marinated well. Personally, I preferred the dry-fried version.

Then, we hopped next door to get another bowl of beef noodle soup and ginger scallion fried beef. The beef soup was not as good as the one we had at Wen Zhang 文章, but it was still good! The ginger scallion beef was delicious – the beef was so tender and flavorful. People in Tainan really know how to cook beef!

The next morning, we had another typical breakfast item in Tainan – sticky rice dumplings 粽子! I thought this was pretty heavy to have for breakfast, but since breakfast is the most important meal for Tainan people, maybe they want something hearty?

We had lunch reservations at A Sha Restaurant 阿霞飯店, which is one of the most famous restaurants in Tainan serving traditional Taiwanese dishes. This is a restaurant that requires reservations and we were lucky we could snag one before we went back to Taipei.

The lunch at A Sha was our priciest meal (about $100 USD), but honestly, it was a little underwhelming. Don’t get me wrong – everything was decent but at that price, I was expecting something more memorable, especially since food is so cheap in Tainan.

Aside from food, Tainan is also famous for its historic buildings and architecture. Here are some places we visited:

Confucius Temple: You could pay extra to go inside other buildings at the temple, but we only walked around the public areas which was more than enough for us to explore!

Anping Old Street: The oldest street in Taiwan, filled with alleys of food stalls and shops. It was fun navigating through the alleyways spotting interesting things to try.

Anping Tree House: Probably my favorite site in Tainan. This was an old Japanese salt warehouse but after 100 years of transformation, the place is now covered in banyan roots. We loved the mystique of the tree house, and it reminded us of Angkor Wat in Cambodia!

Temples: There are beautiful temples big and small sprinkled across Tainan. It was fun to get a glimpse of old Tainan on every street we turned into.

Tainan makes a great weekend trip! It has a more chill, more laid-back vibe than Taipei, with friendly locals, interesting history, and delicious, cheap food.