David on Formosa

When I first came to Taiwan back in 1999 I stayed at the Happy Family Hostel, just a stone's throw away from Taipei Station. The station was very much the centre of my Taipei world at that time. I would catch the train from there to my job in Banqiao and I would often wander [...]

I discovered Sour Time via a review in the Taipei Times and went to sample its dishes today. This small unpretentious restaurant offers a range of Sri Lankan style curries. I ordered the Pumpkin and Passionfruit Curry. It tasted as interesting as it sounds. The sweetness and fragrance of the passionfruit combined perfectly with the [...]

Today I went to Sanzhi (三芝), a town on the north coast which has a number of interesting attractions. 

The first stop was the Fucheng Temple (福成宮). This temple is famous for its golden-faced Mazu (金面媽祖). This Mazu statue was originally kept in Taipei City, but was moved to Sanzhi during the Japanese era. Another [...]

Pinglin (坪林) in Taipei County is one of Taiwan's major tea growing areas. It is also a very nice small town nestled amongst the mountains with a beautiful river flowing through it.  

The man in the bronze sculpture above is Lu Yu (陸羽). He lived in China in the 8th Century CE and wrote the [...]

This afternoon I went out to Sanxia to visit the Taipei County Hakka Museum (台北縣客家文化園區). The museum opened a year ago. Although it is built in concrete it incorporates some interesting architecture. One end of the building is built in the style of a round house. These round houses are found in some of the [...]

Since I returned to Taiwan a few months ago I have found the food here disappointing. I guess living in Thailand one gets spoiled. While Taiwan offers a huge range of different dishes most of them are quite bland in their flavour. I also find there is a lack of fresh ingredients used and the [...]