Travel stories made for sharing

I travel mostly because I want to learn about other cultures, and what is a better way to do that than through food. So when I was in Taiwan, I wanted to taste the authentic local dish that all Taiwanese people cherish.

If you ask them about their national dish, I am 110% certain that they would unanimously scream: BEEF NOODLE SOUP!

It may sound exaggerated, but there’s nothing that can match the awesome taste of Taiwanese beef noodle soup. That unique and lethal combination of chewy egg noodle, tender beef, and fragrant broth make it a perfect and unrivaled comfort food.

Nowadays, there are many varieties of beef noodle soup available out there, but in Taipei, there are 2 beef noodle soup joints, which are most well-known and highly regarded as the quintessential Taiwanese beef noodle soup: YONG KANG AND LIN DONG FANG.

So I set out a mission to taste these 2 delicious beef noodle soups, and compare both noodle soups based on 4 criteria: appearance, taste, price, and service.

Want to find out how they tasted? Find the complete story on my blog: https://eattravelgreet.com/which-taiwanese-beef-noodle-soup-is-yummiest-yong-kang-vs-lin-dong-fang/

Well, my travel through Asian cities this year has eventually brought me to the capital city of Taiwan: Taipei!

Before arriving in Taipei, I have done quite some research about the city, what to do and what to eat. Yet once I arrived there, there were many things I experienced that I did not expect before.

Let me share few of those experiences here with you, which I am sure would be helpful for you to get to know the city even better, especially if you plan to visit Taipei in the near future.

#1 – Taiwanese people are extremely generous
This is perhaps an understatement. As long as I have been traveling, I have never met people as generous as in Taipei. At the airport, I got my bus ride paid by a lovely lady. And on another occasion, I met a young man, who cordially invited me to a picnic with his friends.

#2 - Baseball is a big thing in Taiwan
Baseball is apparently a very popular sport in Taiwan. In Taipei, you can see baseball played everywhere at school’s playground, parks and of course in the ballparks.
And if you happen to go to sport cafés, it’s very likely that you will see a baseball game on TV, rather than any other sports.

#3 - Cash is king
For a city as advanced as Taipei, I am surprised that cash payment is still highly used. Even in a renowned restaurant like Din Tai Fung, payment is only possible with cash.
Credit cards are unfortunately only accepted in major shopping malls and selected numbers of restaurants. So if you plan to visit Taipei, I would recommend always having some cash with you.

#4 - Biking is a big thing
In Taipei, people love biking.
Taipei even has an excellent and very affordable public bike rental system called Youbike, which you can pay using Easycard (public transport card) or credit card.
Streets in Taipei also have been equipped with a dedicated bike line.

Learn more about surprising things I experienced in Taipei on my blog: eattravelgreet.com

When you go to Paris, you think of the Eiffel Tower, l'Arc de Triomphe, perhaps even Versailles or French cuisine. I already shared my experiences of visiting nothing but the Eiffel Tower looking for a missed connection.

Call me morbid, but this time, I decided to do the exact opposite. What some tourists may not know is that underneath Paris is an extensive underground, one filled with death, horror, and yes odour. I visited the catacombs and sewers of Paris. Beneath the city are 200 miles of tunnels filled with the remains of over 6 million Parisians, some over 1200 years old. In the late 1700's, the cemeteries were overflowing and so the massive project of moving all of these remains underground was undertaken. As I walked into the ossuary, a haunting sign that read "Arrête, c’est ici l’empire de la mort!” (Stop! This is the empire of death!). Inside, many of the bones are arranged into patterns or symbols. The scale of the whole place is overwhelming yet eerily peaceful at the same time.

I ended up underground again later that day, this time in the sewer museum. I'll be honest I didn't spend much time here because of the smell, but it is just amazing that some of these sewers date back to the 1300's, older than many of the famous churches and sites that are above ground.

I recently visited Sintra, a town long known for its villas, palaces, and connection to the monarchy. Easily a day trip from Lisbon.

So much history, politics, scandal, just like with every aristocracy. Sintra is to Portugal as Versailles is to France and Hampton Court is to England. I'm a castle fanatic and the Pena National Palace in Sintra meets every expectation, but what I found most fascinating was an interesting little place nearby outside. The entrance, a nondescript ancient wall, and then the descent into a well, 27m deep with the most amazing spiral staircase and mosaic at the bottom. Somehow this branched off into many caves so dark that I could only navigate with the light from my phone. Even some stepping stones to get across an area submersed in water. My description doesn't do it justice. Check out the pictures to see this amazing place.

It was 4 am. I got up from the creaky bed and dragged up Alison and Charlotte. We were ready to head to Borobudur and experienced it's famous sunrise view.

As we walked to the temple, we could hear chanting being broadcast in the compound. It sounded a bit eerie but yet strangely comforting to hear this in the darkness. It also reminded me of the similar chant we heard during our sunset visit to Pura Tanah Lot at Bali.

There was already a crowd when we reached the top. The sun was supposedly to raise from the east at the direction of Mount Merapi. After settling Alison and Charlotte on a good place beside a stupa, I decided to take a short walk round to savor the morning scene.

As most of the people were focusing to see the impending sunrise at the eastern end, the rest of the temple premise was almost empty. The seemingly endless stupas overlooked the surrounding environment. Some might not know that a mediating Buddha statue resided in each and every of the stupas.

Few of the stupas have actually been "un-covered" to reveal the Buddhas within. There was a shroud of mist settling above the forest surrounding the temple, adding to the already serene atmosphere of the temple.

There was a commotion when the golden rays started to appear behind the still smoking Mount Merapi. I could finally comprehend why the sunrise view at Borobudur was considered one of the twenty-seven places to see before you die.

The yellow rays filtered through the still active volcano and cast upon those on the top of Borobudur. If "Enlightenment" has another meaning, it might actually refer to this moment of time. The scene was stunningly beholding. Although the sun was covered by the cloudy sky, it did not mar the beautiful moment.

There was a sense of achievement when we could finally stand upon the temple and witnessed the famous sunrise. Borodudur did not fail my expectation. It shall also meet yours if you wish to visit it someday.

I've connected through Newark before, but this was my first time outside of the airport making the trek to Manhattan. I thought surely there was an easy way, but four hours later, I was still en-route.

I had a LOT of luggage with me as I was there for my friend's wedding. The worst thing was the longest escalator at Penn station broke down while I was on it and everybody was looking at me as if it were my fault. A couple people below tried to climb over me until another traveller who had his own bags to contend with, offered to help me. We went to grab a drink nearby. Turns out he is from Canada. Always a pleasure bumping into friendly Canadians!

My girlfriend and I visited Amsterdam over the holidays. It was a long bus trip from Italy to the Dutch capital without any stops, almost twenty hours of travel in a bus without sleep.

Amsterdam was as incredible as it was beautiful. It was very similar to Venice, full of bicycles and breathtaking countryside landscape and windmills.

The tour had been organized by a tour operator who had filled two buses of people and had booked a hotel near a coffee shop. I do not smoke, but most of the guys wanted to smoke and immediately went to the coffee shop to buy it. The hotel manager, however, had been clear: no smoking in the rooms.

My girlfriend and I had chosen to take a short tour of Amsterdam while the rest of the party stayed in the hotel. The people in the hotel behaved immaturely, smoking and ignoring the hotel manager’s directives, sounding the fire alarm and disturbing other guests. The manager called the police, and when we returned from our city tour, we saw the police in riot gear ordering us to leave the hotel in twenty minutes.
We had no other choice and we complied. Finding a new hotel for two tourist coaches two days from New Year's at midnight was not an easy task but after a series of phone calls our guide managed to find accommodation in a hotel inside the Amsterdam airport, and my vacation continued...

I can remember the first time I had this idea. One random day at work, an other boring day in front of the computer, telling to customers that “yes it is ok to take a small luggage in the cabin, yes your flight is on time.” Youtube your best friend in those moments right ? Two words : Northern lights. Drone videos, timelapse, ok you got me ! Where can i see that ? Iceland ! Ok don’t tell more, my contract finish soon i need a fresh start, boom one ticket to go to the paradise of nature lovers. I am like that, sometimes when you want something you just make it. First foot on the Icelandic land, first tear as well, white everywhere, desert landscape with mountains by the sea, yes i am here finally ! Day after day i am enjoying this life, whale watching, hot pot, blue lagoon, caving, geyser, waterfall, but no nothern lights nothing ! Quite sad it is nearly the end of winter so nearly the end of those magical beauties so so sad :( But one random night, coming back from a party, going to bed ok nothing big ... just randomly opened the window annnnnd oooooh oh my god what i need to go outside i need to capture this instant i need to see i need to appreciate what i see ! Dancing in the fark sky, green, white, purple, fast as the lightenings, I saw them the last day of winter 15 of april ! Will always remember this date because you always remember big moment in your life ;) Hope you can see one, one night in the sky far far away of your home.

As a writer, I enjoy traveling to places that inspire me. I write romantic fiction novels so I need to feel the romantic side of every place I visit. Last year during my holidays, I decided to visit Paris; one of the most romantic cities in the world.

My plan was to visit the Eiffel tower first, and then museums, art galleries, and other attractions later. However, when I got to Paris, it seems all I did was go to the Eiffel tower.

The mood there was one amazing experience. While taking the tour of the tower, I noticed a young man looking at me from a distance. No, he was actually flirting with me. And then just like that, he disappeared. I wandered around through the crowds but I never saw him again.

I spent the first three days of my trip just going to the Eiffel tower. Not that I was obsessed with the place, but somehow I thought that perhaps I'd meet him again and maybe even have a conversation with him. Nevertheless, that was not the case. To this day, I still feel like I should have given him a signal to come talk to me. Maybe, just maybe, this was my chance to meet the love of my life!

During one of my family's mandatory, family reunions in the Philippines, I experienced one of the funniest and scariest moments in my life.

We had this tradition of going to one of the islands my uncle owns in Bicol. It's small and private; perfect for a quiet outing on the beach. Even before we arrived, the currents were already against us. Boats in the Philippines aren't technologically advanced. The design still models after old fisher boats; they're sturdy but shaky.

The waves were rocking the boat and the splashes of water hitting our faces. It was fine but I've always had this fear of sinking boats ever since watching the Titanic and one of my greatest fears was drowning.

We arrived safely and along the shoreline were some jet skis. I wanted to be adventurous so I asked to drive it. I was accompanied by my cousin who was huge, to say the least, but who knew that would be an issue.

I was an inexperienced driver but I wanted to let loose for once. We were 6 miles away from the shore, I turned to go back when suddenly the jet ski tipped over. Flashes of me drowning continuously played in my head. I didn't know how to swim but managed to push myself up.

There we were in the middle of the sea. The people on the beach were shouting for us to turn over the jet ski and hop on. Good thing, my big cousin was there to help; he did most of the lifting. I was able to hop back on the jet ski but when he was about to hop on to join me, the jet ski tipped over again. And again and again.

We did the same thing about 5 times with no luck. It turns out, he was too big and I was too small to carry his weight. I was getting frustrated and cold. Luckily the owner had another jet ski and his helper came to our rescue. He told us to hang onto the side of his jet ski so he can drag us back to shore.

In the end, I learned two very important lessons. One is that I should take lessons before driving any form of vehicle. And 2 is to never ever bring my cousin with me on a jet ski!