One thing I've realized about blogging is that I enjoy writing about the stories just as much as I love capturing moments through photography. I've learned (but not mastered) that there's a balancing act between enjoying the moments we have in life while trying to save a few snapshots along the way to help us remember and smile back upon. I also hate how long it takes for Lightroom to render my photo files, so it's made it time-prohibitive for me to catalog all of my images from my trip to Taiwan. So let me take you through a few of these memories (in no particular order.)
My mom took the liberty to book us a two-day trip to Sun Moon Lake in Nantou (close to Taichung or the middle of the island) upon which we also stayed at an odd European-style cottage on the very top of a mountain (which I can't tell you the name of, because I simply don't remember.) On the second day of the trip, we made a stop at this sheep farm just a few minutes away from our hotel, also on the mountain. They had herds of sheep, and I was lucky enough to capture this moment with my mom trying to tell this sheep that it need two things, a long overdue bath and some shearing. This was probably my favorite picture from my entire trip to TW.
On one of my last days in Taiwan, my mom figured out a way for us to squeeze in a quick trip to Shifen to light this sky lantern, or tiān dēng. For just a few dollars, you can paint your wishes onto the four sides of this huge lantern and watch it fly into the sky with an incandescent glow. Oh, and this all took place on a currently active set of train tracks, too..
For those of you stylistas, I'm sure you've heard of Alden shoes. Unfortunately, the place wasn't open but the light glowed a green reminiscent of those green desk lamps made for reading. It also happened to flash pour onto us so we snuck for some cover under this awning.
On the top of elephant mountain, there's a glorious view of Taipei in its entirety. The hike up wasn't easy, but those steps definitely felt a lot easier after taking in the beautiful city. It's definitely something I'd recommend anyone in Taipei to check out, as the base of the trail is just a few blocks away from the Xiangshan MRT station (it's called elephant mountain because Xiang also means elephant in Mandarin.)
I've always taken my mom to enjoy the outdoors as she loved gardening, flowers, and taking daily walks around the bay trail. But hiking up this mountain at Sun Moon Lake was really awesome. Instead of all of the ruckus caused by tourists trying to take pictures and buying all sorts of souvenirs and things, this trail gave us the serenity, calmness and peace. Nowadays, that's a rare commodity in most places that have thrived on the tourism.
We were given the unique opportunity to join at one of Yelp Taipei's first events and it was a blast. Not only was this awesome, but Tiff and her friend Grace were also in TW so we met up with my friend Jess from SD and hit up the event. Even though we got lost along the way, we still managed to snag a seat inside. They hosted the event at a placed called The Lobster Bar near Zhongxiao Fuxing. Free food, drinks, small Yelp-branded goodies (like these breathmints) and good vibes had us seeing Yelp stars all night long. Thank you again for the invite, Jess!
More next time!
