A return to Asia
Just over a month ago we returned from our magical 5 week South East Asia adventure. A region I last visited 15 years before. That was a monumental trip for many reasons and I was truly looking forward to going back to see new places and rediscover some favourites from before. And skipping 5 weeks winter was pretty rad too!
On January 11th we set off to the airport for our first long haul holiday in nearly 5 years. We were flying to Singapore via Doha. The flight from Stockholm to Doha was uneventful and we landed on time in the Middle East in the early hours in the morning. The airport was absolutely overflowing with people, shops and other factors that led me to being very close to having a panic attack. Thankfully our layover was short. But I truly cannot abide that kind of situation and I get worse with it as the years move on. Anyhoo after nearly 24 hours of travelling we arrived in Singapore. A city that I have had many preconceptions about, was curious to visit and could not wait to try the street food. We were there for 5 nights which was honestly too long. But at least we had a beautiful 5 star hotel to stay in who kindly upgraded us and also spoiled us with lots of treats in the room. That night after some drinks in our hotel lounge we made our way to a craft beer bar where we really got a feel for how expensive the city was! It was glorious getting into bed later that night. Our hotel breakfast buffet was insane and we definitely put on some kilos indulging in it every day! After breakfast we hopped in a taxi to head to the island of Sentosa where we we were meeting some family friends. Singapore wasn't really my thing and Sentosa even less so! But it was good to catch up and see another side of the city. Later we headed to China Town for some food and wandering around. We had a bit of a panic when our taxi driver did't take cards and hubby had to run around looking for a cash point. That evening we headed out to Marina Bay Sands and the Gardens by the Bay. It was cool to see and I enjoyed the kitsch factor of it but ultimately not really my thing! Later when hunger struck we headed to our first hawker market for some beer and food. We ended up at Satay Street which was fun! Sunday we went to check out Little India and some other sites. We had a scare when we thought hubby had lost his wallet but thankfully it was back in the hotel room. Late that afternoon we met up with my dear school friend Mr Z who I had only seen once since HS graduation. He was exactly the same. The kindest most genuine guy and I got to meet his family too. We had a wonderful few hours catching up. I do hope to see him again sooner than 20 years. That evening hubby surprised me with dinner reservations at Raffles for our 12 year meetaversary! Before dinner though we went to have drinks at their Writers Bar. My concierge connections came in handy as they were not letting everybody in. As for dinner we had it at their steak house (our first date was at a steak house). The food was fantastic! We noticed a few tables down from us sounded like they were from Northern Ireland. It turned out they were and the 4 of us ended up going out for a nightcap after dinner. One of those great moments which makes you love traveling all the more!
The next morning jet lag hit us hard!! Again we had not left Europe in 5 years and going East is always so rough. I truly felt like cement trying to get out of bed. We finally managed to pull ourselves out of bed to head to the fabulous Singapore Botanical Gardens. Definitely my favourite site in the city! The gardens were spectacular. Later we made our way to another hawker centre for some Hainense chicken which was very tasty! We saw we were near a craft beer bar rooftop. We managed to have one drink out there before having to move inside from the rain. We met the most wonderful Kiwi couple who we ended up talking to for hours. We exchanged details and I would love for our paths to cross again one day. We finished the night with some delicious laksa curry at the hawker centre.
Our last full day in Singapore we took it easy. We slept in, swam in the hotel pool, got hipster coffee and then eventually made our way to our last supper. I really wanted to have Singapore chili crab. A friend who use to live there gave us a range of places to consider and I love the one we ended up at. A total no frills locals place with really fabulous crab. I knew going in I probably wouldn't love Singapore and I really didn't. I would go back for a 24 hour layover to eat food but more than that the city is a bit blah for me. Too much consumerism and not enough je ne sais qua.
Taiwan on the other hand we fell in love with from the moment we hit the ground. If I was to redo the trip I would have done 3 nights in Singapore and 8 nights in Taipei instead of 5 in each. Taipei is a little bit gritty, bags of history and charm, amazing food and the kindest people (who speak almost no English). We saw very few non Asian tourists. Our first night we got some food and checked out a couple of craft beer bars. The next day we set out to find a late breakfast. We then made our way a little outside the city centre to climb the fantastic Elephant Mountain. It was a perfect blue sky sunny day for the hike. The views from the top were pretty wonderful and I loved going down a different way to see more of the area. We then headed back into the hyper modern area of Taipei. I got my phone screen fixed and then we were ready for our sunset tickets at Taipei 101. Again we could not have chosen a better day to be up there. I couldn't stop snapping photos of the views, sunset etc. We even FaceTimed my father so he could enjoy it too. Once the sun was completely down we made our way to a kind of Little Japan for really good local craft beer and dinner. We had a fairly early night as we were tired from our hike and had a food tour the next morning.
It turned out we were only 3 of us plus our guide for the food tour which was really nice! Our guide was only a couple of years younger than me and a great ambassador for both the city and food scene of Taipei. She took us to so many different places for a huge variety of different kinds of food. The highlights definitely were the duck noodles and almond shaved ice cream. It was 8 years ago in Mexico City that we started taking food tours and I really do love them! This one was definitely one of our favourites. Later after a nap and some seriously good coffee we headed back out to see the city at night before meeting an old colleague of hubby's who has been living in Asia for many years. An Irish guy who had us meet at an Irish pub (and he doesn't even drink Guinness!). It took a little while for us to warm up to each other but we had a great evening and he confirmed all the things we so far loved about Taiwan. Later we checked out a night market for some seriously spicy tofu! The broth made my lips tingle. The next day we made our way out to the utterly insane and amazing National Palace Museum. We were there for about 4 hours but you could easily spend days there and still have more to see. It was truly impressive! Later we went to a flower market Mr Z had suggested we check out. We really loved it and if only we could have brought home some of the beautiful flowers with us (they were dirt cheap!). That evening we met Mick again for dinner and his wife came along too. They took us to their favourite skewer restaurant (there was every kind of skewer you could imagine!) and a few more pints back at the Irish pub. Our final full day the weather was drizzly and cold. Hubby also had woke up during the night with a dodgy stomach. I was starting to research what to do solo that day when he rallied himself together for us to take a day trip to the charming area of Jioufen. The weather really could not have been worse but I am glad we saw it and again the drive out there only further solidified how much more of this amazing country I want to see! The bus drive back to town was freezing cold so a hot shower hit the spot when we got back to our hotel. That evening I took myself to one last night market for some food before calling it a night too.
I left my heart in Taiwan. From the very start this beautiful island had me captivated. I sincerely hope to return one day.
Next stop Vietnam xxxxxxxxxxxxx