Visiting Taipei’s delicious night markets with kids

Taipei has a well-deserved reputation as one of the best places to eat in the world. Many visitors arrive with an empty stomach and plans to fill it up as quickly as possible — plans that rarely go unfulfilled. But traveling with children presents a challenge: will they enjoy eating strange food in strange places? Thankfully, Taipei’s many food choices present few problems for children. In fact, they may even end up eating more than their parents!

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Big City Transit – Taipei

Thankfully, Taipei lacks the endless, jam-packed urban sprawls of other Asian cities like Beijing or Bangkok, but it still packs a punch when it comes to rush hour traffic and labyrinthine public transportation. For tourists going in with the mentality of “doing what the locals do,” and just copying a random commuter, they may find themselves on alternative lines of transit, which can range from cross-country trains to rentable tandem bikes, so…best to know exactly how things work before you dive in.

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Walking, Exploring and Eating in Tainan, Taiwan

For Taiwan’s oldest and fifth-largest city, Tainan can be deceiving. One may expect skyscrapers and crowds of millions pushing through wide streets, but you may be surprised to find a more serene environment with a small town vibe. It’s known far and wide as a place where you can find “real” Taiwanese cuisine, as well as for its gorgeous temples, friendly people and charming neighborhoods linked by narrow, winding alleys and roads. It’s definitely a must-see city!

There is evidence of habitation going back at least 20,000 years but the area around what is now Tainan really came into its own in the 1500’s, when Chinese and Japanese sailors set up thriving trading posts. This led to a healthy blending of linguistic, cultural, and ceremonial traditions, and the city today still shows clear signs of these influences. Of course, the island wasn’t immune to the surge of European exploration in the mid-1600’s especially the Dutch, who set up a fort on the island and dominated the area for 40 years until they were forced out by the Chinese.

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What to wear for Asian weddings

Lots of people ask me what’s the appropriate thing to wear to a wedding, so here’s a breakdown for you….

At the ripe old age of 28, I’m finding myself making more and more appearances at friends’ wedding receptions. Compared to last year (when I attended zero wedding parties), this year sees a whopping increase with at least five wedding receptions attended so far.  And for the coming year, I have already RSVP-ed to two wedding parties. Whoa!

It seems like everybody in their late twenties suddenly realizes that this is their last chance to get hitched before the dreaded 3-0 creeps up on them. Anyhow, it was at these joyous-yet-super-boring, cookie-cutter wedding receptions that I often see foreigners (friends of the bride or groom) showing up wearing something red. More often than not, the guys come wearing either red neckties or red dress shirts, and the girls in red dresses.

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