Loa on the Go

We woke bright and early for our high speed train trip all the way up the west coast from Kaohsiung back to Taipei. The entire trip only took an hour and a half, and we were so excited to ride on such an advanced train.

We zoomed through countryside and cities, but overall it felt pretty similar to the other trains we had been on. We dropped our bags and headed up north on the metro to the Shilin district, where we grabbed a few buns to eat.

Meandering around this district was lovely, but the reason we had visited was for a cooking class with the author of the cookbook “Made in Taiwan”, Ivy Chen. For three and a half hours, she showed us how to make pork rice, steamed and fried buns, and sesame buns with red bean paste. We started with tea, learned how to make the dishes, and then shared a meal together. It was so nice to get her perspective of the food scene in Taiwan and her one-on-one instruction, and I’m so excited to make these things at home!

We checked in to our very nice Japanese hotel, a treat for our last couple of days in Taipei, had a quick swim in the rooftop pool, and headed to the Daan neighborhood to visit a local brewery.

We had kept a pretty early schedule for much of our trip, and definitely for our first couple days in Taipei. Having a later night out on a Friday showed us a whole different Taipei. The metro was packed and people were out eating and drinking everywhere. We rested up, looking forward to our last day in Taipei.