Taiwan Through Pictures: Part 1

Back in April, I had the pleasure of taking a vacation to my ancestral home of Taiwan along with my wife, sister, and mom. We traveled primarily in a tour group, which was a great way to maximize the sights (and eats) on a trip that was just barely over a week. Here now are some pictures from that trip:

We ate at the Din Tai Fung in Taipei both at the beginning of the trip, as well as at the end, and my God, they really were the best xiao long bao (soup dumplings) I've ever had.

The Mrs. picked up a little charm of Din Tai Fung's mascot.

Taiwanese people love fruit! We came right in time for lembu seaso, also known as wax apple or mountain apple. Bear in mind that other than color, this tropical fruit shares nothing in common with the common American apple, but instead has a very light, airy, Styrofoam-like texture, and has a very light, sweet flavor.

Mangoes unfortunately were NOT in season, but this farm stand that our bus stopped by on the way from Kaioshung to Kenting had some large mangoes for sale.

Banyan trees are everywhere we went.

We also got to ride both the bullet train, as well as the classic train.

This is a picture of the wonderful wooden bowl that acted as a container to our delicious lunchbox, modeled after the offerings train riders would order back in the day.

Here we have a smoked chicken leg, that was light but flavorful. You'll also notice the wonderful variety of flavors and textures along with the chicken: a slice of Taiwanese sausage, veggies, corn, and diced bean curd, all on top of a bed of rice.

The wife and I also came across some very interesting restroom signs at this train station...

...which were strangely similar to abstract art.