Keelung City, Taiwan Day Trip

We had a spare day before leaving for Sun Moon lake to go to a place called Keelung City. This was a short train journey from Taipei (about 1 hour).

The train station is right by the harbor so we got off and had a nice brunch.

 

After this we went to a place called Peace Island which is accessible by a bridge. There was a nice park here but it also has some great rock formations which have bee shapes by the Typhoons that Taiwan experiences. 

We had great weather and it was a really nice day trip from Taipei. Tomorrow we are off to Sun Moon Lake!!

New Year's Fireworks from Taipei 101

Happy New Year!

Last night we watched the firework from Taipei 101! We arrived in the park we had scouted out earlier in the day at 10pm and it was already very busy but we managed to get some sitting space on the floor. There were thousands of people there. Luckily the weather was very mild.

At the stoke of midnight there was the countdown and the fireworks went off. It was the best 5 minutes of fireworks I've seen!!!

So, that was it! I'm glad I've done it but its not something I'd go out my way to see again. After this we started the journey home, along with thousands of other people!!! I was expecting it to be really awful but it was actually quite a nice experience. They had closed the 6 lane road to traffic so we were walking through the streets with lots of other happy people. The metro was still open but very busy so we walked for a few miles in the nice cool weather and got on at a later stop. Including the nice walk it only too an hour to get home.

 

A day in Taipei

We arrived yesterday evening and today have been scouting out the place where we will see the fireworks later this evening. There will be a a lot of people but fortunately because it is a big building, you can see it from many places in the city. 

We opted for the above location, a place called Sun Yat Sen memorial hall, which ash a big park. After agreeing on the location we visited the memorial hall.

They had a changing of the guard thing going on, which was quite interesting and some other  background information in a museum inside the memorial hall. The rest of the day we spent chilling out and shopping. We're looking forward to the fireworks tonight!!!

Return to Taiwan

I managed to get some time off after Christmas and we've decided to go back to Taiwan for New Year. There are a few places we want to go and we also want to see the fireworks off Taipei 101.

We are here for just over a week and in addition to see the fireworks, we'll be visiting Sun-Moon lake and Aowanda national park.

The Shopping Centre at Christmas

A year or so back they opened a big shopping centre at the end of the road and as the Vietnamese people are being brainwashed into liking Christmas so companies can convince them to buy lots of stuff they don't need, this shopping centre is helping them along by decking itself out with lots of nice Christmas decorations. 

As you can see, its always busy but it is also very festive. In addition they have an enormous Christmas tree which kids can pay to go inside.

So, Christmas is nearly here. Im going out for a nice dinner with friends on Christmas eve, then keeping my options open. There is an open house party with a friend from work and lots of other will be in the Tavern so will see how it goes. We will see what happens on Christmas day. No doubt I'll go out but with work the next day I'll be keeping the drinking to a minimum. So, last thing to say is Happy Christmas!!!!

Christmas Party Season in Ho Chi Minh City

Its the Christmas party season at the moment, last weekend we had our works party and my end of seasons darts party.

On the Friday we had our works party which we had on campus. This is better than it sounds, we have this great outdoor area, got some caterers in and gave us loads of free booze. There was also some other activities and music which was great. It was a great night and a good time was had by all. After the party we headed back to the Tavern (the local pub) and the party continued. Pubs stay open here until everyone leaves and by all accounts people were there until 4am then carried on drinking at the circle K. I went home at midnight.

On the Saturday was our end of season darts party at a new Belgium beer place. This dart season didn't go to well so the less said the better. However, the party was good fun. It was a free bar and free food.

Sadly, we don't get any additional time off over Christmas so its back to work on boxing day. The good news is we have a four day weekend over new year and the better news is I'll be off to Taiwan for a week!!!

I also went to see the new starwars film which was pretty cool and becoming a Christmas tradition. They have some cool promotional stuff here which is where this picture was taken.

Christmas 2016 is coming to Ho Chi Minh City

Here is my annual post which shows off the Christmas tree at my University Gym. Its not very exciting and I just noticed from my Christmas post in December 2014 its the same tree as it was that year.

However, more excitingly the gym staff have made a good 'joy' display in the reception area of the gym. It's pretty big and people are aloud to post wishes on the 'wishing wall' to show the world what they would like for Christmas. I've not read them yet but my have a read in the next few days. 

Not much else to report. We have our work Christmas party next Friday. As Vietnam doesn't really celebrate Christmas we only get Xmas day off then its back to work on boxing day. It's also the start of a very busy exam week so I'll be very busy. 

I'm looking forward to a trip to Taiwan again on 30th December! A nice way to start the new year. Also the new year brings the build up to TET. I will be getting two weeks off at the end of January. At the moment I'm planning to go to Myamar.