Having a great time in Taiwan. The people here are very friendly. The shops are nice with inexpensive prices. The MRT is extremely clean, quiet, and efficient. The food is great too! I got to go to the original Lao Di Fung. It wasn’t quite what I expected, though. In Tokyo it’s quite a fancy ‘Taiwanese specialties’ affair, but in Taipei it’s just food; more like any street-side restaurant. Of course, that’s exactly what it would be. I just had not considered how different it would be.
On the outskirts of Tokyo, with a transfer in Shinjuku, rises Mt. Takao. We had a nice trip there yesterday, although it was quite crowded. In the ever enviro-conscious Japanese way, you can bring stuff there or buy stuff there … but you must take it with you to throw away at home as there are no trash cans. There is a chair lift to the mid-point which we used on the way up, but decided to hike down. It was quite long and tiring, and very slippery going in many areas. Beautiful autumn leaves lit up everywhere you looked. We topped it off with some sushi at a place with a special set dinner… all you can eat sushi + hot pot of seafood + a large platter of “taraba” crab…
We went over to Hanegi Park in Setagaya this weekend. It was a refreshingly local experience without all the tourist junk going on. This is probably one of my favorite parks in Tokyo. Lots of flowers, food, and even some traditional dance and weapons performances! With the addition of this cat that couldn’t manage to roll off of his back (but kept trying and trying) it was a prefect day. At the station on the way there we had a nice chocolate treat from a place called Mr. Bean, which is apparently some chain from Singapore. I would have never known it if not told, as the cake things they sell look and taste exactly like standard Japanese fare (except for the replacement of chocolate, coconut cream, etc., instead of red bean paste).