jonny blair in shinying taiwan

Friday Night in Shinying: Barbecue, KTV, Bowling…

  Friday nights in Shinying became “party nights”, where we would do something a bit different or special, all tied in with the Taiwanese culture and this gave us the opportunity to meet yet more local people. I’ll now comment on our first Friday night in Shinying, where we had a barbecue for dinner, went Read more about Friday Night in Shinying: Barbecue, KTV, Bowling…[…]

kaohsiung taiwan

Backpacking in Taiwan: Kaohsiung or Cow Shung

So its pronounced “cow shung” (and spelt Kaohsiung ) and so it is the second biggest city on the island of Taiwan. It was the fourth city Natalja, Neil and I visited properly on our Taiwan tour. I had no idea what to expect. It turns out it was pretty much the same as the Read more about Backpacking in Taiwan: Kaohsiung or Cow Shung[…]

Orange Army! Tainan Lions 1-3 LA Kaohsiung New Bears

Back in 2007, I went to watch Baseball for the first time. It was never a sport that would interest me totally and really as you get older in life you just like to experience and see new things, even if you don’t like them that much. But actually I’ve now been to Baseball twice Read more about Orange Army! Tainan Lions 1-3 LA Kaohsiung New Bears[…]

lotus lake kaohsiung

Backpacking in Taiwan: Touring Lotus Lake, Kaohsiung

“Haven’t you noticed I ate the Lotus?” – R.E.M. OK its hardly gonna shoot at you out of the blue, and its doubtful that many readers of this blog will read it consistently enough to notice recurring themes, BUT for some reason, REM songs kept coming up during my first week or so in Taiwan. Read more about Backpacking in Taiwan: Touring Lotus Lake, Kaohsiung[…]

Backpacking in Taiwan: South China Seas and Motorcycling Through Tainan City

Two firsts happened for me on the same day, here in Taiwan and on my first few days on this beautiful island. One is I first swam in the South China Seas. Two is I was on a motorbike. I didn’t expect either to happen, but what a fantastic day we had in Tainan City! Read more about Backpacking in Taiwan: South China Seas and Motorcycling Through Tainan City[…]

Backpacking in Taiwan: Tainan City By Night…

OK, so Tainan City was the former capital of Formosa. Formosa was the former name for Taiwan. This city was not one I’d ever heard of, ever dreamed of seeing or would ever have believed I’d be in. But there we were backpacking in Taiwan, Natalja and I, bang in the centre of Tainan City. Read more about Backpacking in Taiwan: Tainan City By Night…[…]

Leopard mural in Chiayi Taiwan Jonny Blair

Backpacking in Taiwan: Chiayi City!

After spending our first 24 hours in Taiwan getting buses, acclimatising and checking out the city of Shinying, it was time to head north on the train to the larger city of Chiayi. It’s pronounced “shy ye” in Northern Irish English, which I enjoyed. Neil had some time off that day and accompanied Natalja and Read more about Backpacking in Taiwan: Chiayi City![…]