OK let's actually talk about Taiwan. Like a month late, but better late than never, right? Hanna and I went for a weekend cause she had to do a visa run. It was actually very difficult for us to choose where to go, because we needed somewhere that I could easily get to Malaysia from for work. So we were looking at Southeast Asia, but flight schedules were not great. Flights to Taiwan and Japan were great, but from there to Malaysia was much more difficult. But in the end, we did it and I just dealt with my annoying work flights.
Now I have been in Asia like 10 years, and this was my first time in Taiwan. Insane, right? I've really really really wanted to go for years, but for some reason I just haven't. And Hanna had actually done a little tour in Taipei on a previous trip to China, cause they do those long layover free tour things. So despite being my first time, we decided not go to to Taipei, but to go south to Kaohsiung instead. And we loved it. A lot.
Kaohsiung is Taiwan's third city, down in the south, and it is pretty tiny. There is not actually so much to do, but we decided to spend a day and a half there, and then go on an overnight trip to Kenting National Park, all the way at the southern tip of Taiwan. Hanna wanted to get out into nature, so we figured we'd go out there and hike a bit, but not before seeing the town. Our first day was spent biking around Cijin Island, which is a 5 minute ferry ride from downtown Kaohsiung. It's this tiny little stretch of land that you could mistake for a sandbar on a map, but it's a vibrant part of the city. There's quite a lot of people living on the island, and there's also a big university, but most tourists go there to visit the big hilltop forts leftover by the Brits in the late 19th century with great views of the city and surrounding ocean, and also to just bike along the coast and go to the beach. We did all of these things, although without any beach swimming. Just ate lunch by the beach. Street food, of course. It was super hot and humid and I ended up very dehydrated, but it was totally worth it cause it was a beautiful day and the locals are wonderful. You just walk around and people yell greetings at you, welcoming you to Taiwan wherever you go. It's wonderful. Then in the evening we went up to Lotus Lake. This is a big lake in the north of the city that's surrounded by super colorful and gaudy Buddhist temples, all of which have enormous pagodas and statues of animals and gods. It's pretty fantastic to just wander around and climb all over the temples. Plus there's some big dragons you can run through, which are supposed to bring luck and blessings. It may look from photos like it's just going to be ok, which is what we though. We went cause it looked like a nice way to spend maybe 30 minutes in a town where there isn't necessarily so much to do, and we ended up loving it. The temples are great. And of course, this was all followed by our first visit to a night market.
Now, #spoileralert, we went to night markets every night. And I was so excited for them. But I have to say, they were a bit disappointing. Everyone makes a huge deal of Taiwanese food and Taiwanese night markets, and the food is good, but it's nothing incredible. And it's nothing very diverse. We went to 3 night markets in 2 cities over 3 nights, and all of them were pretty much the same. You might find one or two interesting stalls with something different, but overall it was the same thing everywhere. That was quite disappointing to me. For 3 nights it was alright, but if we had stayed longer I think we would have taken a break from night markets.
I'm gonna pause here and go into music stuff, and come back and tell you more about Taiwan tomorrow. Including our meeting with our favorite Taiwanese Woman, Misha.
Today we have a bit of weird music. Actually a lot. I only planned to share one song from each of these artists, but now it's 3 from one artist and 2 from the other. Oh well. Let's start out with Braille Face. I actually thought I wrote about him before, because I was quite intrigued by him when he put out his debut album, Koya, back in 2016. But apparently not. So this guy put out his album Koya in 2016, after spending 2015 making 12 EPs, one in each month of the year. Already interesting, right? Although if I'm being honest, I'm pretty sure I did not listen to any of those EPs. Anyway, then Koya was a super interesting indie-pop album (or as he calls it exploratory ambient pop). So we'll pause here and listen to a song off Koya, Bristlecone Pine.
So that's my favorite song off of Koya. And exploratory ambient pop is pretty accurate, don't you think? So after that, he put out a new EP, Lightletting, earlier this year. Lightletting is definitely an evolution, and much more complex, as evidenced by the opening track, Run For Your Life. Especially around 2:30 where those great cymbals kick in.
But he still keeps his ambient poppiness with my other favorite, Faraway. Pretty feel good song right here.
Our other weird artist for the day is Nick Mulvey. I do not believe I had heard him before, although it seems he's been around for quite some time. He was even nominated for a Mercury Prize back in 2014 for his first album, First Mind. But still, I somehow missed him. But now he's put out a new EP also, called Dancing For The Answers. This is on the heels of 2017's Wake Up Now. I never even heard Wake Up Now. This guy didn't show up on my radar until Dancing For The Answers came out in May. And then it was the title track of this 3 track EP (technically 4 tracks, but the last track is just a shorter version of the first track) that popped up all over the place. And the title track is a great track. Kind of reminds me of Ben Howard a bit. It's also a long track, which we all know I love. And you should listen to the end, cause at about 7:30 it gets nice and dirty.
Also kind of ambient experimental exploratory pop, or whatever you want to call it, no? Also, gotta love that tile pattern on the cover. So that tile pattern is very similar to the tile pattern on his album from last year, so I went and listened to it thinking this is somehow an expansion on that, and it is not even close to as good as this. There are a couple of good songs, but overall it's just ok. But Dancing For The Answers is a great track. And then the following track, Give It To Kali, is also great. Super weird, but fantastic percussion. I'm a bit sad that last year's Wake Up Now was not more of this weird goodness. But I guess I'll go give that debut album a listen and see what I think. For now, this is just a great EP.
Now I have been in Asia like 10 years, and this was my first time in Taiwan. Insane, right? I've really really really wanted to go for years, but for some reason I just haven't. And Hanna had actually done a little tour in Taipei on a previous trip to China, cause they do those long layover free tour things. So despite being my first time, we decided not go to to Taipei, but to go south to Kaohsiung instead. And we loved it. A lot.
Kaohsiung is Taiwan's third city, down in the south, and it is pretty tiny. There is not actually so much to do, but we decided to spend a day and a half there, and then go on an overnight trip to Kenting National Park, all the way at the southern tip of Taiwan. Hanna wanted to get out into nature, so we figured we'd go out there and hike a bit, but not before seeing the town. Our first day was spent biking around Cijin Island, which is a 5 minute ferry ride from downtown Kaohsiung. It's this tiny little stretch of land that you could mistake for a sandbar on a map, but it's a vibrant part of the city. There's quite a lot of people living on the island, and there's also a big university, but most tourists go there to visit the big hilltop forts leftover by the Brits in the late 19th century with great views of the city and surrounding ocean, and also to just bike along the coast and go to the beach. We did all of these things, although without any beach swimming. Just ate lunch by the beach. Street food, of course. It was super hot and humid and I ended up very dehydrated, but it was totally worth it cause it was a beautiful day and the locals are wonderful. You just walk around and people yell greetings at you, welcoming you to Taiwan wherever you go. It's wonderful. Then in the evening we went up to Lotus Lake. This is a big lake in the north of the city that's surrounded by super colorful and gaudy Buddhist temples, all of which have enormous pagodas and statues of animals and gods. It's pretty fantastic to just wander around and climb all over the temples. Plus there's some big dragons you can run through, which are supposed to bring luck and blessings. It may look from photos like it's just going to be ok, which is what we though. We went cause it looked like a nice way to spend maybe 30 minutes in a town where there isn't necessarily so much to do, and we ended up loving it. The temples are great. And of course, this was all followed by our first visit to a night market.
Now, #spoileralert, we went to night markets every night. And I was so excited for them. But I have to say, they were a bit disappointing. Everyone makes a huge deal of Taiwanese food and Taiwanese night markets, and the food is good, but it's nothing incredible. And it's nothing very diverse. We went to 3 night markets in 2 cities over 3 nights, and all of them were pretty much the same. You might find one or two interesting stalls with something different, but overall it was the same thing everywhere. That was quite disappointing to me. For 3 nights it was alright, but if we had stayed longer I think we would have taken a break from night markets.
I'm gonna pause here and go into music stuff, and come back and tell you more about Taiwan tomorrow. Including our meeting with our favorite Taiwanese Woman, Misha.
Today we have a bit of weird music. Actually a lot. I only planned to share one song from each of these artists, but now it's 3 from one artist and 2 from the other. Oh well. Let's start out with Braille Face. I actually thought I wrote about him before, because I was quite intrigued by him when he put out his debut album, Koya, back in 2016. But apparently not. So this guy put out his album Koya in 2016, after spending 2015 making 12 EPs, one in each month of the year. Already interesting, right? Although if I'm being honest, I'm pretty sure I did not listen to any of those EPs. Anyway, then Koya was a super interesting indie-pop album (or as he calls it exploratory ambient pop). So we'll pause here and listen to a song off Koya, Bristlecone Pine.
So that's my favorite song off of Koya. And exploratory ambient pop is pretty accurate, don't you think? So after that, he put out a new EP, Lightletting, earlier this year. Lightletting is definitely an evolution, and much more complex, as evidenced by the opening track, Run For Your Life. Especially around 2:30 where those great cymbals kick in.
But he still keeps his ambient poppiness with my other favorite, Faraway. Pretty feel good song right here.
Our other weird artist for the day is Nick Mulvey. I do not believe I had heard him before, although it seems he's been around for quite some time. He was even nominated for a Mercury Prize back in 2014 for his first album, First Mind. But still, I somehow missed him. But now he's put out a new EP also, called Dancing For The Answers. This is on the heels of 2017's Wake Up Now. I never even heard Wake Up Now. This guy didn't show up on my radar until Dancing For The Answers came out in May. And then it was the title track of this 3 track EP (technically 4 tracks, but the last track is just a shorter version of the first track) that popped up all over the place. And the title track is a great track. Kind of reminds me of Ben Howard a bit. It's also a long track, which we all know I love. And you should listen to the end, cause at about 7:30 it gets nice and dirty.
Also kind of ambient experimental exploratory pop, or whatever you want to call it, no? Also, gotta love that tile pattern on the cover. So that tile pattern is very similar to the tile pattern on his album from last year, so I went and listened to it thinking this is somehow an expansion on that, and it is not even close to as good as this. There are a couple of good songs, but overall it's just ok. But Dancing For The Answers is a great track. And then the following track, Give It To Kali, is also great. Super weird, but fantastic percussion. I'm a bit sad that last year's Wake Up Now was not more of this weird goodness. But I guess I'll go give that debut album a listen and see what I think. For now, this is just a great EP.
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