Travel Destination

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Night Photography at Joshua Tree, Round 2

We kicked off the Labor Day weekend by heading back to Arch Rock in Joshua Tree for some camping and more astrophotography. The previous time I went was during the Perseid Meteor shower, but the conditions weren’t ideal since the moon was mostly out. However, this time around everything was perfect; we had good weather, clear skies, and the moon was nowhere in sight!

Unfortunately for us, we arrived at the park pretty late and weren’t able to secure any of the campsites. Mat and Splinter did some makeshift camping by setting up on the roof of my car with blankets and pillows. The stars were really shining bright and we could easily see the galactic center of the Milky Way. As we admired the star-filled sky, we took some photos by the car and ate some pizza from Pie for the People, a local pizza joint in Joshua who make some really good pizza! Mat decided to stay by the car and stargaze while I went back to Arch Rock to take some photos there.

Almost no one was at the rock when I got there, so I found a good spot to take my shots. I didn’t notice at the time but I ended up staying there for about four hours; time really flies when you’re doing long exposure shots! I also climbed to the highest point of the arch, which was actually pretty scary. The lower part of the rock isn’t so bad, but the arch was much narrower compared to other parts of the rock, so I really had to concentrate on not losing my balance in the darkness. Climbing down was another challenge as I had little grip on my way down; I pretty much slid down on my belly while hugging the rock for dear life.

But all of that was totally worth it! The shots were amazing and is only inspiring me more to find more places to chase stars. The next new moon is September 30th, so we’ll be looking for a new spot hopefully for some camping and more astrophotography!

 

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Indoor Shrimp Fishing – Taiwan’s Unique Take on Fishing Pastimes

If you’re looking for a truly unique activity in Taipei, then you have to check out indoor shrimp fishing. We first saw this on Anthony Bourdain’s show, “No Reservations,” and we put it down on our to-do list for our visit.

Traditionally, to go fishing people had to go to lakes, rivers and oceans but many times that would be too expensive or impractical. But shrimp fishing solves all of those problems which makes it a perfect activity for people of all ages and sizes and has become a national pastime in Taiwan.

You’re probably wondering, what exactly is shrimp fishing? In a nutshell, it’s a very popular activity Taiwan where you go into large indoor facilities and fish from giant murky water pools for large freshwater shrimp. It may sound somewhat unappealing [even I wasn’t sure what to think when I first saw this] but it is actually very entertaining and a great social activity.

There are many of these indoor shrimp fishing buildings in Taiwan. Each building can hold several large pools that are about several feet deep and houses lots of freshwater shrimp, which are refilled every hour or so. You will see dozens of people sit on each side of the pool wherever there is space. You are given a simple rod and hook, a bobble, dried shrimp bait and a net to hold your catch [and you can also bring your own equipment too]. If you’re a beginner, not a problem! There are experienced fisherman or employees that will teach you the basics to shrimp fishing.

Fishing for shrimp is simple enough: you hook your bait and drop your line into the pool hoping for the shrimp to bite. There’s no reel and the line is a finite length. If your bobble goes down, that’ll indicate that a shrimp is biting at your bait and could be time to pull out the shrimp.

Although it looks easy, there is actually quite a bit skill involved and some patience needed. Newcomers may be fortunate to catch 2 or 3 per hour, but you can even go an entire hour without catching a single shrimp! Other experienced shrimp fishers will bring their own equipment and can easily catch 10 or 12 shrimp per hour. A group of young kids next to us were catching shrimp pretty easily, maybe one every 5-10 minutes!

While catching shrimp is the goal, it is also a perfect environment for friends and families to socialize. Many people can be seen eating snacks, drinking beer and having a good time with each others’ company.

We did pretty well for our first time. We spent about 2.5 hours and it was pretty fun and relaxing. Overall, we ended up catching 21 shrimp between the four of us.

With our catch in hand, we reaped the rewards and went to grill our shrimp. We used available sinks for washing and skewering the shrimp and salt is provided for seasoning. An employee helped us grill our shrimp as we ordered some additional dishes.

We were skeptical how good the shrimp would be coming from that murky water. But we will say that it’s some of the best and most fresh tasting shrimp we’ve ever had. It does make a lot of sense that cooking shrimp right after catching them ensures them being very fresh. It was totally worth the effort and lots of fun doing it.

Shrimp fishing cost us about $10/hour per person and you keep everything you catch. If you’re an experienced fisherman, you can easily catch enough for a large meal within an hour. But if have trouble catching the shrimp or don’t have the patience, these places will offer a full menu, including the same shrimp that you can catch. Shrimp fishing is also open 24 hours and 7 days a week, so you can expect a steady stream of customers from 4 pm to even 4 am in the morning. It really is a unique experience and a fun activity that any visitor should try.

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Elephant Mountain – The Best Views of Taipei 101

The best place for spectacular views of Taipei 101 and the surrounding city is on Elephant Mountain. I was able to hike the mountain right before sunset to get some beautiful photographs of the city skyline.

Supposedly, the entrance to the mountain is about a 15-20 minute walk from Taipei 101 and also easily accessible through the MRT. I don’t really know because our hotel was in another area so I had to take a cab and B line it if I wanted to arrive during golden and twilight hours. I also told my cab driver to drop me off at the main entrance of Elephant Mountain; I only realized later that I was not dropped off at the main entrance but at another entrance closer to the Taipei Medical University Hospital. While it turned out that either of these entrances is perfectly fine to use, it appeared that taking the main entrance has more available signs, clearer directions, and has more vantage points on the main path.

I was running late and it was getting dark, so I didn’t take a lot of time documenting the numerous stops and different vantage points along the way. I pretty much ran straight up to the highest peak of elephant mountain which took me about 12 minutes to get to that point. But a normal pace could probably get to the top in about 20 minutes. It’s not really a difficult hike…but there are definitely A LOT of the stairs! At least the steps are pretty short. It was pretty hot and humid and by the time I got to the top, I was completely drenched in sweat. At the top, however, there was a very nice breeze that really cooled and dried me off.

Elephant Mountain is a very popular spot for tourists and locals, so expect to see a lot of people in the evenings and on weekends. You will see many couples, college kids, elderly people and people that want to workout, as there are outdoor workout stations available. Two middle-aged women chatted with me [while guiding me to the top] saying they play badminton with each other and hike the mountain frequently for exercise.

When I got to the top, the area was filled with tourists and photographers. I was able to find a spot where I could raise my camera on my tripod without hindering other people. The views are pretty amazing and it’s a great (and free) activity for anyone.

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Din Tai Fung and Those Amazing Soup Dumplings, Taipei 101 Observatory

Taipei 101 is undoubtedly a signature tourist destination in Taiwan. It’s well-recognized for its architectural design looking like a tall bamboo stalk. Standing at 508 meters, it is far taller than any other building in Taipei and, at one point, was the tallest building the world. The first five stories of the building is basically a big mall comprised of various luxury brand stores and a food court in the basement level.

While there is plenty of shopping that could be done there, we had one main goal in mind during our visit at Taipei 101: To dine at the Din Tai Fung restaurant! Din Tai Fung is a Michelin Star restaurant that serves a full menu of Taiwanese dishes but is notably famous for its xiao long bao, or soup dumplings. While we’ve eaten at Din Tai Fung in Southern California locations, there was no doubt in my mind that the food would be far better at Taipei 101. We heard wait times could be as long as three hours but luckily we arrived around 4:30 PM on a weekday, which was just before rush hour, so we only had to wait five minutes to be seated!

One of the things I thought was mesmerizing was watching the entire process to making the famous little soup dumplings. No less than 20 employees were churning this fine-tuned-dumpling-making-machine. Each individual had a responsibility from making the dough, creating small balls of dough, rolling the dough into small circles, making the filling, enclosing the filling with the dough and putting them in the bamboo steamers for cooking. I’ll post a video to show this process.

Being that we were all starving and wanted to try as many things as possible, we ordered a bunch of items from the menu. Of course we got several orders of the xiao long bao soup dumplings. Those delicate little dumplings alone, filled with tender meat and deliciously hot broth, would’ve made the visit entirely worth it. I’m pretty sure I had at least 10 soup dumplings by myself! But we didn’t stop there and also ordered their braised beef noodle soup, hot & sour soup, shrimp wontons, green dishes, steamed dumplings and buns. The dishes were all delicious and were overall better compared to the restaurants in Southern California. The ingredients and soups tasted much more authentic and flavorful. The staff was also very nice and service was great.

The total bill for our meal was about $70 for the four of us for a pretty significant amount of food. Each dish ranges from $5-10. I’d recommend going during off hours and weekdays when possible to avoid long wait times, but it’s well worth the time and price for any visitor try out some famous Taiwanese cuisine.

After our meal, we did the next touristy thing to do which was go up top to the observatory of Taipei 101. Tickets are available for $10/person on the fifth floor and our wait time to get to the elevator was about 15 minutes (but can be longer). When you get into the elevator, you will experience the fastest elevator in the world. According the the Guinness World Records, the elevator can reach the 89th floor from ground level in 40 seconds with a max speed of 37.6 mph.

From the observatory, you can walk around the observatory for a 360° view of Taipei. The views at night are beautiful and picturesque. It’s definitely part of the Taipei experience and worth checking out.

Here is the address, phone number and hours for Din Tai Fung at Taipei 101:

B1, No. 45, Shift Rd., Taipei City (Taipei 101 Mall)

TEL: 02-8101-7799  FAX: 02-8101-7800

Sun-Thu 11:00 am – 9:30 pm

Fri, Sat 11:00 am – 10:00 pm

 

For more information, visit their websites: Din Tai Fung and Taipei 101.

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Addiction Aquatic Development – Paradise for Seafood Enthusiasts in Taipei

If you’re looking for fresh seafood, the Addiction Aquatic Development is a must-see in Taipei. Seafood enthusiasts will be able to try a variety of fresh seafood such as fish, crabs, lobsters and other shellfish.

We first went into the seafood market that houses tanks of various live marine animals, including huge king crabs, spiny lobsters, tiger shrimp, various mollusks, and fish. You can see the selection and pricing of the seafood and make purchases here. Although the prices seem expensive, items are relatively reasonably priced since there is no middle-man driving up costs. You can also buy already prepared and cooked food.

Next to the tanks in the same building is the market, kitchens and restaurants. You can see the kitchens preparing a wide selection seafood meals such as sushi and sashimi boxes, raw oysters, other seafood and frozen goods. It also serves as a normal market where you can also buy fruits, vegetables, beverages and other goods.

We were excited to try some fresh seafood, so we went to the sushi bar for lunch. Although it was very busy, we only had to wait 20 minutes for our space. We ordered a platter of items that included lobster, crab, tiger shrimp, oysters, and fish, which cost us around $120 USD for four of us. It was well worth the price as the food quality was so fresh and delicious! There wasn’t anything we didn’t like and would’ve gotten a lot more if we had more cash! The service was also good and the waiters were very patient with us when we asked for something. It’s definitely a must-eat when you visit!

Afterwards, we did get a few sushi boxes to try out, which were pretty affordable at around $8-10 USD. They were good but you could tell the quality was not as high compared to the sushi bar. It’s more comparable to store-bought sushi than restaurant quality sushi, which is what you’d expect for those prices. There is also an outdoor restaurant for hot pot and grilled seafood but we did not get to try it.

So if you’re craving some seafood, the Aquatic Addiction Development is the place to go!

Some tips to know when you visit:

1. It can be very crowded during peak hours and weekends. Seating is very limited but there are standing tables available. It may be better to visit during off hours and weekdays.

2. Only cash is accepted at the Addiction Aquatic Development, no credit cards. Be sure to bring enough cash for the amount you want to eat, which I recommend around $50-100 USD (about NT$1500-3000) per person to be safe.

3. Menus do not provide English translation, but you can point to the menu based on how much you want to spend. Most of the items are pre-set platters so you don’t have to order individual items. You can also try bringing translations for what you want to order specifically.

Visit the Aquatic Addiction Development website here for more information.

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