November Travel Updates from That Backpacker from Taipei, Taiwan!

Hello from Taipei! My entire stay so far has been punctuated by drizzle, light showers, heavy rain, and torrential downpours, which has made sightseeing (and filming!) a little bit challenging. The upside is that Taipei is a great destination for foodies, so Sam and I have made it our mission to restaurant-hop across the city and sample as much Taiwanese food as possible. I’ve been going from cups of bubble tea to baskets of soup dumplings, so rain or no rain, I have nothing to complain about in the food department! Now here’s a look back at November.

Where I went

South Korea: Seoul

Taiwan: Taipei

November in review

HIKED: I started out the month in Seoul where autumn colours were at their peak! On one particularly sunny but chilly day Sam and I decided to go hiking in Bukhansan National Park and it was one of my favourite days in the city. The trails were covered in a blanket of fall potpourri and it really felt like you were walking through a story book. There was so much colour everywhere!

ATE: Din Tai Fung has to be my favourite food experience of the month. I ended up eating at their original location 3 times, and then I went to their Taipei 101 location bringing my count up to 4. They may be known for their xiaolongbao (soup dumplings), but they excel at everything they do. Their noodles in a spicy peanut and sesame sauce are mouth watering, and you can’t go wrong with their steamed sticky rice with pork.

DRANK: Bubble tea, bubble tea, bubble tea! It has to be done when in Taipei. The brown sugar milk tea with pearls was my absolute favourite!

WATCHED: I may have spent a few more hours on Netflix this month than I care to admit, but between The Crown and Gilmore Girls can you blame me?! I breezed through the first season of The Crown in a matter of days and am anxiously waiting for Season 2 (I think you’ll enjoy it if you were into Downton Abbey); as for Gilmore Girls…WHAT?!?!?! Is this really how you leave me hanging?

MET: I got to meet up with two lovely bloggers this month. First, Agness passed through Seoul (we’ve now also met in Hong Kong and Amsterdam!) so we went out for a traditional Korean meal and giant bowls of sulbing. And then I also got to meet Heather in Taipei and she introduced me to milk tea pancakes – which are amazing, by the way! I’m forever grateful for fellow bloggers who make this world feel a little smaller.

LOL:
Sam: I’m going to need mint M&Ms to get that awful fat taste out of my mouth.
Me: Or you could brush your teeth with minty toothpaste.
Sam: No, that’s not an option.

Cool travel opportunities

Travel photography scholarship in Japan

World Nomads has a cool travel photography scholarship up for grabs. If you consider yourself a budding photographer, then you’ll want to apply for this one! The prize is an all-expenses-paid 10-day trip where you’ll be mentored by a photographer as you travel across Japan. More details on how to apply here.

Travel Inspiration: Greece

I’ve written about so many different places over the years and these destinations often get buried in the archives, so I’m going to start highlighting these blasts from the past more often. This month it’s all about Greece!

Meteora, More Than Just Monasteries! – Visiting hermit caves, sipping on wine and devouring all the Greek food.

Hiking and Storytelling in Meteora’s Rock Forest – Tales of kidnapping monks and monastery squatters make for a very lively hike!

Which Greek Island are You? – Santorini, Ios, Paros or Mykonos? A look at each island’s personality and which one may be right for you.

What’s coming up?

I just finished finalizing the next 3 months of travel, which will feature lots of new-to-me countries in Asia, but more of that in the New Year. In the meantime, December will have me revisiting a few familiar places, including: Hong Kong, Macau, Bangkok, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

What did you get up to in November?