Minoru's Diary in Taiwan: The Day to Day Life

Tainan is a very peaceful and easy going place. The locals find it big, noisy and fast paced, but, to be honest, it is nothing like that. If you are used to the buzz of a big city, Tainan will be one of those places where you can just retire and relax.

Yes, there are a lot of scooters and some traffic, but that is only around rush hour (i.e. 8 a.m. or 6 p.m.)  and yes, there is quite a lot of pollution in the air. But there is something about the place that makes it seem, for lack of a better word, peaceful. Maybe is the fact that after 8 p.m. there is little to no traffic, after 10 p.m. there is little to no people outside.

You can always find people around fishing, immersed in their own thoughts.

Fisherman

Another Fisherman

Taiwan is a foodie paradise and Tainan is, according to the Taiwanese themselves, the best place to enjoy delicious food. People actually come from all corners of the Island to enjoy the dishes that Tainan has to offer. So, as a self acclaimed foodie myself, most of my time I spend it cruising around the city finding all types of delicious food.

Spring Onion Fried Pancake

BBQ places are quite common, you get around in a small table, order a bunch of dishes, usually grilled goodies with veggies, rice and stewed sides. All washed down with a healthy doze of Taiwanese beer.

Grilled Chicken Ass

Chicken Wings; I love the way they unfold them.

Hefty doze of sides

Some other dishes are very simple, a bowl of rice with turkey and a simple sweet sour soup would do the trick for about 50 NTD (a bit more than 1EUR).

Turkey rice and soup

Rice Ice Cream

 And trust me when I tell you that even food courts in malls offer some seriously delicious food!

Beef noodle soup; a staple of Taiwanese cuisine served in the food court.

The days pass here very easily, there is always something to see around, for me, it is a place of

discovery, whether it is a new temple (from the hundreds of them that spread through the city), a store, a market or a new food stand this place is filled with little surprises around each corner.

It is getting hotter day by day, and the weather itself is the biggest challenge now, 30 something degrees with 90 percent humidity is not easy to cope with. It is starting to rain everyday, at least a little bit in the mornings; - Oh good! You think at first, but then you realize that this rain is just going to make the weather even more humid, so the thermal sensation is getting worse. I've been told that this is just the beginning of the season, which makes me think that I have no clue how I'm going to survive the following months.

I came up with a plan  that consists of steps:

1. Leave early in the morning before it rains, avoid the heat and humidity of the late morning.
2. Work and stay inside until just before sundown; I will be covered from the hottest part of the day and the rain.
3. Do your things and errands in the early afternoon; if it gets too hot stop for a quick Cup of Cold Oolong Tea or a nice serving of Shaved Ice and Mango.
4. Take refuge in the places that have AC whenever you can.
5. Shower twice a day.

Let's see how it goes, I will keep you posted.