The past several years we spent the summer jetting around the globe for grand adventures… Costa Brava, Provence, Hoi An, Bali, rural Minnesota…
… but Winnie’s pregnancy is now in the 3rd trimester so travel isn’t really something we aspire to. And there is that global pandemic thing still raging… so this year we are mostly nesting, but also slipping in a few mini-adventures in Taiwan (aka a COVID-free island sanctuary.)
Summer 2020
Summer is hot in Taiwan – today was 37C / 99F, but with 50% humidity it “feels like” 47C / 117F. It will get worse over the next 2 months.
That means we need to be in AC / at elevation / in the water. Or sometimes all 3 in one day. So far so good.
Local adventures
School ended on a Thursday. Friday we headed to Taiwan’s north coast to the White House Hot Spring Beach Resort. This is a great place for kids with numerous pools and hot springs plus a private beach. Anybody can use the extensive facilities for 300 TWD (~$10.) We made the most of it – swimming all day and a fresh seafood dinner before heading back to Taipei.
We liked it so much we will be back for a July 4th celebration – this time spending the night and using the BBQ. I hear a lot of people stay here for 1-2 months during the summer to enjoy the lower coastal temps.
I believe I can fly – White House Hot Spring Beach Resort
I now have a Taiwan driver’s license to enable day trips out of the city. One recent outing was to the Xiaoyoukeng Recreation Area at the top of Yangming Mountain (an active volcano.) Hiking trails wind around numerous steam vents and bubbling mud puddles, and the combination of elevation (~1000 meters) and strong winds make it all quite comfortable. The smell of sulphur can be a bit strong at times, though.
Learning about Volcanoes
Just below the steam vents there are extensive flower fields and streams, good for an afternoon of exploration.
Having a stroll – steam vents visible in background
Leaving the city isn’t always in the cards, so we need another way to stay cool. GCC on Ice! There is a very nice skating rink at Taipei Arena. Jr loves the zamboni.
Further Afield
After getting a taste of Taiwan beach life, we headed to the East Coast and one of the more popular surfing areas – Waiao Beach. By car it is only about 1 hour from Taipei but feels much further – everything is smaller and slower (and cooler.)
Body board champions – Waiao Beach
Enter Sandman
At night we camped out in a really nice Airbnb (~$90/night) with rooftop pool and an in-room hot spring tub with a view (21st floor.) Across the street was a big park, and within 5 minutes walk we had good brunch, pizza, and ice cream. 10 minutes in the other direction led to the core downtown / old town.
(If you haven’t used Airbnb yet, you can get $35 off your first stay here – affiliate link.)
Rooftop pool – Toucheng, Taiwan (Turtle island in background)
Hot spring soaking tub
After 4 days at the coast, we headed further up and inland to meet up with Winnie’s long-time friends (and kids) at the Hotel Royal Chiao Hsi. Normally I’m not a huge fan of 5-star hotels, but this place was incredible. Regular rates are $400+/night, but we scored deep discount rooms (~$200/night) via a promotion the hotel offered during the early days of the pandemic.
Everything about this hotel was top notch – the views, the pool, the game room, the dinner buffet (I ate mostly rib eye steak and grilled lamb chops), the kid’s club room with ping pong / pool / playground… There is even one of those foot soaking ponds where little fish nibble your callouses away.
Pool time – Hotel Royal Chiao Hsi
Ham on
Coming Soon
We still have one additional mini-adventure that starts tomorrow. Every year I get 2 Bonvoy “free night” certificates from credit cards, and this year we are using them at the Westin Tashee Resort.
These rooms are normally ~$200/night – ignoring all other card benefits the annual fees on the cards are $95 and $135, so the room ends up at about half off.
[Those 2 cards are Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa Signature Credit Card (more details) and the Marriott Bonvoy Business Card from American Express (learn more) – affiliate links. The former also got us 5 free nights in Japan for a ~$2,500 savings.]
We’ve stayed here before and the kid facilities are great – there is a nice pool with slide and water cannons, a track with electric cars, mini-golf, etc…
Westin Pool (photo from the Westin Tashee Resort)
Race Time! (photo from the Westin Tashee Resort )
Home Projects
I’ve already biked 2,132 km this year (as of last nights’ ride) – with the summer heat I start most rides before 6 am, but have started to add night rides. Since we were out and about these past few weeks I got my ride tuned and beautified. I had the rear cassette swapped to have a bigger ring for easier climbing and hope to give that a test this Friday. (Also: new brake pads, new cables, new front tire, added 2nd bottle cage.)
Tuned and ready to go
In between bike rides it’s nice to have some quality time with the fam. Reading, playing, excavating dinosaur fossils…
Indiana Jones in training –> something like this
Kid #2 is expected to arrive about 2 months from now, so we are getting everything ready – we already have stroller / car seat / high chair / clothes. Today Jr and I assembled the baby bed – a very simple to construct design from a Japanese company with a Nordic name (färska.)
Baby cot – some assembly required
Speaking of Kid #2 (we have to think of a better name soon) here he is as of the latest Dr visit.
Kid #2 – head, shoulders, hands and toes hands and toes
Summary
It’s hot – AC / elevation / water (or ice) are nice. With a baby on the way and a pandemic underway we are staying in place with a few mini adventures to spice things up. Those include some trips to the coast, some short walks in volcano parks, and taking advantage of some good deals and “free” nights at hotels with great pools.
Sounds like fun. My thoughts to Winnie being pregnant in the heat and humidity. Been there, done that.
Yeah it is going to be a tough 2 months. AC 24/7
Thanks Ann!
It looks like you guys are having a lot of fun. Taiwan is a great place to be right now. We visited a hot spring town near Taipei about 10 years ago. It was cheap and relaxing. I’d love to go again.
This summer is tough in the US. Libraries, community centers, pools, and more are all closed. COVID is still really bad here. I want to go for a road trip to CA, but not sure if it’s a good idea.
Anyway, enjoy Taiwan. And congratulations. 2 kids will be fun.
Everything is mostly back to full normality here, the big exception being you can’t conveniently go anywhere outside the country. Everything is open and packed, you just need to wear a mask (masks required at the ice skating rink, for example.)
From the data it looks like things are just ramping up in the US… I’d stay home :(
Looks like a lot of fun! I’m jealous of that covid19-free zone you are in :)
We’re at “reopening everything and screw it all” it seems. So we adjust course.
We’re sheltering in place over here for the most part. I keep looking at local places to go for a few nights and then cringe thinking about the logistics. Hotels have their pools closed, buffet breakfasts are “to go” only. Lots of restaurants don’t have dine in available (which means fewer bathrooms available on road trips).
Fortunately it hasn’t been that hot yet here. I’ve done a few morning bike rides and as long as you keep moving it feels cool.
And I got a new video game which has kept me busy when it’s hot outside. Fun times! And is winter coming soon, please?
You’re giving me the itch to visit Taiwan. I planned to be in Thailand for a few months but obviously that’s out the window.
Can’t complain though, I’m in Malta enjoying some great beaches.
Enjoy!
Never been to Malta, I’ll have to visit one day
We’ve been based in Thailand for the last seven years, let us know if you plans re-change! Great time to be here as there’s very few tourists (and very few COVIDs).
Thailand’s starting to open up next week if you’re a bit creative. Need any medical work done? Or perhaps a “wellness” trip?
Here’s the latest: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30390208
Looks like the rest of world is starting to block flights from the US…
The US virus response is really something.
30 days to beat COVID-19.
2 Cycles.
2nd Shutdown like New Zealand and Vietnam. It’s a global issue…
uhh… what?
yang ming shan volcano 陽明山火山 fly by 4K drone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtyqA48oxps
Winter walks:
Isaacs Ridge – HD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIxhJE9HR6o
Through the virus wall:
Dolomiti 4k drone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHeDps0fX6c
hard to exercise from the couch
“hard to exercise from the couch”:
Virtually visit any of a vast array of locales around Earth and beyond on a whim yet be home to exercise to whatever extent desired.
Admittedly, I live in a conducive locale.
That first drone video is where we went for the steam vents (Xiaoyoukeng area.) It’s a cool video.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yangmingshan
… always more to it than meets the eye
…’This mountain range was originally called “Grass Mountain” (Chinese: 草山; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chháu-soaⁿ) during the Qing Dynasty, in reference to Datun Mountain (大屯山; Tōa-tūn-soaⁿ).[2] Officials during this period were worried about thieves stealing sulfur from the rich sulfur deposits in the area so they would regularly set fire to the mountain. Thus, only grass and not trees could be seen.’
Sulphur is an ingredient in ‘fire medicine’ (“huoyao” 火藥), and … gunpowder.
Somewhere along there I missed that Winnie is pregnant! Belated congratulations, happy to hear that you had success with the latest round of IVF.
Thanks! 2 more months…
Urm. What do you mean, it’s going to get worse here than it’s been? This is our first summer here and just last week I was thinking, “Hey it’s not as bad as I though. Maybe I *can* come back to taiwan in the summer!” But if it can get worse…
Anyways thanks for the tips! I didn’t realize there are all these nice luxury hotels. We’ve always looked at AirBnB and local B&Bs. Now I really want to try that White House Resort.
Oh yeah July and August are insanely hellish. enjoy
That crib looks very familiar :)
Hoping our travel bubbles overlap, we’ve already booked tickets to your island in November…
Enjoyed the updates. Surprised to see someone ice skating in shorts!
And was even more intrigued by what looked like someone carrying something around to hold someone up. What was that? A training tool? They appear at the 12 second mark of the video. It almost looks like a mic boom the guy is holding.
I can’t believe you didn’t attempt the pulling the hand away quickly bike shot. Also I congratulate you on excellent crank placement and gear choice. All in line with protocol. Hope all is well (I can see it is!).
Yessir, things going well here. I hope the same for you!
This photo was taken by the guys at the bike shop – I never thought of the riderless bike photo, I probably would have just leaned it against a wall.
Yeah I don’t really wear pants anymore :)
That harness thing is for the figure skaters in training – there are a lot of young people doing crazy spins and jumps and the coaches sometimes use that harness when the kids are trying something new.
Wow, love the pictures. We are also beach people, choosing Jax Beach, FL and Tamarindo, Costa Rica (when borders are open) for where we spend majority time. Given the pandemic, summering for us will be Jax Beach, plus road trips to NYC where we have family. We too use the Marriott card as there are many good options for road trips. We stay at Fairfield Inn, which is their value brand but find it’s great — and I highly recommend the citrus soaps.
haven’t been to Costa Rica yet, will need to check it out one of these days.
I’m also a big fan of the Four Points brand – drops all the pretentiousness and provides good value. Aloft can also be a good redemption, e.g. 5 nights in Manhattan for 100k points
The bike is looking good. Would love to hear more about cycling on the island!
Interesting and promising to see an american living in China and liking it. Congrats
*Taiwan
Nice holiday adventures! Very recognisable enjoyable post. Especially about the start of the summer heat in Taipei urging us to go to pools, beaches and AC areas. Though we are very lucky to live in Taiwan at this particular time. Our favourite choice is probably the dahu outdoor pool.
Waiao beach is a great place, very nice waves and a large area of sand. Haven’t been there for a while because we go by train form Taipei and then usually just jump of at Fulong because it saves about half an hour.
Good luck to Winnie and you for the last 2 months of the of the pregnancy. Always difficult to decide on a name but sure you will find the right one when the baby gets born.
Happy dragonboat festival!
Fulong is great too. I’ll be riding the bike to Fulong with friends in a couple weeks – the tunnel is a fun place to ride.
I like dahu park – also the waterpark in Guting
Republic of China, to be precise
*USAn
You’ve got such a nice little family. I feel like it was just yesterday he was born. Good luck to Winnie and yourself on #2. Stay cool and enjoy the summer.
Thank you!
Glad you guys are staying cool. We were in Taipei this time last year and haven’t forgotten the humidity. My daughter still talks about the heat over in that part of the world.
It’s sometimes easy to overlook all of the cool things to do in the vicinity of where you live. Since the shelter in place order here in the Bay Area, we’ve rediscovered our own backyard gems just a few miles down the road.
It looks like fun out there with a little less COVID to compete with! :)
How much more reassured do you feel that Taiwan was the right choice, these days?
Completely off topic but I’m curious about the Taiwanese sentiment towards the new security law in Hong Kong through the eyes of an expat. Has there been a noticeable increase in tensions between mainland China and Taiwan?
I was there (Taiwan) back in 2015 and the two nations’ people got along very well (HK and Taiwan) so I wonder if with the latest ‘land grab’ there’s any renewed sentiment.
All the best and awesome TCR!
Well.. the pro-Beijing presidential candidate was defeated in a landslide, and then was removed from his position as Mayor via special referendum. I think that sends a pretty strong message, but it’s all very complicated…
Both Patricia and I send our love to the three of you! Winnie looks incredible! We love that you are able to easily continue your blessed lives!
Love this – beautiful photos. And congrats on the growing family. I think y’all are fairing much better than we are… we FIREd and were planning on moving to Spain in August and living the nomad life, but we decided to delay slightly due to COVID-19. We are in the Houston area and have seen a surge in COVID-19 cases so we haven’t had many adventures like we normally would in the summer. Hopefully things get better soon.
Life looks good for you Jeremy. Congratulations on the second child and the ability to travel in this Covid mess of a world. My wife and I really love the freedom of travel as well. We do not have the points or cards for Marriot properties like Westin, but we hope to hit most of the southern islands in Taiwan in August. We plan to do camping as well.