ni hao, 紐 約!

after months of big city living back in 紐 約, mike came down with a bad case of the taiwans. he just had to get back to the fruit, the heat, the xiao pengyou, the shushu, and the gugu. so one fine friday night, he landed in taipei for an adventure that would come to include fuming volcanic vents, cinematic glory, and killer monkeys.

the stinky, sulfurous, gorgeously volcanic mountains of yangmingshan were our first stop. yangmingshan national park is a city bus ride from taipei main station, and most attractive for its mountains and hot springs. we did it all: the city bus from downtown, the hike up natural gas-burping mount qixingshan (northern taiwan's tallest), and the hot springs that left my jewelry black and hair sweetly smelling of sulfur for days to come.


our next stop was yehliu village, home of the queen's head rock and other peculiar rock formations. the rocks were stunning, but even more captivating were the packs of tour bus tourists and the rock formations' names-- gorilla rock, bean curd rock, filial-piety rock, and fairy shoe rock. the wind, the sea, and the human mind are all capable of beautiful and mysterious feats.



next was gaoshu. mike loves gaoshu, and gaoshu loves him right back. this time, mike had a serious mission: to make a movie depicting the daily life of students at gaoshu elementary school. i wrote and directed, mike filmed and edited, but of course, the real stars were the kids. they delivered lines in english and chinese, brushed their teeth and took naps right on cue, and in the end made their school look like the extremely fun, child-centered, and kid-powered place that it is.



taiwan would not be taiwan without FRUIT. highlights of the season include pineapple, mango, lychee, and papaya. nearby cishan is always good for its famous banana ice, which is banana flavored ice smothered in sweet red beans and sweetened condensed milk. pictured here is mango ice from "mango's hometown," yujin-- 5 forms of mango in one very lucky bowl.

taroko gorge had been calling mike's name since he last visited. a heavy mist enhanced the intense beauty of the steep and overgrown marble walls. the rivers were thunderous, which was especially exciting when we emerged from a series of claustrophobic and interminable black, dripping tunnels and saw the baiyang waterfall high up in the hills.

by the end of his trip, mike had checked off a lot of boxes on his wishlist. taroko gorge, wax apples, scooter transit, QT with shushu and gugu, coffee with the coffee guys, and a movie about the kids of gaoshu... but no monkey mountain. fortunately, on our last hike up to gaoshu's neighboring dajin waterfall, we got to share the spray with a boulder-chucking formosan macaque high up in the trees. he threw some friendly chunks of slate towards our heads, then swung back and looked on while we got under the falls. ahh... taiwan.

photos: qixingshan @ yangmingshan; geological rock formations; yehliu curiosities; filmmaker mike; my noodle ladies; getting down in mango hometown; banana ice monkey; taroko tunnels; aw yeah jinshan; dajinleen