We explored outside of Taipei today to discover Taiwan’s North coast.This is my favorite picture of the day. I took this at our last stop Jiufen. This building was the inspiration for the movie “Spirited Away”.Our first stop was at Yehliu Geopark. It’s a coastal park that has a lot of different rock formations.You can see the mushroom rocks to keep in the distance here.I believe this rock is called “Bird of Prey”. This is why I need to blog after every stop! Already forgetting names of thingsUp close mushroom rockToots and I hiked up this kind of jungle in the 95 degree heat and humidity. We were drenched with sweat after like 20 minutes (at our first stop of the day)! The views were worth the hike.Taking pics at the top. Toots wanted me to post this picture 🙂 I look rather annoyed haha.Walking down the stairs. Toots has tried to perfect taking pictures of me from behind in our attempt to be basic world travelers.The stairs kept going up and up, but we could only go so far with our linited time. You can see the beautiful scenery in the background.Have I mentioned how hot it is in Taiwan in the summer? We walked through a market and Toots picked up a couple of coconuts #doublefistingOur second stop of the day was Shifen, which is a little coal mining town with a famous train station. The main tourist activity here is releasing paper lanterns into the sky (something you definitely can’t do in the States anymore! Those lanterns just come right back down).How hipster and basic am I here?! Good vibes only ✌️ Before you release the lanterns, you write your intentions on each side. Each side is a different color and represents a different theme. I chose blue, red, orange, and yellow which represent health, wealth, marriage, and prosperity (not in correct order). I also might have just butchered that.Toots writing her intention.Toots and I wrote way too much on the first two sides (we didn’t realize we had to fill out entire lantern!). So we got a little creative on the last side. Go Irish! ☘️Shout out to our dogs! RIP Bud 🐕🐾Shifen has a beautiful suspension bridge that overlooks the river and town.Taiwan has a lot of interesting food that you have to try at least once. This is an ice cream roll. It’s kind of like a crepe stuffed with some nut shavings, fruity ice cream, and…cilantro! Very unique flavor.Found my 🐖 soulmate. Look at her eyes! So freaking adorable.Toots really kissed this pig. The piggie started opening her mouth! This is the only PC picture that I could get haha.Toots really belongs in Asia. Look at her fitting in perfectly with this group of people.Arrived in Jiufen, our last stop of the day. And look what we stumbled upon. Chow Chow!!! Mista Calvin’s future wifey.Jiufen is a beautiful town set in these lush mountains. It is very hilly and there are stairs everywhere. All of the shops and streets are up and down stairs. Again, it was 95 and humid. This town was so adorable, but definitely only for those who are able to climb a lot of stairs.Toots and I did a tea experience where we got to make our own oolong tea. I definitely couldn’t do it alone! The snacks in this picture are mangoes, peanuts (that look like pellets), and plums.Toots and I standing outside of the tea experience. This patio had the best view of the Spirited Away building.The view from the streets of Jiufen.The main Jiufen drag, full of people sampling pineapple cake, tea, squid, and grass cake. I didn’t get a picture of the grass cake, but it was amazing! I will try to get another one on this trip.More views of the street.There were tons of stray cats and dogs on the streets. There is definitely a cat culture in Jiufen. They also have an affinity for Shiba inus.

After a long day traveling, Toots and I opted for food nearby. Roaders Hotel is located in the bustling downtown area, so there a plenty of food options around. They seem to love KFC here!

Toots and I ate at a little hole in the wall restaurant. Please notice #19 and #21. Nom nom 🙈