Taiwan, Cycling, Expat life, Photography, Spicy Food
Location: Taipei/ New Taipei Distance: 145km Elevation Gain: 3,400m Buddha’s Hand, The Palm of Tathagata, The Taipei Hand ride…regardless of what you call it, this is a massive effort and over recent years has become a rite of passage for any cyclist living in Taiwan.…
In the bustling streets of Taipei, two distinctive Taiwanese students, Wei and Mei, embarked on their summer jobs at a local 7-11. Little did they know that this seemingly ordinary gig would lead them on a thrilling adventure involving a mysterious encounter with what they…
In the heart of Taiwan’s mountainous terrain, a stark reality stands tall, much like the peaks themselves. To those who dare to climb, it’s a known fact that this island boasts an astounding 270 summits, all of them defiantly breaching the 3,000-meter mark, a veritable…
Once upon a time, in a small neighborhood in Taiwan, two students named Wei and Mei were working at a cozy tea shop. They were both studying hard at a local university and had taken up part-time jobs to support their education. Wei was the…
Here is the mix! A bit of a longer one this month – but I think the flow is pretty nice. Some new finds this month. Mildlife, Gunship, and Video Age. Watch out for another album by Gladie this year. And man, I cannot get…
Location: Kaohsiung (Qishan)/Tainan/Kaohsiung Distance: 117km Elevation Gain: 1,000m Provincial Highway No. 3 is one of the longest roads in Taiwan and is 435km end to end. It starts in Taipei and ends in Pingtung. Also known as the Inner-Mountain Highway the road travels through mountainous towns in Western Taiwan. Doing the…
YouTube: The digital phenomenon born out of the creative minds of Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim in 2005, has undeniably changed the way we interact with online content. The platform, rooted in a desire to create a space for video sharing, has since…
Location: Chiayi/Tainan/Kaohsiung Distance: 170km Elevation Gain: 1,900m Provincial Highway 3 is one of the longest roads in Taiwan and is 435km end to end. It starts in Taipei and ends in Pingtung. Also known as the Inner-Mountain Highway the road travels through mountainous towns in Western Taiwan. Doing the road from…
Once upon a time, in a bustling university town, there was a group of freshmen embarking on their college journey. They were excited, and with the expectation of a new chapter in their lives, they had high hopes for their first year. Their primary obligation…
Once upon a time in a bustling urban area, there was a constant stream of buses running to keep up with the city’s remarkable growth and expansion. One day, on a particularly competitive route, trouble brewed aboard Bus 23. As passengers filed in through the…
Here is the mix. I will get the playlist up in a bit. For now here is the playlist:
Here is the August Mix. Click here to download the thing. I am not sure when I will get the list of the songs online – maybe this week. Various songs this month with a few songs from the 1960s. Here is the Playlist –…
Here is a B2 Level English Story: Once upon a time, in a cozy little restaurant known for its tasty dishes and friendly service, there was a minor issue during lunch. The restaurant’s reputation for excellence was upheld by its diligent staff, and one of…
The July Mix! Here is the link. Overall a chill mix with a bit of an emo touch this month. The Liquids album is great. Discovered Cindy Lee this month – not bad. And the 1st song by Magdalena Bay, a couple from Florida –…
Location: Nantou Distance: Each climb 9-12km Elevation Gain: 600-800m In this post, I’d like to discuss the various climbs leading up to Sun Moon Lake, focusing on four popular routes that cyclists often take. Two of these routes start in Puli, while the other two…
Here are all the songs used during the semester. Click Here!
Here is the mix. Here is a very chill emo, indie mix. Unfortunately this month I didn’t come across any one artist or band that grabbed my attention. I am working on a Python script that will scrape all the links I snagged during the…
Vocabulary: List 1 List 2 List 3 List 4 List 5 List 6 List 7 List 8 List 9 List 10 Reading Passage: “Discover the Amazing Dolphins” Dolphins are incredible marine animals known for their intelligence and friendly nature. They live in oceans and seas…
Vocabulary: List 1 List 2 List 3 List 4 List 5 List 6 List 7 List 8 List 9 List 10 Reading Passage: Electric Cars: The Future of Sustainable Transportation In recent years, electric cars have gained considerable attention as a promising solution to combat…
Here is the Facebook post I uploaded on Friday, May 19th, 2023. I used ChatGPT to summarize my spoken word. I used Whisper to transcribe the 10-minute talk – man, that software is awesome! I think my spoken word has more of a slice-of-life feeling…
Here are various scenarios where I used a Large Language Model to create a C1-level English conversation between the fictitious characters of Jack and Sarah. I have created the voices using ElevenLabs text-to-speech software. I have tried to keep the voices the same throughout the…
Location: Taitung Distance: 22km Elevation Gain: 1,400m As the name Daylily Mountain (金針山) suggests, this area is known for the lilies which cover the hillside during the Spring and Summer. Visitors from all over Taiwan come to see the white lilies which bloom from April…
Location: Pingtung Distance: 30km Elevation Gain: 1,600m The rider should be aware that the following is actually two different rides. From the bottom, it’s approx 17km ascent to the village of Jiufawan. (This is a historically significant village of slate houses that has guesthouse options)…
Here is the mix. Thoughts: I found Bully. Vixey might drop a great rock album. A lot of songs in this mix: I came across them during the month with either my daughter or during nights searching for whatever. Overall a handful of rock songs,…
Location: Hsinchu Distance: 35km Elevation Gain: 1,500m For any cyclists living in the Hsinchu or Taoyuan areas, this climb needs no introduction. Road #60 to the Yulao Lookout is one of the most popular training climbs on the island. With a peak elevation of 1460m,…
Location: Pingtung Distance: 27km Elevation Gain: 1,600m Jinshuiying is unusual to include in this series since the road is far more well-known as a cross-island hiking trail and arguably the best downhill ride in the country. It has a fascinating history dating back to the…
This talk was presented on April 26, 2023, at Asia University by Nathan Miller. Overall this is a sharing session of things I have found successful in my classroom. All the mentioned websites are in this post. There are also interactive AI-generated audio files, AI…
Location: Hsinchu Distance: 55km Elevation Gain: 2,000m The climb to Guanwu National Forest Recreation Area may not be as famous as some of the other high mountain climbs in Taiwan, but it certainly should be. Reaching a height of 2100m in elevation, this is a…
Location: Pingtung Distance: 21km Elevation Gain: 1,200m The name Beidawu will be familiar to most hikers as it is one of Top 100 Climbs (Bai Yue) with the peak at 3,092m, it is only peak over 3,000m in Pingtung. For cyclists it is also a…
Location: Kaohsiung Distance: 42km Elevation Gain: 1,500m There are a total of 18 NFRAs in Taiwan and the roads leading up to some of them are spectacular for mountain scenery. Alishan in Chiayi County at 2,100m is the most famous of these and is covered…
If a rider hasn’t got transport in the form of a car or van using the train is an excellent way to travel around Taiwan with a bike. The system isn’t perfect and it can involve a learning process to understand how Taiwan Railway Administration…
Here is the MP3. This is a rather smooth mix. Notable in this mix: Constant Smiles – if you dig Ruby Huant this band is worth checking out, the New Constellations song – reckon the album will be nice, and man, that 1985 tune by…
Location: Pingtung Distance: 28km Elevation Gain: 1.300m For people living in the Kaohsiung/Pingtung area, one of the most iconic rides is to Wutai Village in Pingtung. As an area that gets a lot of tourist traffic, it’s definitely the best-surfaced road in a mountain area.…
Location: Kaohsiung Distance: 29km Elevation Gain: 2,000m Xiaoguan Mt. was, and to some extent, still is one of the best MTB routes in Kaohsiung. Located in Baolai Village, Kaohsiung it’s not so easy to access without your own transport. I was denied access to the…
Location: Nantou Distance: 55km Elevation Gain: 2,700m A 50km ride to a lake at 3,000m is the highest off-road route in Taiwan. By far the most remote and difficult to access of the Top 100 climbs by bicycle has to be the Danda Forest Road.…
Location: Taichung Distance: 14km Elevation Gain: 600m If you have spent any time cycling in Taichung, no doubt you have ridden 136. It is a heart-in-mouth experience, a true litmus test of fitness, and indeed one of the most popular climbs in Taichung. This 14.5km…
Here is the mix. I will get the song list up in a day or two. This mix works, I am trying a few new things, but the staple emo, shoegaze, and indie sounds are still predominant throughout the mix.
Location: Nantou Distance: 34km Elevation Gain: 1,600m Xitou and Shanlinxi or Sun Link Sea are both Forest Recreation Areas (FRA) but not National Forest Recreation Areas (NFRA) The two closest train stations would be Ershui if traveling from north Taiwan and Linnei if traveling from…
Location: Nantou Distance: 64km Elevation Gain: 2,300m For most of the Top 100 Climbs, the focus has been on those accessible by road bike, but there are several off-road routes that ascend over 2,000m which should be included. The Taiwan KOM (road bike) is covered…
Location: Taoyuan/Yilan Distance: 120km Elevation Gain: 1,700m In this post, we will look at the North Cross-Island Highway (Provincial Highway N0.7), which starts in Sanxia and finishes in Yilan. The main focus is the actual climb which is 64 kilometers and the entire ride accumulates…
Location: Yilan/Taichung Distance: 130km Elevation Gain: 3,500m This is one of the best rides in Taiwan because of the variety of scenery. Starting in Yilan at the 0km marker on the North Cross-Island Highway (Provincial Highway No. 7). There are actually 3 roads combined in…
Location: Nantou Distance: 70km Elevation Gain: 2,500m If you have found yourself with the opportunity to do this climb you are really in for a great experience. This road offers some superb scenery, the gradients are not knee-breaking insane, and given the number of switchbacks…
Location: Chiayi City/Chiayi County Distance: 97km Elevation Gain: 2,800m Provincial Highway No. 18 (also known as ‘The New Central Cross-Island Highway or the Alishan Road’ starts at 0km in the center of Chiayi City – 10 to 15mins. ride from the train station. After the…
Location: Tainan & Kaohsiung Distance: 140km Elevation Gain: 3,000m There are four Cross-Island Highways in Taiwan, three of which traverse the island from west to east, the fourth, ‘the New Central Cross-Island Highway, is a north-to-south traverse that skirts the Central Mountain Range. Of the…
Location: Nantou Distance: 58km Elevation Gain: 1,800m The Nantou No. 89, also known as the Li Sying Industrial Road, is arguably one of the toughest rides for a road bike in Taiwan. It has gained prominence in recent years because of its inclusion in the…
Location: Taitung Distance: 54km Elevation Gain: 2,500m There are four Cross-Island Highways in Taiwan, three of which traverse the island from west to east, the fourth, ‘the New Central Cross-Island Highway, is a north-to-south traverse that skirts the Central Mountain Range. Of the four it…
Location: Nantou Distance: 53km Elevation Gain: 2,700m Occupying our number 2 spot in this epic list of 100 hill climbs is the noteworthy Puli to Wuling climb. This climb registers as a rite of passage for many cyclists on the island. It starts at the…
Location: Hualien Distance: 90km Elevation Gain: 3,500m Mission Statement: It is well known among mountaineers in Taiwan that the country has some 270 peaks over 3,000m, making it one of the highest concentrations of 3,000m peaks in the world. Of these, 100 were selected as…
The Sense – A Moment on Earth I had this punk rock girlfriend.She would burn roses and throwthem into the Atlantic Ocean.Every scar, every broken boneshe said – is only a note of a song.I wasn’t in love with her.We only ate each other on…
Here is the mix. Ok – the song list is online. Looks like the Blondshell song made it onto the mix twice! Opps…oh, well – it is a good song, so no worries. Solid mix this month – various genres covered I feel. I will…