Damn, I really wanted to starting getting these re-caps out on time now (that means the beginning of each month!), but I’m failing already. So let’s jump right into January!
The 1st – Jan 15: Taipei
As soon as the new year rolled around, I started to get sentimental about leaving Taipei. Time really flies by fast when you’re comfortable in a place. I still had a long list of things I never got around to doing, and I managed to fit in a few more mini adventures in my last couple of weeks in Taipei.
1 // On that list was a visit to the Taipei Zoo. I’m one of those people who like to visit zoos and other animal related attractions on my travels. I had already spent some weeks trying to convince D to go with me, but I think he’s reached his limit of being dragged around to zoos all over the world. Luckily Jamie (Ink + Adventure) was happy to go with me!
2 // Speaking of blogger friends, this month is gearing up to be month of blogger friends meetups! Amanda (Musical Poem) had told me that she was visiting Taiwan with her family, and I jumped at the chance to show them around my local night market!
It was a rainy evening when we met up. I felt bad that the market wasn’t as lively as it usually is due to the rain, but I’d still consider it a success overall. We still managed to hit up most of my favorite eats and were all stuffed by the end, which always signifies a well done eating tour! It was such a pleasure to meet her and her family!
See Linjiang Night Market Guide if you’re interested to see what we ate!
3 // On my last full day in Taipei, I met up with Jamie again for what we deemed The Day of Cuteness. First up: the Tsum Tsum exhibition! She got me into the game and I’ve been slightly addicted ever since so we made another perfect pairing for this kinda kiddish activity.
4 // And then we headed to the Stray Cats Cafe. I had been wanting to go to one (did you know this craze started in Taipei??) but D is allergic to cats and I’m glad to have found a partner-in-crime! We squealed over the cute free roaming cats, and squealed even louder over the sleepy pile of kittens.
Here’s another picture just for your daily dose of cuteness:
how many do you see?
And then it was time to pack up, and we were off to Malaysia!
January 15 – Feb 7: Kuala Lumpur
We had been out of Southeast Asia for a while now (I don’t really consider Taiwan SEA), and coming back into the area felt familiar yet somewhat foreign again. Apparently, we had accidentally picked the hottest time of the year to visit Malaysia. The heat + humidity definitely took some getting used to again.
My initial impressions were less than pleasant and actually made me miss Taipei. I missed the orderliness of it, the cooler weather, the clean sidewalks. The first night in KL, we got in late and so ate at the 24-hr neighborhood joint and it was gritty and I swear I was the only girl in there and for some reason, I felt uncomfortable.
food street near our apartment
But then the next few days, I discovered the food… and the malls. And I started to like it.
KL grew on me the more I explored it and learned about Malaysia. I love that the culture is a mix of Malay, Chinese, and Indian. I love the diversity…. which means some of the most freaking amazing food I’ve had on my travels thus far.
And also means the monthly food collage!
1. nasi lemak // 2. bbq pork noodles // 3. mango with chewy balls // 4. grilled stingray // 5. nasi lemak…. again // 6. some kind of pork noodles // 7. strawberry snow ice // 8. sarawak laksa // 9. hokkien mee
I have sooo missed the spices and flavors that you can only get from this part of the world. (My face, however, hated it and I broke out really attractively.)
Oh no… is it possible? Is it possible that I found a city I like as much as, if not more, than Taipei?!
And then at the end of January, D flew back to Taipei, leaving me to start my stint as a solo traveler. And thus starts my weeks of loneliness…
Just kidding! I was barely even alone for a day, before meeting up with long-time blog friend + KL-native CL (Real Gunner) for a local tour of the city! (Told you this is the month of blogger meetups.)
KL is a rather large city with rather poor public transportation. So it’s pretty imperative that you have a car in order to cover it properly. We spent a day driving all over KL and going to the suburbs to a pork-based hipster cafe he had read about. The food was delicious, but mostly, it was just really nice to finally meet in person and chat for hours. Thanks CL! (And I wish we had gotten a picture together!)
but I do have a picture of my food… pork lard rice fried rice with bacon and century egg!
And how did the rest of my solo time in KL go? I guess you’ll just have to find out in next month’s recap. :)
What’s going on in February?
If you’ve been following the past couple of weeks, then you’ll already know that I’ve scrapped the rest of my solo travel plans in Malaysia plans to fly to Beijing after my grandfather’s sudden passing. I’ve been really good with blogging in real-time in the past week and already wrote 2 posts on my time in Beijing (here and here)! My mom was here as well but just flew back to the States. As for me, I plan to stay in Beijing for a few more weeks to keep my grandmother company for a while.
What do you have planned for February?
Between yours and Jamie’s blogs, you guys have really sold me on Taiwan! I feel like it’s got what I like about Japan plus possibly more? One dayyyy. When I’m not on the other side of the world :)
The food in Malaysia looks just unreal in its goodness!
To me, the food in Taiwan is way better than Japanese ;). Taipei is just a very liveable city and then easy to explore the whole country too. And yeah, the food in Malaysia is soooo good! One of my favorites so far!
I haven’t been back in almost a decade (wait, what?!), so these photos are really making me want to go back to Taiwan for a visit. And as always, I love the food collage :)
I hope you get to go back sometime soon! This month’s food collage is rather impressive because the food in Malaysia was so amazing!
THAT FOOD! Oh my, delicious! :) Yay for meeting blogger friends, it really is the best.
I agree! Bloggers just get each other right away! And I love that you can take pictures without worrying about being annoying hehe. I still hope we can meet up someday somewhere in the world :).
It must happen one day!!! :D
Now that you’ve put it on the record in the form of a blog post, I am finally convinced that you are not like my American co-workers in trying to be polite, and you really do like KL, LOL!! I guess I’m pleased with that! :D
Yes, I never lie on my blog :). I really do like what I’ve seen of Malaysia so far! But it’s also because meeting locals and having their recommendations make SUCH a huge difference to the experience. Thanks for all your help! :D
Pork-based hipster cafe?! Lol! Sounds like my idea of hell!
LOL! It was really good. And lard is the best :P.
When you’re travelling long term and have been interacting with so many bloggers, it must be lovely finally meeting them in person and being able to take tips from each other and share such fabulous food in these destinations! Intrigued to find out in your next post how you were finding the solo travel experience pre Beijing.
I’m still waiting for when we can meet, Shikha… I feel like I’ve known you for forever! Wherever we happen to meet in the world, we’ll ditch the boys and grab a huge dessert :).
And spoiler: I really enjoyed solo travel… it was really fun to just do whatever I want hehe.
Blogger meet ups are pretty great! I have met a few people through blogging and it’s one thing that I’d willingly be sociable for haha.
I feel like I’m not that social either, but I’m always up for meeting up with blog friends :). Sometimes, I think about how funny and awesome it is that I know people from literally all over the world because of blogging!
Awww, I love the shot of the cats, so cute and the photo of the butterfly is stunning! Sounds like you’ve been having a wonderful time – also the food collage – looks so good! – Tasha
Thanks Tasha! :) The food in Malaysia was so delicious… already craving it and waiting for more!
I can imagine, it looks so good!
That butterfly picture is amazing. Do you mind me asking what lens/camera you used??
No problem! I use the Cannon G7X. It’s a point & shoot size but the quality is really really good! I seriously don’t know photography at all and just take my pictures on the AV setting, and sometimes they come out good :).