On our flight from Brisbane to Vienna we get an 18-hour stop-over in Taiwan. Back in 2009 I lived and worked in Taipei for a couple of months and so I seize this opportunity to reconnect up with old friends after 14 years! 

Tobi is a fantastic travel companion as it turns out and Taiwan is an awesome place to travel with kids. 

With food being one of the things I certainly wanted to plan in for today, my friends Jerry and Nelson first take us out for brunch and we get to enjoy some authentic delicacies.

Next stop is a fresh fruit market where we discover the refreshing wax apple 😉

Another highlight of the day is visiting Nel’s bicycle flagship store “Velo City” where he sells, rents and repairs bikes and offers a unique shopping experience including a kids cycle trial and European Ice Coffee accompanied by classic music.

Later on we head to Chiang Kai-Shek (CKS) Memorial Hall. CKS was a Chinese nationalist, politician and military leader who fled from mainland China to Taiwan in 1949 when overthrown by Mao Zedong. A hero for many, he remains a controversial character until this day…

…in the adjacent Museum and Park we contemplate history and talk about what the future might hold for “Formosa” (as Taiwan has also been known).

We also visit a temple and Jerry explains to us the local customs and beliefs.

Off to see Nel and his family on their local playground and the little people are having a blast. 

The cherry on the cake today is going to the airportbus by cargobike – thank you Nel for the ride! 

Bye bye and see you next time!