I want to start by briefly writing about our Day 3 and 4 trip while we are still in Taipei, then talk about us going out of Taipei, to locations like Chiayi and Alishan.
On Day 3, we went to the National Taipei University in New Taipei City, which I had never been to, so the environment there was new. Based on the comments when I was asking students at the university, they told me that they usually take the bus to go over to Taipei which makes sense since in New Taipei City, there was no metro system. They also said that the local food restaurants around the university were a bit lackluster but at least we got to eat Thai hot pot which was fun. I got to talk to a handful of students asking about their university life and outside life, kind of funny how they didn’t know I was born in Taiwan and knew some Mandarin. After our trip to the university, we visited a company called Kneron, from their presentation on who they are and what they do, I am guessing they are commissioned by other companies who want to improve their product by using AI hardware and software from Kneron. Kneron makes AI products for whatever product they help improve so like cars, facial recognition cameras, door cams for your home, etc., overall though, I think they are pretty interesting, kind of sad that is what we really got from our “tour” with them.
For Day 4, we went to Hsinchu to look at a Buddha Temple specifically Hsinchu City God Temple. It was cool to see and especially hearing the history of Buddha and its figures from Nicholas, I’ve passed by temples before but I haven’t gone to one as big as the one we went to see for the tour. After that, we went to Nanliao Fishing Harbor for lunch and then to Neiwan Old Street, there was also a nearby suspension bridge at the street, both of these locations were also cool and walk-in.
After Day 4, we went to Chiayi for Day 5, during the trip we had a tour of an adhesive chemical company, Everwide. It was nice to look at the factory for their products, obviously, they were explaining a lot of the chemical stuff regarding adhesive and resin but generally, fun time to be there. Other tourist spots we went to were the Sun Shooting Tower and Hinoki Village which was just a shopping center, I didn’t get anything other than a Taro ice cream.
Day 6, Alishan Mountain was our next destination, it was really fun when we went to an Indigenous place of the Tsou tribe to see a cultural show and also ate lunch there. After that, we went to Alishan National Forest Recreational Area, it was another place that I liked walking around in because of the atmosphere it had like the trees and the chilly temperature in the mountains. Albeit, of course, it was cold, having a chance to go down south out of Taipei was a refresher since anytime I am in Taiwan, it is usually at Taipei or the chance of being at Tainan but still, this field study was a great opportunity. Overall, the trips out of Taipei were nice, especially my time at Neiwan Old Street and Alishan due to the many pictures I have taken and going to places that were fresh and new to me.
