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Going to be a long day today. Heading to Yongding famous earth towers,  then going to try and take a over night train to Guangzhou. Started today late as I couldnt sleep last night. So ending up catching a late train to Longyan, one of the closest city with reasonable train commute. It's funny it takes 5hrs more if train directly to Yongding. While it is only an hr drive from Longyan to Yongding.. Xiamen to Longyan: 1.5 hrs Xiamen to Yongding: 6.5 hrs Since I had to wait over 1.5 hours for the next train leaving Xiamen, I had this craving for meat. Usually those $2 noodles, $2 hotpot...


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The boat finally will set sail from Keelung to Matsu Island. There has been strong waves the last 2 days,  so I'm not expecting a smooth ride tonight. When I got to the port, it's all military personnel waiting to get on  board. I might be the only civilian, definitely the only foreigner. It's a good thing my friend called ahead, and reserved a seat. Very likely I will stay in Taiwan for another night without reservation. Matsu Island is a military training camp, as it is located not far from Mainland China. It's been a military base since the civil war,  after World War II. Hence, full...


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Can't believe it's been almost 3 weeks in Taiwan. I decided to leave today after enjoying an amazing countdown at the Tower 101 in Taipei. Haven't done a countdown with fireworks and sea of crowd,  I'm estimating 50000+ people where in the area. I want to leave the same way I came to Taiwan, by boat. Rather than heading back to Xiamen,  I want to try the other path back to China. Leave from Keelung to Matsu Island, spend half a day there, then to Fuzhou. From online research, there seems to be daily service to Matsu. But nothing mentioned bad weather keeping the boat at Port.  It looks...


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I have decided to try and stay in Taipei for countdown. The idea of doing countdown with fireworks at Tower 101 (world 3rd tallest building) , and the positive energy of a huge crowd cohesively counting down to New Year,  sounds amazing enough already. Just because I want,  doesn't mean I will get.  The last day or so, have been relentless trying to find a place to stay without breaking the bank. Reasonable priced hotel are fully booked for the weekend and Monday New Years Eve. But sometimes, just going with the flow, things will work out in the end. Just got a message from a Airbnb owner...


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It's been a long day. One of the main reason I came to Taichung, is that I read online there is a place for foreigners to rent a motorcycle. I have been relentless trying to find one since arriving Taiwan. Somehow, the idea of doing an epic ride around the whole island of Taiwan is exciting. With the help of my friend, we have searched all over Taipei. Apparently, it's fairly rare to have real motorcycle for rent, 125cc are everywhere. But for a foreigner, even 125cc rental is impossible, as many shops will only rent to Taiwanese. So in Taichung, there is a shop call F.A.S.T, that will rent...


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