After taking the Maokong Gondola in Muzha up to the last station there are some wonderful teahouses up on the top with a variety of local tea flavors grown in the nearby Muzha tea farms and offering great views of the city on a clear day.     The Taiwan government introduces: Maokong is located [...]

Ever had the sensation you’re hanging up in the air between a sea of clouds? With the Maokong Gondola and the summer rainy cloudy weather you can experience just that. Though you won’t enjoy the scenic beauty of the Maokong tea plantations, you will feel like you’re flying through clouds all the way up to [...]

The 228 Peace Memorial Park just south of the Taipei Main Train Station area is a lovely little park, hosting two museums, several pagodas, ponds, & Chinese style gardens. The name of the park, as well as the 228 museum are set as a reminder to one of Taiwan’s darkest times, February 28th, 1947.   [...]

One of the most interesting things about Safed are the local people who live there. You get all sorts of curious combinations of origins and accents, dressed up in traditional religious clothing reflecting their sects. The one I liked the most – by far – was this Yemen guy who runs a hand-made type of [...]

Welcome to Safed, the proclaimed “World Capital of Spirituality and Jewish Culture” were eager souls (like Madonna) come to absorb the holy word of Jewish spiritual teachings, like the Kabbalah. The old city of Safed is a unique jewel. It’s been years since I last visited the place, and it’s a shame, since it’s beautiful, [...]

Safed in northern Israel is one of those ancient holy cities over 2000 years old where Jews have always lived and studied, even throughout the many years of recorded Jewish exile. The remaining old synagogues of Safed, dating back to the 15th and 16 centuries, were the heart of those Safed Jewish communities. Many of [...]

The first time I visited Taipei, 5-6 years ago, I had no idea who Chiang Kai Shek was to Taiwan. I mean, I heard he was big shot mainland general who lost to the Communists, but the story of how he came to be Taiwan’s president-dictator and the local politics surrounding the Kuomintang were still [...]

The Miniatures Museum of Taiwan in Taipei is one of those odd little museums you’re not really sure whether to go to or not. Just like Taipei’s Story Land, which I must have walked by a couple of dozen times before deciding to actually see what it is about, and when I did it was [...]