Taiwan best trip: Sounds of Taiwan

Taiwan Mixtape - Best of the Best

Original post with video can be found here.

SIDE A - Interlude

Our group is called ‘Sounds of Taiwan’ and our four-day itinerary was based on exploring music and dance aspects. Through looking at different themes, we came across some experiences we will never forget.

We wanted to show the diversity of Taiwan for travellers, by travellers. Our goal was to keep things real and tell it as it is. We’re not experts on Taiwan - neither of us have lived in the country. But one thing we do know well is travelling. We think traveling is about venturing out of your comfort zone and making new friends, discovering great sites, food and sounds along the way. Guidebooks and online research can only take you so far. Sometimes it’s the unexpected events that happen along the way, which make the trip that much better.

SIDE B - Highlights

Day 1 - The natives. The locals. The sneakers.

Taiwan offers you breath-taking  landscape and the hustle bustle city scape. The day started off with us in regional Wulai because we were hoping to discover native culture and ended with us at a Nike 6453 event featuring DJ Clark. We met various people along the way - natives, musicians, celebrities, DJs and lots of locals. All of them were friendly, warm and happy to help out.

Top 5 moments:

1. Cooling off at a natural pond after walking hundreds of steps (which seemed like thousands).
2. Participating in a native dance.
3. Interviewing a respected elder of the Taiya tribe.
4. Meeting DJ Marcus (who runs waakao.com) and DJ Clark at Nike 6453 event.
5. Star spotting at the popular nightclub Luxy.

Day 2 - Surround sounds.

Getting around Taiwan is easy. Not only do you have buses, subways and trains, but you also have the choice of the high speed rail. We travelled 130km to Taichung on the HSR and got there in less than an hour. Don’t let Taichung’s slower pace during the day deceive you. Come night time and the city truly comes alive with night markets, live music and clubs. Top 5 moments (some which weren’t featured in our clip):

1. Meeting musician MoShang in person and hearing what he has to say on chill-out music.
2. Doing vox pox on the streets and realising it’s harder than it looks on TV.
3. Learning yoyo tricks from some local high school kids. Random and fun.
4. Trying out various local delicacies at the largest night market in Taiwan. This included ox tongues, beef tripe and chicken feet just to name a few - all of which were surprisingly tasty.
5. Relaxing at Dosha (Aveda’s concept salon spa).

Day 3 - Anything but pop and hip hop.

Coming to Taiwan, we knew that the genres pop and hip hop have a strong presence already. But after day three, we realised that music such as jazz, punk, rock, indie and reggae are quickly making a scene. We discovered this through randomly speaking with people we found at ‘creative’ places such as the Taipei Artist Village and the Taipei Museum of Contemporary Art.

Top 5 moments:

1. Finding things at Taipei Museum of Contemporary Art that made us laugh, smile and ponder.
2. At Taipei Artist Village, we stumbled across Claire and her smooth, husky and powerful voice as she belted out a jazzy broadway tune.
3. Meeting the band Skaraoke who will be the next big thing in Taiwan - music lovers take note.
4. Winning NT$1,000 Roxy Roots food voucher after purchasing raffle tickets to help Typhoon Morakot victims.
5. Going to a karaoke joint and realising that an ‘open mic’ session can get quite competitive.

Day 4 - Urban and street culture

We kicked off our hip hop culture day at the Fatman Scoop’s party at the luxurious Spark 101, which is located in the landmark Taipei 101 building, the tallest completed skyscraper in the world! We continued to look at Taiwan’s urban culture at the trendy district Xi Men Ding where we came across breakdancers to some unique characters (zombie girls and giant furry animals anyone?).

Top 5 moments:

1. Finding note-worthy street art around streets and alleyways.
2. Hugging giant furry animals after initially being rejected twice!
3. Seeing the night lights of the city all the way up from Taipei 101.
4. No vacation is complete without some shopping. Explored malls, boutique shops and markets.
5. Dancing the night away with some great people at Spark 101.

OUTRO - Credits

Taiwan is truly a hidden gem with diverse activities and sceneries to suit anyone. If you want your next vacation to have aspects of nature, culture, city buzz, convenience and friendly locals, put Taiwan on your list to visit. We hope our videos and blogs have inspired you to create your own unique itinerary. And what would be our biggest tip? If you can, try to stay in Taiwan for more than four days. You’d find that with so much to do and see, four days just isn’t enough. :)

We want to thank the Taiwan Tourism Bureau for the opportunity to carry out our four-day itinerary. Also thanks to our fans on our Facebook and Twitter pages for your support and tip-offs!

Of course, a big thanks to our biggest fans - our friends and family.