11/29 Book Signing @ TES Fall Fair & Arts Festival

I've been asked to do a book signing for Taipei In A Day Includes: Taiwan From A To Z, First Edition (台北一日遊) at Taipei European School (TES) this Saturday, November 29. The book is available here, Amazon.com and at Barnes andNoble.com.

The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the school's Wen Lin Road campus, the address is: No. 731, Wen Lin Road, Shihlin, Taipei, call (02) 2832-6614 for more info.

In Taipei the book is available at Cherry Valley Bookstore, Tienmu East Road, Lane 8, #99, Tienmu, Taipei (behind TAS) (台北市士林區天母東路8巷99號) (02) 2876-9293.

Thank you again for making Taipei In A Day the highest-rated Taiwan travel book on amazon.com! I look forward to meeting you at TES on Saturday, 11/29! --Scott

Taichung and Nantou Attractions: Jingming 1st Street (精明一街), Fengjia Night Market (逢甲夜市) and Sun Moon Lake (日月潭)

Although Taichung City has ample department stores, a visit to Jingming 1st Street (精明一街), referred to locally as “tea street,” a European-style shopping district lined with coffee shops and boutiques, makes for a unique experience . This quaint sixty-meter pedestrian street (closed to cars) is between Jingcheng Road (精誠路) and Jingming 2nd Street (精明二街), not far from Taizhonggang Road, Section 2 (台中港路二段). From the old Taichung train station, adjacent to the bus station (Gan Train), the ride takes ten to fifteen minutes and costs around NT $170.

If you prefer to travel by bus you could board at Taichung Bus Station, the ride costs NT $20 and takes about twenty minutes one way. By bus take Taichung Keyun (台中汽車客運公司), bus numbers 27, 70, 88, 103, 106, 146, and 147 all stop near Jingming 1st Street. Fengjia Night Market (逢甲夜市) isn’t near Jingming 1st Street (精明一街), they’re in two different districts. By cab the ride takes about 12 minutes and will set you back around NT $150.

Although in Chinese, here's the official link for Taichung Bus Company: http://www.tcbus.com.tw/

Here's the official link for Jingming 1st Street (精明一街): http://www.jingming1st.com.tw/

If you're traveling by Taiwan High-Speed Rail (THSR), a free shuttle bus runs from Taiwan High-Speed Rail (THSR) Taichung Station to Pacific Sogo Department Store, (Sogo). From Sogo it’s a 15-minute walk to Jingming 1st Street (精明一街). Alternatively, by taxi from THSR Taichung Station the ride takes 30 minutes and costs around NT $350. From Taipei to Taichung a ticket on the high-speed rail costs NT $560 (standard ticket) and the ride takes an hour. Call (02) 4066-5678 for general information or (02) 6626-8000 for phone booking. Here’s the official link in English: http://www.thsrc.com.tw/en/index.htm

Directions from Jingming 1st Street (精明一街) to Sun Moon Lake (日月潭):

It's possible to go from Jingming 1st Street (精明一街) to the popular Nantou County tourist destination of Sun Moon Lake (日月潭), cab it to the old Taichung train station, it's adjacent to the bus station (Gan Train). The ride to the station takes ten to fifteen minutes and costs around NT $170. From the bus station there are several buses that run to Sun Moon Lake, one of which is Nantou Keyuen (南投客運) (049) 298-4031, which runs to Puli, Nantou County, and Sun Moon Lake. Although in Chinese, here is the bus company's website: http://ntbus.com.tw/.

Here's the official link for Sun Moon Lake: http://www.sunmoonlake.gov.tw/

Have fun and enjoy your time on Taiwan, and if you need a personal Taiwan guide, I provide custom "Taipei in a Day" (台北一日遊)" tours based on my best-selling Taiwan tour guide!  Feel free to contact me via www.taipeiinaday.com for details.  --Scott

New Book Signing 11/1 at TAS!

I've been asked to do a book signing for Taipei In A Day Includes: Taiwan From A To Z, First Edition (台北一日遊) at Taipei American School (TAS) in Tienmu, Saturday, November 1 from 11 am until 12:30 pm.

The book is available here, Amazon.com and at Barnes andNoble.com.


Thank you again for making Taipei In A Day the highest-rated Taiwan travel book on amazon.com!

I look forward to meeting you at TAS on Saturday, 11/1! --Scott

Taiwan Magazine Features Taiwan Travel Book!

Thank you for helping to make Taipei In A Day Includes: Taiwan From A To Z a resounding success! --Scott

Eddy Burrito (墨西哥捲餅)

If you're heading to Danshui, be sure to stop by Eddy Burrito for some truly outstanding Mexican food.

At Eddy Burrito (墨西哥捲餅), experience the best chicken burritos (NT $79), sopapillas (NT $25), chicken quesadillas (NT $59) and horchatas (NT $35) on Taiwan! The stand is located on Danshui Old Street (淡水老街), Gongming Street, #15 (台北縣淡水鎮公明街15號), just up the road from Danshui Station.

Top right, the author (left) of Taipei In A Day Includes Taiwan From A To Z with two other satisfied Eddy Burrito customers.

Below, Eddy and Jo Gonzalez, founders of Eddy Burrito. They not only make fantastic Mexican food, but they're also great people who care about food quality and their customers. The couple will be opening a restaurant in Danshui this summer, so be sure to visit their website http://www.eddyburrito.com/ for updates.

See you soon! -Scott

Taiwan Travel Book Praised on ParentPages.net

Thank you for the positive feedback!

Next signing will take place at the Taipei American School (TAS) Orphanage Club event. Many thanks to everyone for the positive feedback!

Taiwan Travel Book Launch Featured in China Post and Taipei Times

In addition to a blurb in the Taipei Times, this article recently appeared in the China Post newspaper Prime Books section:

“My wife Cindy and I are delighted that Scott Freiberger has selected Cherry Valley Bookstore to launch his ground-breaking new Taiwan tour guide, Taipei In A Day Includes: Taiwan From A To Z,” said native Californian and Taipei resident Ben Foster. “The book encompasses everything that a Taiwan tour guide should, cultural and historical information, bilingual communication and travel tips, coverage of major attractions and out-of-the-way places with names and addresses in both English and Chinese, detailed maps, unique attractions and photos, not to mention humor. The book is already generating quite a buzz, we’ve had people from as far away as Taichung and Tainan coming in to pick up copies.”

Official book website: http://www.TaiwanTravelBook.com/

Next signing will take place at the TAS Orphanage Club event, Saturday, May 17. 

Taipei In A Day: Includes Taiwan From A To Z is available here, Amazon.com and at Barnes andNoble.com. Thank you again for making Taipei In A Day the highest-rated Taiwan travel book on amazon.com!

It has been a pleasure helping countless travelers to Taiwan enjoy their travels with greater ease.  Thank you to everyone who has provided a positive review of my guidebook and custom "Taipei In A Day (台北一日遊)" tour  based on my best-selling Taiwan travel book, Taipei in a Day: Includes Taiwan from A to Z,  I sincerely appreciate it.  

Have fun and enjoy your time on Taiwan, and if you need a personal Taiwan guide, I provide custom "Taipei in a Day (台北一日遊)" tours based on my best-selling Taiwan tour guide!  Feel free to contact me via www.taipeiinaday.com for details.  --Scott

Official Taiwan Book Launch and Signing Announcement!

http://www.TaiwanTravelBook.com

The official Taiwan book launch and signing of Taipei In A Day Includes: Taiwan From A To Z, First Edition (台北一日遊)(NT $699) will be held at the Taipei American School (TAS) Spring Fair on Saturday, April 19 from 10 am to 3 pm.

For more information about Taipei In A Day Includes: Taiwan From A To Z, First Edition (台北一日遊) please visit http://www.TaiwanTravelBook.com/.

Taipei In A Day: Includes Taiwan From A To Z is available here, Amazon.com and at Barnes andNoble.com. Thank you again for making Taipei In A Day the highest-rated Taiwan travel book on amazon.com!

It has been a pleasure helping countless travelers to Taiwan enjoy their travels with greater ease.  Thank you to everyone who has provided a positive review of my guidebook and custom "Taipei In A Day (台北一日遊)" tour  based on my best-selling Taiwan travel book, Taipei in a Day: Includes Taiwan from A to Z,  I sincerely appreciate it.  

Have fun and enjoy your time on Taiwan, and if you need a personal Taiwan guide, I provide custom "Taipei in a Day (台北一日遊)" tours based on my best-selling Taiwan tour guide!  Feel free to contact me via www.taipeiinaday.com for details.  --Scott

Unique Taiwanese

One thing I love about Taiwanese, in addition to being some of the most friendly and welcoming people on earth towards international visitors, is their inherent curiousity, passion for learning and desire to experiment.

On an ordinary spring day I happened upon "future man" and his Jetsons-like three-wheeled vehicle. Could you imagine passing by this on the freeway?

Is it a car or a moped? A car-ped, perhaps? Or a car-pod? This car can't possibly go very fast, and it would probably be blown over in a typhoon. So it's only safe if every other car on the road is the same as this one! What do you think?

TAIWAN ROCKED BY SEX SCANDALS!

Got your attention, didn’t I? When I had arrived on Taiwan in 1997 there was nary a chance to view news headlines like this, but in an age of aggressive advertising on the Internet by companies selling spy devices and a public that feeds on scandal, headlines similar to this one are becoming increasingly common. In fact, in recent years the democratic Republic of China (ROC) has had its fair share.

In December, 2001, Chu Mei-feng (璩美鳳) , a TV journalist elected Taipei city councilwoman who later served as director of Hsinchu City's Bureau of Cultural Affairs, was secretly recorded at her apartment having an affair with a married man. The tabloid magazine Scoop Weekly (獨家報導周刊) broke the story, along with free DVDs of the video, and the news quickly became a sensation throughout Asia (not to mention the insomnia it caused to teenage boys!). The steamy scandal, rife with deception, abuse of power and sex, was one of the first of its kind on the island as it set a precedent regarding freedom of the press versus a public official’s right to privacy. In an ironic twist, Taiwan Television Enterprise had asked Chu to resign several years earlier after the station received intense criticism about her use of a hidden camera to report on a local gay bar. (Chu has since relocated to Mainland China where she married and became a mother.)

Around this time, The Journalist (新新聞周刊) magazine published a story alleging an affair between President Chen Shui-bian and Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), an advisor and interpreter for nearly two years (the Chinese Monica Lewinsky, perhaps?). The magazine, which claimed it had received a tip from Vice-President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮 Lu Shiu-lian), subsequently lost a libel suit from Lu and was ordered to print an apology on the front pages of four major Chinese-language newspapers.

Taiwanese continue to receive breaking scandals from newspapers and steamy tabloids such as Next Magazine (台灣壹週刊), a Hong Kong-based publication that arrived on Taiwan on May 31, 2001. However, the recent sweeping election of incoming Taiwan president Ma Ying-jeou indicates that the public has grown weary of scandals, as one of Ma’s key election themes was “clean government.” Let’s hope that Ma’s administration is successful at revitalizing the economy and Taiwan can continue to prosper.