I was told by someone I should write more. Well fortunately I did something worth writing about.

Today I went up to Tamshui, the last stop on the north end of the red line. A small fishing village on the coast, I didn't really know what to expect up there. But I thought it might be fun to see the ocean, and see whats going on up there.

As to be expected for a fishing village, if you're looking for seafood it's a great place. All manner of fish, squid and who knows what is being sold at the local stalls, both fried and staring back at you. And for some reason, the last time I saw the ocean in Qingdao, I didn't notice that salty ocean smell. I've not smelled that beach smell in quite a while, so it was interesting to experience again.

Hi China! You're somewhere out there!

As far as tourist things to do, there's not too much. I mean I did go down to the ocean and wave hi to China. But the only real thing of note is an old fort the Dutch built several hundred years ago. There also was a historic British consulate next door. I checked out both, which were nice enough but certainly not worth making a trip up there to see only them. They were on the grounds of a university, which I actually thought was pretty cool. Maybe it would have been cooler if they were converted into classrooms. Anyway, I'm just going throw out a bunch of pictures.

PSA! Always check to make sure your dentist is not a land shark.

Sorry about the beer choice - only macrobrews.

Maybe you noticed the German flag, but Tamshui has quite a few international restaurants, at least compared to the rest of the city. In the mile or so I walked, I saw a few Italian joints, Thai, Vietnamese, French, and even Irish. Well Irish fast food at least. Of course Tamshui is small enough they may be the only places.

However afterwards I trumped them all by eating at a Swedish place. It's quite famous. Maybe you've heard of it?

As if there were apartments smaller than mine.

That's right, Ikea! There's one fairly close to my place in Xinzhuang, but I had never stopped in until now. Some mashed potatoes and meatballs hit the spot after a long day of walking around.

So overall, Tamshui... not a bad stop if you're up north near Beitou anyway, it's a nice place to kill 2 hours. Unfortunately there are no idyllic beaches to sip tea at, I understand they lie a bit outside of town. But you can hang around and watch boats go up and down the river, while old Taiwanese men spend their retirement fishing. Also, the ice cream cones as tall as your head are 30 cents.

So, there's that.