This entry will be food-lite so I can focus on some of the spectacular scenery in Taiwan.  I was really surprised to discover so much natural beauty in the country and we ended up doing a TON of trekking.

Taroko Gorge: one of Taiwan's prettiest national parks known for the abundant supply of marble and some jade.  The name "Taroko" means magnificent and beautiful. Full Wikipedia article here.

Fishermen hard at work on a random beach: after they hauled in the catch, we bought some ultra fresh fish.

 Sun Moon Lake:  The color of the water was unreal and we ended up taking a boat around the lake

A mochi vendor in one of the nearby towns

A stack of bentos

Pork chop, chicken leg over rice bento with lots of bamboo shoots and greens - yum!

What a stylish little kid

Alishan Mountain: one of my favorite experiences of the trip though we were all freezing, soaked and had to wake up at 3AM to hike up to get a view of the sunrise.  This mountain area contained waterfalls, villages, high-altitude tea plantations and plenty of ancient trees.  Full Wikipedia article here.

 It's a golden pig!  See - I'd never let you guys down by not featuring at least a mention of a pig in every post :)

And then as we were driving down the mountain, we came upon this group of monkeys by the side of the road:

And we finally get to the sunrise:

Full photoset can be found on my flickr page.