Jodie's journal

Just a couple of hours flight from the noisy, stressful streets of Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo or Bangkok, Taipei has natural hot springs to relax your body amidst natural mountain landscapes that sooth your mind.

Riverside bike trails

Who would dare to ride a bicycle in Taipei, with its busy roads full of traffic? Actually, if you want to ride a bicycle without worrying, there are more than 100 kilometers of beautiful, peaceful cycle paths along the three rivers that flow through Taipei. They are only for bicycles - no cars or scooters are allowed. Bicycles are available for rent at low prices at several locations along the bike paths.

Taiwanese people have a remarkably high percentage of eyesight problems, particularly short-sightedness. The reasons aren't clear, although it could be because students usually spend too much time reading, studying or watching TV. Many young people start wearing glasses at an early age.

Having your teeth fixed may not sound like a very good way to relax. But what if it got you a free vacation?

Dental treatment in Taiwan is so cheap that the difference in price could easily cover all your travel expenses.

If you've ever wandered around in the busy center of Taipei, feeling bored of shopping, or tired of meetings. Elephant mountain is a different experience. It's almost like Central Park in New York. You would imagine that mountains would be far from the city center, but Elephant mountain is only 5 minutes walk away from the Taipei center, the tallest building, Taipei 101.

Apart from joining our cooking class, here are some more ideas for activities to do in Taipei if you like nature, culture, and exploring.

1. Elephant mountain hiking trails

2. Dental services

3. Buying glasses

 聽說喝杯咖啡常會生起一種幸福的感覺，所以在不景氣的商業氛圍下，全球的咖啡市場依然熱絡，咖啡大賣，因為愈是低潮的人生愈是需要咖啡溫暖的加溫。

 這家義大利餐廳有最令人既羨慕又嫉妒的義大利精神，一天只營業五個小時，中午十二點才開門，營業二個小時後就關上大門休息了。晚上六點準時營業，如果您早個十分鐘到，老闆會請您在外面稍等，六點整會開門請您進來。晚間的品嚐時間也只有三小時，時間到了老闆要休息回家溜狗。

Stir-frying is a very efficient way of cooking. Compared to oven cooking, it only takes a few minutes to complete a dish.

Stir-frying food with a wok also looks cool! It looks like you're performing on a TV cooking show. Adding a little bit of this and that – we can all look like a cooking superstar.

A natural hair treatment

Black sesame seeds are the most common tonic herb in Chinese cooking. Chinese have used black sesame seeds as a natural hair treatment for thousands of years. People believe it helps to restore hair color, and grow thick, strong hair very efficiently.