Not only was Sam a fabulous host in Taiwan, he has also invited me to guest blog on FormoSam.
So here are some photos of my week on an island I never thought I would visit, but hope to return to in the future.

 First stop for any visitor is the Chiang Kai-Shek memorial hall, the man who made Taiwan possible. Check out the Golden.

 They have a load of his stuff in a museum, including this Cadillac.

 And a ginormous statue of the man, guarded 24/7 by soldiers, although I think the risk of someone walking off with it is remote.

 Down to business...the national dish of Taiwan. Beef noodles. Enough said.

 Later we visited a market and met the original Hello Kitty (now retired)

 And met some of Sam's cool new friends

 No visit to a far eastern country is complete without  a temple

 Or two.

 Templed out, we set off for a cookery class that included a visit to the food market. This couple may have had enough of fresh veg.

 The class was taught by Kitchen Ivy, known to her friends as Ivy. Here she is frying our sesame balls

 And helping Sam to make dough for soup dumplings. True fact. As you can see, Sam and Ivy are from entirely different species.

 Our first dumplings. Ready for steaming

 And ready to eat just a few minutes. Very, very good.

 Taipei has a very cheap, clean and efficient metro system. But it does overload the senses at times.

 Look out! Badass Rabbits.

 I wouldn't leave the kid there, pal. Bad neighbourhood.

 Taipei 101 was once the world's tallest building. And then Dubai spoiled the party. It has 101 floors. Who guessed?

 And Sam made some more friends.

 Did you know it is the year of the sheep? The white curly haired things. On the left of this photo, thank you.

 WOW!

 Off to the night market for dinner. These omletty things were very good but filling

 But we managed beef filled buns

 

 Do you see red and gold? or gold and red? The photo that broke the internet

Coming next - a trip to the country