Hi all, how is your weekend going so far. It had been a crazily busy week for me and this weekend is particularly good for me to catch a break and recover.
One of the suggested prompts from 
Taiwan
This is a country that I've visited 5 times.
First visit - As a child on a package tour with my family in 1997
Second visit - Business trip to another wafer fabrication site in Taichung City, Taiwan for a productivity seminar in 2016
Third visit - Wedding Photoshoot for me and my wife 2017
Fourth visit - Business trip to fabrication site in Hualien City, Taiwan to support software launch in 2018
Fifth Visit - Short trip with a few of my photography buddies
This place already entails my work, place where I shot my wedding photos and also leisure with family and friends.
Why Is It My Favourite?
People
The people in Taiwan are generally very friendly and absolutely great in terms of serving customers and helping tourist around. I guess this is due to their influence from the Japanese culture which focus a lot of courtesy and customer satisfaction. Every shop that you go into, you will get acknowledged with a "欢迎光临" which also means "hello, welcome". Compared to some other countries that I've been to, some either just stare at you while others don't even bother looking at you, which gives the hostile vibes. And this friendliness of the Taiwan people not only happen in malls or high end locations, it is everywhere, from hotels/restaurants to the roadside stalls and pushcarts. In the Taipei, they even have volunteers whom volunteer their time in the zoo to serve as guides to tourist. They are patient and also willing to share more information with you.
Food
The food here is just phenomenal and well suited to my belly. You can almost find no lousy food here and the best food are actually found in night markets and roadside stalls. From fried yam balls to fried chicken cutlets to even milk curds, everything is flavourful and does not make you feel awful because of food being too oily or having after taste. And the best part of it, they are not expensive and very wallet friendly. There is another part of it is to interact with the stall owners as they prepare your order which really makes my day whenever I visit such roadside stalls or the night market. So eat your hearts out and you can always end off with an ice cold Taiwan beer! One tip, while it is called Night Market, don't turn up too late into the night else many of the good stuff will be sold out when you arrive.
Of course, there are also nice options on the restaurant tier such as the famous Din Tai Fung which serves Xiaolong Bao that erupts juices when you bite open the skin and also its egg fried rice which is coated with nice and thin layers of egg taste really good when eating together with some dried chilli paste. The only problem you will face when visiting a Din Tai Fung outlet will be its outrageous queues.
Scenery
There is no lack in beautiful sceneries in the country. Cityscapes and nature landscape alike is really beautiful. Mountains, forests, wetlands, open fields, you name it, Taiwan got it. Every time I go Taiwan, I will always include one destination which includes a beautiful scenery. These are something that my country lack, so visiting nice scenery is always part of my travel plans. One of my favourite thing to do is to trek up Elephant Mountain in Taipei and take a picture of the iconic Taipei 101 as seen in the photo below. Pardon the grainy picture because I took this hand held without a tripod and had to bump up the light sensitivity to prevent motion blur.
Closing
Taiwan is a place that has great people whom are always friendly and welcoming, a heaven for it plethora of good food and an awesome place that offers a large variety of city and nature scapes for the avid photographers to capture and explore. With all these amazing traits and characteristics, this is the reason why Taiwan is my favourite place to visit thus far. Not forgetting that Taiwan is also known for the souvenir snacks that one can bring home after the trip and share with your friends and family.
So if you've haven't been to Taiwan, I strongly encourage you to visit at least once and share with me if you like the place as much as I do.
Until next time, have a great weekend!