Upside Down House Taipei // Huashan 1914 Creative Park

Taipei Upside Down House

We had the opportunity to explore Taipei's Upside Down House exhibit this past weekend! Based on the astounding response to my Instagram post I can tell that this is something new and exciting for everyone out there :) We were lucky enough to have been in the area on a Friday afternoon before the long lines started so we got to take a million photos both inside and outside the house. The admission was $199NT (~$6) and well worth it. I compiled all the photos we took and also included a flipped version of it - that way you can all see what it looked like to us in person and what it would have looked like if the furniture were all right side up. Enjoy!

Huashan 1914 Creative Park

Besides the Upside Down House there were so many other things to look at and explore at Huashan 1914 Creative Park! I was actually here a year ago and a bunch of the things they have now were not here before. They've definitely added and improved upon the atmosphere and content of the park and I couldn't be happier. We walked through and found a bunch of shops selling handcrafted artistic goods- anything from wooden kitchenware to 24K gold jewelry to hand-sewn stuffed animals, and so much more. BF found me a pair of 24K dachshund earrings and I am OBSESSED! (Anything dachshund really wins me over.) I only captured a few shots of the park since I was too busy soaking it all in in-person. Definitely a spot to add to your list if you're visiting Taipei!

Yamaguchi, Japan

I just got back from Yamaguchi, Japan and felt like my blog needed a little revival so I'm about to overload you all with another travel photo diary!  We went to Yamaguchi (which is considered a slightly more rural area of Japan) to see the cherry blossoms in bloom this year.  Unfortunately the cherry blossom trees felt that it was too cold during this time of month so we were greeted by mostly barren trees :(  Luckily they started blooming slowly throughout the five days we were there!

We hopped on the 7:30AM flight so we had a full day ahead of us. Our first stop was lunch at this elevated rotating restaurant overlooking Yamaguchi. This area is well-known for using pufferfish in their cuisine. It was my first time ever trying it, let alone in both sashimi and tempura form, but I found that I actually really like pufferfish!

This was the first day the cherry blossoms decided to start blooming- but just a little!  Most of the trees were still blossom-free at this point.

Random awesome tidbit about Japan: you can get HOT corn chowder and HOT coffee from a vending machine!  So awesome!

Picked up a fluffy friend to accompany me this trip :P

Akiyoshidai Quasi National Park

We visited the Akiyoshidai Quasi-National Park - 17 square miles of 300 million year old limestone rocks!

I tried this region's special orange flavored soft serve mixed with vanilla in a waffle cone.  RIDICULOUSLY good!!

Akiyoshido Cave

We walked through about a kilometer stretch of limestone cave created by underground water. It was beautiful! There was very minimal light down in the tunnel so I'm glad I brought my camera down here with me so it could pick up all the little details on the walls and ceiling.

The light at the end of the tunnel.  We made it through!

This was the exit of the limestone cave... Breathtaking!

SafariLand

Sukiyaki lunch provided by our visit to Yamaguchi's Safari Land.

We took this bus onto the safari.  They gave each of us a tray with some bread and raw meats to feed the animals through the metal bars on the bus!

The vegetarian (bread) portion of our trays was for this guy and a few zebras and deer that followed along.

Real life teddy bears!

This part made me so nervous!! I was less than one foot away from these lions. One of the male lions was asserting his dominance over the others and fought over this very piece of meat. The other beta lions backed off and let the alpha do his thing and after he walked away, they slowly approached the bus again. :O

I stopped for street food every opportunity I got!  This is what they call the "American hotu dogu" aka the corn dog.

Miyajima Island

The famous floating torii gate on Miyajima Island.

So many deer just casually walking around on the island. I witnessed an aggressive one stealing a paper bag from a baby! 

Walking through the streets on Miyajima Island, I found that the majority of the shops were selling red bean cakes in the shape of a maple leaf.  I finally came across this cheese filled croissant in the shape of the maple leaf and I had to have it! It was soooooo good

Kintai Bridge

The ice cream shops at the end of Kintai Bridge are known for their 100 different flavors of ice cream!  I saw a bunch with some crazy colors but I ended up going with a swirl of blueberry and mixed berry.  Loved it!

Tokiwa Park

This park was filled with a bunch of awesome and unique sculptures!  The city hosts a biannual sculpture competition to add new additions to the lot.  This is park definitely made it on my list of favorite parks I've been to!

This was our last day here.  We ended the trip with much more abundantly-filled cherry blossom trees!  So glad we were able to catch a glimpse before we left.  I never thought I'd make it out here to Yamaguchi but I'm sooo happy I did.  I definitely recommend this region if you've already explored all of Tokyo and you're looking for a more rural spot to explore!