- [Voiceover] Hey, I'm Gunnarolla.
World traveler, food lover.
Taiwan is one of my favorite travel destinations
and last fall, I had the chance to cycle around the country
with my partner in photoshoots, Sylvia.
This trip was a great way to experience
all that Taiwan has to offer, and challenge ourselves
by doing something we'd never done before.
From breathtaking views to the freshest seafood
and bubble tea every day, and the occasional booch...
- [Sylvia, off camera] Booch it!
Booch! (laughs)
- [Andrew] This was our trip to Taiwan.
You ready?
So when I asked you if you wanted to come cycling in Taiwan
what was your first thought?
- I thought you were crazy, but like there's no way
that you and I would be cycling anywhere, okay?
But then I thought about it, I was like
"Wait I get to go to Asia!"
- Okay, we made it, we made it, we made it to Taipei.
- I slept the entire time.
I can't believe we're here.
- How long has it been since you were in Asia?
- 2014.
- Wow, how long has it been since I've been in Asia?
- Three months. (both laughing)
- I love being in Asia, I love the sights and the sounds
and the smells and the food and the chaos.
I love looking around and seeing people
who look just like us.
- It really does feel like home.
And having lived in Korea for five years
the minute we touched down in Taiwan I just--
It brought me back to that place.
It feels so surreal. - Ugh, it's beautiful.
- Ahhh, and it's such a pleasant day, not too hot.
It's just so nice.
Family Mart, first stop. - Alright, listen.
These are legit, but I never know how to properly open them
so can you please show me? - Yes.
So you get this guy, kay, you unravel this
right in the middle. - Okay...
- All the way around, bop bop bop, 'kay?
And then you pull on the side...
(electronic beeping from the shop)
Pull. - Oh, is that it?
- That's it, and then you eat!
(Andrew laughs)
(blowtorch blowing)
- We're at one of my favorite spots.
It's Sushi Express. - It's so good!
(dishes clattering)
We're gonna try to find somewhere to get our hair cut.
- Both need!
(Andrew off camera snickers)
- This is the look of terror, like I feel like...
- It's-- They're like barely taking anything off here!
I am like shook at the level of service.
I got a haircut, and I got a massage.
And then they took my photo, that was the most
unexpected part, but they didn't give me a discount.
So how prepared did you feel for our first day cycling?
- I thought I was prepared, and then I
put on those biking shorts... (both laugh)
I was not prepared for those shorts!
- This is real, this is real. - Yeah.
- Alright, day one, we've got our bikes.
We've got our hearts and our souls
and we're gonna do this.
- I feel like this is a challenge for both of us.
That we're not ready for. (both laugh)
Just kidding, we're gonna kill it!
We're gonna kill it! Positivity!
(both whooping excitedly)
- So, so sundown we were right around like a 22...
- [Andrew] Our tour guide Minhå did such an incredible job of
keeping us motivated, and making us feel
like we could do this, even though
we weren't professional cyclists.
- (Min offscreen) ...Six, seven, eight...
- Hello everybody, we're about to go cycling
grabbing our bikes, got our helmets on
getting suited up.
This is the beginning of the trail, 0 kilometers.
Let's do this.
(upbeat techno music)
We're here, we're doin' it, amazing!
- [Sylvia] We're cycling!
- [Andrew] Cycling through Taipei was beautiful.
We saw temples, we saw forests, we saw water.
- Let us not forget how hot and humid it was.
- Stupid humid. - It was so gross at one point
I just felt like my biking shorts were--
It was like a soggy diaper. (both laughing)
- Alright, we cycled just over twenty kilometers.
We're at a resting point, they provided fruit and snacks.
This is awesome, it's really hot.
And then we hit the road...
- (whispering) We're dead, we're dead.
- Literally. (both laughing)
Sometimes I almost faceplanted.
Actually, I don't know how you didn't faceplant.
You had the camera at... - [Sylvia] I know...
I was like multitasking, I was literally like straight up
selfie cam-ing trying to vlog while we were cycling.
Cool, cyclist. (laughs)
The struggle, the struggle, the struggle.
Andrewwww! - (Andrew shouting)
- This is actually gorgeous though.
- I was scared to breathe, I was scared to have thoughts
like I was just so focused on keeping my balance and not...
- You did a great job though, kudos.
- Thank you. - Like, he really killed it.
You were better than me at some points where I was like
"Can we go in the van yet?"
Can we... Just go in the van? - (Andrew laughs)
Alright, we've been goin' for I think over an hour.
It feels like a lifetime, my hands are dirty
my butt, I can't feel. - (Sylvia laughs)
- But it's great, highly recommend.
- We're getting a great workout.
So we got to this little town called Nanzhuang
and they had this amazing Hakka lunch for us.
And after lunch they actually gave us some time to explore.
- So we're taking a little break.
We're going to explore this old historic town.
- [Sylvia] Nanzhuang. - Nanzhuang.
And maybe get some desserts.
- And we found the most perfect dessert.
- It's-- It was the perfect one for you
because you love red bean. - I'm obsessed with red bean.
- It had red bean, it had matcha...
- And it was an ice flake, it had those like
sticky rice cakes in it, oh my God it was so good.
- It's pretty hot out here so I think
this is gonna be very refreshing, cheers.
Mm! - Oh my God, the tapioca...
- I love it cuz it's not like, super sweet
but it's really refreshing.
So we're back on the trail, it's starting
to get a little more challenging.
- I did not expect this, like the climbs on this trail...
- We went up, then we're going down...
(both) We're going around...
- [Sylvia] And up again and down again.
I dunno-- I dunno who they think we are but...
(ragged breathing) - There's no...Humanly...Way.
- Oh, it's beautiful though.
So we arrived at this pit stop
and it was our time to kinda rest and cool down
have some iced coffee...
- But knowing us, it was also time...
- (in unison) for a photoshoot!
(intense techno-pop music)
♪♪♪
- [Andrew] It was the birth of the booch.
We had these ridiculous biker shorts...
- I had an ass on my ass, like...
It was literally so thick, I actually
felt pretty sexy in them, in that respect.
I felt like Kim K of the biking world.
- They looked good, and in addition to the padding
that was on our shorts, we were cycling every day...
- So you can only imagine...(clicks tongue)
- So... We made it to dirt pao and a restroom.
(Sylvia laughing)
But if you look over here, here
lemme show you this cool view.
(comedic drum gong, Sylvia laughs)
I feel like the booch became the meme and the theme
and like, our third companion throughout our entire trip.
- It really was. - And it was something
to laugh about, like even in the times we felt like dying.
- That's really the only reason why I survived this trip...
- (in unison) was the booch. - [Sylvia] Booch it!
Booch! (laughing and comedic drum gong)
- I'm actually blown away by how vast Taiwan is.
There's lakes, there's mountains, there's forests
it's so serene...It's beautiful.
Day one, almost done. - (weakly) Yay.
- We cycled quite a bit today.
This is apparently going to be the hardest day though.
- A lot of uphill climbs... - Yeah, I think--
you know what's also throwing me off anyway
is the time change, like we just arrived yesterday.
- Super jet lagged, definitely pooped.
We need to do some self-care tonight
maybe some face masks, some massages
probably not but some face masks, and some bootytooch.
- We survived day one, cycling through Taiwan.
- And that was over 70 kilometers, just in one day.
- With many more kilometers to go.
- And not enough bike shorts.
Had to wash and ring them out every day.
It was...great...
- [Andrew] Next Friday on Gunnarolla...
We survived day one!
(excited cheering)
I heard there's an amazing seafood...
- [Sylvia] Look at these palm trees, this is beautiful.
- I'm trying to get us to bubble tea
the fastest way possible.
- I just want my bed.