24 March 2006
We went to our local fresh market and bought breakfast and then had a nice long stroll up our local mountain park. After our ramble we returned to the house and Ken and Lorie wrote a bunch of post-cards and I packed my suitcase of things to go back to the USA. We then took a short wander through our local (and favorite) “Tung Hua” night market. We arrived home in time to repack the new acquisitions and then take a taxi to the bus stop where Ken and Lorie got on the bus to the airport. They thought it was great that due to the crossing of the International Date Line they arrived in Phoenix, AZ the exact time they left Taipei!
23 March 2006
I stayed around the house and Ken and Lorie visited Ben’s school and then Ken took a nap while Lorie had a delightful time shopping and then getting lost on her way home from the Taiwan Handicraft Market. I tried to clean house a bit and wasn’t felling very well but Ben called and we all agreed to meet at our favorite “fancy” restaurant. Just like Taco Bell is not real Mexican food, this place is the Asian version of American Food since it is called “Skylark: California Cuisine” but is very Asian in presentation and preparation (i.e. the chicken in their pot pie still has the skin and bones in the meat.) After we had our nice 5-course meal for about $12 USD each we then went to the “Wal-Mart” of Taiwan known as RT-mart and Ken and Lorie saw the fascinating Shopping Cart Escalators that are listed earlier in the blog.
This was a significant day for our family. Not only did Elnorra take her first step (and until April 10th her ONLY step with out assistance) as she stumbled into her dad’s arms at the restaurant. She said her first repeated and distinct word, bye-bye, which is accompanied with her Miss America wave and sounds like “bu-bu.” She also cut her first top tooth AND most significantly she was labeled “je-je” (older sister in Chinese) since we found out that she will be a big sister in November since we are now expecting our second child around November 17th.
This was a significant day for our family. Not only did Elnorra take her first step (and until April 10th her ONLY step with out assistance) as she stumbled into her dad’s arms at the restaurant. She said her first repeated and distinct word, bye-bye, which is accompanied with her Miss America wave and sounds like “bu-bu.” She also cut her first top tooth AND most significantly she was labeled “je-je” (older sister in Chinese) since we found out that she will be a big sister in November since we are now expecting our second child around November 17th.
22 March 2006
Mr. Sheih again was an amazing host and he took the four of us to the small aboriginal village of Wulai just south of Taipei. We rode a cable car up to the top of the waterfall and were treated to another delightful lunch. After we wandered around the waterfalls we went to the Wulai hot spring that is heated by CO3 rather than sulfur. Elnorra wasn’t allowed in so we went in shifts. As darkness approached we arrived at Mr. Sheih’s mountain “villa” where we sat a while and listened to some good music on his vacuum tube amplifier. He then took us to a nearby village and treated us to a traditional Taiwanese dinner. We all tried the “Cho Dofu” which directly translates as “stinky tofu” and we could all pass on it next time! The best thing is the pineapple shrimp that is nicely deep fried and covered with the sweet Taiwanese’s mayonnaise.
21 March 2006
Ben had to go back to work and Ken, Lorie, Windy, and Elnorra spent the day with their super nice landlord, Mr. Sheih. We went to see the famous Chaing Kai-Shek memorial hall and we witnessed the formal changing of the guard. We then were treated to a very fancy international buffet at the “Grand Hotel” and then went to the “National Palace Museum.” After the museum closed Mr. Sheih was kind eno0ugh to drop us off at the very large “Shilin Night Market” and we spent and hour or two down my favorite alley and had a small glimpse of rest of the market before heading home via the MRT (subway system).
20 March 2006
We had a delightful time in Taroko Gorge and Ben, Lorie and Ken went to the Bunyan Waterfalls and had a nice visit with a monkey along the way while Leonard, Windy and Elnorra took a nice nap. We left the Gorge around 4 pm and were back in Taipei safe and sound by 9 pm. What a wonderful marathon “round-the-island” trip we had.
19 March 2006
Ben, Windy, Elnorra and Leonard attended church in Hualien while Ken and Lorie checked out the city a little. After church we headed up to Taroko Gorge and had a nice little drive to the “Eternal Spring Shrine.” We then drove through many tunnels and had a Leonard received even more experience with passing tour busses near 1-lane tunnels in the middle of our “two”-lane road. We stayed out until past dark and then rented $800NT motel rooms in the nearest town to the Gorge and had a nice dinner and turned in relatively early (no night market tonight!)
18 March 2006
We had a nice slow start to the morning and then Leonard stayed on the beach with Elnorra and the rest of us went snorkeling! Windy had never been before and it was an amazing experience! The water was a delightful temperature and just a few feet off the shore there were wonderfully colorful tropical fish and coral and even a few anemones were easy to find. By 2 PM we were all sunburned by some degree with Leonard and Windy highest on the scale so we hit the road for our longest day in the car as we drove up the scenic East coast. We had quite the amazement when our “freeway” became a one-laner around some curves. The other drivers weren’t fazed at all and knew which corners to wait at and when to honk to let us know they were coming through. We finally arrived in Hualien at 10 pm had a bit more trouble finding a cheap motel and settled for $800 NT ($25USD) per room.
17 March 2006
16 March 2006
We drove from Chiai to Kaohsiung. We drove through the tunnel under the harbor to go a black sand beach (no swimming allowed) and then we had a classic lunch at the seafood street market (such as squid on a stick and whole fried crab). After lunch we took a not so short trip to buy a hat for Windy and had a royal good time buying things at a variety of tourist shops. We then drove to Lotus Lake and saw many of the very classic tourist pavilions on the lake and then found another very cheap hotel and went to yet another night market but when we returned home we found out why we were able to rent the rooms for cheap! We were above the Karaoke bar that was loud and obnoxious until 3 am!
15 March 2006
We drove from Taichung to Sun Moon Lake and then to Chiai. The major highlight of the day was this serene trip to the seemingly vacant temple in Taiping where we roamed the complex and then were invited to have lunch with the monks and nuns. Little Elnorra was such a hit that I spent most of the time after lunch escorting her around to see all the nuns who wanted to see the cute baby. Her overall pockets were stuffed with little candy presents from these very friendly folks. We then proceeded to Sun Moon Lake and Ben and Windy had a nice time in a rowboat on a mini date. Once we had found another cheap hotel near the train station (notice the trend here?) we went to the night market and had the famous Chiai “Chicken Rice” and then had “mango bing” (shave ice with real fruit topping) for dessert.
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