Trip to Taiwan - Day #5

So we've been waking up around 5 am every morning, but this morning my body did not want to wake up at all. I slept in until almost 9 am and then cleaned up with a long soak in the bath (and read a book) for another hour or two. It was a late start to the day but I figured I'd have all afternoon to go out. It was already 1:30 when I was finally ready to go, but then I talked to Scott and found out I needed to change and meet him earlier for a customer dinner. Long story short, I'm not really sure where the time went but I ended up with very little for some reason. I had a nice walk through Taipei 101 (STILL haven't gotten to the top) and through Computex booths. Then on to a customer meeting and dinner.

They were very friendly, even though I was just kind of tagging along. The dinner was definitely an experience - Chinese Shanghai style. A sampling of items from last night's dinner: jellied pork, steamed ferns, fried seaweed & bamboo, shark fin soup, peas & lily bulbs, taro dessert, drunk chicken, red dates with sticky rice. And, yes, I tried them all!

Shark fin wasn't as bad as I had anticipated - pretty mild and not too unpleasant of a texture (but I still couldn't bring myself to have more than one bite). Lily bulbs aren't my favorite but they're ok. I knew I wouldn't like the jellied pork but decided to try everything. I could hardly even try the drunk chicken because of the bones around it. Surprisingly it was the dessert of red dates stuffed with sticky rice that turned my stomach the most. The river shrimp, dumplings, codfish, taro dessert and mushroom & bamboo were fine. My favorites were the braised pork (wonderful!), watermelon & pineapple, green onion pancakes, and surprisingly, the ferns and seaweed & bamboo.

Trip to Taiwan - Day #4

I got a map of the bus system, wrote out directions to all the places I wanted to go, and went off exploring by myself today. I found I kept "organizing" the hotel room before leaving & realized I was a little nervous. I was planning to go to another city about an hour away ... 5 transers on the MRT station, walking around to find places once I got there, and not speaking any Chinese. But I was also excited for the adventure.

It took quite a while to figure out the MRT (light rail) system (as in even FIND the first station!), and I almost gave up and went back to the hotel, but I persevered. I realized as I was walking that I didn't have a clue what an MRT station was or looked like! I hung out at the bus station for a bit. I showed a couple my map and asked if this was the right place. The lady said yes, but later her husband came and said lots of things, but all I understood was no. I figured out that if you're lost, look for the closest hotel -- the concierge usually speaks a little English. He told me I was looking for something different from the bus and that it was 'that' way (pointing). It still took a while to find (as I had no clue I was looking for a set of stairs with no sign until I saw the light rail going above me), but from then out things were great. The city I went to was beautiful, and I got to spend several hours in a natural hot spring. :-)

The hot spring park was where the locals go (I was the only white person I saw in the entire city). There were 6 pools of all different temperatures. I made sure to go in each one. The hottest one was SUPER hot -- and that's saying a lot coming from me (Scott can't get in the baths/showers I run) -- but I proudly managed two lengthy soaks in it. I'm sure I was bright pink afterwards -- even the locals were pretty red when they got out of that one.

Okay, I admit it -- I didn't go up to my neck in the cold pool, but hey I did get in . And let me tell you, you don't need drugs to trip your body out -- just take a super cold dip after a super hot one!

The weirdest part was going hours without saying a single word (since no one spoke English) - that NEVER happens at home with the kids!! I just rode the MRT or walked around, observing & taking pictures for the most part. After several hours, I'd start feeling like a mute - odd feeling. It was enjoyable when one of the ladies at the hot spring museum talked to me in English for a while.

The evening trip to the night market got cancelled because it was raining badly and we were told most vendors would have packed up, so no shopping yet. :-( But we went to a famous dumpling restaurant, Din Tai Fung, for dinner so I still got to do one of the things on my list. The meal was good but I found steamed dumplings aren't my most favorite thing. The pork fried rice and the pork buns were wonderful.

It surprised me how comforting the rain was last night -- sounded like home (& blocked the traffic noise). Big difference, though, is that everyone carries umbrellas and opens them even if they're just crossing the street. My fellow Oregonians will probably agree that's an odd sight.

Trip to Taiwan - Day #3

Chiang Kia-shek Memorial Hall

Day 3: Tour of Taipei -- I signed up for a half-day tour of the city. We had an English-speaking guide, a couple from Australia & an Asian family in the group. It was really fun to see all the different sites & learn some history! The National Palace Museum had amazing jade & ivory carvings, but we didn't get to stay long. Taking a break now then off to walk some shops and visit Taipei 101 tonight with Scott.

I walked around Computex in the evening. We went over to Taipei 101 but the line to go up to the observatory at the top was really long and it would have been dark by the time we got to go. We decided to come back another day, so we had a teppanyaki dinner down in the basement (where the prices are actually affordable) and then came back to the hotel and went to bed early.

Local Buddhist / Taoist Temple

Presidential Office Building
(where the President of Taiwan works)

Statue in the temple

Scooters everywhere -

they just weave through all the cars

Changing of the guard at Martyr's Shrine

Hallway to Martyr's Shrine

On-guard soldier at Martyr's Shrine

Cool tree

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

Trip to Taiwan - Day #2

Day 2: Setup day for Computex -- I offered to help with set up but most of what I could help with was already done so I helped where I could and made sight-seeing plans while Scott worked. We did go out to an electronics market to buy parts, and that market (Kuanghua) was actually on one of the top ten lists of things to do, so I guess I got some sightseeing in after all. :-)

Kuanghua Market has *all* kinds of electronics but instead of a large superstore like Fry's, it's a collection of hundreds of small little shops (there were at least 6 floors!). Every shop carried different items which made it a little tricky finding someone who sold the specific parts we needed. We also got some yummy ice cream in a croissant cone and some interesting breads with funny names (they didn't translate so well).

Setup usually goes SUPER late but security kicked us out around 9:30 pm. After getting kicked out, everyone went to dinner at a Japanese place. It was fun & the food was pretty good. (You never know exactly what you'll get when you're just pointing at items on the menu.)

It was midnight before we got to bed again. Oh, update on the bed -- Scott talked to the front desk and they gave us a free room upgrade where the beds have a top mattress instead of a top boxspring. Much better sleep last night. :-)

Here's a few pictures ... see my facebook page for more (they're much easier to upload there).

Outside of Kuanghua Electronic Market

This bread was titled "Matrimony vine of miscellaneous foods"

Night view of Taipei 101 - the tallest building in the world
(although Scott thinks there's one taller now)

Trip to Taiwan - Day #1

Day 1: LONG plane ride -- watched 4 movies, read 1 book, and
pseudo-slept for several hours.

Most memorable moment: getting rice porridge with shrimp & tuna on top and a green egg for breakfast on the plane. I do regret not taking a picture for my squeamish daughter to see though.

Biggest adventure: The ride to the hotel -- I have to say our driver seemed quite cautious compared to most people on the road; we only had 2-3 near misses. People seem to view the lines between the lanes as mere guidelines, if that. There were often 5 cars across on a 4-lane road. They just weave around wherever there's the *tiniest* space, as if they were walking through a crowd instead of barreling down the road at incredible speeds!

Thankfully we survived the journey intact and made it safely to our hotel, where we promptly fell into a nice, firm bed. Or was it a concrete slab with a sheet over the top? Not sure, but we were so tired it didn't really matter ... until morning when everything hurt. First item of business today: find something a little softer for our weary old bones.

Nate's Baptism

I never posted pictures from Nathan's baptism on the blog. I was going to do that now since I actually have some free time with little else to do. (I said I would help with setup for the tradeshow today, but most of the work I can help with is done now. I might leave and go shopping but enjoying some free time to play on the computer.) Anyway, I posted 30 pictures on my facebook page and decided I don't want to put 30 pictures up on here. Here's a few from the actual baptism itself. Otherwise, you can see all the pictures from the weekend on my facebook album.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=2044174&id=1026468782

Latest Happenings

I'm realizing it's been a really long time since I updated the blog. No way I have time to do it all tonight, but I'll post a couple pix...

Nathan earned his orange belt in January. I have videos of his first tournament, which was that weekend, but I haven't had time
to figure out how to convert/post HD videos yet.

Working on FINALLY getting poor Nathan's quilt tied -
it's not anything fancy, but he wanted a warmer blanket, so Jenna, Kaylee, and I made this for him LAST Christmas (as in 2008!). (The exercise ball worked great as an easily portable seat.)

Jenna & Talia on the newly finished quilt - I should have a picture of Nathan with it, but he was off skiing with Scott & Kaylee.

Scott's birthday - Wow, was it ever difficult getting
40 candles on that poor cake!

Cute pix of Lisette

Kaylee's diorama for "Where the Red Fern Grows". Grandma Lani helped her come up with the idea & wanted to see how it turned out. It's mostly made from different types of moss we pulled off trees and the ground. (Moss is ever abundant here in Oregon!) She made the animals with pipe cleaners and the kid with a clothespin.

Kaylee won first place in bars at her last meet, second on floor, third on vault, and third all-around for her age group! It was her very best score yet, unfortunately it was also the first meet we've been to that didn't give medals for individual events. She was pretty bummed about that, but she did get a gold medal for her all-around score.
No more meets until September now.