Back home in Ankeny

We hopped in a taxi at our hotel at 6:30 a.m. on the 20th, and headed to the airport.  We enjoyed every moment of our trip, and we spent a lot of time on our journey home reminiscing about our time in Taiwan.  It was amazing in every way, and that's largely due to all the advance planning done by Alana and Paul so that we'd see so much of Taiwan.  We were so glad to spend time with them on location and gain a better understanding of their experiences and surroundings there.  It's always so much different from the perspective of just being a short-term visitor, but we definitely got a small taste of their environment.  We can never thank Alana and Paul enough for all the fun we had with them in Taiwan!! 

Eating breakfast at the Taipei airport (the pineapple from the street vendor was delicious!!)

Taking off in Taipei

Saying good-bye to Taiwan!

A view of the coastline as we circled

We were glad the turn was on the side where we were seated - such good views!

The Taiwan coastline

Last looks behind!

This is a town on Lake Michigan --- at first we thought it might be Holland!!   :-)   Maybe???

Well, the trip back was relatively easy, though it seemed longer this time.  So much eager anticipation on the way to Taiwan helped the time go by more quickly!  Our flight out of Tokyo was delayed 2 hours, so that made us miss our connecting flight in Detroit.  We had 3 extra hours in the Detroit airport - ugh!!  So we were pretty tired by the time we rolled into Des Moines a little before 9:00 p.m.   Grammy, Papa, and Beth were there to greet us!!  Beth was a surprise!  After the drop-off at home, we got a few groceries at Hy-Vee, and it felt very strange to see everything in English, to hear only English spoken, and to see no Asians.  We were totally in the minority for the past 2 weeks - especially in Sanxia, which is not a tourist area at all!! 

After a good night's sleep (we slept in until about 10:00), we got back in gear here.  Laundry, mail, unpacking, and a long walk filled the rest of our day.  I have spent lots more time loading pictures.  I hope everyone can see them all.  Still very frustrated with the videos - I finally got 2 to load from our day at school, but no more will load even though I'm doing the exact same process.  Grrrr!!  Oh well, at least there are LOTS of pics!! 

So there you have it - our blog of our Taiwan Travels.  I don't know if it made it easier or more of a pain to load the pictures on the original blogs of the days when the pictures were taken, but everything should be complete now.  Be sure to look for the photos from the beginning of the blog --- go back to the beginning and then through all the other posts to see the photos that were uploaded later!!!  

Thanks for reading!! 
Love,
-M & T-

Good-bye Taiwan

We still can't believe our time in Taiwan is coming to a close.  It has been a wonderful, magical adventure, and we'll treasure the memories here with Paul and Alana.  We'll leave for the airport at 6:30 a.m., and the flight leaves around 9:30, heading through Tokyo and Detroit on our way back to Des Moines and Ankeny.  Grammy and Papa will pick us up at 5:30 or so tomorrow night.  It will be good to see everyone at home, but we'll miss Paul and Alana, and Taiwan!!

This morning we walked to Old Street Sanxia.  The actual "Old Street", with its brick archways and storefronts, is really pretty tourist-y, and it was fairly empty in the morning - only a few tourists and some classes of little kids on field trips all in their matching school shirts.  Some of the shops weren't even open yet.  We did get to finish up our final souvenir shopping, and it was easy to get around.  We found a bullhorn crescent roll shop and bought tasty treats again for a mid-morning snack. 

But our journey getting down to Old Street was absolutely fascinating.  We went through many streets that progressively got more narrow, and this is obviously a major shopping area for the locals.  Every kind of tiny shop imaginable lined the streets, and out on the sidewalks were many, many vendors of vegetables, fruits, fish, chicken, pork, beef, and lots of other foods we couldn't identify.  Some had carts, and others just spread out a cloth and laid their produce out on it.  It was a cacophony of sounds and a bustle of activity.  There were huge crowds of people, cars (though not many - no room!), and the ever present scooters.  Clearly, the morning shopping time is prime time for all the food.  We saw legs of pig with their hooves dyed black. piles of chicken feet, and many other interesting items! 

This is the little hanging note in the bathroom that is typical of those in U.S. hotels, stating that towels on the rack mean "don't wash", and towels on the floor mean "wash me", in an effort to conserve energy.  Notice the typo!!  LOL!! 

With Kai, the assistant manager of our hotel in Sanxia - great guy!! 

Fresh fish stand at the market near Old Street Sanxia

Fresh vegetables spread out on a tarp on the street.

The busy shopping street in Sanxia

Looking down a narrow side street.

Lychees for sale --- so yummy!

Fresh veggies for sale!

Then we walked back to our hotel via a fruit stand that our bus always goes past, to buy some apples and some yummy yellow plums for our lunch later.  At the hotel we dropped off our purchases, washed the fruit, and headed out to Carrefour (like Hy-Vee/Meijer) for the rest of our picnic lunch items and a few other last-minute purchases.  On the way, we stopped by Uncle Sam's and picked up P/A's bicycles for the last time.  It has been so nice to pedal around like many locals do here.  Then we followed a map given to us by the hotel assistant manager (who has been so wonderful to us - like our personal concierge helping us in every way possible), to go to a museum in the area.  Well, long story, but the map isn't true to scale, and the roads aren't very bike-friendly, so we didn't end up seeing all he suggested, but it was still a nice afternoon.  We went to a Hakka museum that was free, and ate our picnic lunch on a bench overlooking the gardens in back.  The Hakka are an ethnic minority of native Taiwanese, and we learned a lot about them in the museum.  Of course, the employees quickly located the one English-speaker there, and she was really great explaining things to us.  She even printed out an English map of the area that was very helpful. 

The Sanxia area is famous for its pottery, so we checked out some pottery shops, but didn't make it all the way to the pottery district and the pottery museum.  Much too far and too dangerous by bicycle.  So finally, we biked back to Uncle Sam and locked up the bikes again.  We saw one of the classes returning from a field trip, getting out of the mini-bus owned by the school --- the kids were excited to see us again!! 

We saw these 2 butterflies in the garden behind the Hakka museum while eating our lunch. 

One was actually orange and the other yellow - the colors didn't show up well in the photo.

This is a model of traditional Hakka living arrangements.  Family groups of 30-60 live in each round building with a common area in the middle. 

A group of Uncle Sam kids coming back from their field trip to the eye doctor.  The school takes all the kids to their medical, dental, and eye check-ups during the school day, since the parents work and can't take time off for those appointments.  It's another service the school provides. 

One last view of Uncle Sam American School after we locked up the bikes there.

Tim and his mango slushie!! 

Finally, we walked back to the hotel, and on the way we purchased a bag of cut-up pineapple fresh off a street cart.  We put it in our fridge and will take it along for breakfast at the airport tomorrow, since we'll have to leave before breakfast is served here at the hotel in the morning.  Then we spent some time packing and re-arranging everything in our suitcases for the trip home.  We actually put our smaller carry-on suitcase inside the "Santa Suitcase" for the return trip. 

After showering and getting all dressed up for our last evening out, we hopped on the 922 bus for the last time, meeting Paul and Alana at their favorite "nice" restaurant, the Rose House.  It is very elegant, and they are known for their extensive menu of teas.  They also serve a variety of "high tea" meals English style.  The dinner was wonderful - we both had fish, while Paul had chicken, and Alana had a beef stew.  There was a salad also, with rose dressing.  The meal included dessert, and we all had cake - very yummy and so pretty too.  Our teas were wonderful.  The other 3 all had iced fruit teas, and I had a pot of hot mango green tea.  Amazing!!  The teas were all served after the meal, and the iced teas all came in cute little pitchers, to be poured into stemmed glasses like martini glasses.  My hot tea came in an ornate china pot painted with roses, on a little china trivet with sterno or a candle in it to keep the pot hot.  Of course the teacup and saucer were lovely china as well.  Melissa met us after the meal to join us for tea so she could say good-bye.  She wrote us the sweetest note, and even wrote "thank-you" in Chinese characters ---- it must have taken her forever!! 

Waiting on the boulevard for Paul and Alana to join us for our last dinner together in Sanxia

More of the sidewalk on the boulevard - benches, trees, sculptures. 

There were many examples of trees being supported by 3 or 4 poles

And here come Paul and Alana, after the short walk from their apartment

What a lovely couple!! 

cake for dessert at the Rose House

Delicious!

My hot tea came in bone china, with a teapot over a candle to keep it warm.

Melissa joined us for tea after dinner.    :-) 

After supper and saying good-bye to Mel, the four of us walked down the boulevard (the street where P/A live and where Uncle Sam's is) for a while enjoying the evening.  They took us to their favorite smoothie place and bought us a farewell smoothie.  Michelle had Alana's favorite - strawberry, no sugar, and Tim had Paul's favorite - mango/milk with 1/2 sugar.  Both were refreshing and delicious.  We talked a while at the bus stop until a #922 came by and they headed to their apartment.  It was tough saying good-bye to Alana, and Paul insisted he's coming to the hotel in the morning to see us off, even though we told him it would be too early for him on a school day.  Tim and I sat at a cafe table on a terrace by the smoothie shop overlooking the boulevard sidewalk and finished our drinks, reflecting on our time here in Taiwan.  We then took a slow stroll back to our hotel, walking hand in hand. 

Not a very good photo, but a memory I'll always carry with me of our last sight of Paul and Alana in Taiwan, waving good-bye out of the bus window after our wonderful dinner at the Rose House.   Love you guys!!  Thanks for an amazing time with you!! 

So, here we are.  Good-night, Taiwan.  We've enjoyed getting to know you!!  It's off to bed and early to rise for our trip back to the good old U.S. of A.  
Love,
-M & T-

Fast Train Taxi

This morning we'll finish up yesterday's saga while the last of our socks are in the dryer - everything else we washed last night dried out last night hanging in the room.  Just had our last breakfast here at the hotel.  :-(  

Forgot to mention that yesterday we really had no idea how to get transportation, find a taxi, etc. to get us back the 2 1/4 hours to the town where we needed to catch the high speed rail.  As we we were walking along the street on the ring-shopping expedition, a taxi driver randomly walked up to us and asked if we needed a taxi!!  God is good and provides in many ways!!  So we arranged to meet him at McDonald's (the only name we know in Chinese - "Mack-Don-Alds" - LOL!!)  at 2:00. 

The gateway to Kenting National Park

This is the fruit portion of the buffet ---  see what you have to look forward to, Lute?? 

Our red-haired waiter at the steak buffet.  (Like Kool-Aid red!!)

Two reasons for this picture..... 1.) to show you the "squatter" style toilets some places in Taiwan - it's built right into the floor, so you straddle it and squat ---hate them!!  and 2.) this is a lit up fish tank for your viewing pleasure!!  Real fish in all the tanks in the stalls.  LOL!!  

There's a fish tank above the men's urinal too!!

Sign above a normal toilet, just in case someone is confused and thinks it's a tall "squatter" --- Oh my goodness!!! 

View from the HSR train on the way back north

Tim at the front of the high-speed train

So after our wonderful buffet lunch with the steak, chops, much fruit, and ice cream, we met him and loaded up into the taxi.  He spoke almost no English, and we needed to distinguish the HSR from the normal train station, so Alana kept saying "fast train" in Chinese.  He finally shot his hand forward and said "whoosh", so we all agreed and did the same thing, laughing, knowing he understood.  Well, at least he understood "whoosh" because he took off like a stunt driver in a movie, driving like a maniac to cover the 2 1/4 journey in 1 1/2 hours.  He put in a techno-beat CD that was really fast, and he drove along to the music, bopping his hands on the steering wheel and kind of dancing to the music.  Once again, God is good, as our prayers were answered in that we arrived safely.  Let's just say he raised the bar on the definition of a "white-knuckle" ride.  In retrospect, we figure he thought we meant we wanted to get TO the train fast, not get TO the fast train!!!  LOL!!  We were driving on the shoulder, in the scooter lane, weaving in and out of traffic lanes constantly, went through at least 3 red lights, and Tim (in the front seat) saw the speedometer at 130 at one point (that's km per hour though, not mph). 

Since we arrived 3 hours early for our train, (we'd been expecting to spend more time on the beach, but with the rain, just headed to the train instead), Paul changed our tickets, and we got on a train within a 1/2 hour.  The ride was again comfortable, smooth, and scenic.  We took the MRT and bus back to Sanxia, and we all unloaded our luggage then reconvened at the favorite dumpling place one last time, meeting their friend Melissa there too.  Paul and Alana scootered back home, and Tim & I took a walk on the way back to the hotel.  We made arrangements for our airport transportation early tomorrow morning at the hotel desk, did one last load of undies and socks, and ended a fun weekend. 

Our fun kids!!  

Our favorite spot on the back of the bus (the last row of seats is up a step, so you can see better out the windows!) 

With Chuck, the owner of the dumpling place!

Paul and Alana with Chuck ---- they go here once a week for supper.  Very inexpensive local place!!  

Today we'll head back to Old Street Sanxia on our own, since we really just did a brief visit with P/A the last time.  Then this afternoon, we'll play it by ear and decide on one last thing to do here.  It's unbelievable that our trip to Taiwan is coming to a close.  On one hand, we feel like we have been here for a month, since we are so comfortable with our surroundings and getting around places, etc., but on the other hand, it seems like we just got here!!  It's been awesome!! 

Tonight, Paul and Alana are taking us to their very favorite restaurant - they've saved it for our last night.  It's called the Rose House, and they ate there for their anniversary, so we are celebrating our anniversary (for the 3rd day!!) with a special dinner.  We're looking forward to our last 24 hours in Taiwan. 

Love,
-M & T-

Taiwan from Top to Bottom

We have now returned to Sanxia (in the north) from our weekend to the very southern tip of Taiwan, Kenting.  It was a fun vacation, though the weather was a little more interesting!!  I'll try to pick up where I left off yesterday, with us all chilling in our hotel rooms at the beach during the rain. 

Meanwhile, Beth commented that you can't see the pics.  I guess I should have explained that since I'm way behind on pics (since we can only upload pics using Paul's computer), I edited earlier blog posts, adding photos to the posts that actually describe what you're seeing in the photos.  When I check the blog, it does show the photos.  I hope you can see them too.  Sorry - it may not have been as convenient for readers to add to earlier posts, but in the long run it should make a little more sense.  Let me know if you find the pics, Beth!!   :-)     It took a very long time to add all the pics and captions, so it would be a bummer if you can't find them. 

Paul has a really cool i-phone with some awesome aps, including one of our favorite board games, Settlers of Catan.  Well, Tim, Michelle and Paul played a game on the train and another in the hotel room --- very fun!!!  The four of us decided to eat at our hotel the first night, since it's a fresh seafood "mom & pop" joint at the beach, and it was a great decision!!  We got to pick out our own fish on ice, with suggestions from the owner of the hotel/restaurant - a great guy who spoke really good English.  We had two kinds of rice - with shrimp and their "little spicey" house special, some green veggie that was kind of like zucchini, orange chicken, and the fish we picked.  Everything was delicious - all with chopsticks of course.  We also had some Taiwanese beer - not bad.  We poured it from bottles into cute little bitty glasses, so that was fun.  The owner brought us a gift of lychees - a wonderful exotic fruit - after dinner.  They are sold and served on the sticks they grow on (I'm pretty sure so they don't dry out at the spot where the stem would break off), and then you peel them with your fingers and eat them.  They are about the size of a small plum, the skin is reddish in color and bumpy, but it peels easily.  The fruit is white/colorless, and it's a lot like a peeled white grape in taste and texture.  Very sweet and juicy! 

Can't remember if I mentioned that our hotel was bright pink.  Also it is right in front of a HUGE rock in the ocean (which tumbled down a hillside long ago and came to rest in the cove), which is often called Nixon rock because the sillhouette looks like his head/face/nose!!  Our room was all decorated in blue - very spacious and nice room!! 

Waves crashing on the rocks (Nixon in the back left)

This was our "Chinese breakfast" at the hotel in Kending....Tim wasn't too excited about it!

Our Chinese breakfast, and the patio outside

Eating our sweet rolls from Seven-11 after the Chinese breakfast --- Tim was a happy camper!

The view from the boardwalk during breakfast #2

Ocean view breakfast

Beautiful morning!!

 We got up yesterday morning, and Alana decided to eat non-Chinese breakfast in her room.  We had a choice of American or Chinese breakfast, and we decided to have a different selection each morning.  (It's kind of funny, because even the "American" breakfast isn't really what we'd normally eat!!   LOL!!)  Well, the tables are all big round ones (typical) with a big lazy susan in the middle to serve family style, passing the food by spinning it around on the table.  We had 4 dishes of Chinese items - powdered meat jerky - boiled cabbage - boiled something else green (kale??) - and something I don't even know how to describe.  Brown, dark green and tan (3 different items) that were maybe thick noodles or strips of veggies, kind of in an oily spiced dressing.  I of course was the only one who tried it all, (I didn't want them to be offended if we didn't even touch it), and it was all actually just fine.  Not for breakfast maybe, but not bad.  Except the powdered jerky - I didn't really like that much at all.  But thank goodness there was also an enormous bowl of rice porridge, which was like oatmeal/cream of wheat, and tasted just fine when sprinkled with sugar (we took packets from over by the coffee).  Those big plastic spoons that are flat on the bottom were provided for the porridge, and little bowls.  It was a breakfast adventure!!  The adventure continued as we walked down to 7-Eleven and picked up some yummy pastries, orange juice, and bananas!!  LOL!!  Paul got a grapefruit/green tea carton that he likes - very good stuff.  

Hotel lobby

Alana in the lobby, ready to hit the beaches!!

Ready for the beach!

After the rain stopped, we headed to the nearest beach!

The beach --- straight ahead!

Ah yes, there it is, complete with palm trees!

Tim immediately spotted a vacant hammock.

.......and soon was relaxing in the shade!

After about an hour, it got cloudy again, and rain was on its way.

These little granite chairs along the boardwalk were all in the shape of frogs and birds! 

We tried the local ice cream - yummy!! 

It rained a little on the walk back from the beach, but after we put our umbrellas away, a double rainbow came out!

The rainbow over the Nixon rock.

Then we took a taxi into Kenting and actually sat in a McDonald's for a while to wait out the rain.  It was 3-stories high, so we got a window table on the top floor, and again played a game of Settlers of Catan.  When the rain stopped, we headed across the street to the beach where Tim immediately found a hammock in the shade, Alana laid out in the sun on the sand, and Paul and I headed for the water!!  Well, let's just say the typhoon way out in the Pacific was already sending waves our way.  The surf was awesome, and the waves were much too powerful for us to go swimming.  We waded out and let some of the waves roll up to about our thighs, but the undertow was really scary and the waves too big for us to get in any farther.  Tim joined us for a while too.  After a while, we saw some more dark clouds rolling our way, so we quickly packed up and headed to a restaurant for lunch.  It was a pizza place, and the pizzas were amazingly good.  Tim also ordered a mango smoothy - very refreshing!!  The rain let up quite a bit by the time we finished eating, but it was still sprinkling, so we just meandered up the street shopping.  It was a resort/beach shopping district much like those in the US at tourist destinations, with many small shops, one right after the other, with beachwear, jewelry, souvenirs, sunglasses, flip-flops, etc., etc., etc.  Except all the signs are in Chinese!!  :-)   We all made a few purchases, and really enjoyed the shopping expedition.  Since it rains so much here, they have little umbrella holders by the doors of every shop, so you just set your wet umbrella down outside under the canopy or overhang, and when you come out, pick it up and head off. 

Well, finally we got to the end of the shopping district, and went by another beach on the way to our hotel, just as the sun started peeking through the clouds and the rain stopped.  We decided to go swim again.  We rented chairs under a huge beach umbrella, and Tim stayed with our things since he had gotten enough sun already.  This was a more protected cove, so the waves weren't quite so strong, and we did venture out.  (Everyone else out beyond the breakers was in inner tubes except for us!!  There was a roped off swimming area, and there were lifeguards, but the signs did say danger - high surf - no swimming!)  The waves were still really big - some were about 8 feet high, but we didn't mess with the big ones - dove through them or rode over the top before they broke.  We each got "rocked" a few times, and you really got churned and rolled pretty severely.  Paul and I each got upended and slammed upside down into the sand, but we were just a little sore.  Alana went back to join Tim reading books in the shade, while Paul and I continued body-surfing a while longer, trying to ride the waves and not get rocked again!!  It really was fun, but it was a pretty big adrenaline rush seeing those big bad waves rollling in!! 

The bad news from the weekend is that Paul lost his wedding ring in the surf.  His ring has always been a little too big and slips off easily.  When Paul, Alana and I were first out there, a big wave hit us and knocked us all over, and as Paul was reaching back to brace himself, the wave ripped the ring right off his finger.   We tried to look for it, but the waves were so strong, and the undertow was so powerful, that there's no way we could find it.  We left the hotel's card with the lifeguards and my email address with the hotel, but they all just kept shaking their heads saying "in ocean", while waving their hands far off in the distance.  As Paul and Alana said, it's just a "thing", but it is sad to lose the ring just the same.  So now it's somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.   :-(     The funny thing was, while we were shopping (before the ring was lost), Tim had noticed some inexpensive rings that looked a lot like Paul's, and he had commented that he really liked them.  So today, we went back and bought one of those, just as a temporary replacement.  It's at least similar, though not valuable, and this one fits snugly!!  And as they said, at least it wasn't Alana's diamond that was lost!!!  Yikes!!

We decided to walk back to our hotel, since there weren't any taxis around, and the sign said it was only 2 km to the big rock.  Well, we think it was a lot farther than that - a long walk - but no problem after all the hiking we had done last weekend!!  We showered and cleaned up, rested our sore bodies a little, and went to supper at the hotel since it was raining again, and we didn't want to head out with umbrellas.  Dinner was just as good this time with a different fish choice and stir-fry shrimp plus the rice dishes.  (The fish each night was a BIG one that we all shared - again everything was served family style.)  This time we shared a bottle of wine too.  We all headed to bed early so we could get up really early in the morning to head to the beach again. 

In front of our hotel

In the lobby waiting for dinner, drinking ice teas.

Some of our dinner --- fried rice with shrimp, stir-fry shrimp with eggs, and spicy fried rice.

The towels in our room had the little lizards - just like the real one we saw!

The bathroom door had these pretty, translucent tiles.

I made Tim post with me next to the double fishes!!  Should have been doing "fish lips"!!   :-)

Well, it stormed and rained and the wind blew all night long, and it continued until about 9:00 in the morning, so we didn't get to go to the beach.  We could tell from our window that the ocean was really churned up - much higher waves then yesterday - so no way were we getting in to swim!!  Tim and I did go for a walk during a lull in the action, and it was impressive to see the sea so active.  We had a taxi take us into town at check-out time at 11:00, where we did the rest of our shopping, mainly Paul's ring purchase.  We had lunch at a wonderful buffet restaurant.  The guys had steaks and the gals had pork chops (you ordered the meat, then everything else was buffet), and the food was really good.  But the big draw was the fruit --- lots and lots of kinds of delicious fruit!!  Yum!!  And there were 6 kinds of ice cream - between us we tried them all!!  I had vanilla, mango, and pear ---WOW!! 

I'll have to finish later - it's getting late.  There's definitely more to today's story!! 
Love,
-M-