O.K. - I added a bunch more photos. I think I'm up to last Monday!! LOL!! Enjoy!!
-M and T-
Saturday, July 16, 2011
High Speed Rail
We are now at our hotel in Kenting (Kending is an alternate spelling - most places here in Taiwan have more than one English spelling), and I'm on Paul's computer, hooked into his personal "hot-spot" wireless through his 4G i-phone. Amazing technology!! Kenting is at the southernmost tip of Taiwan, and we are here for 2 nights on a weekend vacation for Paul and Alana!! :-) As usual, we hit the rain just right again today. It was sunny and nice in the morning when we took the bus, then subway to the High Speed Rail station. Most of the trip was also sunny, and we saw more beautiful scenery along the western side of Taiwan heading south. Then it rained heavily for a while, but only at the tail end of the train ride and during our taxi ride to get here. It stopped while we unloaded our luggage and went down to the 7-Eleven for some snacks, and now it's raining a little again while we chill/relax in our rooms a little. Tim and Paul are playing cribbage here in our room, and Alana is in their room for a bit. I'll try to upload some more pictures to the blog.
Backing up to yesterday, after the Palace museum, Tim and I took the subway, then a bus to Danshui, which is actually at the very northern tip of Taiwan. There's a Fisherman's Wharf there, some scenic views, and markets, etc. It was raining off and on, but we used umbrellas or stayed under overhangs, so it was fine. Then we came back to Taipei Main Station, where we met Paul and Alana and bought the HSR tickets for the weekend. There is a nice restaurant that they had been wanting to try, only a couple stops on the subway away from there, so we went there for supper. It was an 8-course meal, which is way too much to eat, so the guys each ordered the full meal, and Alana & I just ordered an entree each, so we shared all the rest of the food. Some highlights were the pumpkin soup - delicious - and the blueberry dessert - kind of a light, layered cake - YUM!! Then we headed back - it's about an hour out of Taipei back to Sanxia.
 |
| Beautiful clouds over the mountains - on the high-speed rail line to Kending |
 |
| More views out the train window |
 |
| The west side of Taiwan has some fertile plains between the mountains and the sea. |
 |
| Flowers outside our hotel in Kending |
 |
| The "blue room" at our hotel in Kending |
 |
| Our room again |
 |
| tree on the boardwalk across from our hotel |
 |
| View to the west from the boardwalk |
 |
| The famous "Nixon head" rock - directly in front of our hotel. |
 |
| The balcony of our room. |
 |
| Storm clouds brewing |
 |
| Another interesting shower in this hotel! |
 |
| Tim's favorite spot to read during the rain, with an ocean view. |
 |
| Playing games during the rain storm |
 |
| Our fish for the evening meal. |
 |
| Paul with our fish! |
 |
| Our fish after cooking! |
 |
| Night view of our hotel. |
 |
| Lizard in the hotel entryway. |
 |
| Paul and Alana's room |
 |
| View from our balcony |
 |
| The Nixon rock - view from our balcony |
 |
| View to the east from our balcony |
 |
| Again, from our balcony - big waves crashing on the shore. |
 |
| These are the lychees we had for dessert at our hotel seafood restaurant. (fruit!!) |
 |
| Tim doing his Nixon imitation in front of the rock!! |
Backing up to yesterday, after the Palace museum, Tim and I took the subway, then a bus to Danshui, which is actually at the very northern tip of Taiwan. There's a Fisherman's Wharf there, some scenic views, and markets, etc. It was raining off and on, but we used umbrellas or stayed under overhangs, so it was fine. Then we came back to Taipei Main Station, where we met Paul and Alana and bought the HSR tickets for the weekend. There is a nice restaurant that they had been wanting to try, only a couple stops on the subway away from there, so we went there for supper. It was an 8-course meal, which is way too much to eat, so the guys each ordered the full meal, and Alana & I just ordered an entree each, so we shared all the rest of the food. Some highlights were the pumpkin soup - delicious - and the blueberry dessert - kind of a light, layered cake - YUM!! Then we headed back - it's about an hour out of Taipei back to Sanxia.
So, now to load pics again - hope this works again!!
We heard it is really hot in Iowa --- same as here. We are hearing in the news here that the typhoon will be turning towards Japan, so Taiwan will be spared the brunt of the violent weather. Just on and off rain, which we can deal with!!
Love to all!!
-M and T-
Friday, July 15, 2011
Museums
This morning we got up early, packed for our weekend trip to Kenting (at the far southern tip of the island - very beautiful tourist spot/beaches), ate breakfast at the hotel buffet, and are now waiting for the call from Paul and Alana that they have gotten on the bus outside their apartment. The timing is such that we can leave our hotel when they call and walk to the bus stop a block away, and we can hop on the same bus that has traveled the 16-20 blocks from their apartment. (This same bus passes by their school, about 1/2 way in between our locations. Very convenient!!) It's also so nice that they gave us Alana's phone for the 2 weeks we are here, so we are always able to communicate easily.
Breakfast this morning --- new items again --- I tried another cabbage/veggie salad and some fried noodles that are very popular here. Good stuff, and of course eaten with chopsticks!! :-)
Now for the recap of yesterday (Friday here). We had P/A's bicycles here at the hotel, so we rode around for our first errands in the morning. (Alana's bike seat seems to hold moisture after a rain, and then when I sit on it, I get wet shorts. Not fun. So this time I was prepared, and tied a Hy-Vee bag over the seat to keep me dry!! LOL!!) First we stopped by the Century 21 realtor shop where they were so nice last week, and the guy had driven us to the bank. Paul told us that gifts of oranges are considered to be very gracious, so we brought the staff a bag of oranges. They were all really happy to see us again, and we thanked them for being so kind and helpful when we needed assistance. They wanted to take our picture with them, and we also took some photos together - in front of the Century 21 sign in the office. They were very appreciative and continued to welcome us to Taiwan!! The guy walked us out to our bikes, and was impressed that we were pedaling around, but he was puzzled by the Hy-Vee bag on the seat. I did get the message across, even with his limited English. HAHA!!
Next stop was the Carrefour store (like Hy-Vee), where we purchased picnic lunch items. A small baguette, some Camenbert cheese, and some apples. We already had our water bottles from the hotel, so we were all set. We also got one Taiwanese sweet roll type thing that we ate at the bus stop a little later. Very delicious mango/cream cheese filling. Then we rode to Uncle Sam American School where we locked up the bikes. We had decided they would be safer there over the weekend while we are gone, since that is a normal location for bikes, and there are never any others in front of our hotel. Then we got on the bus by the school and headed into Taipei.
We went to the bank again, where they are familiar with travelers' checques, and this time when we got our number, a guy came right up and asked us if we needed to cash checques again. He said he had seen us there the day before about 1:00, so he would help us at his window this time. It wasn't even the same cashier, so Tim couldn't figure out how he recognized us. (Very funny, as we are almost always the ONLY non-Asians anywhere!! We must have really stuck out yesterday, so he immediately remembered us!!) He had lived in the States while his parents were in grad school at Purdue, and then he also went to college in California, so his English was the best of anyone we've met here.
Then we headed on to the Palace Museum, which was the presidential palace at one time, and now houses many historical treasures. The grounds and buildings were all very regal, built up into the hills, with the palace at the top of many white marble stairs. When we got off the subway and were checking out signs for the buses, we actually helped out a couple of other tourists!! They were Americans of Chinese descent on their first trip to Taiwan. One brother is teaching English in Singapore, so they were traveling together, but didn't know much about getting around in Taiwan. We had a nice chat waiting for the bus and riding to the palace. After we arrived, the two of us had a lovely picnic lunch as we watched storm clouds rolling in across the mountains. We finished before the rain started, so yet again, didn't get wet!!
Inside the museum, we saw items from throughout Chinese/Taiwanese history, such as pottery and ceramics, bronze works, calligraphy and painting, furniture, jade carvings, jewelry, and some really cool curio boxes that were kind of like puzzle boxes with little compartments that opened up to display miniature collections and treasures. Really sweet!! There were brigades of young girls around (employees/volunteers???) wearing red vests and holding little signs that looked like the fans they hand out at the Iowa State Fair - wooden sticks with cardboard circles. The signs said "keep voices quiet" in about 3 languages, and a universal symbol with "shh" - finger held to lips. They'd walk up to anyone talking loudly!! So funny.
Gotta run to catch the train!!
Breakfast this morning --- new items again --- I tried another cabbage/veggie salad and some fried noodles that are very popular here. Good stuff, and of course eaten with chopsticks!! :-)
Now for the recap of yesterday (Friday here). We had P/A's bicycles here at the hotel, so we rode around for our first errands in the morning. (Alana's bike seat seems to hold moisture after a rain, and then when I sit on it, I get wet shorts. Not fun. So this time I was prepared, and tied a Hy-Vee bag over the seat to keep me dry!! LOL!!) First we stopped by the Century 21 realtor shop where they were so nice last week, and the guy had driven us to the bank. Paul told us that gifts of oranges are considered to be very gracious, so we brought the staff a bag of oranges. They were all really happy to see us again, and we thanked them for being so kind and helpful when we needed assistance. They wanted to take our picture with them, and we also took some photos together - in front of the Century 21 sign in the office. They were very appreciative and continued to welcome us to Taiwan!! The guy walked us out to our bikes, and was impressed that we were pedaling around, but he was puzzled by the Hy-Vee bag on the seat. I did get the message across, even with his limited English. HAHA!!
Next stop was the Carrefour store (like Hy-Vee), where we purchased picnic lunch items. A small baguette, some Camenbert cheese, and some apples. We already had our water bottles from the hotel, so we were all set. We also got one Taiwanese sweet roll type thing that we ate at the bus stop a little later. Very delicious mango/cream cheese filling. Then we rode to Uncle Sam American School where we locked up the bikes. We had decided they would be safer there over the weekend while we are gone, since that is a normal location for bikes, and there are never any others in front of our hotel. Then we got on the bus by the school and headed into Taipei.
We went to the bank again, where they are familiar with travelers' checques, and this time when we got our number, a guy came right up and asked us if we needed to cash checques again. He said he had seen us there the day before about 1:00, so he would help us at his window this time. It wasn't even the same cashier, so Tim couldn't figure out how he recognized us. (Very funny, as we are almost always the ONLY non-Asians anywhere!! We must have really stuck out yesterday, so he immediately remembered us!!) He had lived in the States while his parents were in grad school at Purdue, and then he also went to college in California, so his English was the best of anyone we've met here.
Then we headed on to the Palace Museum, which was the presidential palace at one time, and now houses many historical treasures. The grounds and buildings were all very regal, built up into the hills, with the palace at the top of many white marble stairs. When we got off the subway and were checking out signs for the buses, we actually helped out a couple of other tourists!! They were Americans of Chinese descent on their first trip to Taiwan. One brother is teaching English in Singapore, so they were traveling together, but didn't know much about getting around in Taiwan. We had a nice chat waiting for the bus and riding to the palace. After we arrived, the two of us had a lovely picnic lunch as we watched storm clouds rolling in across the mountains. We finished before the rain started, so yet again, didn't get wet!!
Inside the museum, we saw items from throughout Chinese/Taiwanese history, such as pottery and ceramics, bronze works, calligraphy and painting, furniture, jade carvings, jewelry, and some really cool curio boxes that were kind of like puzzle boxes with little compartments that opened up to display miniature collections and treasures. Really sweet!! There were brigades of young girls around (employees/volunteers???) wearing red vests and holding little signs that looked like the fans they hand out at the Iowa State Fair - wooden sticks with cardboard circles. The signs said "keep voices quiet" in about 3 languages, and a universal symbol with "shh" - finger held to lips. They'd walk up to anyone talking loudly!! So funny.
 |
| Tim doing a Gene Kelly imitation --- singing in the rain --- after dinner in Taipei at Mr. Onion |
 |
| This is for Lute ---- sorry to say that there are no frisbees allowed at the Palace Museum. This is the only sign like this we saw, however!! |
 |
| With our friendly Century 21 guy who gave us a ride to the bank our first day! |
 |
| This was right by the bus stop near Uncle Sam's - pretty park area on the boulevard, and the paintings on the metal boxes were typical - they were always decorated to make something ugly into something pretty! |
 |
| At the Palace Museum entrance |
 |
| The presidential office building. (We happened upon it on our way to the bank.) |
 |
| View of Sanxia from the bus on the way to the Yongning MRT station. |
 |
| Eating our picnic lunch in front of the Palace Museum |
 |
| View of the other buildings on the Palace grounds |
Gotta run to catch the train!!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Hot Pot and Old Street
Our destination last night was Old Street Sanxia, which is a famous tourist destination. We rode the bus together with P/A, then walked around the area to see the large ornamented gates into Old Town, then across a wide, decorated footbridge over the river with views of the mountains in the distance. There are little pagodas along the edge of the bridge, and stone lions all along the railings. Then we saw one of the oldest and most famous Buddhist temples in Taiwan - very detailed ornamentation throughout. It was a little like European Cathedrals in one sense, that there were many side alcoves in honor of different "gods" (like to the saints in cathedrals). Obviously this was very Asian looking however!! Someone had brought an offering of a watermelon in front of the main altar.
Then we continued to the famous Old Street area, just around the corner from the temple. It is a narrow street with brick arches on both sides and many, many shops along the sides. Our hotel manager told us it was remodeled about 5 years ago, but it still looks just like it did in 1916 during the Japanese occupation. It was originally built by the Japanese, so it's typical of their architecture. We had some bullhorn croissants -- from 2 different stores. Again going with the "dessert first" theory, we started with ice cream cones in bullhorn croissants at P/A's favorite little shop. Then we went to the original bullhorn shop and got 4 different varieties, and all shared all the flavors to taste them all! We must have looked crazy reaching across all directions between ourselves to offer bites. LOL!! We had strawberry (A), cranberry/almond (P), brown sugar (T). and cream cheese (M) --- I think we each enjoyed all the others, but liked our own choice best!! Tim and I want to to back to Old Street another day to do some souvenir shopping, since we haven't purchased anything yet.
Next, we went to a Hot Pot restaurant - which is a typical Asian concept. At the table, there are four holes with hot plates and individual temperature controls. You order your type of soup, then they bring a metal pot of soup for each person and place it in the hole to heat up. Paul had spicey (the waitress suggested just a little spicey, and it was plenty hot for him!!), Tim and Alana had tomato, and I had miso. The soup is just the broth. All were delicious!! Then it was a HUGE buffet area where you go around and pick up the uncooked items to cook yourself in your soup pot. (Kind of like Hu-Hot but much more selection of foods!!) There was a guy slicing off the fresh meats - beef, lamb, pork and chicken - many vegetables (known and unknown) - noodles of all sorts - rice of course - and lots of things I have NO idea what they are. Everything we tried was so good!! There was also a huge fresh fruit bar, salad bar, dessert bar, ice cream, many beverages, and a chocolate fountain for dipping. T/P dipped marshmallows, and A/M dipped cute little sticks a little bigger than our small pretzel sticks, but they tasted like a cookie/graham cracker - yum!! All this for less than $10 each. No going away hungry there!! We are also getting pretty good at eating with chopsticks, since some of the places we've eaten don't even offer silverware!! :-)
During our meal, there was a huge storm!! It would rival the worst thunderstorms in Iowa except there was no hail here. Lightning, very loud thunder (little kids in the restaurant screamed a few times!), driving rain, and a lot of wind. We were so thankful the storm hit after we were settled inside the hot-pot restaurant!! We were afraid the typhoon was hitting, since P/A said it was the worst storm they'd seen here in Taiwan. But after a while the weather calmed down a little, and there was just some rain by the time we were ready to head back. We popped out our trusty umbrellas that are in our backpacks at all times, and went out to catch the bus. The rain had lightened to just a light sprinkle by the time we got off the bus near our hotel. Paul's scooter had stayed dry with the new cover, though all around the bus stop there was evidence of the ferocious wind - advertising flagpoles on the ground, and banners askew, etc. We headed back to the hotel to read the daily paper in bed - we have an English newspaper under our door each morning - lights out by 10:00!!
Today we'll head into Taipei again to see the Palace Museum and explore more. Still hoping the typhoon swings to the north and misses Taiwan!!
Love,
-M and T-
Then we continued to the famous Old Street area, just around the corner from the temple. It is a narrow street with brick arches on both sides and many, many shops along the sides. Our hotel manager told us it was remodeled about 5 years ago, but it still looks just like it did in 1916 during the Japanese occupation. It was originally built by the Japanese, so it's typical of their architecture. We had some bullhorn croissants -- from 2 different stores. Again going with the "dessert first" theory, we started with ice cream cones in bullhorn croissants at P/A's favorite little shop. Then we went to the original bullhorn shop and got 4 different varieties, and all shared all the flavors to taste them all! We must have looked crazy reaching across all directions between ourselves to offer bites. LOL!! We had strawberry (A), cranberry/almond (P), brown sugar (T). and cream cheese (M) --- I think we each enjoyed all the others, but liked our own choice best!! Tim and I want to to back to Old Street another day to do some souvenir shopping, since we haven't purchased anything yet.
 |
| On the bridge to Old Town Sanxia just before dusk. |
 |
| Many of the old bridges have these lions on the railings. |
 |
| Gateway into Old Sanxia |
 |
| Looking through the gateway onto the pedestrian bridge. |
 |
| There are these little covered look-out areas on the pedestrian bridge |
 |
| Overlooking Sanxia from the bridge |
 |
| Eating at the Hot Pot restaurant - we each have our individual pots of soup to cook all our food! |
 |
| One of the oldest and most famous temples in Taiwan is in Sanxia |
 |
| The main altar in the temple |
 |
| Ice cream in a bullhorn croissant cone - you can tell Paul loves these!! :-) |
 |
| The girl in the bullhorn croissant shop serving the ice cream - wearing a bullhorn cap |
 |
| One of the narrow side-streets in Old Town Sanxia |
 |
| The original bullhorn shop - it's traditional to take a picture with the "bullhorns" on your head. |
Next, we went to a Hot Pot restaurant - which is a typical Asian concept. At the table, there are four holes with hot plates and individual temperature controls. You order your type of soup, then they bring a metal pot of soup for each person and place it in the hole to heat up. Paul had spicey (the waitress suggested just a little spicey, and it was plenty hot for him!!), Tim and Alana had tomato, and I had miso. The soup is just the broth. All were delicious!! Then it was a HUGE buffet area where you go around and pick up the uncooked items to cook yourself in your soup pot. (Kind of like Hu-Hot but much more selection of foods!!) There was a guy slicing off the fresh meats - beef, lamb, pork and chicken - many vegetables (known and unknown) - noodles of all sorts - rice of course - and lots of things I have NO idea what they are. Everything we tried was so good!! There was also a huge fresh fruit bar, salad bar, dessert bar, ice cream, many beverages, and a chocolate fountain for dipping. T/P dipped marshmallows, and A/M dipped cute little sticks a little bigger than our small pretzel sticks, but they tasted like a cookie/graham cracker - yum!! All this for less than $10 each. No going away hungry there!! We are also getting pretty good at eating with chopsticks, since some of the places we've eaten don't even offer silverware!! :-)
During our meal, there was a huge storm!! It would rival the worst thunderstorms in Iowa except there was no hail here. Lightning, very loud thunder (little kids in the restaurant screamed a few times!), driving rain, and a lot of wind. We were so thankful the storm hit after we were settled inside the hot-pot restaurant!! We were afraid the typhoon was hitting, since P/A said it was the worst storm they'd seen here in Taiwan. But after a while the weather calmed down a little, and there was just some rain by the time we were ready to head back. We popped out our trusty umbrellas that are in our backpacks at all times, and went out to catch the bus. The rain had lightened to just a light sprinkle by the time we got off the bus near our hotel. Paul's scooter had stayed dry with the new cover, though all around the bus stop there was evidence of the ferocious wind - advertising flagpoles on the ground, and banners askew, etc. We headed back to the hotel to read the daily paper in bed - we have an English newspaper under our door each morning - lights out by 10:00!!
Today we'll head into Taipei again to see the Palace Museum and explore more. Still hoping the typhoon swings to the north and misses Taiwan!!
Love,
-M and T-
School Day!!
This video is of Paul's class as he's taking them up to the classroom.
This video is of Paul's class getting ready to start the day.
 |
| Paul's class coming into the room in the morning. |
 |
| Paul with the class pet hamster. |
 |
| Getting ready for music/dance time to open the day. |
 |
| Teacher Alana with her class. |
 |
| Teacher Paul correcting workbooks. |
 |
| Paul's students working on English assignments. |
 |
| Paul's class lining up for a bathroom break. |
 | |
| Paul's class with their morning snack (noodles). |
 |
| Front entrance to the school. |
Everything worked smoothly for our visit to Uncle Sam American School today. We were received warmly by the Taiwanese and foreign staff, and of course the children were delighted to see Teacher Paul's parents!! They were quite amused that we were also teachers, so it was Teacher Tim and Teacher Michelle as well as Teacher Paul and Teacher Alana!! So many teachers in one family!! :-)
When we arrived, we put our backpacks in the teacher workroom and donned slippers for inside the building. We joined Paul's class for the opening "dancing" time - which is really like kindergarten music class with actions to the songs. Very cute, with lots of enthusiasm from the kids. We then received a tour of the school by the director, Teacher Cindy, who is Taiwanese. She has very good English skills, and she was proud to show us their spacious, well-lit building. There are three floors, plus a basement, and it the facilities were even nicer than we expected. We then observed Paul's language class and math class with the K-6 Ducks. (6 & 7 year olds who will graduate to the next level in August.) Paul's students are really bright, and they only speak in English at school. He did a great job of engaging the kids in the curriculum and having fun with them!! Tim did his "duck" imitation for the kids, and then Tim and I did some swing dancing for them. (The kids to have us dance!) We were there from 8:45 to 11:30, having an exit visit with Cindy before we left. She was very complimentary about Paul and Alana as teachers in her school!! It was an absolutely delightful morning!!
 |
| The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial ---- HUGE!! |
 |
| Gates into the memorial area |
 |
| The National Symphony Hall |
 |
| Architectural features on the National Theatre Building |
 |
| View from the top of the steps on the memorial, looking to the National Theater (left), gates (middle), and National Symphony Hall (right) |
 |
| Ready for the changing of the guard - very similar ceremony to ours at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery in D.C. |
 |
| The two new guards marching in with a supervisor |
 |
| The incoming and outgoing guards in the cermony. Very elaborately choreographed. |
 |
| Changing of the guard. |
 |
| On the grounds of the memorial - we walked across this little bridge. |
 |
| View of a tree from the bridge |
 |
| On the bridge |
 |
| Tim on the bridge. |
 |
| A blue water-bird - about 1 1/2 feet tall. |
 |
| Took this just for the Hope College folks --- black squirrels are everywhere --- even in Taipei! |
In the afternoon, Tim and I toured the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial - very similar to our National Mall in Washington D.C. - and we saw the ceremonial changing of the guard, which was even more intricate and complexly choreographed than ours at Arlington Cemetery - very impressive. There's also a museum below that we enjoyed, and lovely gardens with a koi pond to walk through.
We're off to Old Street Sanxia with P/A now for supper at a hot pot restaurant. Fun times!!
Love,
-M & T-
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)